Newbe Dev Stack

Answer : ImageMagick is a light-weight tool that can be used for this. Here is an example that croppes all jpg images in a directory and puts the results in a new folder: cd path/to/dir/ mogrify -crop +100+10 -quality 100 -path ../cropped *.jpg Here, 100 pixels from the left border and 10 pixels from the top are removed. See here for more information on how to use crop. Have you tried XnCovert? XnConvert is free cross-platform batch image processor, allowing you to combine over 80 actions. Compatible with 500 formats. It uses the batch processing module of XnViewMP and it is freeware and you can donate them if you find it useful. https://www.xnview.com/en/xnconvert/

Answer : If you press C it will toggle through the crop ratios and may help you with eliminating the black bars. Well, I should have checked VLC's Video menu as I did while posting this question... There's the crop to 16:9 option I was looking for... Anyway, if you find an automatic cropping estimation method, the bounty will still be there. Simply go to VLC Player preferences > Video (you must be in "All" mode, not "Simple" mode). On the right-hand side, scroll down to "Video cropping" and type in either "16:10", "16:9", or "4:3", depending on what your screen's aspect ratio is. Press the Save button at the bottom. If black lines remain, then they are actually part of the video as opposed to just an empty section of the screen. In this case, adjusting manually is the only logical option left.