Pillarbox

Article summary

The pillarbox effect occurs in widescreen video displays when black bars (mattes or masking) are placed on the sides of the image. It becomes necessary when film or video that was not originally designed for widescreen is shown on a widescreen display, or a narrower widescreen image is displayed within a wider aspect ratio, such as a 16:9 image in a 2.39:1 frame (common in cinemas). The original material is shrunk and placed in the middle of the widescreen frame. Some older arcade games that had a tall vertical and short horizontal are displayed in pillarbox even on 4:3 televisions. Some early sound films made between 1928 and 1931, such as Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, were released in even narrower formats such as 1.20:1 to make room for the sound-on-film track on then-standard film stock. These will appear pillarboxed even on 4:3 screens. Pillarboxing is the vertical equivalent of (horizontal) letterboxing and goes by several names, including reverse letterboxing, curtain boxing, or postcarding. Pillarboxing is derived from its resemblance to pillar box–style mailboxes used in the UK and the Commonwealth of Nations. The four-direction equivalent is called windowboxing, caused when programming is both letterboxed and pillarboxed.…

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