Ultrawider is a browser extension designed for users with ultrawide monitors who want to fill their screens when watching standard 16:9 videos. The tool addresses the common issue of black bars appearing on the sides of ultrawide displays by applying a specialized video warp that expands the image to fit ultrawide aspect ratios, such as 21:9, 24:9, and 32:9, without visibly distorting central content like faces.
The core feature of Ultrawider is its "Smoothie" warp, which uses a custom WebGL2 fragment shader based on Ken Perlin's quintic smootherstep function. This approach remaps every horizontal pixel, blending the identity line with a quintic curve to ensure that the center of the video remains undistorted while the edges are stretched to fill the display. The extension automatically detects the user's viewport aspect ratio and adjusts the curve strength accordingly, so the warp effect remains optimal for any ultrawide or super-ultrawide monitor. Users can interact with a live playground on the website to see the effect in action and adjust curve strength settings.
Ultrawider is available as a browser extension on Chrome (and other Chromium-based browsers such as Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, and Arc), Microsoft Edge, and Firefox, but not on Safari. The extension works on a wide range of video sites that are not protected by DRM, including YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, Kick, many news sites, course platforms, and podcast players. However, it does not function on platforms like Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, or Prime Video due to DRM restrictions that block the necessary pixel access.
The extension offers a free tier that enables the Smoothie warp on YouTube. The Pro version, available via subscription ($5/month or $24/year) or a one-time lifetime purchase ($49), unlocks support for additional sites. top, and users receive a license key via email. Pro subscriptions auto-renew but can be canceled at any time, with users retaining access until the end of the paid period. No account is required for purchase or activation.
In the Design & Creative space, Ultrawider takes a focused approach. It focuses on watching 16:9 videos on ultrawide monitors without black bars or distorted images. Ultrawider is a consumer product aimed at ultrawide monitor owners. Ultrawider follows a freemium model, with paid plans starting at $2. The product ships for the web and embeddable surfaces.
Ultrawider first shipped in 2026. Across PulseGate's embedding index, Ultrawider has few near neighbours, marking it as relatively distinct. Among its 8 catalogued features are video warping, live preview, and webGL rendering.
Latest indexed changes and source events
Ultrawider — 21:9 Video Fill discovered by the PulseGate indexer
Other apps tracked under the same category.
