TVscaling

TVscaling refers to the process of adjusting the aspect ratio and resolution of video content to fit the screen of a television display. Modern televisions come in various screen sizes and aspect ratios, most commonly 16:9 widescreen. However, older content may have been produced in different aspect ratios, such as 4:3 (standard definition).

When content with a different aspect ratio is displayed on a 16:9 screen, a TV scaling algorithm is employed to make it fit. There are several common methods for achieving this. "Letterboxing" adds black bars to the top and bottom of the image to preserve the original aspect ratio of 4:3 content. "Pillarboxing" adds black bars to the sides, used for content with an even wider aspect ratio than 16:9.

Another method is "stretching" or "zooming," where the image is distorted or cropped to fill the entire screen. Stretching can make objects appear unnaturally wide, while zooming can cut off parts of the image. Advanced scaling techniques aim to intelligently crop or expand the image to minimize distortion and content loss, sometimes by adding artificial content or adjusting the composition.

Resolution scaling is also a part of the process. If the video content's resolution is lower than the television's native resolution, the TV's internal upscaling processor will attempt to enlarge the image and add detail to make it appear sharper on the higher-resolution display. Conversely, if the content resolution is higher, downscaling occurs. The effectiveness of these scaling techniques can vary significantly between different television models and video sources.