16:9
Encyclopedia
16:9 is an aspect ratio
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...

 with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

, Full HD, non-HD digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...

 and analog widescreen television (EDTV
EdTV
EDtv is a 1999 American comedy film directed by Ron Howard. An adaptation of the Quebec film Louis 19, le roi des ondes , it stars Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau, Rob Reiner, Sally Kirkland, Elizabeth Hurley, Clint Howard, and Dennis Hopper.The...

) PALplus
PALplus
PALplus is an extension of the PAL analogue broadcasting system for transmitting 16:9 programs without sacrificing vertical resolution. It followed experiences with the HD-MAC and D2-MAC, standards that were incompatible with existing receivers but featured a 16:9 aspect ratio...

.

Generally 16:9 is pronounced "Sixteen-Nine", "Sixteen-by-Nine," or "Sixteen-to-Nine."

History

When the 16:9 (1.7:1) aspect ratio was proposed by Kerns H. Powers, a member of the SMPTE Working Group On High-Definition Electronic Production, nobody was creating 16:9 videos. The popular choices in 1980 were: 4:3 (based on television standard's ratio at the time), 1.66:1 (the European "flat" ratio), 1.85:1 (the American "flat" ratio), 2.20:1 (the ratio of 70 mm films and Panavision
Panavision
Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product...

) and 2.35:1 (the CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...

 ratio for anamorphic widescreen films).

Powers cut out rectangles with equal areas, shaped to match each of the popular aspect ratios. When overlapped with their center points aligned, he found that all of those aspect ratio rectangles fit within an outer rectangle with an aspect ratio of 1.7:1 and all of them also covered a smaller common inner rectangle with the same aspect ratio 1.7:1.
The value found by Powers is exactly the geometric mean
Geometric mean
The geometric mean, in mathematics, is a type of mean or average, which indicates the central tendency or typical value of a set of numbers. It is similar to the arithmetic mean, except that the numbers are multiplied and then the nth root of the resulting product is taken.For instance, the...

 of the extreme aspect ratios, 4:3 (1.3:1) and 2.35:1, which is coincidentally close to 16:9 (1.7:1). Applying the same geometric mean technique to 16:9 and 4:3 yields the 14:9
14:9
14:9 is a compromise aspect ratio of 1.56:1. It is used to create an acceptable picture on both 4:3 and 16:9 televisions, conceived following audience tests conducted by the BBC...

 aspect ratio, which is likewise used as a compromise between these ratios.

While 16:9 (1.7:1) was initially selected as a compromise format, the subsequent popularity of HDTV broadcast has solidified 16:9 as perhaps the most important video aspect ratio in use. Most 4:3 (1.3:1) and 2.39:1 video is now recorded using a "shoot and protect
Shoot and protect
Shoot and protect is a technique used in video and film production, in which the material is shot in such a way that the areas of interest within a frame lie within a rectangular "protected area" within the frame, with margins at top and bottom and both sides. The action safe and caption safe areas...

" technique that keeps the main action within a 16:9 (1.7:1) inner rectangle to facilitate HD broadcast.. Conversely it is quite common to use a technique known as center-cutting, to approach the challenge of presenting material shot (typically 16:9) to both a HD and legacy 4:3 audience simultaneously without having to compromise image size for either audience. Content creators frame critical content or graphics to fit within the 1.33 raster space.

Audiences generally see such centrally framed information as distracting. However, audiences of 16:9 ratio scenes can find odd moving elements that are centrally framed. This has similarities to the effect a filming technique called Open matte
Open matte
Open matte is a filming technique that involves matting out the top and bottom of the film frame in the movie projector for the widescreen theatrical release and then scanning the film without a matte for a full screen home video release.Usually, non-anamorphic 4-perf films are filmed directly on...

 can have. 4:3 content upconverted to a 16:9 standard is generally referred to as pillar boxed and many high definition television networks have adopted decoratively branded logos to fill the null area.

After the original 16:9 Action Plan of the early 1990s, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 has instituted the 16:9 Action Plan, just to accelerate the development of the advanced television services in 16:9 aspect ratio, both in PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...

 and also in HDTV
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

. The Community fund for the 16:9 Action Plan amounted to
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

228 million.

In 2008 the computer industry started to use 16:9 as standard aspect ratio for monitors and laptops. According to a report by displaysearch the reasons for this were/are:
  • Innovative product concepts drives a new product cycle and stimulating the growth of the notebook PC and LCD monitor market.
  • 16:9 provides better economic cut (panelization) in existing TFT LCD
    TFT LCD
    Thin film transistor liquid crystal display is a variant of liquid crystal display which uses thin-film transistor technology to improve image quality . TFT LCD is one type of Active matrix LCD, though all LCD-screens are based on TFT active matrix addressing...

     fabs.
  • 16:9 products provide higher resolution and wider aspect ratio.
  • The widespread adoption of High Definition in the consumer entertainment sector will help end users readily adopt the new products with the wider aspect ratio.
  • The 16:9 panels provide an opportunity for PC brands to further diversify their products.

In 2011 Bennie Budler, product manager of IT products at Samsung South Africa, confirmed that monitors capable of 1920x1200 resolutions aren't being manufactured anymore. “It is all about reducing manufacturing costs. The new 16:9 aspect ratio panels are more cost effective to manufacture locally than the previous 16:10 panels”

In March 2011 the 16:9 resolution 1920x1080 became the most common used resolution among Steam's users. The earlier most common resolution was 1680x1050 (16:10).

Properties

16:9 is the only widescreen aspect ratio natively supported by the DVD format. Anamorphic DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 transfers store the information as 5:4 (PAL) or 6:4 (NTSC), which is set to expand to either 16:9 or 4:3, which the television or video player handles. For instance, a PAL DVD with a full frame image may contain a video resolution of 720x576, but a video player will stretch this to 1024x576 with a 16:9 flag in order to maintain the correct aspect ratio.

DVD producers can also choose to show even wider ratios such as 1.85:1 and 2.39:1 within the 16:9 DVD frame by hard matting or adding black bars within the image itself. Some films which were made in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, such as the U.S.-Italian co-production Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha (film)
Man of La Mancha is a 1972 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha by Dale Wasserman, with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion...

and Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...

's Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing (film)
Much Ado About Nothing is a 1993 British/American romantic comedy film based on William Shakespeare's play. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the role of Benedick....

, fit quite comfortably onto a 1.7:1 HDTV screen and have been issued anamorphically enhanced on DVD without the black bars. Many digital video
Digital video
Digital video is a type of digital recording system that works by using a digital rather than an analog video signal.The terms camera, video camera, and camcorder are used interchangeably in this article.- History :...

 cameras have the capability to record in 16:9.

Super 16 mm film
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...

 is frequently used for television production due to its lower cost, lack of need for soundtrack space on the film itself, and aspect ratio similar to 16:9.

Common resolutions

Common resolutions for 16:9 are 640x360, 854x480, 960x540, 1024×576, 1280×720, 1366×768, 1600×900, 1920×1080, 2048x1152, 2560×1440, 3840×2160 and 4096x2304.

In Europe

In Europe, 16:9 is being adopted as the standard broadcast format for digital and high definition TV. Some countries have even adopted the format for analog television by means of the PALplus
PALplus
PALplus is an extension of the PAL analogue broadcasting system for transmitting 16:9 programs without sacrificing vertical resolution. It followed experiences with the HD-MAC and D2-MAC, standards that were incompatible with existing receivers but featured a 16:9 aspect ratio...

 standard.
Country Channel
 Albania Digi Gold, DigitALB HD (1,2,3,4,5,6), SuperSport
SuperSport Albania
SuperSport Albania is a TV package that is part of the DigitAlb pay TV company. They broadcast a range of different sports. Some of the main sports that they broadcast are the Spanish Primera Division, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga, Dutch Eredivisie, Liga Sagres of Portugal,...

