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Resolutions, Aspect Ratios, Frames Per Second

Category: APPENDIX

Resolution is how many Horizontal x Vertical dots/pixels you have on your display. I.e. 1920 x 1080. Aspect ratio is the horizontal width divided by the vertical height, i.e.:  . Aspect Ratio tells you if the display is more square or more rectangle.

The glitch video artist will encounter Resolutions and Aspect Ratios as they go in between different gear or programs. Some common formats are:

Name

Resolution

Aspect Ratio

Notes

35mm Film / DSLR camera

Varies

3:2

Photography aspect ratio

VGA (NTSC)

640x480

4:3

Early, popular computer monitor resolution.

Composite (NTSC)

910x525 samples 4fsc (720x480 or & 720x488 active area)

4:3

Vertical resolution is variable, due to how analog televisions produce scanlines.

Full HD

1920x1080

16:9

Widescreen

4k UHD

3840x2160

16:9

Widescreen

Vertical Video

Varies

9:16

The aspect ratio is reversed from widescreen, because the width and height are switched.

Display resolution - Wikipedia

Video Game Resolutions

Interlaced vs Progressive scan modes

In an interlaced signal, horizontal lines are drawn from left to right, in two passes. First the even numbered lines are drawn, and then on a second pass the odd numbered lines are drawn.On a progressive scan signal, lines will be drawn from top to bottom in one pass. Sometimes you will see resolutions written as 1080i29.97 or 720p59.97; to indicate if they are interlaced or progressive the numbers may be rounded for in-camera menus for example however.


See:
https://www.wearethefirehouse.com/aspect-ratio-cheat-sheet

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Vector_Video_Standards8.svg

Refresh Rates aka Frames per Second (FPS)

Video works via Persistence of Vision; i.e. flashing still images (frames) with small variations in movement that give the impression of motion. From these frames of analog film, we have the measurement of Frames Per Second (FPS). 24 is considered the minimum for the Persistence of Vision effect. 30 FPS is a common minimum for smooth Persistence of Vision.


https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Movie-frames-of-the-6-different-movie-styles_fig2_328560721 

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Movie-frames-of-the-6-different-movie-styles_fig2_328560721

Refresh rate (Hz) and Frames Per Second (FPS) are in the same scale, i.e. something per second. 60hz is 60 refreshes per second. 60 Frames Per Second is self-explanatory.

FPS and Refresh Rate may have slightly different meanings in a video/broadcast context versus a video gaming context.  

Name

Notes

24 FPS

Film Standard

29.97 FPS

NTSC broadcast standard (color)

30 FPS

B&W NTSC Broadcast Standard.

25 FPS

PAL Broadcast Standard.