ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Display aspect ratio

Okay, imagine you have a rectangle. You know what a rectangle is, right? Good. Now, imagine that the rectangle is a TV or computer screen. That means you can watch movies, play games, or browse the web on it.

Now, the display aspect ratio is the way we describe the shape of this rectangle. It's like giving the rectangle a special name. Are you with me so far?

Here's the thing: There are different ratios for different rectangles. Some are wider, and some are taller. This depends on what kind of TV or computer screen you have.

For example, some screens are wider and have a ratio of 16:9. That means that for every 16 units of width, there are 9 units of height. Other screens might be taller and have a ratio of 4:3. That means for every 4 units of width, there are 3 units of height.

Why do we care about this? Well, it helps us know how movies or TV shows will fit on our screens. If we have a widescreen TV with a ratio of 16:9, and we try to watch an old TV show that was made for a screen with a ratio of 4:3, we might have black bars on the side of the screen. That's because the display aspect ratio of the show is different from our TV.

So, display aspect ratio is just a fancy way of describing the shape of the rectangle that is your screen. It helps us know how things should look on our screens, and how they might look different on other screens.