Video Formats & Codecs

What is Letterboxing?

Letterboxing is the practice of adding black or colored bars above and below a video to display widescreen content within a different aspect ratio frame.

Letterboxing Explained

Letterboxing occurs when a widescreen video (e.g., 2.39:1 cinematic) is displayed in a 16:9 or 9:16 frame. The bars preserve the original aspect ratio without cropping. While letterboxing is acceptable on desktop, it wastes valuable screen space on mobile devices where vertical real estate matters for engagement. On TikTok and Reels, letterboxed content performs worse than full-frame 9:16 content because it appears smaller in the feed. The alternative to letterboxing is reframing or cropping the footage. Pillarboxing is the horizontal equivalent, adding bars on the sides when vertical content is displayed in a horizontal frame.

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Related Terms

Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio is the proportional relationship between a video's width and height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon (e.g., 16:9 for landscape, 9:16 for vertical, 1:1 for square).

16:9 Aspect Ratio

16:9 is the standard widescreen aspect ratio used for YouTube videos, TV broadcasts, and most desktop displays, measuring 16 units wide by 9 units tall.

9:16 Aspect Ratio

9:16 is the vertical video aspect ratio used for TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and Snapchat, measuring 9 units wide by 16 units tall.

Video Reframing

Video reframing is the process of changing a video's aspect ratio by intelligently cropping or repositioning the frame, typically to convert horizontal 16:9 footage into vertical 9:16 for short-form platforms.