DVD_PREFERRED_DISPLAY_MODE enumeration (strmif.h)

[The feature associated with this page, DirectShow, is a legacy feature. It has been superseded by MediaPlayer, IMFMediaEngine, and Audio/Video Capture in Media Foundation. Those features have been optimized for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft strongly recommends that new code use MediaPlayer, IMFMediaEngine and Audio/Video Capture in Media Foundation instead of DirectShow, when possible. Microsoft suggests that existing code that uses the legacy APIs be rewritten to use the new APIs if possible.]

Indicates the user's preferred window aspect ratio and conversion method.

Syntax

typedef enum tagDVD_PREFERRED_DISPLAY_MODE {
  DISPLAY_CONTENT_DEFAULT = 0,
  DISPLAY_16x9 = 1,
  DISPLAY_4x3_PANSCAN_PREFERRED = 2,
  DISPLAY_4x3_LETTERBOX_PREFERRED = 3
} DVD_PREFERRED_DISPLAY_MODE;

Constants

DISPLAY_CONTENT_DEFAULT Value: 0 Use the default window size and content type.
DISPLAY_16x9 Value: 1 Use a 16 x 9 window.
DISPLAY_4x3_PANSCAN_PREFERRED Value: 2 Use a 4 x 3 window and convert to pan-scan, if possible.
DISPLAY_4x3_LETTERBOX_PREFERRED Value: 3 Use a 4 x 3 window and convert to letterbox, if possible.

Remarks

The DVD_PREFERRED_DISPLAY_MODE enumeration indicates the user's preferred window aspect ratio and preferred method of conversion of 16 x 9 content to a 4 x 3 window aspect ratio. Pan-scan and letterboxing are the two conversion methods. Displaying a video at the largest possible size inside the display window without any cropping or stretching is called displaying in letterbox format. Pan-scan is specifically cropping a 16 x 9 video for display in a 4 x 3 window using parameters defined by the video author.

This enumerated type indicates a preference of conversion mechanisms because some content can only be displayed using one of these methods. Content that is 4 x 3 is always converted to a 16 x 9 window by using sideboxing, where black bars are added to the right and left sides of the display instead of the top and bottom of the display as in the 16 x 9 to 4 x 3 conversion using letterboxing.

The following table shows the conversion method used between the actual content type listed in the first column, and the user display preference setting, indicated by one of the other columns.

Actual content type	16 x 9	4 x 3 pan-scan	4 x 3 letterbox
4 x 3	Sideboxing	None	None
16 x 9 letterbox only	None	Letterbox	Letterbox
16 x 9 pan-scan only	None	Pan-scan	Pan-scan
16 x 9 pan-scan or letterbox	None	Pan-scan	Letterbox

 

The native window size used is always the user's preferred size.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Header	strmif.h (include Dshow.h)

See also

DirectShow Enumerated Types

IDvdControl::VideoModePreferrence