Ok, i sort of get it but i don’t. 1:1 is square 16:9 means it’s 1.77 x’s wider than it is tall. But what the hell does 9 actually represent considering it comes in many sizes from small to large yet same ratio, so what makes one side 9 or what ever? For instance why not just say 1.77:1?
In: 3
16/9 is 1.7777….going on forever. So 1.77:1 is less precise, and harder to write/pronounce than 16:9.
Mathematically, 16/9 and 1.77…/1 are the same. But one is easy to communicate and the other isn’t, which is a big deal when you want to use it in mass produced electronics.
Nine units of measure in the Y direction. It doesn’t have any intrinsic units, it’s only meaningful in relation to the other part of the ratio.
In the specific case of image aspect ratios, it’s a unit of length–any unit of length. For every 16 of those units in the X direction you’ll have 9 of the same unit in the Y direction. The unit can be pixels, points, inches, furlongs; doesn’t matter. All the ratio cares about is how many of them there are in relation to each other.
Its a ratio of width to height by pixels. There are x pixels across the screen and y pixels vertically. x:y
9 is in any unit you like. Pick any distance you like and one side of the screen is 9x that distance and the other is 16 times that distance.
You can call it 1.77:1 or 16:9 both mean the same thing one uses decimals the other to not. It is not different that you something write 1/4 and other times 0.25.
The common usage is integers for TV and later computer and similar display. decimal notation is common for cinema.
The reason it is 16:9 =1.777:1 is that it is the geometric mean of 4:3 =1.333:1 TV and 2.35:1 cinema that was common when wide screen tv was introduced. The geometric mean is(sqrt(2.35 *4/3) = 1.77012 and 1.777… is very close to it.
So 16:9 was chosen to minimize the black band on the side for 4:3 TV and on top and bottom for 2.35:1 movies. Because 4:3 TV sources are not very common today but 2.35:1 move we tend to just see the top and bottom black bars
Ratios are all about the relationship of the two values. Think of it like “for every 16 of the first value there is 9 of the other value.”
The math of it can get confusing but think of the 16 and 9 as blocks of wood that are all the same size. Put 16 of them in a flat line on a table and add 8 on top of the last block on the end to make a tower 9 tall. That has a 16:9 ratio. Now use larger or smaller blocks and do the same thing. They will all be the same 16:9 ratio but larger or smaller.
16/9 is the fully reduced fraction, meaning that 16 and 9 have no common divisors.
(32:18 e.g. would be the same ratio, but the fraction isn’t fully reduced because both 32 and 18 are divisble by 2)
Ratios are generally given in their fully reduced fraction because it’s more convenient and just sorta sounds “neater” if you’re dealing with exclusively whole numbers, as opposed to having decimals. Though this is just a rule of thumb. There’s no fixed rule for this. E.g. 16:10 “should” be written as 8:5, but it’s written as 16:10 instead to make it similar to 16:9.
So in the end the “rule” is that we just sorta settle on something that sounds good.
It’s a unit less ratio. It doesn’t matter, the units cancelled. It could have been pixels, centimeters, miles, pounds. It also could have been 32/18.
It’s just a matter of cleanliness. “16:9” is simpler than “1.777777778:1”. “4:3” is simpler than “1.333333333:1”
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