Its because you guys that bring this up, dont know what your talking about I've explained it before. You cannot do this without either culling parts of the image or wrecking the display of the image.

A bloke in the past even tried to debate that there was no image distortion when you do this. The fact is, there is.

The solution is to watch the video the way the director intended you to watch it.

What does this have to do with "how the director intended it" ??

If the film was shot in 2:35 or 2:4 aspect ratio, that's how the director intended it.

This is a software limitation of PowerDVD because of blu-ray copy protection, nothing more. 21:9 are a near perfect 2:4 aspect ratio, so should be perfect for viewing 2:4 ratio films "the way the director intended it" full screen without boarders.

Below is a photo of "Paul" played at the correct aspect ratio on a 21:9 3440 x 1440 monitor without distortion, utilising all of the screen area.



Next is the same film played on PowerDVD from blu-ray with copy protection. Same aspect ratio, but boarders top and bottom, not utilising the whole screen.



Next is PowerDVDs stretch mode. It only stretches the image horizontally, not vertically as well, distorting the image.



Other media suite software has been able to get around the problem, like Arcsofts Total media Theater 6, and Leveno Media Player, so a fix should be possible in Power DVD.

The software just has to detect the top and bottom of the image, keep the aspect ratio.and zoom.

And yes I do know what I am talking about, I've been an electronics technical Engineer many years, not a back garden shed "think I am", but working for Blue chip companies, and I have worked now in the CGI industry for the last 12 years, so know both sides of the industry.

I dont know much about the coding side of things, only maxscript in 3ds max, but one guy on another forum created his own patch for this problem, but i'd rather have an offical patch created by Cyberlink, so it is possible to correct this problem.

@SRPlus: Thanks so much for posting this!

I too switched 21:9 with my Acer last year and I am extremely disappointed by the fact that this cinema format cannot be utilized with PowerDVD... Copyright restrictions etc. is the argument but hey I bought these 700+ Blurays and so I should be able to watch them on any monitor!

Based on steam hardware survey the 21:9 market share already overtook the 4k resolution one. There is no way around 21:9 resolutions - especially when these devices will be much cheaper in the future.

Luckily there are in-official solutions to make the playback work on 21:9 monitors but this doesn't involve any Cyberlink products but free (0$) products. If these software engineers made it work easily it should be extremely easy for Cyberlink as well. But they argue that they aren't allowed to...

So no revenue for Cyberlink from my side anymore after years of upgrading. ---
PowerDVD 18 Ultra and Acer X34 21:9 3440x1440px Monitor

Same for me, no point upgrading unless this problem is resolved. I also have an extensive Blu-ray collection.

I also read that market survey, ultra wide sales now overshadowing 4K sales, so Cyberlink really need to address this.

The companies that put these copy protection restrictions in place must also be aware of the growing problem, so Cyberlink, Corel etc needs to work out a solution with them, or find a way to make the zoom function work correctly without distorting the aspect ratio.

I can understand your frustration and if this is just a technical issue CyberLink should fix it.

However if this is due to copy protection you're actually suggesting CyberLink should illegally circumvent it to get sued by the blu-ray association and their blu-ray license keys be revoked so that PowerDVD ceases to exist? Really? That's utter nonsense.

Btw does it work with RedFox AnyDVD enabled?

@ Peter99

So I purchase a genuine blu-ray disc of a movie legally, giving me the right to watch the movie within the privacy of my own home, or portable media device.

I purchase Power DVD giving me the license to legally play back blu-rays on my system.

So if Cyberlink then introduce coding to make their software compatible with the latest technology, this then becomes illegal?

Media devices and media formats are constantly in a state of change and improvement, from the format, the technology, and the software to make the two compatible.

When a new screen size ratio is introduced such as 4K or Ultra wide, these software restrictions have to be modified, or end up being a victim of themselves and phased out by their own restrictions.

A software company that already has a licence to playback copy protected blu-rays, changing the way the format is displayed to be compatible with new monitor formats, will not be in breach of said licence.

The agreement of said licence is still the same, to play back genuine blu ray media on a device of the licensee.

So I don’t see how this utter nonsense, and as said, Cyberlink, Corel etc all have to sort this out with the blu-ray association, whether that’s a work around or an alteration in the code, as the customer legally is not doing anything wrong playing back legally purchased genuine media on licensed software to playback that media. And on a monitor that is better suited for most modern aspect ratios used in movies.

