The Collaborative International Dictionary
Aspect ratio \Aspect ratio\ (A["e]ronautics) The ratio of the long to the short side of an a["e]roplane, a["e]rocurve, or wing.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The ratio of an object's longest dimension to its next-longest dimension. 2 The ratio of width to height in a flat surface or 2-dimensional abstract construction, such as an image, character, or pixel. 4:3 (or
33:1) is the standard ratio for NTSC video. 1.85:1 and
35:1 are the most common aspect ratios for motion pictures.
WordNet
n. the ratio of the width to the height of a tv picture
Wikipedia
The aspect ratio of a geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter sidethe ratio of width to height, when the rectangle is oriented as a "landscape".
The aspect ratio is expressed as two numbers separated by a colon (x:y). The values x and y do not represent actual widths and heights but, rather, the relationship between width and height. As an example, 8:5, 16:10 and 1.6:1 are three ways of representing the same aspect ratio.
In objects of more than two dimensions, such as hyperrectangles, the aspect ratio can still be defined as the ratio of the longest side to the shortest side.
In aeronautics, the aspect ratio of a wing is generally known as the ratio of its span to its aerodynamic breadth or chord. For tapered and complex wing shapes, an equivalent formula gives the aspect ratio as the square of the wing span {b} divided by the total wing area (S). A little scrutiny will reveal these two calculations produce the same result for constant-chord wings.
AR = b2/S
It therefore follows that a long, narrow wing has a high aspect ratio, whereas a short, wide wing has a low aspect ratio. Most real-world wings are wider near the fuselage and narrowest at the tips as this improves roll stability when nearing stall speeds; allowing the wingtips to continue generating lift even after the wing roots have stalled.
Aspect ratio and other features of the planform are often used to predict the aerodynamic efficiency of a wing because the lift-to-drag ratio increases with aspect ratio, happily, increasing fuel economy in aircraft.
Roughly speaking, an airplane in flight can be imagined to affect a circular cylinder of air with a diameter equal to the wingspan. A large wingspan is working on a large cylinder of air, and a small wingspan is working on a small cylinder of air. For two aircraft of the same weight, employing different wingspans, the small cylinder of air must be pushed downward by a greater amount of force than the large cylinder in order to produce an equal upward force. The aft-leaning component of this change in velocity is proportional to the induced drag''.
The interaction between undisturbed air outside the circular cylinder of air, and the downward-moving cylinder of air occurs at the wingtips and can be seen as wingtip vortices.
Aspect ratio may be described generally or in specific applications.
General:
- Aspect ratio (General definition, applications, and examples)
Aeronautics
- Aspect ratio (aeronautics)
Digital technology:
- Aspect ratio (image)
- Display aspect ratio
- Pixel aspect ratio in digital displays
colspan=2| Some common image aspect ratios
1:1
Square
1.25:1 (5:4)
Early television & large-format computer monitors
1.375:1 (11:8)
Academy standard film aspect ratio
1.43:1
IMAX motion picture film format
1.6:1 (16:10 or 8:5)
A common computer screen ratio.
1.6667:1 (5:3)
A common European widescreen std.; Native Super 16 mm film.
1.85:1
A common US widescreen cinema standard
2.414:1
The silver ratio
The aspect ratio of an images describes the proportional relationship between its width and its height. It is commonly expressed as two numbers separated by a colon, as in 16:9. For an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this same length unit, the height will be measured to be y units.
In, for example, a group of images that all have an aspect ratio of 16:9, one image might be 16 inches wide and 9 inches high, another 16 centimeters wide and 9 centimeters high, and a third might be 8 yards wide and 4.5 yards high.
Usage examples of "aspect ratio".
During the first of these, he will raise his eyebrows and purse his lips simultaneously, altering the entire aspect ratio of his face so that it becomes strikingly elongated in the vertical dimension, and his eyes will dart sideways in case any Nipponese spies somehow managed to escape the recent apocalypse and found a place to lurk around the fringes of his peripheral vision.
He felt them cup the air, their aspect ratio dropping faster and faster.
The building was tall and narrow, making the most of precious Shanghai real estate, so the proscenium had a nearly square aspect ratio, like an old-fashioned television.
In fact, one of the less useful ways to characterize an ellipse is to say that it is a circle with its aspect ratio changed.
Those tapering wings-surely with wings like those the aspect ratio would be remarkable, and the narrow leading edge would complement the long primaries.
Those tapering wingssurely with wings like those the aspect ratio would be remarkable, and the narrow leading edge would complement the long primaries.