'Horizon' Allows iPhone Users to Always Shoot Horizontal Video

[Anonymous Freak]

Now that I think about it - the iPhone camera (4S and above) has a resolution of over 1920 pixels in each of the two dimensions. Therefore, even in portrait mode, it should be possible to pull 1920x1080 pixels in a cropped landscape.

And, in fact, it offers 1920x1080 on every device with an A6 chip or higher. (So not the iPhone 4S or iPad 2.) Thus, it seems that it requires an A6+ for the processing power to handle 1080p recording with the auto-leveling and cropping, but it should be full-quality, even cropped, since it's cropping down to more-than-1080p pixels anyway.

Which, after watching the video, I see the "big sell" of it - video zoom. In portrait mode, you're "zoomed in", and by rotating to landscape, you can "zoom out".

The video doesn't show if you can sit in a "halfway rotated" mode for "partial zoom", though. I presume you can, since it appears to seamlessly handle the rotate.

That alone makes it worth 99¢ to me. Well, it would if I had a phone newer than a 4S, anyway... (Yeah, at 640x480, the 4S gets the short end of the resolution scale...)

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Why would people even shoot in portrait in the first place?

 

[IKAR0S]

It would be even cooler to have a circular image sensor that you could combine with a gyroscope to allow for perfect landscape video regardless of camera/phone orientation.

Your theory sounds right, but unfortunately the pixels are also square.

If you take a picture/movie at 45° angle and rotate it 45° so that it becomes horizontal, you will still experience a loss of sharpness trying to rotate those square pixels.

 

[chimpboy74]

Except the people for whom this is targeted are also the ones who won't bother loading a non-default app to shoot video...

I'm putting this on my mother in laws phone. I'll just move the icon to where she normally goes to the camera. No more portrait videos of my kids.

 

[Habakuk]

ProCam 2 has the "Auto Level Mode" already since some weeks (for photos) and the iPad version ProCam XL 2 is free right now.

 

[tgaskin]

If you can remember to open the app (which does horizontal video), you can remember to turn your phone.

 

[iMerik]

Does this drop quality if you are shooting in horizontal? It looks neat in how it works even if I wouldn't use it. Maybe I would use it for the stabilization factor. Probably not. Still cool though.

 

[mdelvecchio]

It's an app designed to appeal to the forever stupid. If you can't learn when and when not to use a portrait orientation then you should be spending more time reading books and taking some basic lessons in common sense.

This is a case that requires one verbal lesson to solve.

"You are holding it wrong."

if the world were that simple we wouldn't need seatbelts and airbags, would we? just don't drive wrong. eh?

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This is one big mistake Apple made with the iPhone. They should have locked video recording to landscape from the beginning!

Huge pet peeve of mine as a video producer!!!

why? what if your intended video recipient is on phone, not a tv? video phone to phone just feels better when portrait.

Apple couldn't force it because they can't know your final intended output device.

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Why would people even shoot in portrait in the first place?

it's easier to hold. imagine an ice cream sandwich or candy bar -- why do you hold it vertically instead of horizontally, even tho you could certainly eat it that way? just easier to hold.

 

[Bishope1999]

if the world were that simple we wouldn't need seatbelts and airbags, would we? just don't drive wrong. eh?

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why? what if your intended video recipient is on phone, not a tv? video phone to phone just feels better when portrait.

Apple couldn't force it because they can't know your final intended output device.

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it's easier to hold. imagine an ice cream sandwich or candy bar -- why do you hold it vertically instead of horizontally, even tho you could certainly eat it that way? just easier to hold.

It's not about being easier, it's about recording video correctly.

When you record in a 16x9 aspect ratio, it's not for added height. Ever seen how horrible those cell phone videos look on the news when someone sends in a cell phone video and they recorded it in portrait?

 

[Swytch]

I think some people are missing that there is a difference between videos and movies, yes movies should not be vertical (unless that is what you are going for - it is art - directors have done stranger things). But videos, especially home videos are different, and are more suited to be shot in the way that best captures the moment and what device it will be played back on. A vertical video is perfectly fine if its only ever watched on a phone... yes posting it on YouTube since it forces the aspect ratio is not desired, but maybe since youtube kinda is for home movies they should allow other aspect ratios and orientations.

Obviously these people complaining about VVS (made up BS), do not have tall children or big animals... sometimes the best way to get the action up close enough to tell what is going on is to record the video vertical (unless you want chopped off heads or arms or the present held over the head, or you want to back way up and not be able to tell what they are holding. And Animals are a completely different story, horizontal videos hardly ever work out...

 

[Chazz08]

If you buy this app, you may need help.

 

[powerstrokin]

Why would people even shoot in portrait in the first place?

Remember the days before smartphones? People had flip phones. You held it "in portrait orientation" and recorded videos with the flip potato.

As for people who never had one, I don't know. Forever stupid, I guess. Or just don't care. Or both. It's really not a big deal honestly. I turn my phone sideways and record, personally.

You know what's really REALLY to blame? WIDESCREEN. I still remember the days when my dad would bitch about losing half the picture while watching a DVD because of "black bars" if the video was widescreen, since we had a giant 35" tube tv at the time.

If it wasn't for widescreen then none of this would even be an issue.

It's Hollywood's fault.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Remember the days before smartphones? People had flip phones. You held it "in portrait orientation" and recorded videos with the flip potato.

As for people who never had one, I don't know. Forever stupid, I guess. Or just don't care. Or both. It's really not a big deal honestly. I turn my phone sideways and record, personally.

You know what's really REALLY to blame? WIDESCREEN. I still remember the days when my dad would bitch about losing half the picture while watching a DVD because of "black bars" if the video was widescreen, since we had a giant 35" tube tv at the time.

If it wasn't for widescreen then none of this would even be an issue.

It's Hollywood's fault.

And I never really took videos on my old flip phones anyways. Way too low quality and too much hassle to get it out. I was more used to using real digital camera so maybe that's why I find shooting in portrait ridiculous.

 

[Joz3d]

I just can't understand why Apple & Google won't disable vertical video by default. Just lock it into horizontal when the user switches to video recording. Maybe even a little animation prompting the user to flip the phone. This would eliminate 95% of vertical videos.

Have a setting to enable vertical video somewhere deep in system settings, or maybe a 5-taps on the screen override, for people who really want to shoot vertically on purpose and know what they are doing.

...my "favorite" was that Apple Christmas commercial, where that kid is seemingly on his phone the whole time, but turns out he shot a nice family Christmas video... and you can clearly see him shooting the glove-throwing-at-camera scene vertically, yet magically in his final video it beautifully fits their widescreen TV in glorious resolution.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Apple really should just 'crop to landscape' when held in portrait mode, anyway. I mean, every iPhone that can record video has a high enough resolution rear camera to record its highest-supported-resolution video as landscape, when held in portrait mode...

 

[ctdonath]

Methinks everyone's missing the greater good here. It's not just about solving the "portrait video problem", it's about keeping the image LEVEL. Even when shooting horizontal there's still unstable tilting if hand-held, and that's annoying too. Nice to have something that corrects for holding the camera canted a few irritating degrees.

Ever notice in TV/movies that the "shaky cam" is nonetheless never tilted?

 

[Captrick]

First, this is excellent for those who do know how to hold their iPhone to take video, but may need to rapidly start a video to capture something interesting before it is over. I just ordered my iPhone 6, and I can see having it in my shirt pocket shooting landscape video.

The resolution is less, because it's cropped from the vertical image.

And finally, I just registered to comment here...MacRumors, the fourth letter in the word "apple" is e...not l.