How to watch movies on a 21:9 screen

D

doug_7506

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 17, 2004
Messages
3,247
So I just got my 1440p 21:9 screen in and im dying to test out some movie. Just trying to figure out how to watch them without the black bars?

I have access to:
Blurays
Netflix
VuDu
Amazon Prime

Thanks in advance!
 
Sure thing! And if nothing else, you could try Windows Magnifier as a last resort, if you're getting black bars on the top/bottom. Just keep the video at 100% in your browser (as opposed to full-screen) and change the zoom step (in options) down to 25%, and try view > preview full screen (after trying 125%, 150%, 175%, etc) to see if you can get close to cropping out the black bars as much as possible without losing any of the image.

It's a total pain in the ass, but I just tried it with a Youtube video with top/bottom matte, and the result was actually a lot better than I expected (other than the stupid magnifying glass still docked in the corner).
 
Amazon and Netflix don't work in Firefox.
Going to give that Chrome extension a go and see how that works.

I watched primarily ripped files with immatrix's Zoom Player, which is my favorite media player, been using it for a looooong time.

this app can zoom in or out using the + and - keys on the numpad (can be remapped in the settings if you are on a 10 keyless keyboard). Videos that are 2.35:1 in a 16:9 file can be zoomed in to fill the screen easily with this player.


cars.jpg


lg-34um95.jpg
 
The Fifth Elements always looks so dam good.

The intro for Cars is also great to show off a set as it has great blacks, color, and great sound.

Does that app work with chrome? I have a vudu library with over 300 HDX UV files. So I would like to watch them. I'm not 100% locked on VuDu since there are three US services that support UV files.

UV providers: VuDu, Flixster, and CinemaNow,
 
Zepher said:
Amazon and Netflix don't work in Firefox.
Going to give that Chrome extension a go and see how that works.]
Click to expand...

What do you mean? I watch Netflix on Firefox all the time without issue...are you talking solely about whether it works on a 21:9 monitor?
 
Black Octagon said:
What do you mean? I watch Netflix on Firefox all the time without issue...are you talking solely about whether it works on a 21:9 monitor?
Click to expand...

Yeah, We are trying to get a way to zoom the movies so that movies in their OAR of 2.35:1/2.40:1 fill the full screen.
 
Black Octagon said:
What do you mean? I watch Netflix on Firefox all the time without issue...are you talking solely about whether it works on a 21:9 monitor?
Click to expand...

Ya, I am talking about it filling the screen with Firefox on the 21:9. you get black borders all the way around the image.

doug, if you are asking about Zoom Player, that is a stand alone app like Windows Media Player and VLC, not a plugin for a browser.
 
Zepher said:
doug, if you are asking about Zoom Player, that is a stand alone app like Windows Media Player and VLC, not a plugin for a browser.
Click to expand...

That's what I figured. I'm going to try to just use the zoom function outlined about until someone comes out with a solution
 
have you tried that plugin for Chrome that was mentioned in that post above?
 
For Blu-ray and local file playback, my goto combination is AnyDVD HD to bypass DRM, and MPC-HC for playback (select Video Frame > Touch Window From Outside) to show letterboxed 'scope content as fullscreen.
You don't get fancy BD-j menus, but you also bypass trailers, adverts etc, and don't have the deal with the ungodly horrors of PowerDVD or WinDVD.
 
doug_7506 said:
The Fifth Elements always looks so dam good.

The intro for Cars is also great to show off a set as it has great blacks, color, and great sound.

Does that app work with chrome? I have a vudu library with over 300 HDX UV files. So I would like to watch them. I'm not 100% locked on VuDu since there are three US services that support UV files.

UV providers: VuDu, Flixster, and CinemaNow,
Click to expand...

The samsung S34E790C 34" 21:9 is a 60hz VA panel so would have 3x or more black depth (3000:1) and a lot more detail in blacks, if you were using such a display primarily for movies that would probably be the one I'd get but it just came out and is very expensive (~ $1300 or more).
For gaming there are 34" 5.5.ms 21:9 144hz g-sync panels due out. The Acer Predator XR341CKwill probably be ips like it's 27" XB270HU gaming one coming out soon. That acer 21:9 144hz g-sync might be out this year, possibly in a few months time even but could be in 2016. Samsung is also going to make one but I don't know if it will be VA or a 4ms (5.5ms) IPS and it probably won't be out until into 2016. They will both probably cost a lot. I'm guessing $1300 - $1500 minimum, at least at early adoption stages.

