# Nine by Sixteen whine

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nine-by-sixteen-whine/660498>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [June 8, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nine-by-sixteen-whine/660498 "2013-06-08T20:40:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nine-by-sixteen-whine/660498/21 "2013-06-11T07:37:11Z")

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> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> Perhaps if you called it by how it is \*actually \*referred, 16:9, there would be no confusion.

Exactly.

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**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nine-by-sixteen-whine/660498/22 "2013-06-11T13:27:51Z")

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The problem isn’t with the manufacturers of the phones, it’s with the people using them who can’t be arsed to turn the phone 90 degrees.

[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt9zSfinwFA)

I mean…everyone complains about how awful the portrait orientation videos on Youtube look, but then they go right out and shoot in portrait, somehow never making the connection.

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nine-by-sixteen-whine/660498/23 "2013-06-11T13:34:55Z")

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> [@jz78817](#):
>
> what is the “biological estimate” which led to 4:3?

> [@Paranoid\_Randroid](#):
>
> I too am curious. That’s not something I’ve ever heard, and I can’t find any kind of trustworthy citation discussing which aspect ratio feels more natural.

I think he’s referring to the Golden Ratio or Divine Proportion, but 4:3 would be 1.3 (recurring) and the Golden Ratio is 1.6 and change. Ironically, 16:9 much more closely approximates the Golden Ratio.

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**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nine-by-sixteen-whine/660498/24 "2013-06-11T15:27:20Z")

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> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> I think he’s referring to the Golden Ratio or Divine Proportion, but 4:3 would be 1.3 (recurring) and the Golden Ratio is 1.6 and change. Ironically, 16:9 much more closely approximates the Golden Ratio.

I considered the golden ratio, but that’s why I wondered if he knew (or thought he knew) something I didn’t. Approximately:

16:9 -\> 13:7.3  
GR -\> 13:8  
4:3 -\> 13:9.75

One of those things is not like the others. And even then, I’m not sure how GR counts as “biologically derived”. Perhaps I’ve been hoodwinked by corporate mischief.

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