---
title: "9:16, 16:9 and 4:5 in pixels: every size a short video needs"
description: "The exact pixel sizes for 9:16, 16:9, 4:5, 1:1 and 4:3, which shape each feed wants, and how to fix a video that came out the wrong shape."
canonical_url: "https://meetkuro.com/guides/video-aspect-ratios-in-pixels/"
published: 2026-10-30
updated: 2026-10-30
locale: "en"
models: []
---

An aspect ratio is a shape, not a size. 9:16 says the picture is 9 units wide for every 16 tall; it does not say how many pixels. The sizes below are the ones each feed actually asks for, so you can stop converting in your head.

## The sizes

| Ratio | Shape | Standard size | Smaller | Larger |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 9:16 | Vertical | 1080 × 1920 | 720 × 1280 | 2160 × 3840 |
| 16:9 | Horizontal | 1920 × 1080 | 1280 × 720 | 3840 × 2160 |
| 4:5 | Tall portrait | 1080 × 1350 | 864 × 1080 | 2160 × 2700 |
| 1:1 | Square | 1080 × 1080 | 720 × 720 | 2160 × 2160 |
| 4:3 | Classic | 1440 × 1080 | 960 × 720 | 2880 × 2160 |

**9:16 in pixels is 1080 × 1920.** 16:9 is the same rectangle turned on its side, 1920 × 1080. Every other row follows the same rule: pick the height, multiply by the ratio.

## Which shape each feed wants

- **TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts:** 9:16, 1080 × 1920. Anything wider gets bars or a crop.
- **X:** 9:16 travels best in the feed; 720 × 1280 is the safe upload size.
- **Instagram feed posts:** 4:5, 1080 × 1350. It is the tallest shape the grid shows uncropped, so it takes the most room on a phone.
- **YouTube, a website header, a presentation:** 16:9, 1920 × 1080.
- **A thumbnail grid or a profile:** 1:1, 1080 × 1080.

## Working one out yourself

Width = height × (first number ÷ second number). A 9:16 video 1280 pixels tall is 1280 × 9 ÷ 16 = 720 wide. Keep both numbers even: video encoders want even dimensions, and an odd one is often rounded for you, which shifts the frame by a pixel.

An odd size like 1500 × 900 reduces to 5:3. It is not one of the shapes above, so a feed will letterbox or crop it.

## When a video came out the wrong shape

You have two honest choices, and they lose different things:

- **Crop:** fill the new frame and cut off the edges. Good when the subject is in the middle; bad when the edges carry text.
- **Pad:** keep every pixel and add bars or a blurred fill. Good for a screen recording; it looks small on a phone.

Whichever you choose, check the **safe zone**: on TikTok, Reels and Shorts the caption, the buttons and the account name sit on top of the bottom and right of the frame, so words placed there are covered.

## Do it in Kuro

- Type any two numbers into the [aspect ratio calculator](/tools/aspect-ratio-calculator/) to get the ratio, or a ratio and one side to get the other.
- Reshape a finished clip to 9:16, 4:5, 1:1 or 16:9 with [Resize a video](/tools/resize-video/); it runs in your browser and the file is never uploaded.
- Drop the result on the [safe-zone checker](/tools/safe-zone-checker/) before you post.
- Or skip the fix: in [/create](https://app.meetkuro.com/create), choose 9:16 before you generate, and the clip comes out the right shape the first time.

---

## About Kuro

Kuro is an AI picture studio: prompt-driven images, clips, voice-overs and music, and storyboard-backed films with consistent characters across every scene.

Agents connect over MCP and can generate directly:

```
claude mcp add kuro https://api.meetkuro.com/mcp --transport http
```

The app is at https://app.meetkuro.com and requires an account.

Each guide, model page, comparison and free tool page on this site (not a tool's variants, and not the index pages) has a Markdown twin at its own URL plus `.md`, and so do /benchmarks/, the English /agents/ page (as /agents.md) and the MCP tool reference. Every guide: https://meetkuro.com/guides/