# Why are people still making vertical videos? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206 "2019-02-25T21:49:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/21 "2019-02-26T15:36:50Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > The REAL question is, what sort of savage eats their soft boiled eggs from the wide end of the egg? > > I’m a horizontal kind of guy, myself. No other reason that it’s reminiscent of holding an actual camera. I’ve tried to be young and take a vertical picture, but it’s just easier to stabilize the gadget with one hand while the other finds the “take a picture” button. Actually, that brings up another point. On many phones, either volume button works as a shutter button. This thread is mostly about videos, but when taking pictures it’s usually easier to hold the phone vertically and use your thumb to hit the volume button. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/22 "2019-02-26T17:36:30Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. People do it because it’s easier to hold the phone that way. I can shoot a vertical video holding the phone in one hand while still being able to see what’s on the screen and use my thumb to push buttons. If I hold the phone horizontal, I’ve got to use both hands, or I can’t see what’s on the screen or I can’t push buttons or I hit buttons accidentally trying to grip the phone. > > I understand why people prefer watching horizontal videos, but when you don’t want to hold the phone with both hands, vertical is easier. > > Also, let’s be honest, the vast majority of videos that are taken on phones aren’t going to be displayed on any device other than phone…if they’re ever even watched again. The chance that a video someone took will end up going viral and getting millions of views is so tiny, they really not thinking about how the final product will look. As a longtime possessor of both hands and smartphones, I can attest that this just isn’t true. It’s easier for me to hold the phone up horizontally with one hand than it is vertically, and I can easily reach the record button with my index finger. Three fingers on top, thumb on bottom and index finger free to tap record. I can also easily do it with either hand - the record button stays by the home button so I just have to flip the phone end for end to use the other hand. I hate tunnel vision video and wish people would just stop it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/23 "2019-02-26T18:02:34Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > As a longtime possessor of both hands and smartphones, I can attest that this just isn’t true. For you…it’s not true for you, it is true for others. > [@](#): > > It’s easier for me to hold the phone up horizontally with one hand than it is vertically, and I can easily reach the record button with my index finger. Three fingers on top, thumb on bottom and index finger free to tap record. I can also easily do it with either hand - the record button stays by the home button so I just have to flip the phone end for end to use the other hand. Some combination of the way the buttons on your phone are laid out, the type of phone you have and the size and dexterity of your hand makes this possible. I can tell you that on my Samsung S7, if I try to use one hand to record video I can’t see the screen since my hand is in the way, my index finger can’t reliable get to the buttons and this is a ‘slippery’ phone. If I were to film one-handed vertical video, I’d likely drop the phone. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/24 "2019-02-26T18:12:40Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > 16 posts and no one linked to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dechvhb0Meo)? If you hadn’t I would have. Brian ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/25 "2019-02-26T18:32:08Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > What would it take to add a software switch to a phone camera that orients video and photos to landscape no matter which way the camera is held? It should be fairly trivial; it’s just software. The only reason they don’t do it is nobody really cares that much. If people were writing to Apple and Samsung in droves asking for it, we’d get it, but that’s not happening, so we’re not. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/26 "2019-02-26T18:49:54Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > For you…it’s not true for you, it is true for others. > Some combination of the way the buttons on your phone are laid out, the type of phone you have and the size and dexterity of your hand makes this possible. > > I can tell you that on my Samsung S7, if I try to use one hand to record video I can’t see the screen since my hand is in the way, my index finger can’t reliable get to the buttons and this is a ‘slippery’ phone. If I were to film one-handed vertical video, I’d likely drop the phone. That’s the same phone I have, and my hand is mostly to the side when I hold it horizontally. I guess I **could** hold it with my hand blocking the screen, but I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Delayed\_Reflex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/delayed_reflex/32/3172_2.png) [@Delayed\_Reflex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delayed_Reflex)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/27 "2019-02-26T19:00:17Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > As a longtime possessor of both hands and smartphones, I can attest that this just isn’t true. It’s easier for me to hold the phone up horizontally with one hand than