 (1,2,3,4,5)*, Top Channel
Top Channel
Top Channel is a commercial television station with national frequency coverage in Tirana, Albania founded by media mogul Dritan Hoxha, and part of Top Media Group. Since September 2003, Top Channel became present on satellite broadcasting all over Europe through DigitAlb, and North America through...

**, Digi Plus**, Film Autor**, Film Hits**, Film Thriller**, Film Drame**, Film Aksion**, Film Komedi**
* Do not set the aspect ratio correctly when broadcasting in 16:9 and the image appears squashed on 4:3 TV sets.
** These channels do broadcast in 16:9 and 4:3 but the aspect ratio is always kept 4:3 so 16:9 programs appear squashed.
 Austria ORF1
ORF1
ORF eins is an Austrian television channel. It was the first television channel in Austria, started in 1955.ORF eins is one of four public TV channels in Austria. ORF eins broadcasts TV series and featured films, whereas ORF2 focuses on cultural programming and information. ORF Sport Plus is the...

, ORF2
ORF2
ORF2 is an Austrian television channel owned by ORF.ORF2 was launched on 11 September 1961 as a technical test programme. Since 1970, ORF2 broadcasts on seven days a week. Today it is one of the three public TV channels in Austria.Where as ORF1 focuses on tv series and movies, ORF2 broadcasts...

, ORF Sport Plus
ORF Sport Plus
ORF Sport + in an Austrian sports channel owned by the public service broadcaster, ORF.The channel is available via Astra 1A, cable and DVB-T, in Austria and parts of Europe.-History:...

, ORF1 HD
ORF1
ORF eins is an Austrian television channel. It was the first television channel in Austria, started in 1955.ORF eins is one of four public TV channels in Austria. ORF eins broadcasts TV series and featured films, whereas ORF2 focuses on cultural programming and information. ORF Sport Plus is the...

, ATV
ATV (Austria)
ATV is currently the largest commercial television station in Austria and was originally the first commercial station to be aired via transmitters after a long time when commercial broadcasts in Austria were only possible via satellite or cable and the national public broadcaster ORF held a...

, Puls 4
Puls 4
Puls 4 is a terrestrial television channel in Austria. As its name implies, it is the fourth Austrian-wide full-service television channel, behind ORF eins, ORF 2, and ATV.-History:...

, Servus TV, and others (all main channels)
 Belarus Belsat
 Belgium All channels
 Bosnia and Herzegovina BHT 1, Kanal 1, TV1, Hayat music
 Kingdom of Bulgaria The Voice, TV+, FILM+/SPORT+, TV7*, RING.BG
RING.BG
RING.BG is a Bulgarian sports TV channel . It was founded in 1998 by a group of professionals and sports enthusiasts. It is distributed via cable path throughout the country...

, bTV Action*
* Do not set the aspect ratio correctly when broadcasting in 16:9 and the image appears stretched on 4:3 TV sets. Such stations use mostly 4:3 programming.
 Cyprus ANT1 Cyprus
ANT1 Cyprus
ANT1 Cyprus is a free to air terrestrial TV channel established in 1993. The channel is partly owned by ANT1 Greece. It is a general entertainment channel screening international, Greek and some locally produced programs. It transmits on channels 48, 35, 60, 41, 63, 65, 23, 26, 67, 24, 56, 37,...


RIK HD
Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation
The Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation ) or CyBC is Cyprus's public broadcasting service, transmitting island-wide on four radio and two television channels. CyBC is a non-profit organization that utilises its entire income for the promotion of its main mission, which is the objective provision of...


Sigma TV
Sigma TV
Sigma TV is a commercial network in Cyprus that commenced broadcasting on April 3, 1995. It is a private service and is currently the second-rated channel in Cyprus. Sigma TV is geared at a younger audience, with the focus on the 18-45 age group. It broadcasts a mix of original programmes as...


 Independent State of Croatia RTL Televizija
RTL Televizija
RTL Televizija is a Croatian commercial broadcaster with national availability that has been broadcasting since April 30, 2004.RTL Televizija is 74% owned by the RTL Group....

*, RTL 2
RTL 2 (Croatia)
-Airing currently:* Bella Calamidades * Columbo * Dexter * Dollhouse * Everybody Loves Raymond * How I Met Your Mother ...

*, Doma TV**, Sportska televizija**, Kapital Network**
Older programmes filmed in 4:3 are:
* cropped.
** transmitted in their original format.
 Czech Republic TV Nova, Česká televize
Ceská televize
Česká televize is the public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting four channels.- Czechoslovak Television :Television in Czechoslovakia started to take its first steps before World War II. However, before visible results could be achieved, all activities were interrupted by...

, TV Nova HD, TV Prima
TV Prima
TV Prima is a Czech private television station. Its channel is broadcast from Prague. Its current owner is FTV Prima, spol. s r. o., general manager Marek Singer....

, TV Barrandov
TV Barrandov
TV Barrandov is a Czech television channel, launched in 2009. It was founded and started to broadcast on 2009. TV Barrandov currently broadcasts in Czech.-External links:*...

 Denmark Almost all main channels as 16:9 is the national standard for television.
 Estonia All main digital channels (ETV
Eesti Televisioon
Eesti Televisioon is the national public television station of Estonia. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955.The bulk of ETV's funding comes from government grant-in-aid, around 15% of which is in turn funded by the fees paid by Estonian commercial broadcasters in return for their...

, Kanal 2
Kanal 2
Kanal 2 is a privately owned Estonian television channel. Its literal name in English is "Channel 2".First broadcasts were aired on October 1, 1993.- Television series :Daytime* Victoria * Julia – Wege zum Glück ...

 and TV3
TV3 (Estonia)
TV3 is a commercial television channel targeted at an Estonian language audience owned by Viasat . It was founded in 1996 after two recent television stations, EVTV and RTV joined....

) and their sister channels are 16:9.
 Finland Almost all main channels as 16:9 is the national standard for television, including but not limited to YLE TV1
YLE TV1
YLE TV1 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Finnish public broadcaster Yleisradio. It is the first and oldest Television channel in Finland. More than 70% of channel's programs are documentaries, news or educative programmes...

, YLE TV2
YLE TV2
YLE TV2 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by YLE.TV2 launched in 1964, and broadcasts public service programming, children's, youth, sport and music programmes.-Own Productions:* Ajankohtainen kakkonen* Akuutti* Jopet Show* Kummeli...

, MTV3
MTV3
MTV3 is a Finnish commercial television station owned by Bonnier. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Finnish Broadcasting Company’s YLE1 took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV , due to the channel getting its revenue from running commercials...

, Nelonen
Nelonen
Nelonen is a Finnish commercial TV channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1989 on the HTV cable network, which name was changed first to PTV4 and then to Nelonen. It started on June 1, 1997. Nelonen, in Finnish, means the glyph of the number four. The channel is...

, TV Viisi
TV Viisi
TV5 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by SBS Finland. The channel launched on March 2004 but it was replaced by The Voice TV Finland in November 2004. It started operating again in September 2008 on the same channel as The Voice. It transmitted every day from 6 PM until 1 PM...

, Liv
Liv (TV channel)
Liv is a Finnish television owned and operated by Nelonen. Liv started broadcasting in 14 February 2009 and it is especially designed for women viewers.-External links:*...

, Jim
JIM
JIM is a Finnish national television channel that replaced Nelonen Plus on February 26, 2007....

, Sub
Sub (TV channel)
Sub is a Finnish TV channel owned by Bonnier. The previous owner Alma Media sold Sub and its sister channels to Swedish Bonnier and Proventus in 2005.-Programs and audience:...

, YLE FST5, YLE Teema
YLE Teema
YLE Teema is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Finnish broadcasting corporation Yleisradio. The channel is dedicated to culture, sciences and learning. The channel is known for its "Theme Saturdays" which typically consist of documentaries and classic international films.YLE Teema...

