Helpful Tips

Suggested things to anticipate when using HDTV 16:9 format to show your material.

  • Videos need to be in 16:9 format therefore, they need to be either produced in this format or converted to it if possible. This is true if the video is all that will be shown on screen. Otherwise, the video will still be fine but the left and right sides of the screen will be blank and the material will not fill the screen.
  • PowerPoint presentations need to be in 16:9 to fill the screen. See our section to create or convert a PPt to this format. When a video is embedded, please follow our suggestion above to obtain the video in 16:9. Remember to always group the video file to your PPt presentation.
  • Just because the new format is in HDTV 16:9 format does not mean that the content is HD (High Definition) quality. The 16:9 format merely accommodates the HD quality of 1080P, 1080i or higher. Additional equipment and/or requirements are needed to ensure a true HD signal.

Convert a PowerPoint presentation from NTSC Video 4:3 format to the new HDTV 16:9 format. Use this to create a new presentation in the HDTV 16:9 format, as well.

  1. Open your presentation
  2. Click on the Design tab
  3. Click on the Page Setup to open your setup options. For PowerPoint 2016, simply click on Slide Size & choose Widescreen (16:9) and you are done.
  4. Under ‘Slides Sized For’ drop down screen, select 16:9 and click OK. Depending on the screens and projection distance, selecting 16:10 might be a more optimal option.

This will change all slides. Go through all slides to ensure everything looks good because your new adjustment stretches the content on all slides. Content such as a picture, graph, art, video window, etc. might need to be individually adjusted in each individual slide.