Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1744)

Appendix C Working With Anamorphic 16:9 Media 393
V
About Letterboxing
When 16:9 video is displayed on a standard definition 4:3 monitor, you’ll see black bars
at the top and bottom of the picture. The result is known as letterboxing.
If the original, unmodified 16:9 anamorphic image has 480 active lines (NTSC DV, for
example), then the letterboxed version of this image will only be 360 lines tall,
comprising 75 percent of the total viewable area of the monitor. As a result, 25 percent
of the displayed video frame is black.
If you permanently letterbox your footage going from standard definition anamorphic
to standard definition letterboxed, you lose the maximum resolution available in the
original, anamorphic source footage. You should only letterbox your video when you
are finished editing and want to deliver a tape that will look right on consumer
equipment. DVDs can support anamorphic video, so you can retain the native
resolution of your footage when transferring to DVD without letterboxing.
This picture is
letterboxed.