Easiest way to stretch a 4:3 video to a 16:9 display

**kokkat** · February 15th, 2011, 06:44 AM

Let me take you through watching 3 epsiodes of "That 70's Show"
The first episode starts playing in the original 4:3 aspect ratio on my 16:9 display.
Oops black bars, ok fight with my 4 year old for the remote,

D-Pad center button (to get OSD menu)
> Up button (to get to the top bar)
> Right button (to get to the gear icon)
> center button (to click gear icon)
> center button (to click Video)
> center button to change to Custom from Normal (default) in the drop-down menu
> center button to change to Original Size
> center button to change to Stretch 16:9
> Back button to get out of Video menu
> Back button to get out of OSD menu

That is 10 clicks on the remote to stretch a 4:3 video to a 16:9 display.
No problem, except I have to do this all over again in 21 minutes when the next episode video starts to play.

Yes I know all 4:3 content should have black bars on the left and right to preserve the original intention of the video maker, blah blah blah.
And I prefer to leave Screen format & overscan... > Aspect Ratio > 16:9 (1.78) (default) as it is.
I am sure some of you guys have figured out an easier way.
Be kind enough to share them here. Thank you.

PS. Searching the forum turned up threads about Aspect Ratios, Screen Resolution, Scaling etc but nothing that solves this problem.

And no, I would rather not repackage/convert 7 TB of 4:3 videos

**Luterin** · February 15th, 2011, 06:53 AM

I've written about this aswell and requested a setting where you can choose how it default handles 4:3 content, but I want to go a step further than you. I would like that setting to include the advanced settings where I can choose the zoom amount.

I prefer to have my 4:3 content zoomed to 1.20, not a full 16:9. More like 14:9. This way I don't distort the picture and I just sacrifice some of the top and bottom, not as much as 16:9 would.

EDIT: XBMC has this btw.

**Rustycar** · February 15th, 2011, 06:57 AM

Download MKVMerge
* Drag and drop your video into it.
* Highlight the video stream then click on the "format specific options tab"
* Set Aspect ratio to 16:9 via the drop down box
* Click Start Muxing

This will repackage the video into an MKV container and if all goes well the video stream will play in 16:9, original video and audio so no loss of quality.

**kokkat** · February 15th, 2011, 06:59 AM

If there is an existing jira ticket please post link here so people who stop by can vote on it.

**clcallegari** · February 15th, 2011, 06:59 AM

I just use my TV's remote to stretch the picture... "Zoom" mode works fine for me.

**twistybox** · February 15th, 2011, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by Luterin

I prefer to have my 4:3 content zoomed to 1.20, not a full 16:9. More like 14:9. This way I don't distort the picture and I just sacrifice some of the top and bottom, not as much as 16:9 would.

I'm fairly confident this is possible in Boxee. It's just a simple zoom. It should be one of the preset aspect ratio modes. On top of the presets however, you can also make manual adjustments to stretch any which way you'd like. Doing this on a per-show basis would be tedious though.

The best solution for use with the default remote would be to include an aspect icon on the first OSD along the top. I think it's an important enough feature that you shouldn't have to dig through multiple levels of settings to toggle through the different presets.

**Luterin** · February 15th, 2011, 08:02 AM

Yes, there are ways around this. Some TVs support 14:9, some doesn't. Also the Boxee menu while playing a file supports zoom to whatever degree you would like.

But this is still not a reason not to have it under settings as a "default 4:3 handling".

My new TV does not have 14:9, only 16:9/Zoom and the content distorting "wide zoom", and I do not wan't to have to change this every time I watch a new episode or file that is 4:3.

A default setting should be easy to implement and I can't see a reason not to do it.

**kokkat** · February 15th, 2011, 09:54 PM

Is anyone aware of a jira ticket for this issue?

**M1ster_Happy** · February 15th, 2011, 10:14 PM

I was thinking of a shortcut key... after all we have a full keyboard... just press the 'V' key to toggle through the different options.

http://jira.boxee.tv/browse/BOXEE-7432