Add the following line: deb http://apt.osmc.tv stretch-devel main
Run the following commands to update: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade && reboot
Your system should have have received the update.
I also recommend you edit /etc/apt/sources.list again and remove the line that you added after updating. This will return you to the normal update channel.
Masking to 2.35:1 and 2.40:1 with 16:9 output is next on the list. It’s a lot harder to do as one output mode (16:9) has to have a toggle and two sets of hight information for each and every control. Plan is to limit all controls to a 1920x800 window and offer black masking bars on the top and bottom. I’m not offering any ETA on this as it will require quite some work. But I’ll do my best to implement it
Making our skin one of the most versatile out there is a challenge I gladly accept.
Am i right when i say that the support you now added for 21:9 is only for those projectors/tvs that output 21:9 native?
So most of us dont have that…
I guess that majority just has a normal beamer 16:9 which they use zoom to fill the 21:9 screen, and then uses masks (the option you now will look for)
Currently I’m doing clean-up and streamlining work to be able to start work on masking. It’s a tough one though. Expanding or squeezing the skin elements horizontally was quite easy for 4:3 and 21:9 modes (all with a hight of 1080 pixels), but squeezing everything vertically in an existing 16:9 window is a lot harder as some controls will have to be changed completely due to lack of space. In addition to that, existing scope skins are only made for scope use, not for normal unmasked use. Integrating both into one skin is not easy without having many, many controls twice - increasing the support burdon for the skin a lot.
So, a question for you (as I don’t use a setup that would require masking): Is a functionality enough that masks library windows, the home screen and everything during playback? Or do you use your masked setup all the time and would therefore require masking throughout the whole skin?
you wont like what im going to say
i use the masked setup all the time
I can imagine making the skin good for both 16:9 as 21:9 is hard or much work.
Is making 2 versions of it not easier?
You say existing scope skins , but as far as i know, theres only 1 skin that does scope, and its scope nox (link in opening post). Useable for people who have 21:9 screen, but normal 16:9 projector that uses zoom
The other scops skins out there are skins for true 21:9 output
I was kind of expecting that already Done with cleanup now. After having rewritten the whole skin, I have to take a break now. I hope to get masking done before late autumn - if I don’t run into unexpected issues. Will keep you posted here
You could think so… But it’s more work to get it done properly in one skin at the beginning and less work later. Having to maintain two skins is not my aim. And honestly, I’d like it done right rather than just the easy way.
Just to be sure before I start working on this: I’ve implemented a toggle to turn masking on and off as well as a switch to change masking from 2.35:1 to 2.40:1. As a first proof of concept, I’ve applied the masking to our home menu. Does this look like what you’d expect from masking?
For the menu, masking should always be on.
You would only need to turn on masking ,if the movie is 16:9…
Then we should be able to mask it to 21:9 (yes we lose some picture in that case)
If you turn on masking, it’ll always be turned on. In all windows including the video player. Why would you not have the masking during playback of movies that already have black bars (or in other words: which already are in cinemascope format)? It’s not noticeable whether the black bars are skin masking or the video’s black bars.
I don’t see any reason why masking wouldn’t always be turned on, if you choose to use it. Additionally, it would be quite impossible to hide it with a cinemascope movie as the Kodi library only knows and outputs the video file’s aspect ratio, not the movie’s actual aspect ratio without included black bars.
The whole point of 21:9 screens (and projectors that can do that) is to have “scope” films be wider than “normal widescreen”, just like they are at theaters.
So, if the movie is 16:9 (or close to it, like 1.85:1), you don’t want to mask off the top and bottom…you want to shrink the height to fit the 21:9 area, and have black bars at the sides.
It may take quite a long time. I’ll have a lot on my plate the next couple of months… Hopefully, end of the year will be realistic, but I may have to disappoint on that, if there’s simply not enough time I can spare. Will keep you posted
This has thrown me back quite a bit. So, the scope mode will take more time. As I’m very busy in real life atm, I still can’t give you any timeframe or ETA.
Having said that, I might be able to get this done more quickly than I thought… It will be a separate skin version that you’ll have to download and install manually. But before we get there (I’ll probably need some testing soon ), there’s one last question remaining:
Do you need a toggle to disable the masking bars with the scope version or does a toggle to switch between 2.40:1 and 2.35:1 masking suffice? I’m not sure whether there’s any scenario where hiding the masking bars makes any sense…
Good news: the OSMC Skin (Scope edition) is ready to be tested!
If you like, you can download the skin here and test: https://collab.osmc.tv/s/B0btNQU8Y3v2zWe
It has to be installed manually via zip as it’s a stand-alone version of the OSMC skin.
Please do test and give feedback!
Here’re some details as to how I implemented the scope version:
(the option you now will look for)
Done with cleanup now. After having rewritten the whole skin, I have to take a break now. I hope to get masking done before late autumn - if I don’t run into unexpected issues. Will keep you posted here 
