Crop to Fit Option for Unsupported Video Apps

[alexcapone]

I have video apps that are not supported by Samsung to display in full screen. Some of these apps may never be supported since they are not offered in the Playstore. Does anyone know if there is or ever will be a workaround solution to force the video to fit on the 18.5:9 aspect ratio?

 

[anon(238680)]

When you say video app do you mean a video or an app that plays video? Your post references both, but if an app, aren't they programmed to support aspect ratios? Why would Samsung have to 'support' them? Same response if you mean video, why would Samsung have to support a particular video in order for it to play?

 

[smvim]

I prefer my videos to be viewed in their own respective aspect ratios. Forcing a video to be viewed in an odd aspect ratio will either require parts of the video to be cropped off (height or width) or the overall imaging to be distorted.

 

[alexcapone]

When you say video app do you mean a video or an app that plays video? Your post references both, but if an app, aren't they programmed to support aspect ratios? Why would Samsung have to 'support' them? Same response if you mean video, why would Samsung have to support a particular video in order for it to play?

I was referring to video apps when they play video. I don't know all of the technical aspects but can offer you an example. There is a modified ad-free youtube app released that did not have the crop to fit capability like the stock version. This was an explanation that was offered on XDA:

So, I guess the ROM has to detect YouTube app which cannot be done because we changed the package name in order for it to install on stock non-rooted phones which comes with pre-installed YouTube app as system app.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=72808506&postcount=1862

So it sounds like youtube was supported out of the box because it was a system app. The app was modified to be ad-free and with background play features and it loses crop to fit option. If the developers didn't change anything related to the aspect ratio within the app then why would that feature be lost? It seems like in the case of stock youtube app there is some backend support of the app to support 18.5:9 aspect ratio.

 

[anon(238680)]

Forcing a video to be viewed in an odd aspect ratio

Okay, probably my misunderstanding of the process, but, if you have a given video and you play it on a device, doesn't it play within the "confines" so to speak of the app on the device, which would support the S8 aspect ratio? Obviously this is why I am not a video programmer.

 

[alexcapone]

Okay, probably my misunderstanding of the process, but, if you have a given video and you play it on a device, doesn't it play within the "confines" so to speak of the app on the device, which would support the S8 aspect ratio? Obviously this is why I am not a video programmer.

I would assume this is normally how it works. But when I was speaking of "forcing" videos I was referring to a workaround solution.

 

[alexcapone]

Here is a tidbit referencing the "device software":

"However, a lot of feature films and other high-quality YouTube content these days is in 21:9, which has the benefit of removing those pernicious black bars on the top and bottom of screens. Samsung’s phones won’t remove those black bars, but the device’s software will stretch the image to fit the 21:9 format and allow you to watch the video as it more naturally would appear on a television set."

https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/29/15092590/samsung-galaxy-s8-plus-screen-size-aspect-ratio-edge

 

[smvim]

Okay, probably my misunderstanding of the process, but, if you have a given video and you play it on a device, doesn't it play within the "confines" so to speak of the app on the device, which would support the S8 aspect ratio? Obviously this is why I am not a video programmer.

I just prefer whatever I'm watching to be as close as possible to the original content. These numbers are not correct ratios but just for simplicity if I a video made at 100 x 100 (h x w) and I'm viewing it on a phone with a 50 x 70 (h x w) screen than I'd prefer it to be scaled down to match the width with black bars making up the empty height spaces. Watching it to fill the screen would mean a distorted image, as the scaling will be different for width and the height. A 5 or 10% discrepancy isn't that noticeable, especially on a smartphone screen, but beyond that than things become way too distorted -- i.e. people with roundish faces become noticeably more oval in shape.