Amazon Prime Aspect Ratio Tips & Troubleshoots

"Amazon Prime TV app displays wrong aspect ratio. When watching Amazon Prime Video on my Hisense smart TV, many movies display in incorrect aspect ratio. There are black bars on the sides, and the content is squished inwards horizontally."

Lots of users reported Amazon Prime Video aspect ratio issue, particularly on Samsung/LG/Hisense/Sharp/Sony/Roku TV. For instance, the image is stretched, words are cut off, the aspect ratio is forced into 4:3, it keeps switching from widescreen to a standard screen and squeezing the occupants within, etc.

Based on the fact, this page focuses on Amazon Prime aspect ratio settings, how to change the aspect ratio and troubleshooting Amazon Prime Video incorrect aspect ratio on your TV, iPhone, iPad, computer, PS4, or other devices.

Part 1. Amazon Prime Aspect Ratio Settings

When talking about aspect ratio, it refers to the video width and height ratio visible on the screen. Amazon officially suggests uploaders to follow the following aspect ratio criteria.

Amazon Prime Display Aspect Ratio:

• 4K UHD mezzanines: 4:3, 1.66:1, 16:9, 1.85:1, 2:1, 2.20:1, 2.35:1, 2.39:1, 2.40:1
• 4K HDR mezzanines: 4:3, 1.66:1, 16.9, 1.85:1, 2:1, 2.20:1, 2.35:1, 2.39:1, 2.40:1
• HD mezzanines: 4:3, 1.66:1, 16:9, 1.85:1, 2:1, 2.20:1, 2.35:1, 2.39:1, 2.40:1
• SD mezzanines: 4:3, 1.66:1, 16:9, 1.85:1, 2:1, 2.20:1, 2.35:1, 2.39:1, 2.40:1

To be more specific, the certain aspect ratio prefer certain videos.

• 16:9 (HD videos)
• 4:3 (Common SD videos)
• 2.40:1(Blu-Ray films- resolution of 1920X800)
• 1.85:1 (the UK, US widescreen releases)
• 2.20:1 (70 mm film standard)
• 2.35:1 (35 mm anamorphic standard prior to 1970)
• 2.39:1 (35 mm anamorphic standard since 1970)
• 2.40:1 (anamorphic standard for Blu-ray film releases at 1920×800 resolution)

Part 2. How to Change Aspect Ratio on Amazon Prime?

As a matter of fact, Amazon Prime Video/Instant video does not feature a manually adjusted video aspect ratio. However, you can still change the aspect ratio on Amazon Prime. How? You can change the aspect ratio from the device that has Amazon Prime Video. That is to say, you can go to settings on your device and set the Amazon Prime Video aspect ratio to 16:9 for full screen, 4:3 for VHS or SD broadcast, 10:9 for standard play, etc. BTW, some option allows you to select "Fit to Screen" to enable the video to adapt to any aspect ratio on which your device is functioning on.

Check resources below to change Amazon Prime/Instant Video aspect ratio on different devices:

How to fix LG TV wrong picture size or aspect ratio >>

How to change Amazon Prime Video aspect ration on Samsung TV >>

Part 3. Troubleshoot Amazon Prime Video/Instant Video Wrong Aspect Ratio

1. Switch to another title

The aspect ratio issue may appear on some certain Amazon Prime Video rentals or free titles. Try playing another resource to see if the problem persists. If the problem only come with a certain title, contact Amazon for refund and ask their support to correct the problem for you. What to do if Amazon Prime Video title is unavailable.

2. Update the software

Check for software update on your device. Since most aspect ratio problem occurs on smart TVs, here we focus on TV. Samsung TV support center guides users to update software directly from TVs to fix Amazon Prime wrong aspect ratio issue.

On your TV, go to Settings > Support > Software Update > Update Now, and software will install quickly when any update is available. The TV will restart automatically when the software update is finished. On Hisense TV remote, navigate to All > About > System Update, press Detect to install the latest TV firmware. On LG TV, press the Home button on your TV remote, go to Settings > All Settings > General > About, and click the Check for updates button. Steps are a bit different on different TV models. You can check the manufacture's official support center for more details.

3. Change Amazon Prime Video/Instant Video aspect ratio

Amazon Prime Video/Instant Video should be presented in widescreen. The Amazon Prime Video app doesn't offer a feature to manually adjust the image aspect ratio. But you can convert the video to 16:9 widescreen from the device used to stream Prime Video. Depending on the device model you are using, you may be able to change the picture size/aspect ratio to:

• 10:9 standard display.
• 4:3 display suitable for SD broadcast and VHS.
• Custom to customize the picture size manually.
• Fit to Screen to display full image without cutting.