Image Geometry is the combination of Image Cropping -- whether the image fills your screen from top to bottom and left to right, and with no pixels lost off any side -- and Aspect Ratio -- whether circles in the content actually look like circles on your screen, instead of tall ovals or wide ovals.
If your video setup has a problem with Aspect Ratio, you will likely notice it pretty quickly. Indeed you may even have CHOSEN to use incorrect Aspect Ratio -- typically because you don't want to see Pillar Box Bars or Letter Box Bars padding the image on your screen.
But Image Cropping problems can be subtle. And getting them wrong can have a surprisingly large effect on image quality!
Read morePeople are often surprised when I tell them Standard Definition (SD) Video can look gorgeous in their Home Theater. The sad truth, alas, is that MOST people have never ever seen SD Video "done right"! The problem is, at these resolutions (and data rates), there is NO margin for error. ANY mistake in the content creation or video processing -- any corner cut in the setup at any stage -- WILL produce image defects that viewers can not ignore. And such defects, once introduced, can NOT be corrected by any sort of subsequent image enhancement processing. The critical information has been permanently lost. At best you can blur such defects to make them less annoying.
This post discusses the technical details of image "Aspect Ratio", as found on traditional, SD-DVD movie discs, with tips for avoiding some common mistakes which will reduce your SD viewing quality.
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