I suspect there are more than a few here who appreciate your clear, lucid explanation of this whole thing.
Hello Everyone,
I thought I might make a quick post as this question has come up a few times and thought if might be worth its own discussion.
Aspect ratios and screen resolutions are very confusing and most people have not even taken the time to really understand them. There are so many different screen resolutions and aspect ratios out there it is hard to go through every one but for sake of simplicity I will show you what they basically mean and what you really need to be concerned with.
I actually just finished researching this topic in depth and am still a little dazed because these two topics actually crossover between the computer world and home electronics, with different meanings.
Here goes.
4:3 (pernounced 4 by 3) has been the standard for CRT TV's for over 50 years. 4:3 stands for 3 units high by 4 units wide when you look at your screen. Now if you divide 4 by three you get a integer of 1.33 to 1. So you can describe the aspect ratio of old CRTs in two ways 4:3 (ratio) or 1.33 (integer).
16:9 is the standard for HDTV. Again, if you divide 16 by 9 you will have an aspect ratio of 1.78.
The standard for WideScreen is 1.85 16.70:9
The standard for Anamorphic WideScreen (also know as CinemaScope)is 2.35. I was never able to locate the exact ratio for this screen shape. My assumption is that it is 21.19:9.
That said, how does the screen resolution fit into the above aspect ratios above?
When speaking of screen resolutions, a standard computer screen equivilent to the standard 4:3 CRT TV has a resolutions of 640x480.
Most displays use a square pixel size which means the display has more vertical columns than horizontal rows to complete a 4:3 or 16:9 image. Using a square pixel we can calculate how many vertical columns must be used for every horizontal line to create the proper image size:
4:3 display = 1.33 pixels high for every 1 pixel wide
16:9 display = 1.77 pixels high for every 1 pixel wide
Not all displays use a square pixel. Most newer displays use a slightly rectangular pixel and use interpolation, aliasing, or scaling to provide the illusion of a higher resolution square pixel display. Some of the 16:9 displays have a physical resolution of 1024 columns by 1024 rows because they use a 1.77mm horizontal x 1mm vertical pixel size.
The actual screen resolutions for your different displays are as follows:
480i - The picture is 704x480 - (60/2 interlaced frames per second)= 30 complete frames per second.
480p - The picture is 704x480 - 60 complete frames per second.
720p - The picture is 1280x720 - 60 complete frames per second.
1080i - The picture is 1920x1080 - (60/2 interlaced frames per second)= 30 complete frames per second.
# 1080p - The picture is 1920x1080 - 60 complete frames per second.
So in order for Sony and others to create a display with a resolution of 1024 x 1024 to be capable of displaying a 1080i (interlaced) image would require scaling and altering the image to fit the screen.
Until I am able to contact Sony and a few other manfacturers tech support dept for a more definitive answer (if they will give it) on how these displays are outputting 1080i, I hope this helps you with your questions.
Take Care,
Shawn Mosqueda
WireSmart LLC
If you would like to contact me, click on the profile link below.

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic