Upconverting standard definition video – Apple Final Cut Pro HD (4.5): New Features User Manual
Page 115

Appendix
High Definition Video Fundamentals
115
Upconverting Standard Definition Video
Upconverting a 4 x 3 aspect ratio image in a 16 x 9 frame results in borders (or side
panels) on the left and right sides of the 4 x 3 image. This type of frame is sometimes
referred to as pillarboxed.
If the aspect ratio of the original and destination formats match, you can simply scale
the original video to the destination size.
4 x 3 anamorphic video is actually a 16 x 9 image squeezed into a 4 x 3 frame, so it can
easily be scaled to fit a high definition sequence.
Original
size
Original
aspect ratio
Destination
size
Destination
aspect ratio
Upconversion
method
720 x 480
4 x 3 (1.33)
1280 x 720,
1920 x 1080
16 x 9 (1.78)
Scale up and
pillarbox
720 x 480
(anamorphic)
16 x 9 (1.78)
squeezed
1280 x 720,
1920 x 1080
16 x 9 (1.78)
Scale up
1280 x 720
16 x 9 (1.78)
1920 x 1080
16 x 9 (1.78)
Scale up
480 to 720
480 to 1080
480 anamorphic
to 1080
480 anamorphic
to 720
UP01022.Book Page 115 Tuesday, March 23, 2004 7:32 PM