Constrain the view port (only) to a fixed aspect ratio

[felipecrs]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

In 5.2.0 I was able to constrain the view port to 16:9 with:

dimensions:
  aspect_ratio_mode: static
  aspect_ratio: '16:9'

But the same configuration now will constrain the whole card, including the external menu, to 16:9.

Instead of:

It now looks like:

Which is not optimal, as it is very hard to predict the card aspect ratio when taking into consideration the menu.

The reason why I want to constrain the card is to make the dashboard loading look a bit better. For example, the following:

In favor of:

Describe the solution you'd like

Perhaps...

dimensions:
  aspect_ratio_mode: static
  aspect_ratio: '16:9'
  aspect_ratio_view_port_only: true

Or maybe just make it the default with no ability to configure? I wonder if there is a use case to constrain the card beyond the view port.

Describe alternatives you've considered
I was playing with the camera dimensions configuration, but that doesn't seem to have the effect I wanted.

Additional context

• Related to Live layout options does not seem effective on dev branch #1369
• Related to Adapt dimensions and media layout options to be per camera #1394

[dermotduffy]

I think you want to set the camera aspect-ratio, but not the card, with this:

type: custom:frigate-card
cameras:
  - camera_entity: camera.office
    dimensions:
      aspect_ratio: '4:3'
# Not this, as this sets it for the whole card
# dimensions:
#   aspect_ratio: '4:3'
menu:
  style: outside

Does this do what you want, or do I misunderstand?

[felipecrs]

Yes and no. Check this:

With card fixed aspect ratio:

chrome_42oXrJMAN7.mp4

With camera fixed aspect ratio:

chrome_ndCzKA74cD.mp4

Notice how the first video starts already with its final size.

Notice how the latter one starts small and takes a while to figure out its final size.

If you play both clips at 0.5x it should be a lot easier to spot.

[dermotduffy]

Notice how the latter one starts small and takes a while to figure out its final size.

Ah, yes. That's while the card is loading, the view (which may or may not be a camera) is not yet loaded, so camera-level aspect_ratio cannot be enforced.

Or maybe just make it the default with no ability to configure? I wonder if there is a use case to constrain the card beyond the view port.

Views that are not just a simple camera come to mind (e.g. gallery, or grid of multiple cameras).

Let me think on this!

[felipecrs]

I found a (very lucky) solution for this:

dimensions:
  aspect_ratio_mode: static
  aspect_ratio: "3:2"

This seems to be the exact ratio I need to fit both the external menu and a 16:9 camera.

chrome_6liSLb5a9g.mp4

@dermotduffy, if you believe this cannot be fixed otherwise, I'm ok closing it.

[felipecrs]

But for some other cases, with more customizations like menu height, it's a bit more challenging to find an aspect ratio that works in all conditions.

It would be great if this could be calculated by the card itself. Perhaps based on:

1. The menu height
2. cameras_global.dimensions.aspect_ratio