4 ms·

It feels like an attempt to battle the plague of vertical video and for that I'm thankful. Otherwise it's a great way to end up with a horizontally stable shot

by Kequc 12y ago

It feels like an attempt to battle the plague of vertical video and for that I'm thankful. Otherwise it's a great way to end up with a horizontally stable shot while allowing you to hold the phone any way that feels comfortable. I can't think of any time when that isn't what I want.

judk 12y ago
I don't understand why otherwise savvy techy people ate so Luddite about vertical video. Adding an extra 200% of worthless landscape to a video of a person is an ancient plague that smartphones provided a cure for.
- davehalladay 12y ago
  The only problem I have with vertical video is that most screens are horizontally oriented, so vertical video always looks bad with tons of wasted screen space when viewed on anything other than the vertical smartphone it was recorded on.
  - zwily 12y ago
    When I'm watching a video on my phone, I'm always glad when it's vertical so I don't have to disable orientation lock and rotate.
- Kequc 12y ago
  Goes back to why we switched to widescreen displays. Area of vision man. It is not wasted space to see a horizontal plane, as that is what we expect to see when looking at anything. Vertical video simulates the effect of straining to see through a partly closed door it is tangibly horrible.
  - jamesbritt 12y ago
    Vertical video simulates the effect of straining to see through a partly closed door it is tangibly horrible. Horizontal video simulates the effect of straining to see through a partly closed Venetian blinds it is tangibly horrible. Now, is this any more correct? Or is it an equally arbitrary personal opinion? The move to "wide" screen was also the move to short screen. I don't find anything natural about it; I expect to be able to move my eyes up and down as well as left and right. A preference for short and wide screens seems more cultural than natural. Even granting that humans have better peripheral visions along the sides than top and bottom the current screens fall short in capturing this range. My beef with most vertical videos is that people typically do not make good use of the format; there's nothing intrinsically bad or wrong about it.
    - marssaxman 12y ago
      There is no personal opinion in the observation that normal human field of vision is wider than it is tall.
      - jamesbritt 12y ago
        No one said it was, so I'm not getting your point. In another comment you said that 4:3 is a reasonable approximation of normal human visual field. 19:9 screens don't map to this; this restricted height works well for consuming certain current entertainment offerings but I don't see that a preference for it is objective. If area of vision were guiding screen design we would likely see more of what the current Surface 3 offers.
        marssaxman 12y ago
        Well, why are movies horizontally oriented? Why is the screen rectangular at all, and not square? Why were wide-screen movies such a big deal when they came out? Obviously it's because filling the viewer's visual field creates a more intense, immersive effect; engaging more of your peripheral vision makes you feel more like being there. Vertical-format video has the opposite effect: you might call it anti-immersive. It boxes the subject up in an intrusive frame and makes you feel like you're looking through a hallway or some other obstruction.

by Kequc 12y ago

judk 12y ago

I don't understand why otherwise savvy techy people ate so Luddite about vertical video. Adding an extra 200% of worthless landscape to a video of a person is an ancient plague that smartphones provided a cure for.

davehalladay 12y ago
The only problem I have with vertical video is that most screens are horizontally oriented, so vertical video always looks bad with tons of wasted screen space when viewed on anything other than the vertical smartphone it was recorded on.
- zwily 12y ago
  When I'm watching a video on my phone, I'm always glad when it's vertical so I don't have to disable orientation lock and rotate.
Kequc 12y ago
Goes back to why we switched to widescreen displays. Area of vision man. It is not wasted space to see a horizontal plane, as that is what we expect to see when looking at anything. Vertical video simulates the effect of straining to see through a partly closed door it is tangibly horrible.
- jamesbritt 12y ago
  Vertical video simulates the effect of straining to see through a partly closed door it is tangibly horrible. Horizontal video simulates the effect of straining to see through a partly closed Venetian blinds it is tangibly horrible. Now, is this any more correct? Or is it an equally arbitrary personal opinion? The move to "wide" screen was also the move to short screen. I don't find anything natural about it; I expect to be able to move my eyes up and down as well as left and right. A preference for short and wide screens seems more cultural than natural. Even granting that humans have better peripheral visions along the sides than top and bottom the current screens fall short in capturing this range. My beef with most vertical videos is that people typically do not make good use of the format; there's nothing intrinsically bad or wrong about it.
  - marssaxman 12y ago
    There is no personal opinion in the observation that normal human field of vision is wider than it is tall.
    - jamesbritt 12y ago
      No one said it was, so I'm not getting your point. In another comment you said that 4:3 is a reasonable approximation of normal human visual field. 19:9 screens don't map to this; this restricted height works well for consuming certain current entertainment offerings but I don't see that a preference for it is objective. If area of vision were guiding screen design we would likely see more of what the current Surface 3 offers.
      - marssaxman 12y ago
        Well, why are movies horizontally oriented? Why is the screen rectangular at all, and not square? Why were wide-screen movies such a big deal when they came out? Obviously it's because filling the viewer's visual field creates a more intense, immersive effect; engaging more of your peripheral vision makes you feel more like being there. Vertical-format video has the opposite effect: you might call it anti-immersive. It boxes the subject up in an intrusive frame and makes you feel like you're looking through a hallway or some other obstruction.