, The Voice
The Voice TV Finland
The Voice is a Finnish music channel that replaced the VIISI television channel in 2004. The Voice has also a closely related radio station which started in the beginning of 2007...

, Suomi TV
 Early Modern France All nationwide channels on the French DVB-T
DVB-T
DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in the UK in 1998...

 (TNT
Télévision Numérique Terrestre
TNT is the national digital terrestrial service for France. It formally arrived on 31 March 2005 after a short testing period. Like Freeview in the United Kingdom it will support many new channels as well as the current terrestrial television stations...

)
And almost all pay channel via TNT, ADSL, DVB-C
DVB-C
DVB-C stands for Digital Video Broadcasting - Cable and it is the DVB European consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital television over cable...

 and DVB-S
DVB-S
DVB-S is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Satellite; it is the original Digital Video Broadcasting forward error coding and demodulation standard for satellite television and dates from 1994, in its first release, while development lasted from 1993 to 1997...

;
Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...

 Décalé, Canal+ Family, Poker Channel, CinePlay, Ciné Cinéma Premier, OL TV, Motors TV
Motors TV
Motors TV is a television channel dedicated to news, documentaries and coverage of motorsport and automobiles, and to a lesser extent motorbikes, boats, aircraft and models. It is available in many countries via satellite and cable, with audio in English, French, German and Serbian...

, Disney Cinemagic
Disney Cinemagic (France)
Disney Cinemagic was launched on 4 September 2007 along with a 1 hour timeshift . Both channels are available on CanalSat channel 112 and 113. The channel replaced Toon Disney on CanalSat...

, Disney Cinemagic
Disney Cinemagic (France)
Disney Cinemagic was launched on 4 September 2007 along with a 1 hour timeshift . Both channels are available on CanalSat channel 112 and 113. The channel replaced Toon Disney on CanalSat...

 + 1, NRJ Hits, Ciné Cinéma Premier HD and SD, National Geographic HD and SD, Ushuaia TV HD and SD, Disney Cinemagic
Disney Cinemagic (France)
Disney Cinemagic was launched on 4 September 2007 along with a 1 hour timeshift . Both channels are available on CanalSat channel 112 and 113. The channel replaced Toon Disney on CanalSat...

 HD and SD, MTV HD, NRJ 12
NRJ 12
NRJ 12 is a French television network. It is available through digital terrestrial television "TNT".-External links:*...

 HD and SD, iConcert HD, HD1
Euro1080
Euro1080 was the first commercial broadcaster in Europe to air full-time HDTV content. It was founded by Gabriel Fehervari in 2004 and is owned by Alfacam....

, Melody Zen HD, Sci Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (France)
Syfy Universal is the French-speaking 24 hour science fiction entertainment channel based on the US version of the same name. The channel originally launched in December 2005 under the branding of the Sci-fi Channel. It became the fourth "Sci Fi Channel" alongside channels in the US, UK and Germany...

 HD and SD, 13ème Rue HD and SD, Orange cinemax HD...
 Germany ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...

 (Das Erste
Das Erste
Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen , marketed as Das Erste , is the principal publicly owned television channel in Germany...

, EinsExtra
EinsExtra
EinsExtra is a digital television channel from the German broadcaster ARD, available as part of the ARD digital package of channels. It launched on 30 August 1997....

, EinsFestival
EinsFestival
Einsfestival is a digital television channel from the German broadcaster ARD, which owns the flagship The First . It launched on 30 August 1997.Einsfestival is available on satellite and cable in Germany, and in some regions by digital terrestrial...

, EinsPlus
EinsPlus
EinsPlus is a digital television channel from the German broadcaster ARD, available as part of the ARD digital package of channels. It launched on 23 April 2005 as EinsMuXx...

; BR
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk [Bavarian Broadcasting] is the public broadcasting authority for the German Freistaat of Bavaria, with its main offices located in Munich. BR is a member of ARD.- Legal foundation :...

 and BR-alpha
BR-alpha
BR-alpha is a German television station owned by regional broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk BR-alpha broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with programmes from BR, as well as from ARD and Austrian broadcaster ORF.-Programmes:...

, HR
Hessischer Rundfunk
Hessischer Rundfunk is the public broadcaster for the German state of Hesse. The main offices of HR are in Frankfurt am Main. HR is a member of the ARD.- Studios :...

, WDR
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...

, SWR
Südwestrundfunk
The Südwestrundfunk is a public broadcasting company for the southwest of Germany, specifically the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The company has main offices in three cities: Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Mainz, with the director's office being in Stuttgart. It is an...

, RBB
Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg
Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg is an institution under public law for the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, situated in Berlin and Potsdam...

, RB
Radio Bremen
Radio Bremen , Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state of Bremen...

), ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...

, 3sat
3sat
3sat is the name of a public, advertising-free, television network in Central Europe. The programming is in German and is broadcast primarily within Germany, Austria and Switzerland .3sat was established for cultural...

, Arte
Arte
Arte is a Franco-German TV network. It is a European culture channel and aims to promote quality programming especially in areas of culture and the arts...

, DW-TV
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. The service is aimed at the overseas market. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio on 98.7 DZFE in 30 languages . It has a satellite television service , that is available in four languages, and...

, Phoenix
Phoenix (German TV station)
Phoenix is a publicly-funded television station in Germany which is produced jointly by public broadcasting organizations ARD and ZDF. Its programming consists of documentaries, news broadcasts, special events coverage, and discussion programmes...

; kabel eins, ProSieben, Sat.1
Sat.1
Sat.1 is a privately owned German television broadcasting station. Sat.1 was the first privately owned television broadcasting station in Germany, having started one day before RTL Television....

; RTL
RTL Television
Rtl.de' redirects here. For other uses, see RTL.RTL Television , or simply RTL, is a German commercial television station distributed via cable and satellite along with DVB-T , in larger population centres...

, RTL II
RTL II
RTL II is a privately owned, commercial, general-interest German television channel.It was founded as a second-generation commercial broadcaster in 1993. It quickly became infamous for its perceived "trash programming", comprising lots of soft porn as well as shows such as Peep and many...

, Super RTL
Super RTL
Super RTL is a Cologne-based German television network operated by RTL Disney Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG. It was the second German television channel aimed mostly at children...

, VOX; and others (all main channels)
 Greece Exclusively in 16:9 aspect ratio: Skai TV
Skai TV
Skai TV is a Greek TV station, based in Pireus, Athens. It is part of the Skai Group one of the largest media groups in Greece. It was relaunched in its present form on April 1, 2006 in Athens and gradually managed to spread its coverage nationwide. Besides analog over-the-air transmission, it is...

, Star Channel
Star Channel
Star Channel is a Greek television network that broadcasts a mix of foreign and Greek programming. It launched in December 1993 and is owned by Nea Tileorasi A.E.. The main news bulletin is called Star Eidiseis, which is currently hosted by Aimilios Liatsos...

, Prisma+
Prisma+
Prisma+ is a digital terrestrial commercial-free channel provided by ERT, the public broadcaster in Greece. It is the first digital channel in Greece . It is also the only channel in Greece, which is fully accessible for people with disabilities.-Programming:Prisma+ broadcasts a programme with a...

, Cine+
Cine+
Cine+ was a digital-only terrestrial channel, provided by ERT. Cine+ was a commercial-free 24-hour free-to-air channel. It started broadcasting April 25 2006 and it was the second digital terrestrial channel which opened in Greece.-Programming:...

, Sport+
Sport+ (Greece)
Sport+ was a digital terrestrial television station by ERT, which was a 20-hour commercial-free channel. It was the third digital terrestrial channel launched in Greece on . It broadcasted in Attica, Central Macedonia and Thessaly....

