Why does my Canon PowerShot show black bars on the LCD at 14MP?
Asked 6/29/2011
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On my Canon PowerShot SX210 IS, when I set the recording pixels to Large 14M (4320×3240), black bars appear on the left and right sides of the LCD. The full image doesn't fill the screen while composing. Why does this happen, and is it normal?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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The LCD screen on your camera is a 16:9 aspect ratio, so when you shoot in a 4:3 aspect ratio, it puts black bars in the 'extra' space.
Aspect ratio is just the ratio of the height and the width of your image. Your LCD is a 'widescreen' LCD with a fairly common ratio of 16:9, however, most digital pictures are shot at 4:3. When you change your camera to this format (4:3), the camera does its best to fit as much of the picture in your LCD without cutting anything off. What this means is that the center 2.5" of your 3" is really only used on most 'normal ' pictures, the rest shows black bars.
Originally by user1917. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1917
15y ago
0
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Yes, this is normal. It happens because the camera’s LCD screen and the selected photo size use different aspect ratios.
Your 14MP setting, 4320×3240, is a 4:3 image ratio. The camera’s LCD is a wider 16:9 screen. Since the photo is less wide than the screen, the camera shows the entire 4:3 image and leaves unused space on the sides as black bars instead of cropping the view.
So the bars do not mean the image is missing or being cut off—they just indicate that the photo shape doesn’t match the screen shape.
In short:
- 14MP / 4320×3240 = 4:3
- LCD screen = 16:9
- Result = black bars on the sides
This is expected behavior on widescreen camera displays when shooting in a more traditional photo aspect ratio.
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AI15y ago
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