How to take a full screen image on a Xiaomi phone: Deep customization

Owners of modern smartphones Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO often face a situation where the favorite app or video does not occupy the entire display area, leaving annoying black stripes around the edges. This is especially noticeable on models with elongated screens and camera cutouts, where the standard aspect ratio of 16:9 does not coincide with the physical parameters of the matrix.

Fortunately, the MIUI shell and the new HyperOS provide advanced tools for controlling the screen area. You can manually stretch the image, change the resolution or force the game to run in full-screen mode. In this article, we will discuss in detail all available methods, from simple switches in settings to hidden engineering menus that allow you to tailor the output of the picture to any user’s requirements.

Before we make any changes, it's important to understand that not all applications work properly when stretched. Some programs can float and the interface can become uncomfortable. So we're going to look at not only how to activate the full screen, but also the nuances that will help avoid distortion. The key is that the application supports non-standard aspect ratios, because the system settings can't magically change the code of the old program.

Basic setup of full-screen mode in MIUI

The easiest and safest way to make an application work on the full screen is to use the built-in optimization function. In recent firmware versions, this partition has been slightly revised, but the principle has remained the same. The system offers a list of applications that do not support the elongated format by default, and allows you to force the interface to stretch.

To access these settings, you need to go to the Settings menu, then select the Screen section. Here you will find Full-screen Mode (in some versions it is called Screen Area Management). When you open this list, you will see all the programs installed. Just switch the slider opposite the desired application to the active position, and the next time it starts it will occupy the entire available display area.

It should be noted that this feature does not work equally well with all applications. UI optimization depends on how the developer has put the controls. If buttons or text become unreadable after stretching, it is better to return the standard settings for a particular program.

⚠️ Warning: Forced stretching of some banking applications or instant messengers can cause the keyboard to shift or hide important interface elements behind the camera notch.

Change the screen resolution to maximize filling

A more radical method that affects the entire system is to change the resolution of the display. Many users are unaware that their phone can work in different rendering modes. By switching to lower or specific resolution, you can ensure that the image will fill the pixel grid differently, eliminating zoom artifacts.

To change this, go to Settings → Screen → Screen resolution. Here, the system will offer several options, usually "Recommended" and "Alternative." Choosing an alternative option often changes the aspect ratio, which can be useful for older games or videos that do not know how to work with modern wide formats.

It's important to understand the difference between the physical resolution of the matrix and the software resolution of rendering. The interface will be rebuilt instantly, but it can affect the clarity of the fonts and icons. If you value maximum detail, this method may not work for you, because the picture will become less dense.

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Changing the screen resolution also affects autonomy: fewer active pixels reduces the load on the GPU, which can slightly increase battery life.

Setting up the aspect ratio for games and applications

Gamers often complain that new games on Xiaomi launch with black bars on top and bottom, despite the phone's full-screen settings being turned on, which is because many games are launched in 16:9 by default to ensure compatibility with older devices while ignoring the capabilities of your widescreen.

To solve this problem, there is a separate tool called Game Turbo (or Accelerate Games) in the MIUI shell. By adding the game to this list, you get access to advanced display settings. In the sidebar during the game, you can find a switch that forcibly changes the aspect ratio by 18:9, 19.5:9 or even 20:9, depending on the model of your smartphone.

In addition, in some cases, cleaning the app cache before starting helps, the system can "remember" old display parameters, and the data reset allows it to re-determine the capabilities of the display, which is especially true for emulators and ports from other platforms.

Using an engineering menu to calibrate the display

For advanced users who are not afraid to experiment, there is access to hidden settings through an engineering menu, which allows you to adjust DPI parameters (dots per inch) and other system variables that affect image zooming, but you need to use it with extreme caution.

To get into the testing menu, open the Phone app and type ##6484##. The CIT menu that opens can find display tests, but deep customization often requires input of other CPU-specific codes (e.g. #4636## for the testing menu). Here you can try to change the pixel density, which visually stretches all the interface elements.

Changing the density of the DPI is a powerful tool, and by reducing the DPI, you're going to make everything smaller, so you can fit more content on the screen and visually remove the frames, but by reducing it too much, you can make text unreadable, and by increasing it, you're going to turn the interface into a bunch of giant buttons.

⚠️ Attention: Incorrect setting DPI In the engineering menu, you can't get into the settings menu to get everything back!

Problems with camera cutout and banging (Notch)

A separate category of problems is related to the front camera notch, and some applications, especially video players and old games, can overlap with this notch, hiding important control buttons or a timer, in which case the image is technically on the entire screen, but functionally part of it is hidden.

Xiaomi's screen settings have a Hiding Cut (or Cutout Settings) feature, and by activating it, you can select an app that darkens the area around the camera, creating the illusion of a top bezels, like on older smartphones, which doesn't stretch the image, but makes it more comfortable to use, shifting the content below the danger zone.

Alternatively, it's a feature-based option. Some video players have their own Crop to Fill setting that ignores system constraints and trims the edges of the video to fill the entire screen, including the area under the bangs, which often results in a loss of a portion of the frame on the sides, but provides a complete immersion.

Remember, software to hide the cutout consumes a portion of the screen's usable area, turning it into a black bar, a trade-off between aesthetics and functionality that each user chooses for themselves.

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Hiding the cutout by the software method is a cosmetic solution that does not change the real resolution of the rendering, but only masks the problem area with black.

Third-party screen management applications

If MIUI isn't built in, Google Play apps come to the rescue, programs like SecondScreen or button emulators allow you to reconfigure the output settings, and they can force you to set the resolution and pixel density without logging into the engineering menu.

But using these apps requires Root rights or a computer connection to issue permissions via ADB (Android Debug Bridge), without which third-party software will have limited functionality and will not be able to globally change the display, a path for enthusiasts ready for complex setup.

There are also dedicated video players, such as VLC or MX Player, which have their own zoom settings, and you can set the "Stretch" or "Fill" mode, which often solves the problem with black bars when viewing local video files, ignoring system limitations.

⚠️ Note: Installing applications requiring Root-right can disrupt banking applications and reduce overall system security.

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