Crunchyroll on an ultrawide: what filling a 16:9 anime really means
Nearly all TV anime is made in 16:9. Unlike wide movies, there are no black bars hidden in the picture that could simply be removed. On a 21:9 or 32:9 monitor the only way to fill the screen is to cut part of the picture or make it wider. This guide is honest about what each option costs.
No hidden bars, just a narrower picture
When a live action film looks letterboxed on an ultrawide, part of the black is painted into the video, and removing it costs almost nothing. A 16:9 anime episode has no such bars. The whole frame is drawing, and the black you see is only at the sides, where your monitor is wider than the episode. Anything that fills those sides either takes picture away from the top and bottom, or spreads the picture sideways.
| 16:9 episode | 21:9 (3440×1440) | 32:9 (5120×1440) |
|---|---|---|
| Black at the sides | 25.6% | 50% |
| Height kept with crop | 74.4% | 50% |
| Extra width with stretch | 34% | 100% |
The black bar calculator shows the same for any monitor.
Your options, honestly
- Leave it as it is: the episode at its intended shape with black at the sides. A perfectly good choice, especially on 32:9.
- Crop (free): no distortion, but on 21:9 about 13% of the picture disappears at the top and another 13% at the bottom. Characters' heads, signs and on-screen text sit there often.
- Stretch (free): nothing is cut, and everything becomes 34% wider on 21:9. Clean line art and round shapes make the stretch easier to notice than in live action.
- Elastic stretch (PRO): the middle of the frame, where characters usually stand, keeps its natural shape and mostly the edges are stretched. For 16:9 anime on 21:9 it is usually the most comfortable way to fill the screen. On protected players it uses a gentler, simpler version.
- Meet halfway (free): zoom in only part of the way with Alt + mouse wheel and keep thin bars, or combine a small zoom with stretch so neither effect is strong.
For a side by side look at the three fill modes, read crop, stretch or elastic.
Keeping subtitles on screen
Many people watch anime with subtitles near the bottom of the picture. If the subtitles are part of the picture, a crop can push them partly off the bottom edge. Move the frame up with Alt + Shift + Up, or drag it in the panel preview, until the lines are fully visible again. Stretch and elastic keep the whole height, so they never cut subtitles. Hold Alt + C at any time to compare with the original and check that nothing important is missing.
Anime films are a different case
Some theatrical anime films are made in wider formats such as 1.85:1 or 2.39:1 and arrive with black bars above and below inside a 16:9 video, like live action films. For those, choose the matching format and fill with crop: a 2.39 film then fills a 21:9 screen with practically nothing lost. If you are not sure, hold Alt + C and look for black at the top and bottom of the original. If a film has subtitles burned into the black bar below the picture, the PRO option Keep subtitles from the bottom bar leaves that strip visible when you crop.
Step by step
- Add UltraFill to Google Chrome on Windows or macOS.
- Start an episode on Crunchyroll and switch the player to full screen.
- Open the panel with the button at the top of the video, or Alt + U (Option + U on a Mac).
- In the Screen tab, keep the format at 16:9 for TV episodes, or choose 1.85 or 2.39 for a wide film.
- Choose crop, stretch or elastic stretch, then press Fill the screen or Alt + Z.
- With PRO, the title profile remembers the setting for the whole series, so the next episode starts filled the same way.
Protected video on Crunchyroll
- Treat Crunchyroll like other paid services in Chrome: the video is protected, so automatic bar detection cannot read the picture. For 16:9 episodes that hardly matters, because there are no inner bars to find.
- Effects that read the frames (denoise, ambient glow, the split before and after view, frame snapshots) only work on unprotected video.
- Sound tools work after one click on the UltraFill icon, or Alt + Shift + U (Option + Shift + U on a Mac). Chrome shows a small sharing badge on the tab.
- Zoom, framing, rotate, flip and color and light work normally.
Openings and fights tend to be much louder than dialogue scenes. Volume leveling and clear dialog keep both at a comfortable level, which helps when you watch late or with headphones.
Questions
Why can't UltraFill remove the bars on anime the way it does on movies?
Most anime is 16:9, so there are no bars inside the picture. The black is only at the sides of your wider monitor, and filling it always means cutting or widening the picture.
Will crop cut off subtitles?
It can, if the subtitles are part of the picture. Move the frame up with Alt + Shift + Up, or use stretch or elastic stretch, which keep the full height.
Which fill mode is best for anime on 21:9?
Elastic stretch (PRO) is usually the most comfortable, because characters in the middle keep their shape. Without PRO, a partial zoom or a mix of small zoom and stretch works well.
Does automatic bar detection work on Crunchyroll?
No, because the video is protected and Chrome hides the frames from extensions. For 16:9 episodes there is nothing to detect anyway. For wide films, choose 1.85 or 2.39 yourself.
Should I fill a 32:9 monitor with 16:9 anime?
Filling 32:9 means losing half the height or doubling the width. Many people keep the black sides, or fill only part of the gap with zoom and elastic stretch.
Is elastic stretch free?
Elastic stretch is part of PRO. PRO starts with a 7-day trial the first time you use a PRO feature, with no card needed. Crop, stretch and zoom are free.
UltraFill is an independent extension and is not affiliated with Crunchyroll or any other service mentioned on this page. Service names are used only to describe compatibility.