VA does have some downsides like viewing angle shift and some va monitors have crush, slight ghosting but hopefully these panels are faster and the slightly curved screen will help in shift. Plus being a monitor you usually would be staring directly at it. Just thought I'd mention it since you seem to be focusing on 21:9 movie watching and someone mentioned showcasing blacks using certain movies.
 
I landed on the Dell U3415W. I originally had no intent on spending more than $600 on my new screen and it looked like I was going to land on a HP Envy 32" though I really wanted a 34UM95. When a 34um95 popped up on Amazon for $700 I was sold. Then the U3415W popped up for $160 more with a curve, better stand, 2 additional years of warranty, and was new.... So I jumped on that. Will be sending the 34UM95 back now.

This seems to be all the streaming providers for UV. Anyone ever used any of them that support some type of zooming? I can't zoom in on VuDu. So i'm stuck with the bars around the top and sides.
2aje0ar.png
 
I have some UV films but I can't remember the site that has them.
 
Zepher said:
I have some UV films but I can't remember the site that has them.
Click to expand...

If you have UV films then you can watch them on any of the above sites once you link your UV account with the account of that respective streaming service.

Looks like I found one that works. It seems that Flixster supports OAR for streaming movies.

Here is a clip of Skyfall from VuDu (OAR or zoom not supported).
qyvdx0.png


Here is a clip of Skyfall from Flixster (OAR or zoom supported).
5z0g3b.png

Unfortunately, I can not get Flixster to stream in HDX for some reason.... While VuDu is streaming in HDX, Flixster wont go above SD..
 
I'll have to find my UV account info. I only tried it a few times in the past since I had some Bluray discs that came with UV versions of the films, but that was a few years ago.
 
Does anyone know how I'd be able to force 21:9 aspect ratio for WWE Network videos? I've found Chrome Extensions to allow youtube and netflix to play in fullscreen on my ultrawide so I would imagine I'd be able to get any video to play in 21:9.
 
So letterbox movies are shown window-boxed on 21:9 monitor? That is hilarious. That - format AR confusion - is entirely understandable. Keep inventing freakish aspect ratios.
 
21:9 isn't freakish. It's as close as possible in a consumer display to the format of the original content being displayed if we're talking about movies. I know you'd rather have one massive high-resolution wall to display any form of content on at will, but we aren't there yet.
 
It is wacky. Look at this supposedly "artistic intention" of placing two actors (Craig-Drench) at the opposite sides on the screen. I understand that director is making a statement here, but it still doesn't make this format relevant. When you watch this scene, you can't see both actors at once and have to focus left, then quickly focus on the right. Back and forth, like those tennis match spectators turning their head left-right caught by cameramen having fun.
 
tegirinenashi said:
It is wacky. Look at this supposedly "artistic intention" of placing two actors (Craig-Drench) at the opposite sides on the screen. I understand that director is making a statement here, but it still doesn't make this format relevant. When you watch this scene, you can't see both actors at once and have to focus left, then quickly focus on the right. Back and forth, like those tennis match spectators turning their head left-right caught by cameramen having fun.
Click to expand...

If that shot was framed in 16:9, they would either be sitting really really close together, or they would have to do over the shoulder shots and then cut back and forth.
Having that one angle and holding it for a bit makes the scene more dramatic than having to keep cutting between 2 angles.

I wish all films were shot in 2.35:1. A lot of my favorite films are shot in 1.85:1. :(
 
I don't agree that this same scene framed in 16:9 would be in any way inferior. It is the dialog and actors expressions that is important, while this particular letterbox framing is merely a distraction. Then, in the whole movie there is perhaps 1 minute of such footage, where sides are not entirely irrelevant. It is hilarious that widescreen preachers usually take shots from this tiny pool of scenes in desperate attempt to prove their point. There are a many more scenes which benefits from tall screens:
- skyscrapers
- rocket launches
- supermodels
- round objects
...

One more time, even 16:9 is wider than human field of view, so the stuff on the sides is waste of pixels. 21:9 is ridiculous waste of pixels.
 
Sorry to resurrect and old thread, but I asked above if theres any way to watch WWE network in 21:9 Ultra wide and figured out 1 way. As far as I know when using chrome there is no way to watch WWE network in 21:9 and also alot of people have issues with some of the top and bottom of the screen being cut off while in full screen mode, what I did to get around it is use Firefox lol. Firefox displays full screen in 21:9 perfectly and doesn't cut off the top or bottom.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top