There is a lot of confusion surrounding terms such as Widescreen and High Definition.  That's not surprising: in the ProAV world, many terms have multiple meanings, and many popular expressions are more familiar than the official expressions.  As a result a computer outputs a video signal, and a D-sub 15 connector is equally known as VGA and HD-15.

Usually there is context to help us get on the same page.  But in the post-4:3 world it is easy for two professionals to believe they are talking about the same thing when in fact each has a different interpretation of the conversation.  This is dangerous, because digital equipment and projection screens have absolute physical limitations.

Here is some clarification.

WIDESCREEN
Briefly used as a name for a specific film format, this term could be applied to any aspect ratio wider than 4:3.

HIGH DEFINITION
Although there is a precise meaning for this term, it is easier to understand that it always means widescreen and 720p or higher ... that is, 1280x720 ... is the minimum High Definition resolution.

WXGA
Officially, VESA defined this term as meaning 1366x768 pixels ... that is, a proportional upscaling of 1280x720 to encompass both axes of XGA.  This has been popularly reinterpreted as any resolution that covers both 720p and XGA ... that is, both  1280x720 and 1024x768 ... in other words. a minimum of 1280x768.

WHERE WE ARE
In the concept of High Definition, displaying resolutions above minimum are acceptable, even if getting there requires scaling the image.  As a result of indecision in the industry, we have seen projectors at various resolutions.  Odd as it may seem, we have none currently at 1280x768 (15:9).  Here are EIKI's current Widescreen models:

* 1366x768 (16:9) LC-W3
(proportionately upscaled 720p)

* 1366x800 (17:10) LC-W5
(proportionately upscaled 720p with accommodation for 16:10)

* 1280x800 (16:10) LC-WB40N, and EIP-WX5000
(notebook computer manufacturers may be standardizing here)

More to come.

Wayne Coombes
Marketing Manager