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Aspect Ratio Settings

Aspect Ratio Settings

Options on the Aspect Ratio tab control how video in 4:3 ratio is converted to 16:9 (and vice versa).

Full Screen Display Preference

  • Always maintain video aspect ratio: select this option to retain the original aspect ratio whenever you resize the video display. This option is mutually exclusive with the TrueTheater Stretch option below.
  • Linear stretch: select this option to stretch all parts of the video equally, resulting in noticeable distortion when the aspect ratio of the video display does not match the aspect ratio of the monitor.
  • TrueTheater Stretch * (CyberLink Pano Vision) is a non-linear video stretching technology that produces minimal distortion in the center of the picture. TrueTheater Stretch feature is only available in full screen mode and is for DVD titles with a widescreen aspect ratio (i.e. optimal with 16:9 on a 4:3 monitor). It employs CyberLink’s unique Pano Vision video technology to stretch the movie to fit the monitor size. Select either:

Note: * Optional feature in CyberLink PowerDVD. Check the readme file for detailed versioning information. This feature is disabled during the playback of Blu-ray Disc titles when DxVA is in use.
  • The
    Smart Stretch     option (which is recommended for most videos) crops and stretches the sides of the picture slightly, while keeping the center as is.
  • The
    Stretch to Screen     option keeps the center of the picture as is, while stretching the sides slightly.
  • The
    Smart for 2.35:1     option is for disc titles that have an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. This setting is specifically designed to maximize the display space of widescreen (16:9 or 16:10) display devices when viewing discs with this aspect ratio.
  • The
    Custom Stretch     option lets you customize the aspect ratio of your outputted video. Use the
    Strength     slider to customize the curve of the stretched video. The
    Crop size     slider lets you set the crop margins on either side of the video (top and bottom of 4:3 content on a 16:9 display, left and right of 16:9 content on a 4:3 display). Use the
    Offset     slider to determine the video’s position. Experiment with the sliders until you find a custom stretch that fits your specific display device.


Preferred Display Device

Select which of your display devices, if you have more than one, you would like use as your default for viewing movies.

  • Secondary device: this option is only available in clone mode. If you selected
    Secondary device     as your preferred device, select its aspect ratio to specify the screen’s resolution. If the device is neither 4:3 or 16:9, select
    Other     and then select another aspect ratio from the drop-down menu.

Note: When in clone mode, the resolution of both monitors will be the same. However, if the selected preferred monitor is 4:3 and the other monitor is 16:9, the video on the 16:9 monitor will be distorted. Therefore, the preferred device should be set to secondary and the aspect ratio set to 16:9. The video on the 4:3 monitor will be distorted, but the video on 16:9 monitor will be correct.
PowerDVD 9 Help Aspect Ratio Settings