Removing Letterboxing From iPad/Handbrake Movies?

[blairh]

I did a search on MR but couldn't find a definitive answer.

Perhaps a good solution doesn't exist, but is there a way to tweak the iPad encoding settings from the current Handbrake iPad preset so that you can eliminate the letterboxing that the current preset produces and instead fill that area with the movie/tv show itself? (Without making the picture look streched or weird in any way). Double tapping the screen isn't a proper solution as it cuts off some of the picture itself.

 

[thekb]

I did a search on MR but couldn't find a definitive answer.

Perhaps a good solution doesn't exist, but is there a way to tweak the iPad encoding settings from the current Handbrake iPad preset so that you can eliminate the letterboxing that the current preset produces and instead fill that area with the movie/tv show itself? (Without making the picture look streched or weird in any way). Double tapping the screen isn't a proper solution as it cuts off some of the picture itself.

What you are requesting is a mathematical impossibility.

You have a movie with a ratio of width to height of 2.35:1. If you want to fill a 1.33:1 ratio screen, you HAVE to either chop off the edges of squish the picture.

 

[QuarterSwede]

You answered your own question, you just don't realize it.

(Without making the picture look streched or weird in any way).

If you stretch the top and bottom to fit the screen that's the effect.

Double tapping the screen isn't a proper solution as it cuts off some of the picture itself.

That's how zooming in works.

Those are the only two ways to fill the screen.

If you're the type that buys fullscreen movies what you don't realize is that they do a process called pan & scan to fill 4:3 (non widescreen) screens. Effectively it's zooming in and cutting off the sides of the image while moving the crop to best fit the main elements of the scene. This pretty much destroys the directors vision of the film.

The only way to watch what the director intended is to see it in the original aspect ratio (generally widescreen these days). The way to do that on an iPad is to see it with letterboxing.

 

[blairh]

Yeah I guess what I seek is the impossible here. When I rent Blu-ray's, sometimes there is letterboxing and other times, by default, the entire screen is filled with a picture.

With HD movies on cable TV, the entire screen is almost always filled.

I'm very happy watching a letterboxed film on my iPad, but in a best case scenario I'd get to fill the entire screen with the picture (without altering the image). I guess that just isn't possible.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Yeah I guess what I seek is the impossible here. When I rent Blu-ray's, sometimes there is letterboxing and other times, by default, the entire screen is filled with a picture.

With HD movies on cable TV, the entire screen is almost always filled.

I'm very happy watching a letterboxed film on my iPad, but in a best case scenario I'd get to fill the entire screen with the picture (without altering the image). I guess that just isn't possible.

Like I said, when watching full screen shows/movies in HD on cable I can almost guarantee you they are pan & scanning it so you really don't see the entire picture.

Also, whenever I watch HD (on DirecTV) it's almost always in widescreen unless the show is ancient (Seinfeld) and then it's either 4:3 with bars on the left and right, stretched or pan & scanned. My guess is that you don't have it set to show in it's native resolution.

 

[Piggie]

Yeah I guess what I seek is the impossible here. When I rent Blu-ray's, sometimes there is letterboxing and other times, by default, the entire screen is filled with a picture.

With HD movies on cable TV, the entire screen is almost always filled.

I'm very happy watching a letterboxed film on my iPad, but in a best case scenario I'd get to fill the entire screen with the picture (without altering the image). I guess that just isn't possible.

Indeed.

Apple decided on the very old 4:3 image format. The same ratio as old CRT TV's have had for many many decades.
The world of TV/Media has since moved onto 16:9 as the new standard for TV's and many movies.
Some movies offer an even wider screen than 16:9 but of course the black bars are quite minimal compared to watching them on an old 4:3 format screen.

Apple probably will never use 16:9 for their Tablets.
Current Android tablets are using a 16:10 ratio which is a nice compromise.

Some people argue that 16:9 would be rubbish in portrait mode as it would be too thin, but every single survey has show that the vast majority of people use their tablets in landscape mode, like their TV's and Computer screens, only changing to portrait when an App forces them to.

As for the future, who knows.

Here are few examples of a 4:3 format iPad next to a 16:9 format iPad just to show as an example what one would look like if Apple ever decided to release such a model as a option:

Note, the iPads in this shot are exactly the same height. The ones of the right just have the sides extended to allow for the 16:9 ratio. Imagine another 1" or so added onto either end of your current iPad.

I would buy the widescreen version in an instant as I love widescreen and movies and I hate black bars.

 

[xraytech]

I did a search on MR but couldn't find a definitive answer.

Perhaps a good solution doesn't exist, but is there a way to tweak the iPad encoding settings from the current Handbrake iPad preset so that you can eliminate the letterboxing that the current preset produces and instead fill that area with the movie/tv show itself? (Without making the picture look streched or weird in any way). Double tapping the screen isn't a proper solution as it cuts off some of the picture itself.

Impossible...