it is vertically, and I can easily reach the record button with my index finger. Three fingers on top, thumb on bottom and index finger free to tap record. I can also easily do it with either hand - the record button stays by the home button so I just have to flip the phone end for end to use the other hand. > > I hate tunnel vision video and wish people would just stop it. When I try what you describe, my hand is covering a good portion of the screen, which isn’t great for viewing the screen while you are recording, and it still isn’t as comfortable or stable as holding a phone vertically (for me). Also the fact that you have to flip the phone end to end to use the other hand is more cumbersome to switch hands than if the phone is held vertically (where it doesn’t need to be rotated). > [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > What would it take to add a software switch to a phone camera that orients video and photos to landscape no matter which way the camera is held? > > Or is the photo sensor not square? There are some 3rd party apps that can do this - for example, Horizon for [Apple](https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/horizon-camera/id778576249?mt=8) and [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hvt.horizon). I am kind of surprised that this sort of functionality isn’t built in to phones these days though. I think the camera sensors might also still be rectangular, so shooting horizontal pictures/video while holding the phone vertically might result in a reduction in image quality, but that’s probably a reasonable trade-off for the convenience of being able to hold the phone vertically. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/28 "2019-02-26T20:27:13Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > That’s the same phone I have, and my hand is mostly to the side when I hold it horizontally. I guess I **could** hold it with my hand blocking the screen, but I don’t. I have the same phone and I just tried it. I cannot hold the phone “to the side” without it being impossible for me to hit the record button with my index finger. Are you left-handed? How do you start and stop recording when you do that? My biggest problem is starting recording and THEN switching to horizontal (because I forgot), which results in undefined, annoying behavior of the video depending on how I am sending/viewing it. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/29 "2019-02-26T21:05:51Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I have the same phone and I just tried it. I cannot hold the phone “to the side” without it being impossible for me to hit the record button with my index finger. Are you left-handed? How do you start and stop recording when you do that? > > My biggest problem is starting recording and THEN switching to horizontal (because I forgot), which results in undefined, annoying behavior of the video depending on how I am sending/viewing it. I’m right handed, but I can do it easily with either hand. When I hold the phone my hand looks like a “C” with my left hand or a backwards “C” with my right. My thumb is on the lower edge about to the first knuckle, my middle and ring fingers are on the top edge, and the pinky rests on the back of the phone near the top edge. My index finger can then easily hit the shutter button or the record button. The record button is a little harder to reach, but it’s not like I have to start and stop it frequently. Of course, if taking video I usually use both hands, because it’s easier to keep it steady that way. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/30 "2019-02-26T21:15:54Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I’m right handed, but I can do it easily with either hand. When I hold the phone my hand looks like a “C” with my left hand or a backwards “C” with my right. My thumb is on the lower edge about to the first knuckle, my middle and ring fingers are on the top edge, and the pinky rests on the back of the phone near the top edge. My index finger can then easily hit the shutter button or the record button. The record button is a little harder to reach, but it’s not like I have to start and stop it frequently. > > Of course, if taking video I usually use both hands, because it’s easier to keep it steady that way. Oh yeah. I just tried it again and then smacked myself for being stupid. When testing for my previous post, for some reason I used my left hand. Just now I used my right hand like you and yeah, that is how I do it and it works fine. Just a little more awkward than vertical videos. I mentioned I smacked myself for being stupid, right? Can’t believe I did that :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/31 "2019-02-26T22:34:22Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > What would it take to add a software switch to a phone camera that orients video and photos to landscape no matter which way the camera is held? > > Or is the photo sensor not square? 4:3. For instance, a 5 megapixel sensor is typically 2560x1920 pixels. Which means it just squeaks by in being able to record standard HD in either direction. To do that with 4k would require at least a 20 megapixel sensor (5120x3840.) ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/32 "2019-02-26T22:48:32Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > I was watching Ridiculousness… I’m sorry, I quit reading at this point. The fact that anyone watches that drivel even for entertainment, I give up on trying to even understand your problems. