Opening an discussion about NTSC: 648×486 vs 720×540

[Steve Roberts]

Rectangular pixels are tall in NTSC, wide in PAL.

720×486 looks like 4×3 on a TV because the pixels are tall on TV.
It looks wider than 4×3 on a computer because those pixels are square, and 720 pixels by 486 squares is wider than 4×3.

648×486 pixels looks like 4:3 (normal) on a computer monitor because 648×486 is actually 4×3.

Don’t even mention widescreen. 🙂

Steve

[David Frisk]

Wow. That explains everything to me. Thank you very much Steve. I was under the assumption that NTSC rectangular pictures were rectangularly wide, not tall (Is rectangulary a word?). Anyway, that definitely makes so much sense now.

I know this probably isn’t the right forum for this, but since we’re on this topic I just thought I’d throw a couple simple questions out there (Exactly what Steve didn’t want me to do…sorry). But, do high def TVs use square pixels, rectangular, or can they use either? And, is there such a thing as standard def wide screen, or is all wide screen stuff always high def?

If anyone cares to give me a quick, simple answer, I’d appreciate it. I know this isn’t the forum for it but I thought I’d ask. Thanks

David