Kodi / documented application workflow · Publisher-documented application guidance; UK IPTV account compatibility not tested. Instructions are based on publisher guidance; a UK IPTV account was not tested on this platform.
Describe the intended shape
Begin with the actual video shape and the display shape rather than assuming every bar is an error. A wide film on a different-shaped screen may leave unused space while preserving the complete image. Record whether the concern is bars, stretched faces or missing edges. Those are different symptoms from a stalled programme or corrupted blocks.
Read the setting’s tradeoff
Kodi’s official video settings page says Minimise black bars stretches the image and may deform it. Its 4:3 display options distinguish normal presentation from modes that deform or crop the picture. Read those consequences before choosing a fill-screen option. Filling every pixel of a widescreen television is not evidence that the original composition or geometry has been preserved.
Compare a recognisable reference
Use an authorised sample with familiar proportions or visible edge detail. Compare normal presentation with the proposed zoom or stretch, then inspect faces, circles and information near the edges. A mode can look acceptable for one task while losing text in another. Keep the test within the player’s own controls before changing the television and source output simultaneously.
Keep the result separate from quality and bandwidth
A larger-looking image does not establish a higher-resolution source or more encoded detail. Cropping and stretching also do not diagnose buffering, account expiry or a missing audio track. Choose the geometric compromise deliberately and retain an easy route back to the original setting. This article explains Kodi’s documented controls and does not recommend one universal picture mode for every programme.