The Great Ellipse Survey

OK, here it is, please select the shape that is the most appealing to you, with the goal of choosing a shape that is not too square and not too round. So, obviously, there's really only five choices, the others are for comparison. If anyone has any suggestions as to a roundness that is not represented, please let me know.

A. This is a regular ellipse, with a major to minor axis ratio of 4/3 which is the ratio of most monitors and TV screens. It has a 'perfect' roundness of 2, i.e. if the ratio were 1/1 it would be a circle.

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B. This is an ellipse with a 4/3 ratio, and a roundness of 3.

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C. This is Piet Hein's superellipse, with his recommended ratio of 6/5 and roundness of 2.5.

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D. This is a 4/3 ellipse with a 4.4 roundness, which is exactly between a 2, perfectly round, and infinity, perfectly square. 4.4 is in between 2 and infinity because the formula is a logarithm.

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E. This is a 4/3 ellipse with a roundness of 1. I know,it seems kind of contradictory that a rhombus has a roundness of 1, but just trust me on this one. Incidental 1 is halfway between 0 and infinity on this log scale.

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F. This is a 4/3 ellipse with a roundness of 2.4, which is exactly between 1, see above, and infinity. This is probably what Piet Hein was going for and he got pretty close.

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G. This is a 4/3 ellipse with a roundness 0.618 (1/phi) between 0 and infinity. Is this the shape of a Viagra pill?

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H. This is a 4/3 ellipse with a roundness of e, or 2.718.

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I. Just for reference this is a 4/3 ellipse with a roundness of 500.

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OK, here are the top three ellipses, now shown in a different axis ratio - major/minor of phi; and a normal ellipse and full rectangle for reference.

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

Comments

[billy bonka]

f is the best.

[llogg]

I'm gonna go with c. I like the more round look.

[tom]

A for me.

[basqueard]

I like B, its got that old-school retro pseudo-futuristic TV screen shape to it...

[Ojo Rojo]

In order:

F, B, A, H, C, G, D, E, I

[The Tartan Horde]

F, C, A