A close-up on Mobile TV: The effect of low resolutions on shot types

The advent of mobile TV with small screens and low resolutions made content producers think about refraining from using shots that depict subjects from a great distance. Shot types that fill the screen with the subject are deemed to be more appropriate for mobile devices. This paper explores how shot types used in regular broadcast television are affected when shown on mobile devices at reduced resolutions. The data were taken from a study with 128 participants who judged the acceptability of four different content types at four resolutions. The results show that acceptability of shot types depends on the content. Contrary to the belief of mobile content producers extreme long shots were not most sensitive to low resolutions in football content. On the contrary, the medium shot which focuses on the upper half of a subject’s body was the least acceptable in football. In news content, the same shot was the most acceptable.