Remove YouTube black area from thumbnail

<?php

function get_youtube_video_image_with_no_black_borders($youtube_id, $temp_image_location, $resized_image_location) {
    // settings
    $youtube_maxres_img_url = 'http://img.youtube.com/vi/' . $youtube_id . '/maxresdefault.jpg';
    $youtube_default_img_url = 'http://img.youtube.com/vi/' . $youtube_id . '/mqdefault.jpg';
    $less_than_hex = hexdec('222222'); // because youtube image isn't all black bordered, this is the maximum hex allowed color. this color will be cut if found on x/y axis on starting/ending points of an image

    // get remote image
    $orig_image = @file_get_contents($youtube_maxres_img_url);
    if ($orig_image===false) { // if the video is smaller size, get the smaller thumb
        $orig_image = @file_get_contents($youtube_default_img_url);
    }

    // save it locally
    file_put_contents($temp_image_location, $orig_image);
    unset($orig_image);

    // get the image size
    list($width, $height) = getimagesize($temp_image_location);

    // calculate y axis start point
    $image_res = imagecreatefromjpeg($temp_image_location);
    $y = 0;
    $min_y = -1;
    $start_color = imagecolorat($image_res, 0, 0);

    $one_color = true;
    while ($one_color && $y < $height) {
        for ($x = 0; $x < $width; $x++) {
            $rgb = imagecolorat($image_res, $x, $y);
            if($rgb > $less_than_hex) $one_color = false;
        }
        $min_y++;
        $y++;
    }

    // calculate y axis stop point
    $y = $height - 1;
    $max_y = $height + 1;
    $start_color = imagecolorat($image_res, $width - 1, $y);
    $one_color = true;
    while ($one_color && $y > 0) {
        for ($x = 0; $x < $width; $x++) {
            $rgb = imagecolorat($image_res, $x, $y);
            if($rgb > $less_than_hex) $one_color = false;
        }
        $max_y--;
        $y--;
    }

    // calculate x axis start point
    $start_color = imagecolorat($image_res, 0, 0);
    $x = 0;
    $min_x = - 1;
    $one_color = true;
    while ($one_color && $x < $width) {
        for ($y = $min_y; $y < $max_y; $y++) {
            $rgb = imagecolorat($image_res, $x, $y);
            if($rgb > $less_than_hex) $one_color = false;
        }
        $min_x++;
        $x++;
    }

    // calculate x axis stop point
    $x = $width - 1;
    $start_color = imagecolorat($image_res, $width - 1, $height - 1);
    $max_x = $width + 1;
    $one_color = true;
    while ($one_color && $x > 0) {
        for ($y = $min_y; $y < $max_y; $y++) {
            $rgb = imagecolorat($image_res, $x, $y);
            if($rgb > $less_than_hex) $one_color = false;
        }
        $max_x--;
        $x--;
    }

    // calculate new width/height
    $new_height = $max_y - $min_y;
    $new_width = $max_x - $min_x;

    // crop the image
    $gd = imagecreatetruecolor($new_width, $new_height);
    imagecopy($gd, $image_res, 0, 0, $min_x, $min_y, $width, $height);

    // save the new image to a different location
    imagejpeg($gd, $resized_image_location, 100);

    // delete the temporary file
    unlink($temp_image_location);
}

/*
Usage:

$youtube_id = 'y6Sxv-sUYtM';
$temp_directory = '/tmp/' . microtime(true) . '_youtube_file.jpg';
$destination_image = '/home/user/thumbs/' . microtime(true) . '_youtube_cropped_file.jpg';
get_youtube_video_image_with_no_black_borders($youtube_id, $temp_directory, $destination_image);

Notes:
    * the function doesn't take into consideration if the image screenshot of the video is all black
*/