diff --git a/src/r36s_dlna_browser/player/gstreamer_backend.py b/src/r36s_dlna_browser/player/gstreamer_backend.py
index 94963ea..3923fd7 100644
--- a/src/r36s_dlna_browser/player/gstreamer_backend.py
+++ b/src/r36s_dlna_browser/player/gstreamer_backend.py
@@ -431,16 +431,25 @@ class GStreamerBackend(PlayerBackend):
         # Hardware decode (NV12): insert a videoscale → capsfilter chain inside a
         # GstBin before the appsink so playbin accepts it as a single video-sink.
         #
-        # videoscale(method=nearest-neighbour) — scales 1920×1080 → 640×480.
-        #   Nearest-neighbour skips ~56% of source rows so only ~44% of the
-        #   source cache lines are fetched.  This is cheaper than the full
-        #   3.1 MB memmove (which loads 100% of cache lines), cutting the
-        #   Python memmove from ~32 ms to ~1 ms at the cost of some SW scale
-        #   CPU time (~14 ms estimated for nearest vs 32 ms for bilinear).
+        # videoscale(method=nearest-neighbour, add-borders=True) scales the
+        # decoded source to fit within the video area while preserving the
+        # original aspect ratio.  Black NV12 borders fill any leftover space
+        # (letterbox / pillarbox), avoiding any stretch distortion.
+        #   Nearest-neighbour skips ~56% of source rows so only ~44% of source
+        #   cache lines are fetched; Python memmove drops from ~32 ms to ~1 ms.
         #
         # capsfilter — enforces the output NV12 dimensions.
-        app_w, app_h = self._viewport[0], self._viewport[1]
-        scale_w, scale_h = (app_w or 640), (app_h or 480)
+        # Use the actual video area inside the HUD (full window minus margins)
+        # so the scale target matches the drawable region exactly.
+        # Dimensions are rounded down to even numbers (NV12 chroma subsampling
+        # requires both width and height to be divisible by 2).
+        vp_w, vp_h, vp_top, vp_bottom, vp_left, vp_right = self._viewport
+        video_w = max(2, vp_w - vp_left - vp_right)
+        video_h = max(2, vp_h - vp_top - vp_bottom)
+        scale_w = (video_w // 2) * 2
+        scale_h = (video_h // 2) * 2
+        if scale_w < 2 or scale_h < 2:
+            scale_w, scale_h = 640, 480
         log.info("NV12 appsink: videoscale(nearest) → %dx%d before appsink", scale_w, scale_h)
 
         scale      = self._gst.ElementFactory.make("videoscale",  "vscale")
@@ -454,11 +463,15 @@ class GStreamerBackend(PlayerBackend):
 
         # nearest-neighbour: accesses only the source pixels needed for each
         # output sample (strided reads), skipping ~56% of source rows entirely.
+        # add-borders=True: letterbox/pillarbox to preserve the source aspect
+        # ratio instead of stretching to fill the target dimensions.
         scale.set_property("method", 0)
+        scale.set_property("add-borders", True)
         capsfilter.set_property(
             "caps",
             self._gst.Caps.from_string(
-                f"video/x-raw,format=NV12,width={scale_w},height={scale_h}"
+                f"video/x-raw,format=NV12,width={scale_w},height={scale_h},"
+                f"pixel-aspect-ratio=1/1"
             ),
         )