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Television Media Software The Internet Technology

Samsung Debuts 'Sero TV' That Auto-Rotates For Vertical Videos From Your Phone (pocket-lint.com) 92

Posted by BeauHD from the vertical-videos-are-the-future dept.
At CES 2020, Samsung debuted "The Sero" (translates to vertical in Korean) -- a 4K TV that automatically rotates on its stand so you can more easily watch vertical content that's been recorded on phones or uploaded to apps like TikTok or Instagram. Pocket-lint reports: The new TV is a relatively modest 43-inches in size, but it's not aimed at those who might have the space and money to go and grab a 65-incher (yes, you've guessed it, it's aimed at the "mobile generation" according to Samsung). As well as being 4K, while there are 60W speakers for bouncy audio. The Sero is going to launch this year although it's already available in South Korea.

Content casts from your Samsung Galaxy device but it'll work with other phones and tablets, too and will have Apple's AirPlay so you can use it with iOS. The TV flips on demand depending on the orientation of your phone. Samsung also says it'll be available on wheels so you can move it from room-to-room. Variety reports that Sero will launch in several global markets. Samsung didn't announce pricing, but in Korea, the Sero TV has sold for around $1,600.
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Samsung Debuts 'Sero TV' That Auto-Rotates For Vertical Videos From Your Phone More

Samsung Debuts 'Sero TV' That Auto-Rotates For Vertical Videos From Your Phone

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  • Say no to vertical videos! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by richy freeway ( 623503 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @04:03PM (#59593298)

    Are we that fucked that Samsung thinks a TV for vertical videos is a good idea?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    I weep for humanity.

    • Re:Say no to vertical videos! (Score:4, Interesting)

      by anonymouscoward52236 ( 6163996 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @04:06PM (#59593320)
      Can't we just make a phone the zaps a user's hand when they attempt to take a vertical video / vertical photo? Or maybe even just make the built in photo apps refuse to take videos / photos that are vertical?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Thud457 ( 234763 )
        the submitter mangled the headline - it should actually read:

        Samsung DECLARES WAR on ALL CIVILIZATION

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by psergiu ( 67614 )

        Too late ... Even the Apple ads are now vertical videos:
        https://appleinsider.com/artic... [appleinsider.com]

        :-(

        (sad smiley watching a vertical video)

      • Or they could make the phone camera auto-rotate, and zoom the image on the screen to hide the fact.

        • Actual solution: use a square sensor and crop the video during playback. This way the mouthbreathers can still film vertically while everyone else can watch the results like normal people.

          C'mon Samsung! I'll sell you my patent for a a million or two.

      • Why the hate for vertical photos? I understand about vertical videos, but not photos

    • Like it or not, vertical videos are the future. If you think about it way more people are watching video on tall, rather than wide, devices now... and that number will only continue to grow.

      I don't think movies will ever go that way, but lots of other content will. Witness the massive success of TikTok, all tall-form video. Hell, you may as well call this the TikTok TV.

      • Re:Think long term (Score:5, Insightful)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @04:26PM (#59593414) Homepage Journal

        Vertical video is absurd. Human vision is wide, not tall. Why would anyone want to use a video format that can only occupy a fraction of your field-of view?

        This is, in every conceivable way, an abomination.

        • Re:Think long term (Score:4, Informative)

          by nospam007 ( 722110 ) * on Monday January 06, 2020 @05:21PM (#59593572)

          "Vertical video is absurd. Human vision is wide, not tall. Why would anyone want to use a video format that can only occupy a fraction of your field-of view?"

          Half the population has an IQ of under 100.

          • Half the population has an IQ of under 100.

            Oh I bet the percentage is higher than that.

          • Comment removed based on user account deletion

            • Half the population has an IQ of under 100.

              That would mean that 50% would be below average.

              100 is the median IQ (generally also the average, if the tests are created and done properly). So yes, by definition, half of the population is below average. I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic here or not.

        • Human vision is wide, not tall.

          Which matters not at all on a tablet or smaller sized screen in front of you.

          That only matters for larger screens, which people are using less and less to watch video content on.

          I'm not saying movies will go away or go tall. I am saying that even now more people probably watch videos on small, tall devices most of the time than watch on larger screens where wide viewing makes sense.

          • When I see people watching Netflix and other services on the train, they turn their screen horizontally. Would film/TV be better presented vertically on a vertical device?

            Vertical looks fine exclusively on a vertical device. Horizontal looks great on horizontal and vertical devices as the latter can flip the screen in the blink of an eye and with a minor adjustment of your hand.