, MTV Greece
MTV Greece
MTV Greece is the Greek version of MTV, launched on September 1, 2008.MTV Greece broadcasts mainly English, American and Greek music, MTV's shows like Date My Mom, Made, Nitro Circus, RoomRaiders, America's Most Smartest Model, etc. subtitled in Greek, as well as three Greek shows...

, NovaCinema1, NovaCinema2, NovaCinema3, NovaCinema4, NovaCinema HD, NovaSports1, NovaSports2, NovaSports3, NovaSports4, NovaSports Highlights, NovaSports6, NovaSports7, NovaSports HD, Nickelodeon (Greece)
Nickelodeon (Greece)
Nickelodeon ' is the Greek version of Nickelodeon. It launched on 3 September 2010. It is available free-to-air in the Athens area on 35 UHF signal broadcast from Hymettus, while it is also available through the DIGEA DVB-T2 digital consortium on 54 UHF signal broadcast from Aegina.. Nickelodeon HD...

, KONTRA Channel, ERT HD
ERT HD
ERT HD is a high definition television channel by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, or ERT. It is the first high definition TV channel in Greece and started broadcasting on April 27, 2011 in several large Greek cities such as Athens, Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis...


Occasional in 16:9 aspect ratio: ET1, NET
New Hellenic Television
New Hellenic Television , branded as NET, is the second television network of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation , the public broadcaster of Greece. It is mainly a news and information channel that broadcasts daily newscasts with national and international news, documentaries, talkshows, current...

, ET3, Mega Channel
Mega Channel
Mega Channel, also known as Mega TV or just Mega, is a major television network in Greece. Teletypos S.A. was founded in 1989 under the name Teletypos Television Programmes S.A...

, Alpha TV
Alpha TV
Alpha TV is a Greek terrestrial channel . The station features a mix of Greek and foreign shows with an emphasis on entertainment programs. The studios are located near Athens...

 Hungary All main channels (RTL Klub
RTL Klub
RTL Klub is a television station owned by RTL Group and broadcast in Hungary. It was one of Hungary's first commercial TV channels and was only two days after the main rival TV2 to begin broadcasting.-About RTL Klub:...

, TV2
TV2 (Hungary)
TV2 is a Hungarian commercial television channel operating since 1997, providing a large variety of programming. It is owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG...

, Magyar Televízió
Magyar Televízió
Magyar Televízió is the Hungarian national public service television company, with three TV channels, called m1 , m2 and m3....

 (m1
M1 (TV channel)
m1 is a Hungarian television channel own and operated by Magyar Televízió. It is also transmitted in high definition.It was 24 hours in 2000 along with m2...

, m2
M2 (TV channel)
m2 is a Hungarian television channel own and operated by Magyar Televízió. It is also transmitted in high definition.-Transmission Hours throughout the years:...

), Duna TV
Duna TV
Duna TV or Duna Televízió is one of two public television services in Hungary. "Duna" is the Hungarian name for the Danube. Duna TV operates two channels: Channel 1 and Channel 2-Autonómia....

 (both standard and HD), Duna 2) FEM3, PRO4, Story4*, Sport Klub
Sport Klub
Sportklub is a European sports channel which has been broadcast in Hungary, Romania, Poland, Serbia and Slovenia since 2006. The Channel commenced broadcasts in Croatia during the autumn of 2007....

 , Sport 1
Sport 1
Sport 1 is a European sports channel which is currently available in Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania broadcasting in different languages...

, Sport 2, Sport M, Life Network, Ozone Network, Viasat3*, TV6*, ATV
ATV (Hungarian TV-channel)
ATV is the first Hungarian private TV channel, broadcasting continuously since 1989. The focus of programming is news, public life, current events. Licensed as a partially public service commercial television station, it is obliged to broadcasting public interest programs 50% of the time...

, Spektrum, DigiSport, 1 Music Channel, MusicMix,
* Do not set the aspect ratio correctly when broadcasting in 16:9 and the image appears stretched on 4:3 TV sets. Such stations use mostly 4:3 programming.
 Iceland All three national stations broadcast in 16:9 with occasional 4:3 programs. Some smaller local stations still use 4:3.
 Republic of Ireland RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...

, RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two
RTÉ Two is a free-to-air general entertainment channel operated by Irish state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. RTÉ Two is available throughout the island of Ireland through digital terrestrial service Saorview, VHF and UHF bands, and is also available via satellite to Irish subscribers of...

, TV3, TG4
TG4
TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....

, and Setanta Ireland
Setanta Ireland
Setanta Sports Ireland is a subscription based Irish sports channel featuring local and international sporting events. The channel is available on some basic cable packages in the Republic of Ireland, while it is available upon direct subscription to the Setanta Sports package on other networks...

 Italy All the 10 SKY Cinema channels, all the 6 SKY Sport channels, all the 15 SKY Calcio channels, all the 30 SKY Prima Fila
SKY Prima Fila
Sky Primafila is an Italian language pay-per-view service owned by Sky Italia and carried on it's Satellite Pay TV service.Launched in July 2003 with 17 channels, now counts 28 channels all offered in 16:9 Widescreen format. A HDTV service was launched on April 3, 2009 for 8 Primafila...

 channels, Cult
Cult (TV channel)
Cult is an Italian entertainment TV channel that broadcasts on channel 142 in the SKY Italia satellite television network....

, Sky TG24
SKY TG24
Sky TG24 is an Italian all-news channel, owned by Sky Italia, part of News Corporation.Launched on July 31, 2003, and provides round-the-clock of the news, with updates on every hour and half-hour...

, Sky Meteo24
SKY Meteo24
Sky Meteo24 is the first Italian television channel dedicated exclusively to weather forecasts, it was launched on August 1, 2004, owned by Sky Italia.-Logos:-External links:* on sky.it...

, Sky Uno, MGM
MGM (TV channel)
MGM Channel is a 24-hour global-based network that was launched in 1999 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios that airs movies from MGM's celebrated 4,000-title library - the largest modern film library in the world, including West Side Story, Midnight Cowboy, The Pope of Greenwich Village, The Manchurian...

 (localized version), Discovery Channel Italy
Discovery Channel Italy
Discovery Channel is an Italian television channel.Discovery Channel has been present in Italy since 1997 and has been exclusive to the Sky Italia platform since its launch in 2003...

, National Geographic Channel Italy, AXN Italy
AXN Italy
AXN is an Italian language television channel owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. It focuses on action-themed programmes, including action series and movies and action reality shows.The channel launched on Sky Italia channel 134 in October 2005...

, AXN Sci Fi
AXN Sci Fi
AXN Sci-Fi is a European movie channel owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. It is available in Italy, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Kazakhstan and Bulgaria on Sky Italia, Boom TV, Bulsatcom, Cyfra Plus, Cyfrowy Polsat, Digi TV, Dolce, iNES, Max TV and N...

, Comedy Central Italy, E!
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...

 (localized version), all the 6 dahlia TV
Dahlia TV
Dahlia TV was an Italian pay-per-view television network, available on digital terrestrial television, offering 12 Widescreen channels. Telecom Italia Media owns a 9% stake in the company.- Dahlia Calcio:...

 channels, all the 6 Premium Calcio
Mediaset Premium
Mediaset Premium is an Italian digital terrestrial television service provided by Mediaset. It provides pay tv and pay-per-view services through use of a smart card.-History:...

, all the 3 Premium Cinema
Mediaset Premium
Mediaset Premium is an Italian digital terrestrial television service provided by Mediaset. It provides pay tv and pay-per-view services through use of a smart card.-History:...

 channels, Studio Universal
Studio Universal
Studio Universal is a specialty television channel focused on films, owned by Universal Networks International. The programming is based on films and related programs with interviews, insights, short films and frequent themed nights or seasons in which are shown a number of films centred around...

