We’ve all been there. Wanting to blow something up to full screen mode, only to be denied by the limitations of our devices. Thankfully, Samsung has a solution. A TV specifically designed to view vertical content.
As The Verge puts it, “There’s probably no clearer indication that vertical video is here to stay than Samsung making a TV designed to showcase it. And that’s exactly what has happened. The company has announced that the Sero, a 43-inch 4K TV that can switch from landscape mode (the default) to a portrait orientation, is coming to the US and other global markets. So you’ll be able to watch Instagram stories, TikTok videos, Snapchat content, and the portrait video recordings from your camera roll blown up on a relatively big screen — without heinous pillarboxing black bars on the left and right sides.”
But what about mobile devices? Well, that’s where Quibi comes in. New technology that makes it possible for videos to seamlessly shift between portrait and landscape orientations on the fly.
Writes Engadget, “At the company’s CES keynote, we finally learned about its killer feature: Turnstyle, a patent-pending technology that lets you easily switch between portrait and landscape viewing modes, all the while keeping what matters in frame. Every Quibi show plays both formats at once, using their audio track to keep them in sync. Of course, this isn’t just a tech solution: The artists also have to keep the framing of both viewing modes in mind. But according to Katzenberg, that’s also a challenge many of the creators have embraced.”
I love that last point. The idea that content has to be designed with the format in mind because it means that technology is actually profoundly changing the way that entertainment is designed and performed. Other than the shift from silent films has their even been a similar instance of technology changing the way that performers act? 3D effects might change how certain scenes play out or necessitate the inclusion of certain props but that wouldn’t necessarily change the way an actor goes about their business. Quibi seemingly will. It’s with that in mind that I’m interested to see how this push towards vertical content plays out. Will it prove to be a passing fad or does it have real staying power?
Is Vertical TV the Greatest Idea Ever?
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