Video stretching in Media Player Classic problem

[AnimeFreak1993]

When I set the video to "Stretch to Window" it looks like this in fullscreen: https://forum.videohelp.com/images/imgfiles/hJVJEaj.png and when I set it to "Touch Window from Inside" it looks fine: https://forum.videohelp.com/images/imgfiles/racGXS0.png but I just don't like the black bars on the side of the screen.
This anime is in 480p, but when I watch other anime that's 720p it looks fine, for example: https://forum.videohelp.com/images/imgfiles/vYRXTBA.png it doesn't look that bad, same as this: https://forum.videohelp.com/images/imgfiles/HNnX6pz.png

Is there any way to get rid of the bars on the side without having to stretch it to fit into the screen? everything looks so flat when it's stretched. I don't know how to make it fullscreen without it stretching or zooming it in so much that half of the anime is blocked out. It's mostly anime that's only in 480p that I'm having problems with.

[DB83]

Yes and No.

That 480p video will probably not have a 16:9 aspect ratio so you end up stretching it horizontally to totally fit a 16:9 display. The side bars are there to show it as it should be accurately displayed.

To get that to display without the bars you would have to crop some of the vertical and you then end up losing detail.

To be certain about the aspect ratio, by all means post mediainfo(text mode) reports of both videos.

[AnimeFreak1993]

I have them both right here.

[manono]

Is there any way to get rid of the bars on the side without having to stretch it to fit into the screen? everything looks so flat when it's stretched.

Yes, you watch 4:3 anime on a 4:3 monitor and 16:9 anime on a 16:9 monitor.

Short of that you should stop worrying about the black bars on the sides and just enjoy the videos in the correct aspect ratio.

[DB83]

Just to echo my friend, as I thought, the 1st video is 4:3 and the 2nd is 16:9.

You can not fit them both in the same size frame without distortion (stretching).

Yes, people do have an aversion to side-bars. Yet I equally hate when a 4:3 image has been stretched. I see that with some tv broadcasts of older programs and it is not pretty.

[hello_hello]

The best way to fill more of the screen (less black bars) is to zoom in. That way nothing gets stretched. You do of course lose picture off the edges of the screen as you zoom, but you can zoom in a lot or a little bit.... whatever you prefer.

For 4:3 video to fill a 16:9 screen you will be losing a fair bit of picture from the top and bottom, depending how much you zoom. I use Ctrl+2 (2 on the numeric keypad) while in fullscreen mode to move the 4:3 picture down on the screen a bit (ten taps on the "2" key while holding down Ctrl is usually about right), then I use the "9" key to zoom in till the picture fills the screen. That way more of the bottom of the image is lost when zooming than the top and it's often quite watchable (you're not cutting peoples heads off at the top of the screen). Like this. If it cuts off too much you might need to zoom less. Whatever works.

If you make a mess while zooming and moving the picture around, the "5" key resets it.