, Rai Sport 1/2
Rai Sport 2
Rai Sport 2 is an Italian sports TV channel, launched on 18 May 2010 by the State-owned RAI television network. It broadcast Italian and international sports events in Italy on DTT channel 58 on Mux Rai B...

, QVC Italy.

Most of the actual broadcast of RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...

 public service and of few major local television stations and almost all of the broadcast of Mediaset
Mediaset
Mediaset S.p.A., known as Gruppo Mediaset in Italian, is an Italian-based media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country...

 and La7
La7
La7 is an Italian television channel owned by Telecom Italia Media and operated by Telecom Italia.-History:In 2001, Lorenzo Pellicioli and Roberto Colaninno, of Telecom Italia announced they had acquired Telemontecarlo, in order to create a strong competitor against the six other national channels...

 networks (except some rerun, a handful of minor programs and the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful on Canale 5
Canale 5
Canale 5 is an Italian private television network of Mediaset, the media branch of Fininvest. Canale 5 was the first private television network to have a national coverage in Italy in 1980, based on a local channel, TeleMilano 58, founded in 1978....

) is shown in the 16:9 ratio. Many television networks do not set correctly the aspect ratio when broadcasting.
 Latvia TV3 Latvia
TV3 Latvia
TV3 Latvia is a television channel targeted at a Latvian language audience owned by Modern Times Group . It was launched in 1998, but did not receive a terrestrial license until 2001...

, TV6
TV6 (Latvia)
TV6 Latvia is an entertainment television channel broadcasting to Latvia featuring series, music, fashion and sports. It was launched on April 22, 2007...

, LTV7
 Lithuania Lietuvos rytas TV, LNK
LNK (television station)
LNK TV, also known as Laisvas ir Nepriklausomas Kanalas , is one of the major commercial TV channels in Lithuania. It was founded in 1995. It has a sister channels TV1, Info TV and Liuks!.- External links :**...

, TV3 Lithuania
TV3 Lithuania
TV3 is a television channel owned by Modern Times Group and targeted at a Lithuanian-speaking audience. It was founded on May 7, 1992 and launched on April 11, 1993 as "Tele-3" before being renamed "TV3" in 1996....

, TV6
TV6 (Lithuania)
TV6 is a Lithuanian terrestrial, satellite and cable television channel owned by the Nordic television company Viasat. It was launched on March 31, 2002. In September 2008, it changed its name from Tango TV to TV6....

, TV8
TV8 (Lithuania)
TV8 is a Lithuanian terrestrial, satellite and cable television channel for women, owned by the Nordic television company Viasat. It was launched on October 3, 2011....

, TV1
TV1 (Lithuania)
TV1 is a TV channel in Lithuania, launched in 2003. It is a sister channel of LNK television....

, Info TV.
 Luxembourg RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg
RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg
RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg is the main television channel in Luxembourg, broadcasting in Luxembourgish.The small television market in Luxembourg led to a unique system in Europe: Luxembourg remains the only country in the world to run television stations in both the PAL and SECAM formats. Originally, both...

, Luxe.tv
Luxe.tv
Luxe.TV is a worldwide TV network broadcasting content related to "luxuries". The channel is based in Luxembourg but broadcasts across the world.-History:Luxe.TV was started by Jean Stock and his son Jean-Baptiste in June 2006...

 Malta
 Kingdom of Montenegro RTV Panorama
RTV Panorama
Radio Televizija Panorama is a local broadcasting company based in Pljevlja, Montenegro. The programmes of Radio Panorama and TV Panorama can be heard and seen in the Pljevlja area....

 Netherlands All nationwide channels (Netherlands Public Broadcasting, RTL
RTL Group
RTL Group is Europe's largest TV, radio and production company, and is majority-owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. It has 45 television and 32 radio stations in 11 countries...

, SBS
SBS Broadcasting Group
SBS Broadcasting Group was a European broadcasting group, operating commercial television, premium pay channels, radio stations and related print businesses in Western and Central and Eastern Europe...

), BravaHDTV
BravaHDTV
BravaHDTV is a Dutch cultural HDTV channel aimed at the European marked which launched on July 3, 2007. The programming consists of opera, ballet, and concertos. Productions are recorded in opera houses such as the Royal Opera House, the Teatro Real, and the La Scala...

. Only older programmes filmed in 4:3 are usually transmitted in their original format, as cropping a 4:3 picture for 16:9 TVs has proved unpopular.
 Norway 16:9 is the national standard for television — almost all channels conform to this format.
 Poland TVP1, TVP2, TVP Info
TVP Info
TVP Info is a Polish news channel, which replaced TVP3. It is run by the public broadcaster, TVP and dedicated to the country's regions. It had regional branches in most of the major Polish cities and, similarly to the France 3 in France or Rai Tre in Italy, for couple of hours every day it...

 (except some regional opt-outs), TVP Polonia
TVP Polonia
TVP Polonia is the international channel of the Telewizja Polska . The channel is co-funded by the TVP and the Polish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and broadcasts from the TVP headquarters in Warsaw...

, TVP HD
TVP HD
TVP HD - is a special High Definition version of the Polish public broadcasting channels . A digital terrestrial multiplex carrying the channel was available in Warsaw, Poznań, Zielona Góra, Żagań, Kraków, Leżajsk and Krosno from the 6 to 25 August 2008...

, TVP Sport
TVP Sport
TVP Sport is a Polish sport channel owned by TVP launched on 18 November 2006. The channel is available on n, cyfra+, cyfrowy polsat, as well as over cable providers....

, TVP Kultura
TVP Kultura
TVP Kultura is the first TV theme channel to be run by the Polish public broadcaster TVP. It was launched on April 24, 2005 and is dedicated to arts and culture. Every day of the week, the channel concentrates on other disciplines; e.g., cinema, music, etc...

, TVP Historia
TVP Historia
TVP Historia is a public, history channel available on cable, satellite and DSL.-External links:*...

, TVP Seriale
TVP Seriale
-External links:*...

, Polsat
Polsat
Polsat is Poland's second biggest television channel, founded on December 5, 1992 and owned by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak.Polsat belongs to the Polsat Group , which also owns other channels:*Polsat HD*Polsat 2 International*Polsat News*TV Biznes...

 (on DVB-T and in HD), Polsat 2, Polsat News
Polsat News
Polsat News is a Polish news channel, launched on 7 June 2008 at 7:00 AM . Being a part of the Polsat Network, Polsat News is owned by Polsat Group. It is available over Cyfrowy Polsat, Cyfra+ and UPC Poland digital platforms in Poland...

, Polsat Sport
Polsat Sport
Polsat Sport is a Polish sports channel owned by Polsat. It launched on 11 August 2000 and is available via satellite on Cyfrowy Polsat.-Logo History:-See also:* Polsat Sport HD* Polsat Sport Extra* Polsat Futbol...

, Polsat Sport Extra
Polsat Sport Extra
Polsat Sport Extra is a Polish television channel owned and operated by Polsat....

, Polsat Café
Polsat Café
Polsat Café is a Polish lifestyle television channel aimed primarily at women. It is owned and operated by Polsat....

, Polsat Film
Polsat Film
Polsat Film is a Polish television channel which broadcasts movies.Polsat received a license to broadcast on March 17, 2009, under the name "Polsat Kino". It started broadcasting on October 2, 2009. It is available from satellite platforms Cyfrowy Polsat, Cyfra+ and n. It was one of several...

, Polsat Play
Polsat Play
Polsat Play is a Polish lifestyle television channel aimed primarily at men. It is owned and operated by Polsat....

, Canal+
Canal+ Poland
Canal+ Poland is Poland's variation of the French television network Canal+. It is similar in many ways, including continuity and presentation. It also shows similar programs to Canal+ France like the tv-series The Simpsons....

, Canal+ Film
Canal+ Poland
Canal+ Poland is Poland's variation of the French television network Canal+. It is similar in many ways, including continuity and presentation. It also shows similar programs to Canal+ France like the tv-series The Simpsons....

