Add option under preferences to allow users to change the default background color of VLC's video output

This is likely specific to the used rendering engine, but most if not all could be made to use a different color than just black. I am thinking let the user specify some HEX color code in preferences.

https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=104764

I dont know exactly how rendering engines handle the initial 'canvas'. Is there a layer which color can be set?

Very bad idea.

I thought lets throw in a bad idea every once in a while, keep the ratio fair.

I can see how this feature wouldn't be useful very often, but why would it be a bad idea? Does it mess too much with rendering? A white or a green background might serve some purpose.

Everybody expects the background to be black. Changing it is just giving yet another way for users to shoot themselves in the foot. (Change the setting, forget it, and then complain that VLC does not work correctly.)

yes, users complain about a lot of silly things, myself included every now and than. But this is a rather grim view on the world. We can't have nice things because some people might not understand it. If we start reasoning like that we need to remove every setting in preferences.

Partially users complain because the preferences dialog is not intuitive to them (most developers use command line or Linux interfaces, windows users notice the little design differences), partly they will always complain. There is a massive "reset preferences" button on the first screen of the preferences dialog, they just need to start using it more often.

Back on topic, I agree this feature will not be used very often, and some users will use it and forget it's there, but that can hardly ever be a reason to not go for it. Let's not assume every user is dumb.

Changing the background color could help for an improved optical difference between wrong coded aspect ratio (black borders) in videos and the screen or monitor.

Replying to [comment:7 thweiss]:

Changing the background color could help for an improved optical difference between wrong coded aspect ratio (black borders) in videos and the screen or monitor.

OK, that's fair.

It's also a lifesaver for plasma and OLED TVs because watching a lot of non-16:9 content with black bars makes the panels age unevenly. A simple feature like a gray background helps to keep those panels in good shape.

As of now, I'm forced to use mpv with background="#616161", but I'd rather use VLC if it allowed for custom background colors.

added Component::Core: Video output Type::feature labels

Looking forward to this feature. It can be used to deal with unknown aspect ratio and to reveal the image in the background if needed. I think it should be transparent by default for flexible usage but it's too late now.

Fixing the core is trivial; it's literally just adding a new configuration item and a new field in vout_display_cfg_t.

But then every single of over two dozen display modules have to be updated to take the background colour parameter into account, and for many of them, it's far from trivial. Really this is 25 different feature requests

It's an important feature for some people. They wouldn't add it to mpv if it wasn't. Even if you have to update "over two dozen display module", it's still the same feature being added.

If it's important for some people, they're welcome to help. It won't get done by claiming that it's important.

It's not a claim. It's a fact. This feature is important and added to many modern video players for a reason.

Really this is 25 different feature requests

I checked the code and each video module implements the background in a different way. Some modules don't implement alpha color. Adding this feature needs more effort than I thought.

There is a workaround by changing the view aspect ratio = video aspect ratio => there is no black background anymore.

It's not a claim. It's a fact.

No. That is a value judgement and a subjective opinion, not an objective provable fact. For the sake of the argument, one could argue that the lack of implementation in VLC as of yet proves that it is not all that important. Not that it matters at all here. Regardless of how important this is, either somebody volunteers to implement it or it will not be implemented.

And again, my point is that this really is about 25 or so different problems (as @XuanTung95 also just confirmed) for which as many issues would need to be filled and fixed.

There is a workaround by changing the view aspect ratio = video aspect ratio => there is no black background anymore.

That work-around won't work if the video and monitor aspect ratio differ and full-screen mode is used.

In windowed mode, VLC already tries to size its video window so as to avoid black bars.

@Courmisch I understand you don't feel like adding it. You've been opposed to it from the start. That, however, is just your approach. It doesn't change the importance of this feature in certain scenarios (like using plasma and/or OLED TVs with non-16:9 content).

mpv also uses a ton of video modules, yet they added this option exactly because it might be needed for some users. VLC is supposed to be a professional video player, not just a casual app to watch stuff on LCD screens.

I understand you don't feel like adding it. You've been opposed to it from the start.

I do not feel like adding it because I have neither financial nor utilitarian motivation to do so, and it requires a lot of work meaning it requires a lot of time.

I am not preventing anybody else from adding the feature if they want.

VLC is supposed to be a professional video player, not just a casual app to watch stuff on LCD screens.

VLC is what the open-source makes it. Again, if you want this feature, you are welcome to contribute it.

If I was able to re-code VLC to my needs, I wouldn't be making feature requests.

@sadder_than_you I'm not sure I even understand what you want here: what color do you want?

Well, I've used mpv as an example. It allows the user to just enter a color via the common #RRGGBB format (hexadecimal color values). #616161 is simply dark gray, which is perfect for plasma and OLED TVs to prevent image retention/burn-in.