I have an Odroid C2 currently running the latest version LibreElec (8.2.5). Nothing I play is over 1080p. Additionally, I have quite a bit of 4:3 content (480p-720p) that I play as well.
A little over a year ago, I posted a question in the Odroid forums regarding support for the Non-Linear stretch Kodi feature on this hardware. I was told that Non-linear stretch requires image processing by a GLSL supporting GPU and the C2 uses a hardware video layer for display without any GPU involvement. He continued, “Unless a platform supports GLSL (GPU) output, the Kodi GPU shader that does the processing is not available.”
My understanding of this is that if *Elec software used the GPU for video playback and that GPU supported GLSL, Non-Linear stretch would work (although my understanding of his explanation could be way off).
With CoreElec more focused on Amlogic than the LibreElec team, does anyone know if CoreElec supports Non-Linear stretch on 4:3 content? This is one of the only 2 features I miss since I migrated from an old laptop to the C2 (the other being reliable step-back/rewind). Since Kodi 18 is still in Alpha, I’d rather not upgrade until both the “final” version is release for Kodi and CoreElec.
I was just curious if anyone running the CoreElec alpha builds on C2 (or similar hardware) knows if they can use the “Non-linear stretch” feature for 4:3 content. Or, is my entire understanding of how any of this works completely wrong?
I can only speak to my generic s905x boxes, but it works here in the form of the Wide Zoom option for 4:3 in settings. It stretches to fit 16:9 but preserves the original aspect in the center portion of the frame.
No, Non-linear Stretch was a different option separate from the view mode. Wide Zoom is something different. It should be a toggle in the “Video Settings” menu (possibly under the “Contrast” setting according to the wiki - https://kodi.wiki/view/Video_playback#Video_Settings). I believe it was independent of the View Mode. The toggle does not appear for me - I believe Kodi hides the option if it detects the system doesn’t support it.
I also just found this - https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/13079. It sounds like an official patch was pushed to v18 alpha 1 if I’m reading it correctly. If this adds the “Non-Linear stretch” toggle to the video menu, I may have to install the latest CoreElec Leia. I’ve been missing this feature for so long!
I remembered I bought an extra eMMC card so I went ahead and setup the latest CoreElec beta. Unfortunately, I verified non-linear stretch still does not exist. Wide Zoom is a separate feature - it is “non linear,” but it cuts off the top and bottom of the image. I’ve tried it on my unit and it still stretches the center just the same as “16:9 Stretch” does. “Non-linear stretch” is a separate feature and unrelated to the view mode (stretch, zoom, wide zoom, etc). It should be in the Video Settings menu when playing a video under Contrast or Brightness according to the code. On my old LibreELEC Intel laptop, I could set the view mode to “Stretch 16:9” and then toggle “Non-linear stretch” to see the image shrink in the middle and stretch wider on the sides without cutting off any of the image.
On the latest devel build, in Settings/Player/Videos/Display 4:3 Videos as, I have:
Normal
Wide Zoom
Stretch 16.9
Stretch 16.9 - Nonlinear
Zoom
Both Wide Zoom and Stretch 16.9 - Nonlinear apply a non-linear stretch without cutting out any of the original frames. Maybe you need to fiddle with those options in conjunction with the “Minimize Black Bars” option.
