tvOS 18.2 Beta Adds Support for 21:9 Projector Aspect Ratio

Like be fr, Apple. How long does it take to make Snoopy screen savers?

In a way, it has taken billions of years.

We are also waiting on new Snoopy screen savers, but those do not appear to be included in tvOS 18.2.

** We are also waiting on higher audio sampling rates (ie 192kHz not 48kHz) and audio pass through (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA).

With the M processors being so advanced, I don't understand why this is not a gaming machine already,
what a waste

Maybe a new AppleTV 4K could have a M4 CPU? If Apple does release such an AppleTV, I'll buy it immediately.

Or... the new Mac mini M4 could be transformed into an Apple TV. Anyone remember Front Row ('https://apple.fandom.com/wiki/Front_Row')?
I could imagine the option to install MacOS or tvOS on the same Mac mini M4.

Why is it called 21:9 and not 7:3?

Easier to compare to 16:9 when the height is in the same terms.

For everyone wondering how this actually works and why it’s beneficial (including the people incorrectly stating it’s not if you have a projector with an anamorphic lens attachment): the entire purpose of this is to render the tvOS interface in a 21:9 aspect ratio. The issue currently with 21:9 projection screens is that nearly every projector has a 16:9 imaging chip. There are two main ways to solve the problem of wanting to project onto a 21:9 screen:

1. Zoom the projector to fill the width of the screen and let the black bars bleed off the top and bottom. Most people with home theaters have a black velvet frame around the screen and a dark painted wall behind it, so the extra projected light from the black bars isn’t noticeable.

2. Zoom the projector to fill the height of the screen and stretch the 21:9 video frame (excluding the black bars) to fill the height of the 16:9 imaging chip. Then, use a separate anamorphic lens in front of the projector lens to stretch or “desqueeze” the projected image horizontally to fill the 21:9 screen. This retains the maximum brightness and sharpness the projector is capable of since you’re not “wasting” pixels or light that would be bled off the screen with option #1.

In either case, the issue is when the content onscreen switches aspect ratios. If you’re looking at 21:9 content framed to fit a 21:9 screen and then go back to the tvOS interface which is 16:9, the top and bottom portions of the interface are cut off with option #1 or stretched and distorted with option #2. In both cases you need to change a lens profile on the projector which physically adjusts the lens(s) to display 16:9 content properly on the 21:9 screen (with black bars on the left and right). This is a slow process and can take 30-60 seconds, which is quite annoying every time you switch between watching video and the UI.

Apple has now solved this problem by allowing the UI to be natively rendered at 21:9 (and similar) aspect ratios. This means that the projector can be set to the configuration needed to display 21:9 content and never changed, and the UI will fill the screen without anything being cropped off or distorted. Additionally it’s likely tvOS will also reposition subtitles since traditionally with option #1 they would be off the bottom of the screen in the space the bottom black bar is.