Univisium

Univisium (macaronic Latin for "unity of images") is a proposed universal film format created by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC and his son, Fabrizio, to unify all future theatrical and television films into one respective aspect ratio of 2:1.

(which in turn was the American localization of 1954's Godzilla), using an anamorphic process similar to Superscope with film shot in flat monochrome being cropped to 2:1 during editing.

In 1998, cinematographer Vittorio Storaro announced his plans for a new film format, originally to be called Univision,[5] in an interview with International Photographer magazine.

"[8] Storaro recognized that ubiquitous HD origination was not yet viable and therefore proposed an alteration to standard 35 mm photography to create a 2.00:1 aspect ratio and economize on film.

The proposal also points out that the 2.00:1 aspect ratio can be achieved using standard spherical lenses, which, compared to their anamorphic counterparts, are cheaper, faster (require less light), and have more photographic depth of field and less visual imperfections.

[7] As a compromise to standard technology (for the time being), Storaro says an anamorphic print can be made and presented in 24 frames per second with a digital and/or optical soundtrack.

However, with the rise of the DCP (Digital Cinema Package), the 2:1 image can be projected from a flat (1.85:1) container in either 2K (1998 × 999) or 4K (3996 × 1998), with mild letterboxing.

Some earlier digital TV broadcasts of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi were cropped to the Univisium aspect ratio.

According to IMDB technical specification statistics, there are over 700 titles with 2:1 aspect ratios, and the number has been growing in recent years.

Netflix production and post-production requirements state that they prefer content up to 2:1 aspect ratio; anything wider must be evaluated and discussed.