It may cost Media suite creators more money in the beginning, but if the problem is not addressed, and with the increasing popularity of the ultra wide format, cyber link will end up loosing a lot of sales in the near future.., now in fact as I’m not upgrading unless this problem is fixed, so that's one starting here…

Sorry, but you guys just don't get it. Its not a Cyberlink conspiracy folks.

A 21:9 monitor has a display aspect (DAR) ratio of 2.33.

If the footage uses square pixels meaning it is not anamorphically encoded, then:

2.35 will have black bars, same with 2.39, 2.40 and 2.55 and 2.89

Same with for example the movie Tron shot at 2.20, other titles in 1.85, 1.78 and 1.37

The only footage that will display pixel perfect on a 21:9 monitor is 2.33 everything else will have black bars so it displays correctly without losing bits of the image or distorting the image and wrecking image quality

You need to let that last point sink in - there is no method to redo the DAR without either loosing some of the image or distorting the image.

Ive explained it many times before on this forum. You chose to buy a monitor in that DAR, so you get what DAR it has.

@ nullack

No one here is talking about a Cyberlink conspiracy, more along the lines of Cyberlink not being aware of the growing number of Ultra wide monitor owners wanting this problem fixed with all Media suites.

And please stop this condescending attitude to other members here, like we are all a bunch of IQ 60‘s. I work with aspect ratios every day for compositing and 3d rendering. It is you that for some reason doesn’t seem to be able to understand something so simple as displaying a 2:40.1 locked aspect ratio film on a 3440 x 1440 screen, zoomed to fill the screen area as mush as possible, without loosing the aspect ratio..

For films below 2.33.1 the boarder protection has to be from top to bottom, and films above 2:33.1, the boarder protection ( edge detection) has to be from side to side,.so a 2:40.1 aspect ratio film with the aspect ratio locked will touch the sides of the screen area but have very small boarders at the top and bottom, were as a 16:9 film will touch the top and bottom of the screen area but have larger boarders at the sides. A 2:35.1 film will have almost zero boarders top and bottom, or at leat nothing worth caring about..

Instead of all the babbling I just did trying to explain the problem so you understand, I’ve edited it all out and drawn a simple comparison for you.



The Blue areea is the 21:9 screen area,

The Red is what Ultra wide owners are wanting, the 2:40.1 film displayed using the full screen area of the monitor but will slight boarders top and bottom to maintain the aspect ratio.

The Green is currently the sixe a 2:40.1 movie is played at from a copy protected Blu -Ray.

I dont see how this is hard to understand?

Its possible in other media suites and possible with a hack, and I do not see how creating a zoom mode for Ultra wide monitor owners could be in any way illegal, and if it requires ulteration in the blu ray copy protection itself to solve this, then this also needs to be addressed and updated. Ultra wides are here to stay for a very long time.

Ultra wide owners will in the end have to resort to old downloads of ArcSoft Total Media Theatre 6, which is lost sales for Cyberlink..

So in your first post your complaint is basically that you always wants a DAR "..without large boarders top and sides in PowerDVD 15 & 16" where this, which you should know if what you claim with your work is true, is impossible. You must crop and/or distort the image to do so, it cannot be done properly where the image integrity remains. Its a physically unavoidable fact.

If your clarification in your last post is that you are seeing letterboxing when you are only expecting pillarboxing then that is a more sensible issue and is quite different to the above.

I suggest you need to give Cyberlink a clear example of a specific bit of video with a specific aspect ratio, where you can say it should only be pillarboxed not letterboxed. It all depends on the source content aspect ratio. If you give them a specific bit of footage and some screenshots that would prove your case.

@ nullack

without large boarders does not mean No boarders!

And no different from above, the problem I am reporting has been the same from the start, I've just had to try to explain it in different way to make you understand.

Yes I deal with various aspect ratio formats on a daily basis in my work.

2:40.1 will have very slight boarders at the top and bottom, but zero boarders at the sides, this is possible, I even showed you on my second post, but you are still saying "not Possible"

There is also an article about this problem here

https://pcmonitors.info/articles/games-movies-and-the-desktop-at-3440-x-1440/


Solution : Download an old copy of ArcSoft Total Media Theatre 6!

Is that really what Cyberlink wants?? Thats going to be a huge ammount of lost sales in the comming years from Ultra wide owners.

Ah, I found the old thread and post the link as a reference:

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/42062.page

The PowerDVDLoader tool there is still up. Did someone test it with PDVD 16?

Can not find an exe-file in this folder !!
There are several files in it , no exe......
Tried to open them ,one by one, but always "not supported" in PDVD16. (??) Do NOT GIVE UP!! CyberLink updates PDVD12 next month for solving these frustrating problem!!

