What is Aspect Ratio? (4:3 16:9 21:9 1:1) Everything you need to Know

Last Updated on November 20, 2021 by Tech Queries Team

You might have heard about the term Aspect Ratio several times when talking about Monitor or Videos. Or, even while recording video on your mobile, you will get the option to select the Aspect Ratio between 1:1, 4:3, 16:9, etc. It is one of the important things to consider when buying a Monitor. So, What is Aspect Ratio? Can we change the Aspect Ratio of an Image or Video, How to use the Aspect Ratio Calculator to find the Aspect Ratio of a video? We will answer all these questions.

What is Aspect Ratio?

Basically, the Aspect Ratio is used to indicate the horizontal and vertical Ratio of a video or screen. Aspect Ratio is different from Screen Resolution. Screen Resolution indicates the number of pixels placed horizontally and vertically. Screen Size indicates the length and height of a device physically. Whereas, Aspect Ratio refers to the width and height of a video or picture. 

For Example, a square is 1:1, because all the sides are equal. Therefore, a 1:1 Aspect Ratio will be Square in shape.

Similarly, an Aspect Ratio of 4:3 indicates that the picture is 4 units wide and 3 units high. It indicates the width of a picture/video in relation to its height. Some of the popular Aspect Ratios are 4:3, 16:9, 1:1, etc. 

4:3 can also be written as 1.22 : 1

16:9 can also be written as 1.78 : 1

16:9 is the most common Aspect Ratio used these days. The Aspect Ratio of your Computer Monitor or TV is most probably 16:9, the Aspect Ratio of most cameras is 16:9, and most videos on YouTube are in 16:9 Ratio. Therefore, if you watch 16:9 Ratio Videos on the 16:9 screen, the video will cover the entire screen. On the other hand, if you play a 21:9 Ratio video on a 16:9 Monitor, the video will not fill the screen. You can see blank areas on the top and bottom of the screen.

Similarly, the 4:3 Ratio video will leave gaps on both sides of the video. 4:3 Ratio was used in the olden days when the monitors used to be square in shape. However, engineers felt that the 16:9 Ratio is more pleasant to watch. Therefore, even modern Smartphones come with a 16:9 or 16:10 Ratio.

When you watch a movie on your computer screen, the video does not fill the screen. You can see a black screen on the upper and lower sides of the video. It is because most movies use a 21:9 ratio. The 21:9 Ratio is mostly used in movies, as the theatres have a 21:9 Ratio screen.

Another popular Screen Ratio is 1:1. It is mostly used in Instagram, Whatsapp Display Pic, and Logos. Moreover, your mobile phones capture pics and videos in a 16:9 Ratio. Therefore, you need to crop the image when uploading on Instagram or changing the profile picture. 

Aspect Ratio Calculator:

Here is a Simple Aspect Ratio Calculator. Click on the link to go to the website, and simply enter the Screen Resolution (Width & Height) to see the exact Aspect Ratio as shown in the image.

How to Change Aspect Ratio?

Here are online tools that will help you edit or change the Aspect Ratio of any image/video. 

Online Tool 1:

1. You can go to Flexclip.com, which is an online editing tool.
2. As you can see in the picture, you will get a video editing Dashboard. Here you can add pics and videos by using Drag and Drop methods as well.
3. Finally, click on the More option at the bottom, and here you can change the Aspect Ratio of any Image or Video. Moreover, you can even zoom and adjust the video in the frame.

Online Tool 2:

1. All you need to do is, go to Croppola.com and upload your image.
2. As you see in the image, you can select any Aspect Ratio, and it will show you a Live Preview. 

• However, you can switch to the Manual Tab and enter a custom Aspect Ratio.

Change Video Aspect Ratio Offline:

If you want to view a video in different Aspect Ratios, then use VLC Media Player. While playing the video in VLC, simply press the Hotkey A to change the Aspect Ratio of the video. However, it does not change the Aspect Ratio of the video permanently. As soon as you close the Media Player, the video will return back to its original Aspect Ratio. 

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To change the Aspect Ratio of a Video permanently, you need video editing software. 

Change Aspect Ratio in Windows Computer:

You can even change the entire Aspect Ratio in your Windows PC.

• First, right-click on your desktop and select the Display Settings option.

• Here you can see the Display Resolution with a Dropdown menu that has several screen resolutions.

• Now, before you change the resolution, check it on the website we mentioned above. 
• Enter the resolution and see if it’s 16:9, 16:10, 4:3, etc.
• For example, the default screen resolution is 1920 x 1080 (Full HD), which is a 16:9 Ratio. However, you can change it to 800×600 to get a 4:3 Ratio.

• Note that changing the resolution will not leave blank space on your Monitor. It will stretch the screen to fill the entire area.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Conclusion:

Now that you understood What is Aspect Ratio, you can use the VLC player and toggle between different Aspect Ratio by using Key A. Also, note that changing the resolution does not mean changing in Aspect Ratio. A 720p, 1080p, and 4K video can have the same Aspect Ratio. These days, people are also using Verticle video and uploading on short video platforms. These videos are in the 9:16 Ratio, the opposite of 16:9.