Before the advent of anamorphic video, A DVD of a widescreen production could be created to fit the 4:3 width to height ratio of standard televisions ("letterbox" format.) Images from these ...

an anamorphic DVD stretches vertically a 16:9 image frame to fully fill the 4:3 aspect ratio of a standard TV screen. TVs that support anamorphic mode squeeze the image vertically to restore ...

The term comes from the Greek "anamorphosis," which means to "reshape." See anamorphic DVD. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction requires permission.