strange problem with windows media player xp

[syner]

some strange problem have occurred to windows media player xp,when i try to watch movie on WMP i get black block like in both side of WMP Player, i have attached picture for clearance,this problem doesn't used occurred previously i notice in some days ago,my friend told its due to movie resolution,but i dont think my previous movie which used to play in full screen without this black block are also playing now with black block,what is wrong with WMP

[Gaurav Bhattacharjee]

Switch to GOM Player, mate.

[cute.bandar]

^ +1 kmplayer or smplayer. Lots of choices

[gameranand]

Change the Media player. Go for MPC or VLC. And for WMP I think its codec problem.

[krishnandu.sarkar]

@OP Yes, your friend is partially correct, it's not due to resolution, it's due to aspect ratio. Check it.

If aspect ratio is not set to correct value, no matter which player you use, you'll face this problem on every player.

Generally it's set to default which solves the problem. But I think it may have changed. So please verify it.

[nisargshah95]

For movies I just don't prefer WMP. I always watch movies in VLC and sometimes the difference in quality seems clear. Plus WMP doesn't support many media file extensions, so better switch to another player for movies.