Aspect ratio when playing back on a 16:10 screen

EyesWideBlown

Newbie Joined: Oct 07, 2013 14:16 Messages: 7 Offline

Solved by

Jan 16, 2014 18:59

Hi there,

I'm using the latest PowerDVD 13 Ultra version (13.0.3520.5

.

There's a playback issue that's been bothering me for a long time now. It has to do with PowerDVD restretching the source material when I change to fullscreen mode. This is because monitor I mainly use for playing back videos with PowerDVD is a HP professional IPS display panel (ZR2440w) with a native 16:10 aspect ratio (1920x1200px screen resolution).

If I'm not in the Cinema Mode and I double-click the video that's playing (to set the playback to full screen), in a majority of movies the source material gets over-stretched to the 1920x1200 screen size (even if I've chosen the option "Keep aspect ratio" under the "Aspect ratio" settings).

It seems to be a bug in PowerDVD when it's playing back videos on 16:10 monitors in normal (=non-cinema) mode. Changing other available options regarding display size doesn't help out much either, sometimes I'm lucky with the original aspect ratio and it matches when I choose the aspect manually. And on the other hand, if I choose the video to be "sort of fullscreen" (ie. all the PowerDVD playback tools and options still visible), the videos are played in a correct aspect ratio. However, in Cinema Mode, this overstretch problem isn't there. Very strange.

Upon searching for the 16:10 aspect ratio issue, the only reference I found was from the previous posts on this forum, "List of bugs in PowerDVD 13 Ultra" (http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/28064.page#163019), but even that doesn't really address the problem I'm experiencing.

Any help is highly appreciated! Thanks!

CyberLink-Michael

Senior Contributor Location: Europe Joined: Apr 18, 2007 04:05 Messages: 7418 Offline

Jan 17, 2014 03:35

Hi EyesWideblown,

I also use 16:10 Display in my Office Environment and I cannot reproduce your issue in my Environment.

Using native resolution on my 16:10 Display (1920x1200) shows correct letterbox on 16:9 Content.

you may post more details about your Setup:
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/27714.page

thx
Michael
Technical Support

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Arip

Newbie Joined: Sep 23, 2017 18:21 Messages: 2 Offline

Sep 23, 2017 18:49

Quote Hi EyesWideblown,

I also use 16:10 Display in my Office Environment and I cannot reproduce your issue in my Environment.

Using native resolution on my 16:10 Display (1920x1200) shows correct letterbox on 16:9 Content.

you may post more details about your Setup:
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/27714.page

thx
Michael

No, this is an issue, and it still exists in PowerDVD 17. The thing is that you will only experience the issue if you have 2 monitors with different aspect ratio. My main monitor is 16:9 and my secondary monitor, where i often play movies, while I'm working on my main display, is 16:10. The problem is that PowerDVD seems to lock to the primary displays aspect ratio. That means that you will get a stretched image on the 16:10 monitor when the 16:9 monitor is primary, and when the 16:10 monitor is primary you will get black bars above and below the video on both monitors!

This is really basic stuff and a definite deal breaker for me. I can't really believe this doesn't work in v17 of your software? Please let me know if this will be fixed asap, or I will have to use my 30 day money back guarantee.

Lars

EyesWideBlown

Newbie Joined: Oct 07, 2013 14:16 Messages: 7 Offline

Sep 24, 2017 12:36

Quote

Quote Hi EyesWideblown,

I also use 16:10 Display in my Office Environment and I cannot reproduce your issue in my Environment.

Using native resolution on my 16:10 Display (1920x1200) shows correct letterbox on 16:9 Content.

you may post more details about your Setup:
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/27714.page

thx
Michael

No, this is an issue, and it still exists in PowerDVD 17. The thing is that you will only experience the issue if you have 2 monitors with different aspect ratio. My main monitor is 16:9 and my secondary monitor, where i often play movies, while I'm working on my main display, is 16:10. The problem is that PowerDVD seems to lock to the primary displays aspect ratio. That means that you will get a stretched image on the 16:10 monitor when the 16:9 monitor is primary, and when the 16:10 monitor is primary you will get black bars above and below the video on both monitors!

This is really basic stuff and a definite deal breaker for me. I can't really believe this doesn't work in v17 of your software? Please let me know if this will be fixed asap, or I will have to use my 30 day money back guarantee.

Lars

Hi there Lars,

For me the problem got resolved around PowerDVD 14 if I remember correctly. PowerDVD 15 and 16 (my current version) have been running with the 16:10 / 1920x1200 HP IPS Display panel[s] that I'm currenlty using without any problems for quite a while now. Have you tried switching between the PDVD between Theatre Mode (or what was it called anyway) and the "regular" playback mode? I think that resolved the issue in my case a while back. Might want to try updating all display related driver software as well. Good luck.

Arip

Newbie Joined: Sep 23, 2017 18:21 Messages: 2 Offline

Sep 24, 2017 19:06

Quote
Hi there Lars,

For me the problem got resolved around PowerDVD 14 if I remember correctly. PowerDVD 15 and 16 (my current version) have been running with the 16:10 / 1920x1200 HP IPS Display panel[s] that I'm currenlty using without any problems for quite a while now. Have you tried switching between the PDVD between Theatre Mode (or what was it called anyway) and the "regular" playback mode? I think that resolved the issue in my case a while back. Might want to try updating all display related driver software as well. Good luck.

Thank you for the reply, I’m happy the issue got solved for you. I have now tried again, with the latest drivers from Nvidia, and I also tested theater mode, as you suggested, but unfortunately it still does not work for me. The only way I will not get a stretched image on my 16:10 display, is if I set it up as the primary display.

I have opened a support ticket with Cyberlink now, but if they can’t fix the issue within a week or so I will just have to ask them for a refund. I can’t imagine that other commercial DVD players will have the same issue, so better to just go with someone else.

Lars