srsly! vlc can't play video at screen center ?

[MrBob]

here is the situation:
I have many varied resolution videos 480p, 720p, 1080p ... etc, VLC plays them very well without probs.
my only problem is that, in order to watch properly I have to manually adjust vlc window to the screen center every time I play a video with a different resolution because vlc is bouncing all over the place and it can't automatically center itself to the screen and that is very annoying

now the big question that is in my head rite now is something like this: how can you make vlc window start playing video at the screen center if vlc window could start playing video at the screen center ?
thanks.

[JSLover]

...I have to manually adjust vlc window to the screen center every time I play a video with a different resolution because vlc is bouncing all over the place...

...I assume you have the default pref "Resize interface to video size" enabled (it's a default pref, so you almost certainly have it enabled).

I agree, that default is horribly annoying.

Here's how to change it...

1. In VLC, click Tools ► Preferences
2. At the bottom left, for Show settings, make sure Simple is selected (it should be)
3. Along the left, make sure Interface is selected (again, it should be, but I'm just being thorough)
4. On the right-side, in the section Look & feel (near the top), uncheck Resize interface to video size
5. Click Save
6. Manually resize VLC's window one more time to the size you want.
7. Close VLC to commit the pref change & window resize (otherwise, if VLC crashes, this change {or some changes} might not be saved)
8. Run VLC & see if that fixes the problem

...this will not actually "re-center" VLC for each video. But VLC will stay wherever you last put it...& not "bounce around all over the place" anymore.

I have a script (that I can upload/post) that centers & resizes VLC to exactly 3/4 of the screen resolution (this preserves the aspect ratio of the screen...even in the smaller window)...creating a nice big window (however, for actually watching a video, I always go fullscreen).

[MrBob]

thanks for the replay JSLover

that solved half of the problem. now vlc is not bouncing around which is good but the video resolution is not correct, highres videos are squeezed and smaller videos are bigger and blurry
what I'm looking for is watching at original resolution and 1:1 aspect ratio + vlc at the center of my screen automatically. good example of that is (K-Lite Codec Pack with MP Classic) it always plays at screen center with correct resolution.
is that possible in vlc ?
thanks

[JSLover]

...but the video resolution is not correct, highres videos are squeezed and smaller videos are bigger and blurry

...hmm???

what I'm looking for is watching at original resolution and 1:1 aspect ratio + vlc at the center of my screen automatically.

...that should be what's happening, now that that pref was changed. Have you changed any other VLC prefs from the defaults? You could send me your config (vlcrc) & I could look at it, or you could: Reset Prefs to get VLC to the default state (which I never wanna suggest: backup 1st!), then re-apply the pref change above. If you've heavily customized VLC's Prefs, then don't bother with resetting them, we can find the offending pref another way. However, if you were just changing prefs randomly, trying to get VLC to stop bouncing around, then perhaps undoing all of that would be good?

Wait, you mean you DON'T want low res video to stretch to fit the screen?...that's another pref...

1. In VLC, click Tools ► Preferences
2. At the bottom left, for Show settings, click All
3. At the top left, for Search, paste the string: video auto scaling
4. In the box below Search, click Video
5. On the right side, in the section Window properties (near the bottom, but up a little), uncheck Video Auto Scaling
6. Click Save
7. Close VLC to commit the pref change (otherwise, if VLC crashes, this change {or some changes} might not be saved)
8. Run VLC & see if that fixes the problem

...I happen to like that pref on (checked), but there it is, if that's what you meant.

I'm still not sure about "highres videos are squeezed"...unless a specific (non-default) Aspect Ratio got saved in your prefs. But as for "smaller videos are bigger and blurry"...smaller — lower quality — videos should be blurry, since they are low quality.

Basically, by default, videos bigger than the screen/display area should shrink to fit (proportionately — they should not be "squeezed" or distorted in any way — unless you use the Aspect Ratio option to forcibly squeeze/stretch the video). Videos smaller than the screen/display area should stretch to fit...this will cause some blurriness, but that can't be avoided, due to a low resolution source. Try pressing O when playing a video (the letter o, as in "right before p", not the number 0), that will toggle between "Original Size" & "Scaled to screen". Try it on "highres videos" & "smaller videos" & let me know if that is doing what you want...if it is, the pref change above should make "Original size" the new default for all videos (I assume pressing O will still toggle tho?).

[MrBob]

hi JSLover and thank you for help I really appreciate it
I must apologize for my crappy english, I really couldn't explain better (sorry for that)
I made quick & small video to make it easier for me to show you what I mean, please watch in full screen.

http://www.videoweed.es/file/tkrjv1sui9h2z

Part1: shows how I have to move vlc window manually to screen center each time I play a video with different resolution
Part2: shows how 720p video got squeezed and 360p video got upscaled when I uncheck Resize interface to video size (really obvious)
Part3: shows how MPC works (always play video at screen center) and that what I want vlc to do
btw this is what I mean by "play video at screen center" http://oi43.tinypic.com/2lvofty.jpg
thats it .
I hope my point is clear now