Technical Knowledge

Reverse Your Viewpoint – Deutsche Football League Using 9:16 Vertical Video Streaming for the First Time

Deutsche Football League Using 9:16 Vertical Video Streaming for the First Time

Feb 18 2020

With the increasing use of mobile devices for watching video, more and more cell phone users have started watching live streams via social media. The German media has begun to think about how to grab the attention of these users. For the first time, the DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga Digital Sports and Sportcast) live-streamed a match between VfL Wolfsburg and SV Werder Bremen in 9:16 format. The 9:16 vertical video provided a totally new experience for mobile phone users.

The footage was not cropped from the 16:9 video. Instead, the broadcast team specifically arranged five cameramen to shoot in 9:16 using special tripods.

“The 9:16 footage allows you to obtain a full 4K UHD vertical video without pixel degradation.” Said Carsten Ruppel, the media director.

 This was a new attempt for the production team, as shooting in 9:16 comes with its own set of challenges. For example, the cameraman must position the subject in the centre of the composition. Additionally, the field of view for vertical video is much narrower when compared to traditional 16:9 video, thus tracking fast-moving players and the football is more challenging. Moreover, it could be frustrating for the director to watch the rotated image on the monitor. To solve the problem, the production team simply placed all the monitors upright so that the director could monitor the screen the same way a cell phone user would.

 

Andreas Heyden, the EVP Digital Innovations of the DFL Group, expressed his satisfaction with the production of 9:16 video. “We see that vertical videos have better audience reach in social media on mobile devices than the traditional 16:9 videos do. The successful test in Wolfsburg provided us with a good reason to consider how we can adjust to this usage behaviour in the future.”

Read more about the first 9:16 footable video.

 

The First Available Switcher for Vertical Video Solution – Datavideo SE-500HD

There are two common problems when viewing videos on mobile phones. 

Most of the time, people are accustomed to holding and operating mobile phones standing upright with a single hand, but the traditional 16: 9 horizontal video only displays less than a half of the screen, giving mobile audiences a less than ideal viewing experience. On the contrary, viewing the mobile phone horizontally provides the user with a full-screen view, but it is no longer the way most people hold their phones. 

 No matter how the user holds their phone while watching video, there will always be some negative results. Full-screen vertical video on mobile phones has become a special application that  inspires the way Datavideo creates video switchers.

 The Datavideo SE-500HD is the first available switcher in the market that can support vertical video production. Users only need to rotate video cameras to 90 degrees, then the director can get 4 available vertical videos without installing any additional facilities or changing the existing workflow.

 By applying the Datavideo SE-500HD video switcher, the director does not have to tilt his head to watch the straight format video on the monitor. The Datavideo SE-500HD video switcher easily solves the problem of vertical video production and changes the way people watch videos!

 

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