What's up with the 4:3 aspect ratio?

Olimon7661

I always wondered why Scratch was stuck with 4:3 aspect ratio. If it's for mobile friendliness, most apps are 16:9 and those are fine on mobile. Does anybody know the reason why this was put in place? Besides, Turbowarp and Gandi IDE both work on mobile with 16:9 (tested on my tablet) so why can't the plaatform they're based off of have 16:9 too? It doesn't have to be forced, it just be an option for project owners so EVERY tutorial doesn't have to be remade. Besides, at least we can get more high quality images. Sorry if this should've been in Suggestions by the way.

when green flag clicked
repeat until <16:9 added?>
say [what's up with being stuck on 4:3?]
end

MudkipKappa

The 4:3 aspect ratio was set when Scratch was first created (back when most monitors used 4:3) and has stayed since, so most computers can run Scratch fine.

There is a suggestion to add a 16:9 aspect ratio, but I can't seem to find it atm. Someone give me a link plz ;-;

Olimon7661

Most people do think 16:9 is too big but 4:3 is too small so what about like 8:6? That's almost half of 16:9.

MudkipKappa

Olimon7661 wrote:
Most people do think 16:9 is too big but 4:3 is too small so what about like 8:6? That's almost half of 16:9.

4:3 and 8:6 are the same thing.

Olimon7661

MudkipKappa wrote:
The 4:3 aspect ratio was set when Scratch was first created (back when most monitors used 4:3) and has stayed since, so most computers can run Scratch fine.

There is a suggestion to add a 16:9 aspect ratio, but I can't seem to find it atm. Someone give me a link plz ;-;

I think i found one of the posts suggesting it. https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/174292/

MudkipKappa

In case you're wondering, this is what an aspect ratio is.

BigNate469

For the record, I have a few iPads, all of which have screen ratios much closer to 4:3 than 16:9. People with 4:3 or near-4:3 screens would actually wind up with less viewable area.

When Scratch was first created (early 2000s, first known mention of it on LLK's website is from 2002, so it was probably in development before that), most screens were 4:3, mostly because those screens were old cathode ray tube screens and televisions (which took their aspect ratio from a certain type of stage, which is also 4:3), and LCD screens at the time were mostly 4:3 because they were mimicking the CRT screens. Additionally, 4:3 actually gives you a pretty high amount of viewable area when it's large enough. It's probably stayed this way for backwards-compatibility.

TL;DR: screens were mostly 4:3 when Scratch was made, and Scratch has stayed that way to not break old projects.

LucasMario77777

I Feel A Good Way To Do This Would Be:
(sorry for multiple posts lol)

Last edited by LucasMario77777 (March 5, 2025 18:46:53)

LucasMario77777

change screen size by x: () y: ()

change ( v) by x: () y: ()

Last edited by LucasMario77777 (March 5, 2025 18:43:42)

Olimon7661

Are you an alt of Lucas or..?

WlRE

Olimon7661 wrote:
Are you an alt of Lucas or..?

Seems like so.

Olimon7661 wrote:
MudkipKappa wrote:
The 4:3 aspect ratio was set when Scratch was first created (back when most monitors used 4:3) and has stayed since, so most computers can run Scratch fine.

There is a suggestion to add a 16:9 aspect ratio, but I can't seem to find it atm. Someone give me a link plz ;-;
I think i found one of the posts suggesting it. https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/topic/174292/

That was closed for being a list of suggestions.
Main suggestion topic for implementing widescreen projects

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