        • But humans are tall, not wide. Usually. The most common subject of a video is a human.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dgatwood ( 11270 )

            But humans are tall, not wide.

            At the current rate of waistline expansion, in a hundred years or so, that may no longer be true.

        • Vertical video is absurd. Human vision is wide, not tall. Why would anyone want to use a video format that can only occupy a fraction of your field-of view?

          Because an awful lot of people watch video on a vertical screen. It would be absurd to stubbornly film in landscape for viewing in portrait mode.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by GoRK ( 10018 )

          Automatic rotation for app and mobile presenting is, I contend, a pretty good feature that is probably too niche to ever happen on its own. If vertical video creates enough consumer demand that someone is willing to build such a monitor, so be it. I'd look at these monitors for team rooms for sure.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by tk77 ( 1774336 )

        Like it or not, vertical videos are the future.

        Then its a very sad future.

        I hardly ever see a vertical video that is done well. Usually its a family member trying to record their kid as they play. They go crazy trying to track the kid in such a narrow field of view that many of the videos are unwatchable. Simply stop being lazy and turn the phone landscape and it would be a hell of a lot easier to capture the erratic movements, in a way that would actually be watchable. Even many "selfie" style videos I've seen would be better off horizontal, as it

      • If you think about it way more people are watching video on tall, rather than wide, devices now

        Even if that is true, one shouldn't ignore that people also watch videos on non-tall devices, or on devices rotated. Seems more logical, IMO, to account for this than to leave it out, especially when creating videos.

    • This will go away once someone gets hurt by it.

  • $1600 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by psergiu ( 67614 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @04:07PM (#59593324)

    $1600 ... really ?
    For that price you can get a 75" TV that as tall as this 43" is wide so you can watch your vertical videos at the same size.

    • Re:$1600 (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Train0987 ( 1059246 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @04:10PM (#59593336)

      They've been out of ideas for many years.

    • That assumes you've got room for a 75" TV.

      Also this would be great for Tate Shmups.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Falos ( 2905315 )

      People were laughing at last year's "vertically-rotating TV" article too, and at the price tag for a display + motorized mount

      This submission: At CES 2020, Samsung debuted "The Sero"
      8 months ago: The latest addition to Samsung's TV range is the Sero [slashdot.org]

      But I'm all for multiple chances to mock vertical videos of things that aren't bungee jumps and rocket launches. Eyes are aligned with the plane of gravity because that's where shit happens.

    • My thought:

      I bet they could just make a square TV as tall as this is wide significantly cheaper than this rotating monstrosity. It'd take up less space, too. And when you're not using the top/bottom bars, just color match them to the wall behind it or something?

      Samsung must be the gimmickiest manufacturer out there.

  • This will be so tempting .... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ITRambo ( 1467509 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @04:17PM (#59593370)
    If I had a friend, or enemy, with one of these, I'd send a video that every 20 seconds or so went from landscape to portrait, then back again. The temptation to have some fun with this oddball TV is too great.

  • to rotate their phones when they shoot video, we'll just have to rotate the TV to match the dopes' videos.

    How do you say "Duh" in Korean?

  • .....from the days when you would be crucified for posting a portrait mode video on YouTube, or anywhere else.

  • if you left the remote sitting on top of the TV

    Or your high wall mount has it right up against the ceiling .

    • if you left the remote sitting on top of the TV

      Or your high wall mount has it right up against the ceiling .

      Name me one flatscreen TV with a top that you can use to sit a typical Remote.

  • Bouncy? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by WeatherServo9 ( 1393327 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @04:21PM (#59593392)

    Overall this just seems like a hideous idea to me; guess I'm definitely not the target market, but this quote was funny:

    while there are 60W speakers for bouncy audio

    What on earth is bouncy audio? That's a new one I haven't heard before...is that intended to mean the audio is powerful, or are they Bose style speakers where sound is intended to bounce off of a wall or other surface?

  • good for video pinball! (Score:3)

    by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @04:22PM (#59593394)

    good for video pinball!

    • That's a actually a very insightful comment. While the idea is stupid for photos, a lot of video games could make a good use of that (pinball, vertical shooters, ...).

  • UGH (Score:5, Insightful)

    by xorbe ( 249648 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @04:23PM (#59593400)

    If you think we have the space for a ROTATING TV then please just sell a 1:1 ratio TV for goodness sake!!!

    • Ha! I love it! Just a huge square TV!

      Or.... what if you just make a TV that is shaped like a + ?

