[nicklaus]

I submitted a pull request that added 2 new view modes. I just want to solicit some feedback to see if it is something that other people would use and if they have any additional suggestions.

The two new modes display the content the same as the "Normal" view mode unless the content has too wide of an aspect ratio to fill the height of the screen (think watching a 2.39:1 aspect ratio movie on a 16:9 screen where black bars appear on the top and bottom). In this case, these new modes will zoom the content slightly (up to 10% or 20%), cropping the sides of the content, but filling more of the screen height. While this can currently be done by going into each video or TV show and manually adjusting the amount of zoom based on the aspect ratio of the content and the aspect ratio of the screen, these new modes allow it to be done in an automatic way when either of them is applied as the default for all videos.

[nickr]

Personally I prefer to watch a 2.39 movie at a 2.39 aspect ratio, but I know there will be some people who want this.

[mo123]

Hi nicklaus

This is just an idea I have, don't know if it is feasible.

Is it possible to add extra menu settings for 'Display 4:3 videos as' but for
16:9, 21:9, 10:7, 2.39:1 aspect ratios?
Then users can apply different zoom settings but only for that aspect ratio.
Currently Kodi only has a menu setting for 'Display 4:3 aspect ratio videos as' and for zoom settings you need to apply to all videos, it's not possible to apply a certain zoom setting only to a certain aspect ratio.

[nicklaus]

Hi nicklaus

This is just an idea I have, don't know if it is feasible.

Is it possible to add extra menu settings for 'Display 4:3 videos as' but for
16:9, 21:9, 10:7, 2.39:1 aspect ratios?
Then users can apply different zoom settings but only for that aspect ratio.
Currently Kodi only has a menu setting for 'Display 4:3 aspect ratio videos as' and for zoom settings you need to apply to all videos, it's not possible to apply a certain zoom setting only to a certain aspect ratio.

When I initially started working on adding the view modes I thought about doing something like this, since I mainly only wanted to change the zoom level for 2.39:1. However, after looking through the code, I decided against it. The code specific to the 4:3 content appears to be added on as an after thought, with several extra checks and branches. I'm afraid that if I attempt something like this, it will add a lot more complexity and make maintaining the code a nightmare.

However, if you have a specific result you want, I would be happy to look into how much effort it would take me to implement. Just let me know.

[MrVideo]

Personally I prefer to watch a 2.39 movie at a 2.39 aspect ratio, but I know there will be some people who want this.

I'm one of them. This goes back to the days of people wanting to fill their 16:9 screens with the 4:3 video, especially when stretch mode was used, which resulted in short fat people. Or those who wanted to take the widescreen video on their 4:3 TV and crop/zoom so that the sides are cut off. Now wanting to take 2.39:1 movies and crop/zooming so that their 16:9 screen is filled is, IMHO, dumb. There can be video on the sides that will be lost as a result and the viewer could end up wondering what is going on when they hear something, but do not see it.

In order words... watch the movie as intended by the director.

[ScopeFan]

Variable stretching and zooming depending on content can be done with a plugin. No need to modify Kodi.
With scripting, you could set a specific zoom, specific pixel aspect ratio depending on the video content.

I have done this to simplify my CIH setup, but the principle is the same. The script gets called on playback started,
obtain the aspect ratio of the playing video, apply stretch, zoom as desired.

[nickr]

Personally I prefer to watch a 2.39 movie at a 2.39 aspect ratio, but I know there will be some people who want this.

I'm one of them. This goes back to the days of people wanting to fill their 16:9 screens with the 4:3 video, especially when stretch mode was used, which resulted in short fat people. Or those who wanted to take the widescreen video on their 4:3 TV and crop/zoom so that the sides are cut off. Now wanting to take 2.39:1 movies and crop/zooming so that their 16:9 screen is filled is, IMHO, dumb. There can be video on the sides that will be lost as a result and the viewer could end up wondering what is going on when they hear something, but do not see it.

In order words... watch the movie as intended by the director.

Precisely.

[dasco]

Variable stretching and zooming depending on content can be done with a plugin. No need to modify Kodi.
With scripting, you could set a specific zoom, specific pixel aspect ratio depending on the video content.

I have done this to simplify my CIH setup, but the principle is the same. The script gets called on playback started,
obtain the aspect ratio of the playing video, apply stretch, zoom as desired.

Hi ScopeFan,

Could you elaborate on this or point me to the thread that this is discussed in. I too have a CIH setup and would love to have the Vertical Stretching done for me in Kodi based on the content. Instead of manually changing it in the projector settings.

Thanks in advance

[ScopeFan]

@dasco, PM'ed as this is no longer a feature request discussion.

[apguy]

@dasco, PM'ed as this is no longer a feature request discussion.

@ScopeFan It sounds like i want to do exactly the same thing.  I want to automate vertical stretching based on the aspect ratio in the nfo.  Rather than reinvent the wheel are you able to PM me as well?

Thanks