Force VLC to play files at native resolution

[glenpinn]

hi, i just joined up on this forum as i have an issue with my current VLC media player (2.0.1)

i try to use VLC for playback of all my different file types (standard def dvd mpeg2, Xvid, Divx, h264 (mov & mp4) mkv, and WMV and everything is fine.

however, i noticed in the newer versions, VLC on playback of all my files (be it standard def or 720p files) expands the player to full screen mode, so it will play a standard def or 720p file on my 24" 1920x1080 lcd screen at full size, and it is very annoying, because my standard def dvd mpeg2 files look pretty crappy playing on full screen mode.

i cant find any option to set it to play the file only at the resolution of the actual file, but there is an option that is ticked by default in the preferences tab that says the player will resize the interface to the video size, and its not doing that.

i know in the older (pre 1.0) versions i was using, the player would play the video at the size of the video file.

if i use WMP as my default player, my files actually play back on WMP at the correct video resolution, and i can then expand it to play at full screen if i want it to, but i only do this depending on the quality of the file.

we have a 50" plasma tv in the loungeroom with a resolution of 1366x768 and when VLC plays on that using a laptop connected via hdmi, my standard def files look ok because the file is only being upscaled to double its size, and a 720p file only upscales slightly from 1200x720, and a full hd 1080p file actually gets downscaled so thats ok.

can someone tell me how i can make VLC play my files at the actual size of the files being played.

my pc has a 3770 ivy bridge cpu with onboard HD4000 graphics, i do not have a dedicated graphics card.

any help will be most appreciated.

[thresh]

try resetting VLC preferences

[glenpinn]

hi, thanks for the reply, but resetting preferences doesnt make any difference, as i only made a few changes to a couple of things that has nothing to do with video payback.

i just get frustrated with this because there is a box in the preferences > interface setting that is ticked by default to resize the interface to the video size, which to me would mean the player should play the file at its native resolution on my screens, and not open up automatically in full screen mode regardless of the files resolution.

someone must have an answer to this ??? because i cant continue using VLC like this, so for now, i play everything in WMP, which i am happy to do, but to play MKV files in WMP i need to install the CCCP codec pack.

cheers

[glenpinn]

ok so nobody knows the answer to my problem ???

so i ask you people, does your VLC player play all your video files, regardless of their resolution, in full screen mode, regardless what screen resolution your pc or laptop has ???

cheers

EDIT: i just found the installer for version 0.8.6b in one of my program folders, and that was the last known version that did play my files at the correct resolution in the player, so i installed it just now, and yes, plays the files ok, BUT it doesnt play mkv or h264 (mov/mp4) properly, i just get very blocky playback with the video screen mostly grey.

so back to the drawing board.

[glenpinn]

ok i found the solution to this problem, and its something Videolan should fix.

if i play a 720p file on my full hd screen and i expand it to play full screen, then close vlc without reverting the player back to the 720p playback mode, the next time i play a file, vlc will automatically open in full screen mode regardless what size the file is that i open.

so yeah, in the older versions, the player would always open up on the screen at the resolution of the file being played, regardless if you expanded it to play full screen, and this is what VLC should be doing, even WMP opens at the appropriate size to suit the video size every file it plays.

so the thread can be closed.

[hallucinogen]

this is what i'm talking about. this is the feature that i want for VLC newer releases. i'll switch to VLC if this will be implemented on the next release.

[Ludrax]

Always fit window

[hallucinogen]

that doesn't help. when i close vlc from fullscreen it doesn't auto resize the native video reso when i open another video file.

[WTWASP]

Not sure if this will mean anything to anyone now (2024), but under the "Video" tab on the main toolbar, there are options for "Fullscreen", "Always Fit Window", "Zoom", "Aspect Ratio", and "Crop". Maybe experimenting with these settings will set and retain desired settings?

What I wanna know is how to force ALL videos, regardless of their aspect ratio (1280x720, 1280x533, 1920x1080, 1920x800, 640x480, etc), to playback within the parameters of a 1920x800 or 1920x810 resolution, WITHOUT skewing/stretching/distorting the aspect ratio of the videos.

Playing a video now, VLC will fill to its largest dimension (height versus width) 1080p height video fills the screen and it's a little "overwhelming" for me. I've taken to converting videos higher than 800p in height, to be scaled down to that (yes, that means black bars on the sides - I'm fine with that). But the conversion processes take forever, longer than it takes to just watch the movie. So I figure a playback resizing "on the fly" within the player would be the simplest solution - but I cannot find anything for that.

I considered unchecking "Fit To Window" but then 1280x720 will appear smaller than I'd like (by 80p in height), and videos smaller than that will be smaller still.
I'm looking for a universal "set it and forget it" setting, rather than toggling things on and off according to the video.

VLC has a million settings under the Tools>Preferences section, but so few of them make any sense to a layman like me. I could be looking right at the option I want but don't recognize it due to some technical terminology or a convoluted description of what it does.

I also do not want to upgrade or do anything overly invasive or disruptive to the custom setting I have now that I painstakingly had to figure out (due to the complicated layout of the settings). I just want a "hack" or a simple setting that will play all videos at a height of no larger than 800p.