Ultrawide Monitor for Watching 4k MKV Files

turok_t · 29 Jun 2021 at 01:48

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to seek your humble advice as I am planning to get a new monitor. I'm planning to buy a new LG 38" 21:9 ultrawide monitor (38GN950) that has a resolution of 3840x1600. I will be using this for daily use, but a big part of it will be watching 4k movies/MKV files using VLC player. A lot of my movies are 2.40:1 aspect ratio. I just have a few questions if you don't mind:

1. If I watch these movies fullscreen using VLC player, will there be black bars on the side/top? Or will the movie fill up the entire screen for maximum immersion?
2. Will the movie look stretched in full screen?
3. Even though the resolution of 4k UHD movies does not match the native resolution of this monitor, how will the image look? Will it look similar to a 4k (3840 x 2160) native monitor?

Thanks for all your help!

turok_t · 29 Jun 2021 at 14:59

Thanks for the link! I appreciate it EsaT. I just wanted to confirm, for movies that are naturally 2.4:1 aspect ratio, will they be MOSTLY pixel to pixel on a 21:9 ultrawide screen with no minimal bars? By pixel to pixel, i mean every pixel of the actually movie mapped into each pixel on the monitor. I do understand that the movie is slightly wider (2.4:1) compared to an ultrawide (3840x1600).

If you have a movie file that is 16:9 frame, with the movie itself at 21:9 aspect ratio, I am imagining that this movie will initially open up with a media player with black bars at the top and bottom on a 21:9 ultrawide. Does this mean that the movie is downscaled and not pixel to pixel if the file is 3840 pixels horizontal?

Once you zoom on the movie, does each pixel horizontally actually map to each pixel on the monitor?

My purpose is to view the movie as clearly as possible, without zooming or stretching to maintain its picture quality. If there are tiny black bars due to the difference in aspect ratio, I can live with that.

turok_t · 29 Jun 2021 at 18:18

whitecrook said:
then you have a movie file that is badly encoded. Movie files shouldn't have the black bars in them.

I dont think you understand what I am saying.

turok_t · 29 Jun 2021 at 18:27

You can't see the black bars? they are even displayed on a 16:9 TV

turok_t · 29 Jun 2021 at 20:46

Look, check this out. This is terminator dark date 4k UHD with a native aspect ratio of 2:39:1 that is shown on my 16:9 screen in VLC. Notice how the resolution is 3840x2160 which is a 16:9 ratio even though the actual movie itself is 21:9. Hence, the resolution of the file includes the black bars above/below.