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/33 "2019-02-27T03:39:12Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > The REAL question is, what sort of savage eats their soft boiled eggs from the wide end of the egg? What kind of savage eats an egg soft-boiled? The albumin MUST BE in a solid state, and there’s no way to guarantee that without cooking it so you can WATCH it solidify. You can always poach it you have an aversion to fat preventing you from frying it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/34 "2019-02-27T14:26:32Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > It should be fairly trivial; it’s just software. The only reason they don’t do it is nobody really cares that much. If people were writing to Apple and Samsung in droves asking for it, we’d get it, but that’s not happening, so we’re not. It’s not just that no one cares. You have the problem of how the video is displayed while being recorded. Either you have the video shown much smaller with large black bars, making it harder to see everything in detail, or you crop it off and have things recorded that you don’t see. And if you are making the video to be seen by someone else with a phone, why wouldn’t you want the video to take up the whole screen? ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/35 "2019-02-27T14:30:17Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > I was watching Ridiculousness and saw several vertical videos which set me off on my favorite tirade of recent years: “Are people really so stupid that they’ve been making the same mistake for a full decade now? Turn the phone/camera 90 degrees counter-clockwise before recording!” > > And then it occurred to me: maybe there _is_ a benefit to shooting video that way. But for the life of me I can’t figure out what that benefit might be. > > So I’m putting the question to you folks: is there an intelligent reason to hold the phone vertically while shooting video or is there a frightening number of village idiots running around without a lick of sense in their heads? I don’t know any village idiots so I can’t comment on that. As for shooting vertical video-it is easier to hold the phone that way and much easier to work the controls. When I take a video I am recording an event not making a movie. Vertical orientation works just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/36 "2019-02-27T15:30:43Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > It’s not just that no one cares. You have the problem of how the video is displayed while being recorded. Either you have the video shown much smaller with large black bars, making it harder to see everything in detail, or you crop it off and have things recorded that you don’t see. > > And if you are making the video to be seen by someone else with a phone, why wouldn’t you want the video to take up the whole screen? But the videos aren’t being made just to be seen by someone with a phone. They’re being posted on YouTube to be seen on computer screens and sent to news stations or to shows like the aforementioned Ridiculousness or AFV to be shown on television. One of the most frequent questions I’ve heard helping kids in high school was “how can I make my phone video fill the whole screen when I show it on the TV?” Of course, the answer was you can either crop the top and bottom of the video, or stretch it horizontally. Either way it’s going to look bad, and you’d be better off shooting it again with the phone held correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/37 "2019-08-16T14:50:07Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#): > > What would it take to add a software switch to a phone camera that orients video and photos to landscape no matter which way the camera is held? There will soon be [a phone that includes this](https://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-one-action-killing-vertical-videos-once-and-all). Also, I didn’t think to look for it when this thread first started, but there is already [An App For That](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hvt.horizon). This very basic camera came out in 2014. I just tried it: for some reason it only allows 1280x720 when my sensor has plenty of room for 1920x1080, but it stays solidly horizontal no matter how I rotate the phone. The company even has [an SDK](https://horizon.camera/sdk/) for the feature. It is criminal that everyone isn’t doing this already. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/38 "2019-08-16T15:13:43Z")
I don’t mind some vertical videos, but I don’t like the type where there’s a blurry part of the image on either side. I call that “split-face video” because if it’s a video of a person, you get the normal video in the middle with creepy-looking blurry split parts of the person’s face on the sides. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/39 "2019-08-16T15:35:58Z")
Because humans are stubborn, with a strong natural aversion to being corrected. You tell someone to record horizontally, and they’re all “no one tells me what to do!” It’s like movie cliches all over. I hear endless cries of “no one cares”, but they do care. But they still want to see what’s on the video, and they complain. But the people making the videos don’t listen (see my first paragraph). Ad so it goes. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206/40 "2019-08-16T19:44:48Z")
[Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQJGyVXgF-E&feature=youtu.be) a video that could only be shot vertically. A landscape video isn’t tall enough to include both the foreground and the sun. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-making-vertical-videos/830206.md?page=3)