, Canal+ Sport
Canal+ Poland
Canal+ Poland is Poland's variation of the French television network Canal+. It is similar in many ways, including continuity and presentation. It also shows similar programs to Canal+ France like the tv-series The Simpsons....

, Ale Kino!, TVS
TVS
-Television, Tele-Networking:* TVS Electronics, Computer peripherals manufacturing company from India* TVS Motors, motor manufacturing company from India* TVS, aka Television Sydney, free TV channel in Sydney, Australia...

, TVN
TVN (Poland)
TVN is a major Polish commercial television network. The broadcaster was co-founded by Polish businessmen Mariusz Walter and Jan Wejchert. The network launched on October 3, 1997. TVN belongs to the TVN S.A...

, TVN +1, TVN Siedem
TVN Siedem
TVN 7 is a Polish television channel specialising in action, drama and comedy shows and movies. The channel was launched on March 1, 2002, replacing RTL 7. It is part of the TVN network which is owned by ITI Group....

, Religia TV, TVN 24
TVN 24
TVN24 is Poland's first 24-hour news channel, launched on 9 August 2001. Being a part of the TVN Network, TVN24 is owned by ITI Group. It gained broader popularity after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the USA, which was the first major incident to be covered by TVN24...

, TVN Meteo
TVN Meteo
TVN Meteo is the first Polish channel dedicated exclusively to weather forecasts, it launched in May 2003. It is part of the TVN network and is owned by ITI Group. Its programmes are prepared by the same weather team that presents the forecasts for TVN Meteo's sister channel TVN 24 and the group's...

, TVN CNBC, TVN Style
TVN Style
TVN Style is a Polish channel aimed at women featuring the latest in fashion, health and beauty. It launched in August 2004 and is a part of the TVN network, owned by ITI Group.-Line-up:...

, TVN Turbo
TVN Turbo
TVN Turbo is a Polish TV channel aimed at men with a major focus on automotive programming, it launched in December 2003. It is part of the TVN network and is owned by ITI Group....

, TVN Warszawa, nSport
NSport
nSport is a Polish sport channel owned by ITI Group launched on 12 October 2006. The channel is available only for platform n....

, Mango 24, nFilm HD, nFilm HD 2, 4fun.tv, Eska TV
Eska TV
Eska TV is a free-to-air 24-hour Polish language music channel launched on August 8, 2008 in Poland. In the beginning there was only channel on the Internet. After receiving the license for satellite broadcasting, 28 May 2009 got to offer DTH platform n. April 26, 2011 received a concession for...

, TV4
TV4 (Poland)
TV 4 is a private Polish TV station.TV 4 was created through the amalgamation of the stations Nasza TV and Polsat 2 and started broadcasting on 1 April 2000. The station belongs to the Polskie Media. Polskie Media in approximately 90% owned by Polsat and approximately 9% of TVN...

, TV6
TV6 (Poland)
TV6 is a Polish television channel owned by Polskie Media . It was launched on 30 May 2011.. The sister channel is TV4, which exists since 2000.- Schedule :...

, Orange Sport Info, Domo, Kuchnia.tv, MiniMini
MiniMini
MiniMini+ is a Polish television channel owned and operated by Canal+. Its mainstreaming its programing mainly to 2-7 children....

, TV Biznes
TV Biznes
TV Biznes is the first Polish-language TV channel on economic issues. Suitable from 1 September 2004. TV Biznes broadcasts of a news and current affairs, stock quotes, business magazines and other programs....

, AXN
AXN
AXN is a Pay television, cable and satellite television channel owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which was first launched on May 22, 1997. The network is now spread across several regions in the world, including Japan, Europe, other parts of Asia and Latin America...

, National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...

, NatGeo Wild HD, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...

, FOX Life HD
Fox Life HD
Fox Life HD is the version of the Fox Life broadcasting only in high definition, owned by Fox Broadcasting Company and Fox International Channels Italy...

, MGM HD
MGM HD
MGM HD is an all high-definition television channel. It features commercial-free movies from MGM's library of approximately 1,200 movies mastered in a high-definition-compatible format as well as feature films from their library of 4,100 theatrical titles...

, Wojna i pokój, BBC Knowledge HD, Animal Planet HD, TLC
TLC (TV channel)
TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...

, Radio na wizji
 Portugal RTP HD (RTP 1 & 2 used PALPlus on some shows until 2010, now letterbox only), TVCine
TVCine
TVCine is a Portuguese premium television brand used on four movie channels, operated by ZON Multimédia. They showcase recent movies and premieres from all the major studios, as well as comedy, action, classic and old movies....

 (TVCine 1 & 2 have HD simulcasts), Canal Q, Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...

, AXN
AXN (Portugal)
AXN Portugal is the Portuguese version of the AXN network, owned by Sony. It was a Cabovisão exclusive in its beginning, but now it is available in all operators...

 (has HD simulcast) , AXN Black, National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...

 (has HD simulcast), Sony Entertainment Television
Sony Entertainment Television (Portugal)
Sony Entertainment Television in Portugal is a television channel operated by Sony Pictures Television International Networks Iberia. Its programming is basically focused on television series and movies. The channel was launched in Portugal on April 14, 2008, as part of the meo and Optimus Clix TV...

 (has HD simulcast), SportTV
Sport TV
SportTV is the brand name for a group of seven Portuguese sports-oriented television channels. SportTV is the dominant subscription television sports brand in Portugal. The first channel, then known as only SportTV, was launched on 16 September 1998 and is produced by ZON Multimédia and...

 (all main channels in HD starting August 13th), Syfy Universal, Económico TV (has HD simulcast)
 Kingdom of Romania Occasional 16:9 widescreen programming shown on The Romanian Public Broadcaster's channels (TVR 1
TVR 1
TVR1 is the main channel of the Romanian public broadcaster TVR.The most important show of the channel is Jurnalul TVR, whose motto is Jurnalul aşa cum ar trebui sǎ fie! , but on 28 March 2009 was replaced by Telejurnal...

, TVR 2
TVR 2
TVR2, Televiziunea Română 2 , is the second channel of the public broadcaster TVR.The channel was created in 1968, but it was suspended from 1985 until after the fall of the Communist regime in 1989...

, TVR Cultural
TVR Cultural
TVR Cultural is the cultural channel of Romania's government-funded television network Televiziunea Română. It provides cultural news, documentaries about the arts, as well as various shows, musicals and theatrical pieces.-References:*...

), Sport.ro
Sport.ro
Sport.ro is a private channel in Romania, launched on July 27, 2003 and dedicated entirely to sports. Sport.ro reaches nearly 64% of the population of 21.5 million inhabitants of Romania and its broadcast schedule contains domestic and international sporting events...

, B1 TV
B1 TV
B1 TV is a Romanian television channel, which started broadcasting on December 14, 2001.-External links:*...

 and DigiSport. SD version aired in 16:9-in-4:3 letterbox on PRO Cinema
PRO Cinema
PRO Cinema is a Romanian movie channel that is owned by Central European Media Enterprises and launched on April 19, 2004. It was the first Romanian TV channel dedicated exclusively to movies, and as such it attracted a significant audience from its very inception, mainly in the 18-49 urban...

 and MTV Romania. Full 16:9 widescreen programming aired on all HD channels: TVR HD
TVR HD
TVR HD is a high-definition version of the Romanian public broadcasting channel TVR. The channel broadcasted Euro 2008 and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games in high definition...

, PRO TV HD and Sport.ro HD.
 Russia Channel 1
Channel One (Russia)
Channel One is the first television channel to broadcast in the Soviet Union. The channel was renamed Ostankino Channel 1 in 1991, after the Soviet Union broke up and the Russian SFSR became the Russian Federation. According to a recent government publication, the Russian government controls 51%...

