How much wider is 16:9 than 4:3?

At the same height, a 16:9 frame is about 33% wider than 4:3. The other way around — at the same width — a 4:3 frame is about 33% taller than 16:9. The overlay view above shows this clearly.

What happens when I watch a 4:3 video on a 16:9 screen?

The player shows the video at the correct shape and fills the extra space on the left and right with black bars. This is called pillarboxing. The picture is not cropped, stretched or distorted — the wider screen simply has room left over.

Is 4:3 still used anywhere?

Yes. Older TV shows and films were made in 4:3, many iPad apps and Micro Four Thirds cameras use it, and a lot of presentation templates still default to 4:3 so they fit on older projectors. It is no longer the standard for new video or new screens.

Is 16:9 the same as widescreen?

In everyday use, yes. When people say widescreen today they almost always mean 16:9. In cinema, true widescreen formats are even wider (such as 2.39:1), but for TVs, monitors and online video 16:9 is what the word refers to.

Can I compare other ratios with this tool?

Yes. The page opens with 4:3 and 16:9 selected, but the tool stays fully interactive. Switch either side to another preset, or enter a custom width and height to compare any two formats.

4:3 vs 16:9

The square-ish 4:3 ruled television and computer screens for decades. Then 16:9 came along and stretched the picture sideways. See the change for yourself, frame by frame.

Side-by-side comparison

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4:3 VS 16:9

Compare 4:3 and 16:9

The tool starts with 4:3 on the left and 16:9 on the right. Use the buttons to overlay or normalize the shapes, add a photo or video, or pick a different ratio on either side.

Ratio A

Select Ratio

Width Height

Current Ratio:

: (:1)

Ratio B

Select Ratio

Width Height

Current Ratio:

: (:1)

View Mode

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Visual Comparison

Comparison Results

Percentage Difference

Decimal Ratios

Wider Ratio

Understanding 4:3 and 16:9

Two formats from two different eras of screen design

4:3 — sometimes written as 1.33:1 — was the standard for almost everything with a screen until the mid-2000s: televisions, computer monitors, even early digital cameras. 16:9 (1.78:1) is the widescreen format that replaced it and now dominates HD and 4K video, modern monitors, smartphones in landscape and online streaming.

4:3 — the classic A ratio of 1.33:1. Born with broadcast TV, it shaped how films, shows and software were framed for most of the 20th century. Still common in older content, presentations and some camera modes.

16:9 — the modern default A ratio of 1.78:1. At the same height, a 16:9 frame is about 33% wider than 4:3. It matches HD broadcasts, YouTube, streaming, gaming and almost every screen sold today.

Where you still meet 4:3 Old TV shows, vintage films, classroom projectors, some iPad apps and Micro Four Thirds photography. Many slide decks also still default to 4:3 for older displays.

What happens to a 4:3 video on 16:9 You get black bars on the left and right — called pillarboxing. The picture is not stretched or cut, the wider screen simply has more space than the older format needs.

4:3 vs 16:9: what the numbers mean

Both numbers describe how wide a screen is compared to its height. 4:3 works out to 1.33, meaning the picture is only a third wider than it is tall. 16:9 is 1.78 — noticeably more stretched along the horizon. At the same height, a 16:9 frame is about 33% wider than 4:3. That single change is the reason a modern TV looks so different from one you grew up with in the 1990s.

Why 4:3 was the standard for so long

The 4:3 ratio came from early cinema and was adopted by television in the 1940s. Camera tubes, picture tubes and broadcast equipment were all built around it, so for decades there was no real reason to change. Computer monitors followed television, and even the first digital cameras kept the same shape. If you remember bulky CRT screens, you remember 4:3.

Why 16:9 took over

16:9 was designed as a compromise between cinema formats and television. When HD video was standardised in the 1990s, broadcasters and manufacturers agreed on 16:9 so that widescreen films would fit better and TV could feel more cinematic. Flat panels made the change easy: an LCD can be cut to any shape. Once HD content, DVDs and later streaming all moved to widescreen, the old 4:3 format faded away from new hardware almost completely.

Pillarbox, letterbox and stretched pictures

When a 4:3 video plays on a 16:9 screen, the player adds black bars on the sides — this is pillarboxing. The image stays correct, it simply does not fill the extra width. The opposite happens with a 16:9 video on a 4:3 screen: black bars appear above and below, which is called letterboxing. The thing to avoid is stretching: forcing a 4:3 picture to fill a 16:9 frame makes faces wider and circles oval. Most players handle this for you, but older TVs and badly configured projectors can still get it wrong.

Which one should you use today?

For almost any new video, screen or display, 16:9 is the safe choice. It matches the hardware people actually own. 4:3 still makes sense in specific cases: archival material, certain photography styles, some social formats and slide decks shown on older projectors. If you are unsure, look at where the content will be viewed — that decides the ratio, not the other way around.

See the difference yourself

Use the comparison above and switch on the photo or video preview to feel the change in shape. The overlay view places one ratio on top of the other so you can see exactly where the extra width of 16:9 sits compared to the older 4:3 frame. You can swap either side for another ratio at any time.