Apple Final Cut Pro 7 - Manual (Page 1946)

• To create SD footage whose aspect ratio is compatible with 16:9 HD footage or film
Displaying 16:9 Anamorphic Video
By default, 16:9 anamorphic video displayed on an SD monitor appears horizontally
squeezed—meaning images look tall and thin. Many computer applications, monitors,
and DVD players are capable of “unsqueezing” 16:9 anamorphic video so that the image
appears as intended.
About Letterboxing
When 16:9 video is displayed on an SD 4:3 monitor, you’ll see bars at the top and bottom
of the picture because a 16:9 image cannot entirely fill a 4:3 screen. This presentation
mode is called letterboxing and is often used synonymously with the term widescreen.
Widescreen video requires letterboxing only when displayed on a 4:3 display.
16:9 video letterboxed
in a 4:3 display
Letterboxing should be used only for displaying images—not recording them. For example,
you could easily mask the top and bottom of a 4:3 camera during recording to create
letterboxed 16:9 footage, but many video lines would be wasted this way, reducing video
resolution. Similarly, after you capture 16:9 anamorphic video, you should keep it in
anamorphic mode as long as possible and avoid letterboxing the footage unless you
have to. Even during export and output, there are many devices that can properly display
16:9 anamorphic footage. For example, most DVD players can stretch your footage when
connected to a 16:9 display or letterbox footage when connected to a 4:3 display.
Recording Anamorphic Video
Anamorphic video can be acquired in one of three ways.
• Using a camera with a 16:9 CCD: A charge-coupled device (CCD) is the element of a
video camera that actually takes the image after it comes through the lens and turns
it into an electronic image. Some SD camcorders have CCDs with a 16:9 aspect ratio,
so they actually capture full-resolution 16:9 video prior to squeezing the image
anamorphically for recording.
1946 Appendix E Working with Anamorphic 16:9 Media