What's the difference between 2.35:1 and 2.4:1?

The difference is minimal—about 17 pixels in height at 1920 width. Most viewers cannot distinguish them, and many production tools treat them interchangeably.

Should I use 2.35:1 or 2.39:1 for new content?

Use 2.39:1 (2048×858) for new productions as it's the current SMPTE standard. 2.35:1 is primarily relevant for archival or specific artistic choices.

CinemaScope Placeholder Video (1920×817)

Generate 1920×817 placeholder videos instantly via URL.2.35:1 aspect ratio, 10-second duration, MP4 H.264.

About CinemaScope Resolution

1920×817 represents the classic CinemaScope 2.35:1 aspect ratio, the original anamorphic widescreen format introduced in 1953. This ratio predates the modern 2.39:1 SMPTE standard but remains in use by filmmakers who prefer the slightly less extreme width. The format maintains the cinematic feel of ultra-wide framing while being marginally closer to 16:9, reducing letterboxing on standard displays.

Video Preview

Direct URL

Copy this URL to use your CinemaScope placeholder video:

https://placeholdervideo.dev/1920x817

Technical Specifications

Resolution: 1920 × 817 pixels
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Category: cinema
Duration: 10 seconds
Format: MP4 (H.264, AAC-LC silent audio)
Frame Rate: 30 fps
Approx. MP4 Size: 235 KB-423 KB
Generation Time: about 1-3 seconds uncached; repeat requests should hit cache
Video Codec: H.264 / AVC, Baseline profile, yuv420p
Audio Codec: AAC-LC silent stereo, 48 kHz

Copy-Paste Use Cases

Use this 1920×817 sample MP4 URL as a stable fixture in browser, end-to-end, and media pipeline tests. For broader examples, see the sample MP4 URL guide.

HTML Video

<video
  controls
  preload="metadata"
  width="1920"
  height="817"
  poster="https://placeholdervideo.dev/poster/1920x817"
>
  <source src="https://placeholdervideo.dev/1920x817" type="video/mp4" />
</video>

Playwright / Cypress

// Playwright: assert the browser sees real video metadata.
const metadata = await page.locator('video').evaluate((node) => {
  const video = node as HTMLVideoElement
  video.src = 'https://placeholdervideo.dev/1920x817'
  video.load()
  return new Promise<{ width: number; height: number; duration: number }>((resolve) => {
    video.addEventListener('loadedmetadata', () => {
      resolve({
        width: video.videoWidth,
        height: video.videoHeight,
        duration: Math.round(video.duration)
      })
    }, { once: true })
  })
})

expect(metadata).toEqual({ width: 1920, height: 817, duration: 10 })

// Cypress: attach the same fixture URL in an existing player test.
cy.get('video')
  .invoke('attr', 'src', 'https://placeholdervideo.dev/1920x817')
  .then(() => cy.get('video')[0].load())

curl / ffprobe

curl -L -o placeholder-1920x817.mp4 https://placeholdervideo.dev/1920x817

ffprobe -v error \
  -select_streams v:0 \
  -show_entries stream=codec_name,width,height,pix_fmt \
  -show_entries format=duration \
  -of json placeholder-1920x817.mp4

Response Data

Content-Type	video/mp4
Cache-Control	public, max-age=86400, immutable
Accept-Ranges	bytes
Access-Control-Allow-Origin	*
X-RateLimit-Limit	60 standard / 10 heavy per minute

Browser compatibility: Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, iOS Safari, Android Chrome, HTML5 video players such as video.js and Plyr.

When to Use 1920×817

Use 1920×817 placeholders when testing content that specifically targets the 2.35:1 CinemaScope ratio. While functionally similar to 2.4:1, some production workflows and archival content maintain this exact ratio for historical accuracy or artistic preference.

Integration Examples

HTML

<video src="https://placeholdervideo.dev/1920x817" width="800" height="340" controls></video>

JavaScript Fetch

fetch('https://placeholdervideo.dev/1920x817')
  .then(res => res.blob())
  .then(blob => {
    const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob)
    document.querySelector('video').src = url
  })

cURL

curl -O https://placeholdervideo.dev/1920x817

Technical Considerations

At 1920×817, the resolution contains approximately 1.57M pixels, requiring similar bitrates to 1920×800 (3-5 Mbps). The aspect ratio difference from 2.4:1 is minimal but may affect precise letterboxing calculations in some players.

Common Questions

What's the difference between 2.35:1 and 2.4:1?: The difference is minimal—about 17 pixels in height at 1920 width. Most viewers cannot distinguish them, and many production tools treat them interchangeably.
Should I use 2.35:1 or 2.39:1 for new content?: Use 2.39:1 (2048×858) for new productions as it's the current SMPTE standard. 2.35:1 is primarily relevant for archival or specific artistic choices.

Related Guides

Learn more about generating videos programmatically in the API documentation.