aspect ratio field

I'mt nor sure I entirely understand your question but perhaps these tools may help:
https://www.omnicalculator.com/other/aspect-ratio
https://calculateaspectratio.com/

If you are asking what I think you are asking, 4:3 would be the end-result. So, if you baked your original video into a 16:9 then don't worry about the letterbox, upload it as a 16:9 video. Or re-bake into a 4:3 ... again I'm a bit confused about what you are asking so this may not be the answer you are looking for.

I also don’t fully understand the question. ”Letterboxing” usually refers to home video or TV broadcasts - not the original aspect ratio. Not fully sure what it means to IMDb, actually.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lette...

when you create a new title IMDB asks you to chose its aspect ratio.
there are "letterboxed" options

does 16^9 letterbox mean that it is a video made of cinematic source with added bars to fit 16^9, or is it a 16^9 source with added bars to fit, say 4^3

in my example there is a 2^20.1 video frame baked into 16^9 file with bars and it's the official release

I think it means (regardless of the original source) the end result fits a 16:9 with a letterbox around it. Hope that helps some. :)

Agof, you probably should just add the original aspect ratio. ”Letterbox” is not related to original aspect ratio. It could come into play when the film is transferred to home video, or shown on TV (where the original aspect ratio is preserved by adding black bars).

Again, IMDb should clarify the meaning (to them), since it’s now listed as one of the options. It’s a bit confusing.

From Wiki:
”Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio.”

"4:3 Letterbox" is probably mostly for TV from a time when broadcasts were in 4:3, but some content was produced in 16:9.

Yes, that’s why it’s probably listed under ”TV”. I personally would recommend that IMDb should delete the whole option. I don’t see why IMDb should list how the TV stations (or VHS/DVD releases) present the film. It only matters what the actual aspect ratio is, and for IMDb: the original aspect ratio. ”Letterbox”, ”open matte”, ”anamophic” (unless we’re talking about the actual lenses of the camera), ”non-anamophic” etc mainly refer how the film is presented in home video or TV. And now even those terms are becoming obsolete.

there are a lot of situations where framing and camera are of one aspect ratio, but the only existing means to consume the media are in any form of boxing. (probably due to releaser incompetence)

if you are to try to launch that on some casual hardware you'll get severe window-boxing

Again, the actual aspect ratio is what matters and IMDb usually lists the ”original aspect ratio”. Others (like home video, TV broadcasts or ”hardware” related issues) are pretty much irrelevant, unless - of course - the OAR is changed (framing, cropping) for some reason later on.

( Like with ”The Sopranos” or ”The Wire”. Or like Storaro wanted 2.20:1 aspect ratio at some point for Apocalypse Now (it was later restored to 2.35:1, though). Or some Hammer films, which were shown 1.66:1 in some areas, and 1.85:1 in some - and people keep debating what’s the OAR. Obviously there are several exceptions. )