Aspect ratio

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The aspect ratio of a television program describes the dimensions of the video. It is the ratio of the width to the height.

4:3

Arthur was originally produced in the 4:3 aspect ratio, yielding a "full screen" video image, from Season 1 through Season 11. When viewed on a modern widescreen television set or computer monitor, vertical black bars appear on the sides of the video. Some broadcasters may choose to stretch the video to fill any void, or a viewer can manually adjust their television settings to eliminate blank space on screen. In any case, some degree of distortion of the original video will result.

Examples

The first aired episode produced in the 4:3 aspect ratio.

The last aired episode produced in the 4:3 aspect ratio.

16:9

Beginning with Season 12, Arthur was produced in the 16:9 aspect ratio. However, in the United States, releases of Seasons 12 through 15 were cropped to 4:3, including broadcasts from PBS, DVD releases and official releases on streaming services, like Amazon Prime Video. Elsewhere, episodes from Season 12 through 15 were broadcast in the native widescreen format internationally. The show was broadcast in 16:9 in all regions with the introduction of Season 16 through Season 25.

Examples

Original 16:9 widescreen version of the Season 12 episode "The Frensky Family Fiasco” as seen in non-U.S. markets.

The first episode to air in the 16:9 aspect ratio in the U.S.

16:10/14:9

Seasons 12 and 13 were presented in 16:10, an intermediate aspect ratio between the more common 4:3 and 16:9, on the Australian and British iTunes Stores.

Examples

16:10/14:9 version of the Season 12 episode “Matchmaker, Match Breaker” as seen on iTunes Australia.

16:10/14:9 version of the Season 12 episode “The Cherry Tree” as seen on iTunes Australia.