, Sport 1 HD, Dozhd Optimistic Channel, Expert TV HD, Fox Life HD, NTV+, Eurosport, HDMedia, RT
RT (TV network)
RT, previously known as Russia Today, is a global multilingual television news network based in the Russian Federation run by the state-owned state-run RIA Novosti....

 Serbia RTS HD, RTS Digital, Arena Sport 1, 2, 3 & 4 HD, Prva
Prva
Prva or Prva Srpska Televizija or 1Prva is a Serbian commercial television network.Launched in December 2006, the network is owned by Greek Antenna Group since December 2009. From its inception until December 2009, the network was majority owned by global media conglomerate News Corporation...

, Sport Klub
Sport Klub
Sportklub is a European sports channel which has been broadcast in Hungary, Romania, Poland, Serbia and Slovenia since 2006. The Channel commenced broadcasts in Croatia during the autumn of 2007....

, Sport Klub+, SK Prime
 Slovakia Markíza
Markíza
Markíza is a television station in Slovakia. The station launched on 31 August 1996. The station was owned by the politician Pavol Rusko, and is now part of CME network...

, Slovenská televízia (STV1, STV2, STV3 HD), JOJ, TV Doma
TV Doma
Television Doma is the first niche channel aimed at young, active women in Slovakia. The channel, which launched on August 31, 2009, is owned by Central European Media Enterprises and currently has a reach of approximately 92% of the country's 5.4 million people and broadcasts 24 hours per...

 Slovenia All main channels (RTV Slovenija
Radiotelevizija Slovenija
Radiotelevizija Slovenija – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in the country's capital, Ljubljana, it has regional broadcasting centres in Koper and Maribor and correspondents around Slovenia, Europe and the world...

 (TVS 1, TVS 2, TVS 3, TV KP), Info TV, POP TV
POP TV
POP TV is a Slovenian commercial television station operated by the multi-media company PRO PLUS d.o.o.It is a TV channel with the highest ratings in Slovenia , and at the same time the most popular and trustworthy...

, POP BRIO, Kanal A
Kanal A
Kanal A is the first commercial television station in Slovenia. The television program, which has been operating within PRO PLUS d.o.o., has national coverage. In its primary target group of viewers , Kanal A is the second most watched TV programme in Slovenia...

, Sport TV 1
Šport TV (Slovenia)
Šport TV is Slovenia's first sport only public broadcasting channel. Based in the country's capital, Ljubljana. Television was launched on October 14, 2006....

, Sport TV 2
Šport TV (Slovenia)
Šport TV is Slovenia's first sport only public broadcasting channel. Based in the country's capital, Ljubljana. Television was launched on October 14, 2006....

, Sportklub+
Sport Klub
Sportklub is a European sports channel which has been broadcast in Hungary, Romania, Poland, Serbia and Slovenia since 2006. The Channel commenced broadcasts in Croatia during the autumn of 2007....

, Golfklub, HBO Slovenija
HBO Central Europe
HBO Central Europe is a premium pay television service operating in eleven countries in Central and Eastern Europe: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Moldova, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The headquarters are located in...

, TV3 Slovenia
TV3 Slovenia
TV3 is a television channel in Slovenia owned by Modern Times Group . The channel was also known as Prva TV from 1 November 2004 to 1 October 2006....

, RTS Maribor) and all HD channels (Televizija Slovenija
Radiotelevizija Slovenija
Radiotelevizija Slovenija – usually abbreviated to RTV Slovenija – is Slovenia's national public broadcasting organization. Based in the country's capital, Ljubljana, it has regional broadcasting centres in Koper and Maribor and correspondents around Slovenia, Europe and the world...

 HD, Info TV HD, RTS Maribor HD)
 Spain Always on 16:9: Antena 3
Antena 3 (Spain)
Antena 3 is a Spanish terrestrial television channel owned by Antena 3 de Televisión. Some of the more popular programmes broadcast by Antena 3 include Aquí no hay quien viva, El Barco, Los Protegidos, Los Simpson and El Internado....

, Cuatro, laSexta, Telecinco
Telecinco
Telecinco is a Spanish commercial television channel operated by Mediaset España. Launched in 1990 as Tele 5, it was the fifth of the national terrestrial television channels. In 1997, Tele 5 was rebranded as Telecinco, dropping the flower logo seen in other Mediaset channel...

, Veo7, MTV Spain
MTV Spain
MTV España is the Spanish-speaking version of the popular 24-hour music and youth entertainment channel. MTV España is available on digital satellite Pay-TV offer Digital+, IPTV , many cable networks and from September 2010 on digital terrestrial television .-History:* MTV España was launched in...

, Neox, Nova
Nova
A nova is a cataclysmic nuclear explosion in a star caused by the accretion of hydrogen on to the surface of a white dwarf star, which ignites and starts nuclear fusion in a runaway manner...

, Nitro
Nitro (TV channel)
Nitro is a Spanish commercial television channel owned by Antena 3 de Televisión. Its programming is aimed towards a male audience.-External links:*...

, Teledeporte
Teledeporte
Teledeporte is a Spanish sports channel owned by TVE, launched in 1994 through Hispasat. It was the second sports channel to launch in Spain, after Eurosport and before Sportmanía or Canal+ Deporte. It broadcast the main Spanish and international sports events...

, Marca TV
MARCA TV
MARCA TV is a Spanish sports television channel owned by Unidad Editorial. The channel is a joint venture between Mediapro, responsible for producing the channel's content, and Veo Televisión, licensee of the multiplex.-History:...

, Intereconomia, AXN
AXN
AXN is a Pay television, cable and satellite television channel owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, which was first launched on May 22, 1997. The network is now spread across several regions in the world, including Japan, Europe, other parts of Asia and Latin America...

 (PPV), FOX Spain (PPV), Discovery Channel Spain (PPV), Calle 13 (PPV), Canal+ Spain
Canal+ Spain
Canal+ 1, formerly known simply as Canal+ is a Spanish commercial television channel, launched in September 1990 on terrestrial television frequencies. The channel is operated by Sogecable. The main staples of Canal+ 1 are Spanish football, bullfighting and recent movies.In 1997 new channels using...

 (PPV), Eurosport
Eurosport
Eurosport is a pan-European television sport network operated by French broadcaster TF1 Group. The network of channels are available in 59 countries, in 20 different languages providing viewers with European and international sporting events...

 (PPV), Gol Televisión
Gol Televisión
This article is about the Spanish sports network. For the similarly named and themed network in the United States, see GOL TV.Gol Televisión commonly known as Gol T, is a Spanish sports pay tv network dedicated fully to football...

 (PPV), ETB (Euskadi), Canal Sur
Canal Sur
Canal Sur is part of Radio y Televisión de Andalucía , the public broadcasting company of Andalusia. It was created by means of the devolved powers given to this region by Act of Parliament by its statute of autonomy....

 (Andalusia), TV3 (Catalonia)
TV3 (Catalonia)
TV3 is the primary television channel of Catalan public broadcaster Televisió de Catalunya, a subsidiary of the CCMA. TV3 broadcasts programs only in Catalan, with an optional dual track in the original language for some foreign-language series and movies...

, Telemadrid
Telemadrid
Telemadrid is the first autonomous public television station of Madrid and the fifth national station, after those of Catalonia, Euskadi, Galicia and Andalusia. It is affiliated with FORTA since its inception, and it is a public channel that belongs exclusively to the autonomous government of...

 (Madrid), and Aragon TV (Aragón). All HD channels like TVE HD
TVE HD
TVE HD is a high-definition channel run by the Spanish public broadcaster Televisión Española. The channel broadcast the 2008 Olympic Games in high-definition. It was available via pay-TV platforms Digital+ and Imagenio, but not on digital terrestrial and free to air as originally planned the...

