Letterbox
The practice of adding horizontal black bars above and below video to display widescreen content on standard aspect ratio screens without cropping.
Definition
Letterboxing preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio (typically 2.35:1 or 2.39:1 for widescreen films) when displaying content on screens with different proportions. Rather than cropping the sides or stretching the image, black bars fill the unused portions of the screen, maintaining the director's intended framing and composition.
The term originated from the resemblance to the horizontal slot of a mailbox. As screen sizes evolved—from 4:3 standard definition TVs to 16:9 HDTVs to various mobile aspect ratios—letterboxing became the standard method for preserving cinematic aspect ratios across different display formats.
Why It Matters
Aspect ratio is a fundamental creative choice in filmmaking. Directors compose shots for specific framing—a widescreen frame creates different visual relationships than a square frame. Cropping to fit different screens destroys this intentional composition, cutting off visual information and altering the film's artistic vision. Letterboxing respects the filmmaker's choices.
For viewers, letterboxing initially seems wasteful—why have black bars when the screen could be "full"? However, the alternative (pan-and-scan or cropping) actually shows less of the image. A 2.39:1 film cropped to 16:9 loses 25% of the horizontal frame, cutting characters, objects, and visual information from every shot. Letterboxing ensures you see everything the director intended.
Examples in Practice
Classic widescreen films like "Lawrence of Arabia" and "2001: A Space Odyssey" use expansive 2.35:1 framing to emphasize vast landscapes and scale. When viewed on 16:9 TVs with letterboxing, the horizontal black bars preserve these epic compositions. Cropping to fill the screen would eliminate the visual grandeur that defines these films.
Modern streaming services like Netflix sometimes offer both versions: the original theatrical aspect ratio with letterboxing, and a cropped "full screen" version. Film enthusiasts overwhelmingly prefer letterboxed versions despite smaller image size because they maintain the director's intended composition.
Directors like Wes Anderson specifically compose for 2.39:1 aspect ratio, placing characters and objects symmetrically across the wide frame. Cropping these precisely composed shots to eliminate letterboxing would destroy the visual symmetry that's fundamental to Anderson's style.