The nominal screen luminance for movie theatres is 16 Foot-Lamberts. It was specified by the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) as the minimum for film-type movie theatres. The unit Foot-Lamberts is a measurement related to the brightness of a particular image and is equal to 1 lumen per square foot of screen surface. 16 foot-lamberts is chosen because most films have an ideal balance between black and white saturation conditions at this brightness. A tolerance of 20% between the center brightness and a fall-off of at the screen edges is acceptable.
Even for larger cinemas it is often hard to fulfill this requirement.
Format | Aspect Ratio | Aperture | X : Y | |
mm | inch | |||
16 mm Film | 1.33 | 7.21 x 9.65 | 0.284 x 0.380 | 4 : 3 |
35 mm Film (before 1953) | 1.37 | 15.2 x 21 | 0.600 x 0.825 | 4 : 2.92 |
35 mm Film (USA) | 1.85 | 11.3 x 21 | 0.446 x 0.825 | 1.85 : 1 |
35 mm Film (Europe) | 1.65 | 12.7 x 21 | 0.500 x 0.825 | 1.65 : 1 |
35 mm Film (Anamorphic) | 2.35 | 17.8 x 21 | 0.702 x 0.825 | 2.35 : 1 |
70 mm Film | 2.21 | 22 x 48.6 | 0.868 x 1.913 | 2.21 : 1 |
35 mm Slide (Horizontal) | 1.48 | 22.9 x 34 | 0.902 x 1.340 | 4 : 2.7 |
35 mm Slide (Vertical) | 0.68 | 34 x 22.9 | 1.340 x 0.902 | 2.7 : 4 |
A4 Paper | 1.41 | 210 x 297 | 4 : 2.83 | |
'8 1/2 x 11' Paper | 1.30 | 215.7 x 279.4 | 8.5 : 11 | |
Format | Aspect Ratio | Aperture/Resolution | X : Y | |
mm | pixel | |||
NTSC Video | 1.33 | 720 × 480 | 4 : 3 | |
PAL Video | 1.33 | 4 : 3 | ||
HDTV 720 | 1.78 | 1280 × 720 | 16 : 9 | |
HDTV 1080 | 1.78 | 1920 × 1080 | 16 : 9 | |
PAL Wide | 1.78 | 1024 × 576 | 16 : 9 | |
Letterbox Video | 1.85 | 1.85 : 1 | ||
"Widescreen" | 1.85 | 1.85 : 1 | ||
Cinemascope | 2.35 | 2.35 : 1 | ||
HDV-1 | 1.77 | 1280 x 720 | 16:9 | |
HDV-2 | 1.77 | 1440 x 1080 | 16:9 |
4K Resolution for Digital Cinema | |||
Cinema Formats | Horizontal Resolution | Aspect Ratio | Megapixels Per Frame |
Academy Standard | 3626 x 2664 | 1.37:1 | 9.7 |
Academy Flat | 3996 x 2160 | 1.85:1 | 8.6 |
Anamorphic Scope | 4096 x 1714 | 2.39:1 | 7.0 |
2K Resolution for Digital Cinema | |||
Academy Standard | 1828 x 1332 | 1.37:1 | 2.4 |
Academy Flat | 1998 x 1080 | 1.85:1 | 2.2 |
Anamorphic Scope | 2048 x 858 | 2.39:1 | 1.8 |
1:2.39 picture in a 16:9 screen | 1:1.85 picture in a 16:9 screen |
1:2.39 picture in 4:3 screen |