, Antena 3 HD, TV3 HD
TV3 HD
TV3 HD is a high-definition broadcast of Catalonia's first public television channel, TV3. It is owned by Televisió de Catalunya , a subsidiary of the CCRTV....

, Telemadrid HD, FOX HD (PPV), MTVnHD
MTVNHD
MTV Live HD is an international 24-hour HD music and entertainment television network that is operated by Viacom International Media Networks' subsidiary MTV Networks Poland...

 (PPV) or Disney Cinemagic Spain (PPV).
Older programmes filmed in 4:3 are transmitted in their original format or zooming to 14:9 Pillarbox, stretched programs are not common.

Advertisements filmed in 4:3 often are zoomed to 16:9, only some of them are transmitted with 4:3 Pillarbox. Never stretching.

Often on 16:9: La 1, La 2, Disney Channel Spain
Disney Channel Spain
Disney Channel Spain is a free-to-air television channel and is an edition of the The Walt Disney Company-owned Disney Channel, broadcasting in Spain. It is marketed to mostly children; however, in recent years the diversity of viewers has increased with an older audience. It is owned by Disney-ABC...

, La 10, La Siete, FDF, laSexta 2, laSexta 3 and practically all of the regional tv channels like Cyl TV, CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...

 or TVG
TVG
Televisión de Galicia , commonly known as A Galega , is the primary television channel of Galician public broadcaster Compañía de Radio Televisión de Galicia .-History:...

.

Sometimes on 16:9: Canal 24 Horas
Canal 24 Horas
Canal 24 Horas is TVE's 24-hour news channel. Having launched on Monday, September 15, 1997, it is Spain's first news and information channel....

, Clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...

, Intereconomia (stretches most of its programming to 16:9) and practically all of the local tv channels.

Always on 4:3: Practically all PPV Channels like The History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...

, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....

, El Canal de Las Estrellas or CNN+
CNN+
CNN+ was a Spanish 24-hour television news channel. Launched in 1999 as a joint venture by Sogecable and by Turner Broadcasting, a unit of Time Warner that owns CNN; it went off the air at the end of ....

. Shop channels.
 Sweden Almost all main channels as 16:9 is the national standard for television.
 Switzerland All SRG SSR channels
 Turkey TRT Türk
TRT Türk
TRT Türk is the International TV channel of the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation broadcast in other countries.TRT Türk’s task was enhance the understanding of the possibilities Turkey and Turkic Republics may possess or take advantage of in various fields through the programs aiming at the...

, CNBC-e
CNBC-e
CNBC-e is a hybrid business/financial and entertainment channel operated in Turkey by CNBC Europe and the NTV Group.The channel shares its name with a co-owned magazine about CNBC-e....

, e2
E2 (TV channel)
e2 is a Turkish television channel that often broadcasts American series. It is owned by the Doğuş Group.-Entertainment programmes:The following is an incomplete list of shows which have aired and/or are currently airing on e2:* 24...

, a Haber, World Travel Channel, Semerkand TV, Altaş TV, HTV, TarımTürk TV, TürkMax, Lig TV, Moviemax, Sinema TV
 Ukraine English Club TV
English Club TV
English Club TV is a TV channel for those who study English. The channel’s content consists of documentaries, feature films, cartoons and music videos, which are adapted for learning English. The program schedule is divided into several blocks that correspond to different levels and age groups. The...

 United Kingdom BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 began using 16:9 for idents and some television shows from 1997 and broadcasted such idents and shows in the 14:9
14:9
14:9 is a compromise aspect ratio of 1.56:1. It is used to create an acceptable picture on both 4:3 and 16:9 televisions, conceived following audience tests conducted by the BBC...

 aspect ratio as the televisions were analogue. In 1998, with the introduction of Digital Television, viewers could watch in 16:9 and the full switch to 16:9 broadcast was made for these three channels. Channel 5 was still broadcasting in both 4:3 and 14:9
14:9
14:9 is a compromise aspect ratio of 1.56:1. It is used to create an acceptable picture on both 4:3 and 16:9 televisions, conceived following audience tests conducted by the BBC...

 until 2002 when it switched to 16:9. Sky
Sky
The sky is the part of the atmosphere or outer space visible from the surface of any astronomical object. It is difficult to define precisely for several reasons. During daylight, the sky of Earth has the appearance of a pale blue surface because the air scatters the sunlight. The sky is sometimes...

 owned channels broadcasted in 4:3 until the 2003 re-brand of all channels which included the switch to 16:9.

As of March 2011, most standard definition channels broadcast in 16:9, with an exception of all MTV
MTV Networks Europe
MTV Networks Europe is a division of Viacom International Media Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom.MTV Networks Europe includes the multimedia entertainment brands: MTV, VH1, TMF, VIVA, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Nick Jr...

 owned/branded channels, all Turner Broadcasting owned channels, all CSC Media Group owned channels and three out of eleven Discovery owned channels.

All 16:9 content is either cropped to 4:3 or 14:9
14:9
14:9 is a compromise aspect ratio of 1.56:1. It is used to create an acceptable picture on both 4:3 and 16:9 televisions, conceived following audience tests conducted by the BBC...

, it can also be letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...

ed. Advertisements are be shown in 14:9
14:9
14:9 is a compromise aspect ratio of 1.56:1. It is used to create an acceptable picture on both 4:3 and 16:9 televisions, conceived following audience tests conducted by the BBC...

 or letterboxed 16:9 on 4:3 channels.

HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 feeds of all channels broadcast in 16:9 1080i
1080i
1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...

.

In Oceania

Country Channel
 Australia All major channels since the introduction of DVB-T
DVB-T
DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting — Terrestrial; it is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in the UK in 1998...

 in 2001
 New Zealand All major channels.

In Asia

Japan's Hi-Vision originally started with a 5:3 ratio but converted when the international standards group introduced a wider ratio of 5 to 3 (=16:9).
Country Channel
 Hong Kong All major channels since the digital television broadcasting in 2007.
 India Almost All channels feature 16:9 Aspect Ratio.
 Israel All main channels, including but not limited to Hot
Hot (Israel)
HOT Telecommunication Systems Ltd. is a company that provides cable television, last-mile Internet access, broadband and telecommunication services in Israel. It also provides various data transmission services and network services at different rates, services to the business sector and other...

, Yes.
 Japan Japan pioneered in its analogue HDTV system (MUSE) in 16:9 format, started in 1980s. Currently all main channels have Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...

 channels in 16:9 while being simulcast in analogue 4:3 format. Many satellite broadcast channels are being broadcasted in 16:9 as well.
 South Korea All major channels currently feature 16:9 aspect.
 Qatar All Al Jazeera Sports
Al Jazeera Sports
Al Jazeera Sports is a popular Arabic-language sports channel launched in November 2003 by the well-known Al Jazeera network.Al Jazeera Sports also owns the exclusive broadcasting rights in the Middle East for major football leagues, such as the Spanish La Liga, the French Ligue 1 and the Italian...

 channels, ESPN channels and NBA TV
NBA TV
NBA TV is a television specialty channel that is dedicated to showcasing the sport of basketball in the United States. The network is financially backed by the National Basketball Association , which also uses NBA TV as a way of advertising their out of market package NBA League Pass, and partner...

.
 Thailand Thai PBS, Spring News TV and Voice TV
 United Arab Emirates Alarabiya (Since 06.14.2011).
 Vietnam All of VTC HD's channel, K+'s channel (selected programme)

See also

  • High-definition television
    High-definition television
    High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

  • Display resolution
    Display resolution
    The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...

  • 1080p
    1080p
    1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....

     / 1080i
    1080i
    1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...

  • 720p
    720p
    720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...

  • 4:3
  • 14:9
    14:9
    14:9 is a compromise aspect ratio of 1.56:1. It is used to create an acceptable picture on both 4:3 and 16:9 televisions, conceived following audience tests conducted by the BBC...

  • 16:10
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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