What does the "widescreen mode" on my digital camera do?

What does the "widescreen mode" on my digital camera do?

Mark Comon (Vice President, Paul's Photo, Torrance, CA) gives expert video advice on: What does the "widescreen mode" on my digital camera do?; What does my digital camera's "panoramic mode" or "stitch mode" do?

A lot of the cameras today have a choice of formats and a lot of people see those numbers and say, "What the heck is this?" Well, we generally start in 35mm photography making a 4x6 print, which is a 3:2 ratio. 35mm's always been 3:2. If you're shooting 4x6, you shoot 3:2. The other option is 4:3, which is standard TV size. So, let's say that would be a 6x8 print or kind of close to a 8x1 ratio -- not really, but close. Today, we also have the ability to shoot in a widescreen or 16x9 ratio -- the same as your HDTV. It's kind of cool because it makes a long, skinny print. Now, the hard part is: Once you shoot that, you can't buy a frame, you can't buy a photo album. But, they're really cool pictures if you like that. Why would you choose to shoot your pictures in 16x9 mode? It's kind of funky for pictures but it's really cool if you're going to show your pictures or to display them on your HDTV. If you want the picture to fill up the HDTV format without losing anything, then choose the 16x9 mode because that's what your HDTV does.