Letterbox vs. 16:9 any difference?

[cobra967]

Is there any difference between letterbox and 16:9 movies? Also, some time I see movies classified as 4:3 by DVD2AVI and TMPGEnc but then they appear to me like 16:9


I am totally lost with this ratios issue. Any clarification is appreciated.

In once occasion I had done a DVD that was playing ok at the ratio of 16:9 from the file before burning the DVD. However, once I dunned the DVD it was playing squashed than the original.....why is that?

Any help will help.

[Conquest10]

16:9 is letterbox.

[VidGuy]

Actually, 16:9 is an aspect ratio - letterbox is a way of presenting a 16:9 aspect ratio video on a 4:3 (normal TV) display.

If you have a 16:9 (widescreen) display, a 16:9 movie is not "letterboxed".

Movies with a 16:9 aspect ratio are sometimes encoded on DVDs as letterboxed for a 4:3 display or as "anamorphic" for either 4:3 or 16:9 (the DVD player is typically told which kind of display it is, and it displays the anamorphic video letterboxed on 4:3 or fullscreen on 16:9 displays.

[Conquest10]

well, you know what i meant. on a 4:3 tv letterbox is the way to display a 16:9 movie in its correct aspect ratio.