    • If you think we have the space for a ROTATING TV then please just sell a 1:1 ratio TV for goodness sake!!!

      Bring back the circular TVs and displays popular in 1950s livingrooms and Sci-Fi shows, for example M-5's Display in "The Ultimate Computer", and Gary Seven's Computer in "Assignment: Earth" TOS Episodes:

      https://scifi.stackexchange.co... [stackexchange.com]

      .

    • please just sell a 1:1 ratio TV for goodness sake!!!

      The ultimate Instagram TV.

  • "sero" means "duh!" in Korean...

  • Or people could, you know, record video the correct way...

  • I think it would be cheaper just to publicly humiliate people who record videos in vertical format on their phones.

  • I'd go back to the meeting when they were first green lighting cameras on phones, and the software to record videos was created. If the standard didn't include an error to be thrown if the user didnt turn their phone, either when recording or during playback, they would suffer a violent end.

    If that were the standard, cases would have evolved around it to easily pivot the phone one handed. Not that its a huge drama to do that anyway.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Megane ( 129182 )
      Aren't there sticky knobs that attach to the back of a phone? Apparently women really love those things for some reason. Just combine that with a steadicam setup that causes the phone to always try to balance itself horizontally.
  • Ugh so much wasted and crappy vids, why cant people just learn to shoot videos in andscaoe (ie correctly)

  • Fixing stupid (Score:3)

    by RogueWarrior65 ( 678876 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @05:33PM (#59593618)

    C'mon, people, this is just fixing stupid. The correct fix would be to prevent people from filming in portrait orientation in the first place.

  • So I can hold cellphone sideways.

  • And they say 3D was a bad attempt at selling TVs (Score:3)

    by NerdENerd ( 660369 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @05:57PM (#59593688)
    Talk about a solution to a problem nobody asked for.

  • Fix the Phones (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Thelasko ( 1196535 ) on Monday January 06, 2020 @06:15PM (#59593746) Journal
    How about we fix the phones so they always record in wide format.

    • Came here to say the same thing. The image sensor chips are getting ridiculously hi-def these days, so there should be plenty of capacity to get a decent picture from a virtual frame, the same way they do with digital zoom and anti-shake. Of course, some people may still want a portrait-mode for video calls, but that could be handled in software too.

  • I can't wait until this overpriced piece of shit breaks and Mr & Ms Millennial find that it's going to cost $500 to fix it.

  • ... how the penguin will not fall off.

  • Please, Samsung, stop, you're killing me.
  • But does it brown the meat?
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Yes, because these morons insist in either recording videos with the phone in portrait mode or building them with the sensor meant to be used in landscape.

    And what about those media companies adding that blurry padding to fit portrait footage into their landscape world?

  • Just think ... someone got paid for this idea. Seems like good ideas have run dry. This has to be a joke right?

  • How about you make a phone that records horizontal (Score:3)

    by nnull ( 1148259 ) on Tuesday January 07, 2020 @01:53AM (#59594530)
    How about phone manufactures actually start making phones that actually record horizontal when held vertical? I'm tired of phones that record vertical and then when I actually want a horizontal image, I have to rotate the phone into an awkward position to do it. OR better yet! How about phone manufacturers create a sensor that can record vertical or horizontal despite what angle the phone is in? Wow, what an idea! Huh? It's been over a decade, so how has this problem not been solved already with all this OIS and EIS technology?
  • This would be a great tool for shortsighted coders but is there really a niche for vertical video content? Really?! It's a mechanical device as well so will probably break within the year.
    • I'm sure there is such a niche, but I strongly doubt it's large enough for this product to be viable in the market. There may be businesses out there that deal with a lot of vertical videos or would want portrait-oriented TVs, but I can't see that many consumers looking at the price tag and saying, "yeah, that's the right way to spend my money." Especially since it costs almost twice what a 75" TV, which is already taller than this TV is wide, does.

      And if you can afford a $1600 TV, but don't have room

  • Here [youtube.com] is your video.

    You can do it. Get help. It's not too late.

  • Why can't a phone record landscape in portrait? Is there a physical limitation with the camera sensor's aspect ratio? Or just a software design decision? If it's a physical constraint, couldn't phone designers opt for a sensor with a 1:1 aspect ratio, so that users could record either orientation in either position?

  • Why can't they just add a camera and turn it sideways? My galaxy s10 has 5 cameras. Once of them a zoom camera i never use. Why not just have one of them turned the other way, so when idiots are filming vertically, it records widescreen. I get the preview window will be smaller, but so what.

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