Sorry,wrong download !

Tried second time, this time indeed, an exe-file ( PowerDVDLoader.exe), it does not function at all !!

Maybe in PDVD14, but no way in PDVD15 or pdvd16 !!

Tried in Win10 x64, on 15-Ultra and 16-Ultra, no luck..............

a new (updated) loader would be awsome !! Do NOT GIVE UP!! CyberLink updates PDVD12 next month for solving these frustrating problem!!

Quote: but you are still saying "not Possible"

What I am saying is:

1. It is possible to use letterboxing/pillarboxing as needed to display, without distortion, without loosing parts of the image, specific content in specific aspect rations that do not match the display aspect ratio of a particular display. I said to you, that this is possible and a reasonable case to press to Cyberlink.


2. What is not possible, is to always have no letterboxing/pillarboxing for all content across a range of different aspect ratios given one fixed display aspect ration. Techniques that do this, either distort the image or cut parts of the image out.

The two above cases are quite distinct and different from each other. That is why when you clarified what you meant, I said in the case of item one above, it was a more reasonable suggestion than the impossibility of case 2.

I see, but its still ridiculous coz we can play almost anything in FULL WIDE SCREEN with MPC ( media player classic ) while we even dont have to pay for this fine player !
We always have to deal with these ugly big black bars in PDVD16 ( up and bottom) in some DVDs, and not only the blue-rays.....
I think this is a big mistake in this player and have to wait for a solution (update ?),before we buy !! Do NOT GIVE UP!! CyberLink updates PDVD12 next month for solving these frustrating problem!!

Quote:

Quote: but you are still saying "not Possible"

What I am saying is:

1. It is possible to use letterboxing/pillarboxing as needed to display, without distortion, without loosing parts of the image, specific content in specific aspect rations that do not match the display aspect ratio of a particular display. I said to you, that this is possible and a reasonable case to press to Cyberlink.


2. What is not possible, is to always have no letterboxing/pillarboxing for all content across a range of different aspect ratios given one fixed display aspect ration. Techniques that do this, either distort the image or cut parts of the image out.

The two above cases are quite distinct and different from each other. That is why when you clarified what you meant, I said in the case of item one above, it was a more reasonable suggestion than the impossibility of case 2.

I’ve said from the start, that what Ultra wide monitor owners want is to utilise the screen area “without distorting the aspect ratio“, I even showed in image two of my second post exactly what we want.

The Film “Paul” is 2:35.1, and the borders are barely noticeable in image 2 on a 21:9 monitor, not even worth caring about, but its still the correct aspect ratio, and taking full advantage of the screen space available.

I have never said that we want every pixel of the screen taken up , no matter what the aspect ratio is, as that is impossible without “distorting the aspect ratio”, but you seem to think I have suggested this somewhere?? The only confusion is at your end it seems.

My first posts stand, so if you want to continue to misunderstand what I am trying to say do so.

The propose of this post is to get the attention of developers so a fix can be applied, and a fix is possible, as it already been proven with hacks, non blu ray media files, and other Media Suites.

No one is going to care if there is a very slight boarder at the top on a 2:35.1 or 2:40.1 film, as long as the film fills the screen area as much as possible without loss of the aspect ratio.

Obviously the smaller the aspect ratio, the larger the borders will be at the sides, but it can still fill the screen area from top to bottom without loosing the aspect ratio, and anything above 2:33.1 will start to get slight boarders from top to bottom, but fill the screen area from the sides without loosing the aspect ratio.

Please say you understand now?

I think I’ve given all the information I can, in an understandable way for the developers in this thread, so I’m just going to check the tread from time to time to see if someone else has come up with a fix, or if the developers have bothered to turn up for work one day and fixed this in a few hours with a new patch..

If there will never be a fix, then I will have to resort to an old copy of Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre 6, and accept that I completly wasted £68 five months ago. But it also means Cyberlink wont be getting any more of my £££$$$ in the future.

If cyberlink wont fix this, the I will also not be upgrading like lot of other ultra wide owners.

how are cyberlink not already distorting the picture with their TrueTheater lighting and colour filters, and then say they don't want to distort the image with pan and scan is utter BS.

luckily I already own a copy of TMT6 and I'm keeping my Ultra Wide monitor

Fuck, I wished I checked this before I buying...

But why should I knew? I had v12 and worked just great, why there should have this bullshit?


This issue must be addressed, they can distort the picture horizontally but not vertically? That's bullshit.

And for sure I will never upgrade again.