Found on a large number of DVDs, anamorphic video squeezes a 1.78:1 picture shape into a 1.33:1 image area. If you view an anamorphic video image on a 1.33 set, the characters will look tall and thin. This format is designed for the 1.78 aspect ratio TV sets where the horizontal is stretched back out to the full width of the set.

Unsqueezing an anamorphic image on a 1.33 set is accomplished by squeezing the vertical size. The advantage of the anamorphic video system is 33% more vertical information in a widescreen picture.