16:9 Variable Stretch

[mstrymn]

On some T.V.'s there is an option to stretch 4:3 material that stretches the outer left and right area of the image more than the center. Just wondering if that could be an option for VLC?

[yoann]

You could try to play around with the "Video cropping setting" in Preferences -> Video.

[mstrymn]

I've done that, it crops and stretches exactly like you'd expect it to....

But I am suggesting a way of making 4:3 material scale to 16:9 screens without distortion in the center of the screen, only stretch the outer 50% (25% per side).

[thany]

I think that's what Windows MCE 2005 does when you choose "cinema zoom" or whatever it's called. It's not the outer 50% that gets stretched, it's more like the edges are stretched to the max, while decreasing the amount stretch while going towards the center.

[vlc_fan]

I'm absolutely dying for this feature! I've been searching for it in a media player for years now. PowerDVD does this for DVDs, but not video files (they call it CLPV SmartStretch). WinDVD also has a more flexible version of it. Basically, it allows, say, 4x3 video to look very good on a 16x9 screen and vice versa without cropping (and it doesn't even look like the video's been stretched). This would be really great for VLC, and give it a huge edge over other media players, since it's something that the average user would love to have and take full advantage of.