How to add four black bars

[ucheleuce]

Hello everyone

I recently replaced my old 0.5K television with a "smart" 4K television, but unfortunately it doesn't have the option to "zoom out", and always stretches any video to fill as much of the screen as possible. This means that old videos of mine that look okay when they are small, look unwatchable on the new television, unless I position myself 10 meters from the screen. I can watch these videos on my computer using e.g. VLC Player and disable stretching. But I would like to watch them on the television.

So I suspect one solution is to add black bars to the tops and sides of the video. Here is an example of what I'm trying to achieve:

With four manually added black bars: https://youtu.be/Wp5BvdHB2rQ
Without any manually added black bars: https://youtu.be/Nsxotct-vXE
(the examples don't play smoothly because I mimicked the desired effect using a screen recorder)

Unfortunately all of the tutorials on "adding black bars" that I can find on the web simply cover the top and bottom of the image with black blocks, and I can't think of any reason why anyone would want that (not me, in any case).

Do you know of free or cheap utilities that can accomplish this?

Thanks
Samuel

[jagabo]

VirtualDub2, add Resize filter, Letterbox/Crop To Size.

[Ennio]

Are you sure your tv has no adjustable image settings in terms of no auto-scaling, 1:1 pixelmapping, or in/out-zooming?
These options can sometimes be "hidden" and only be accessed in "advanced", or "expert settings" or something like it.
What does the manual say about it?

And how do you play these videos on your tv? A mediaplayer?

[jagabo]

Yes, if you are playing the videos via a Blu-ray player's built in media player (or some other external media player device) then it's the players responsibility to zoom or not zoom.

[Cornucopia]

Model #s? (Tv & bd)

Scott

[ucheleuce]

VirtualDub2, add Resize filter, Letterbox/Crop To Size.

Thanks, this answer tells me exactly what I need.

Are you sure your TV has no adjustable image settings in terms of no auto-scaling, 1:1 pixelmapping, or in/out-zooming?

No, it's all very basic, I'm afraid. We didn't select the new television based on its media playing capabilities, but on screen size and viewing angle.

And how do you play these videos on your TV? A mediaplayer?

No, I just plug in the external HDD with a USB cable, wait about 20 seconds, and then browse the folders using the remote control.

I suppose one could connect an external media player to it, but the built-in media player functionality is sufficient for most uses. With my previous television, I used a little NetGear NTV350 media player, which worked well, but wouldn't really add any features that the current television itself doesn't already have.

Model #s? (Tv & bd)

TV: LG 49UJ630V. Not sure what "BD" means.

[Ennio]

Well, the manual doesn't say much about the menu settings indeed.
At LG's product support page is this link:

https://www.lg.com/nl/ondersteuning/instructie-videos/CT20182005-20150102134954-others

The video says that there are advanced settings to be accessed with your remote. Did you look into that?

BTW BD stands for Blu-ray Disc