A standard HD, or 4K TV is a 16:9 landscape device. There is no way for a portrait-oriented photo to fill the screen unless you are willing to turn the screen. (There are a few computer monitors that can be rotated 90 degrees, but I know of no such TVs.) But, I assume you know this, so let’s move on to the next sometimes very confusing possibility.
Back in “the old days” pixels in a file where pretty much stored and displayed in a single order. However, sometime around 15 years ago, a field was added to some image file formats that indicates what orientation the “camera” was in, and if that field is set, the displaying device/software reorients the pixels on display. (“camera” can be a camera, cell phone, scanner etc.)
Unfortunately, this can lead to confusion. The most confusion seems to come from using an old version of a photo editing program that knows nothing about this field. For example, you read such a file into a program that ignores the field. Picture displays rotated or upside down. So, you rotate it and save it. Which also often saves the EXIF data unchanged. (ie: old programs could read and write EXIF but didn’t make any use of it other than to display the data for the user.) So, a modern display program reads the file, see’s the field that says the image must be rotated and complies, rotating the image you already rotated in the editor, and it is double rotated back into the wrong orientation.
Of course, there are also some displaying programs that ignore the field. But I think it is now mostly old editors that cause problems. Because photo editors are complex and often expensive, people tend to stick with one for a long time.
I think the iPhone was first major user of this field, and 10 years ago, it was really common for someone to email a bunch of iPhone pictures to a group of people and about half the group would complain about them being upside down and the others would say: What are you talking about? They’re fine! This problem happens less now because browsers and email clients have mostly been updated, but you can still run into it. However, I think it’s now the old photo editor that is the most common cause.
I have often wished this field had never been added. On photo forums you can find some little utility programs that will force that field into the setting of your choosing. For taking pictures for the web, I use a modern tool chain that respects the field, but on top of that, I try to take all my photos in the normal right-side-up landscape orientation, so if some viewer has an ancient web browser, it still works. 🙂
Banned but back. Because why not?
