Computer monitor resolution for videos.

im trying to find the ratio to correctly play 4:3 ratio videos on my 16:10. since setting the video to 4:3 just puts it full screen since its getting tricked thinking my monitor is a 4:3 ratio. i usually just put it at 5:4 to squish it a little but it needs maybe 6:5 or something. does anyone know the math to find that number to correctly show 4:3 or 16:9 for that matter. so my monitor will cut the sides or top accordingly?

thank you.

4:3 is 4:3 there is no ratio that makes it 100% correct on a 16:10.

To display on a 16:10 you usually have to do a one of a few things:
distort the image scale;
over zoom so the width matches and crop the top/bottom;
or pillarbox the sides so there is a black strip on the left and right sides.

What options does you monitor have or what model is it?

Most monitors will not allow you to enter any aspect ratio. They usually have a menu of ratios to choose from that do some or all of the above modes I mentioned (usually using different terms).

my monitor is the viewsonic va2323wm

i am able to set the aspect ratio within my VLC player. to watch the 4:3 ratio videos i've started using 6:5 which makes it appear more 4:3ish on the monitor. i'm sure there is some sort of equation for this but im coming up blank.

thank you.

Your monitor is 1920 x 1080 which is 16:9 ratio.

Using VLC player you can use the crop command at 16:9 this will zoom in on the 4:3 image to the edges it, crop the top and bottom and keep the original aspect ratio. Good for most things if you want to watch full screen 4:3 on a 16:9 monitor, but can be annoying if the headroom (space between top of image and people heads) if very tight.

I have found out the solution to my problem. I was not trying to crop the video because that would leave it stretched out. i fixed my resolution thank you. so using 16x9 compared to 4x3 would be a 75% reduction in the width of the image. so to counter it on the video i took it down another 75% on the width and set the video to show as 1:1 ratio, and that makes the video finally 4x3 like i was trying to accomplish. not croping the image, but just blacking out 2 inchs on each side squishing it to the correct appearance.

Good to hear you got a setting you were after.

When you want to display a 4:3 image on a 16:9 display as a full image but not zoomed in or streched that is called pillarboxing (black edges ont he lefgt and right).