Effects of content and viewing distance on the preferred size of moving images

Abstract

While visual size preferences regarding still objects have been investigated and linked to the "canonical size" effect-where preferred on-screen size was significantly related to objects' real-world size-the visual size preferences related to moving images of natural scenes has not been researched. In this study, we measured the preferred size of moving images of natural scenes and short duration and investigated the effect of viewing distance on size preferences. Our results showed that the preferred size varied strongly depending on content, and we found moving images' canonical size effect. The preferred size in images of scenery was significantly larger than in images of persons, and there was a positive correlation between the preferred size and the real-world physical size of the main subjects in the images. When the viewing distance was doubled, the preferred size increased about 10% as a ratio to screen size-in contrast to the findings of a previous study. While the rationale for these findings is not yet clear, our analysis suggests that neither the motion component in the images nor the nature of their background area are contributing factors. We suggest that environment, viewing distance, and screen size may contribute to this effect.

Quality of 8K Ultra-High-Definition Television Viewing Experience in Practical Viewing Conditions

“…In addition to the sense of "being-there" and "reality," which were considered during the design, viewers of UHD images have often reported strong impressions such as "beautiful," "powerful," and "delicious." Previous studies have suggested that the viewing environment, such as the viewing distance and screen size, contributed to these impressions [10]. As it can be assumed that the viewing distance and position vary significantly, particularly when viewing in a living room, these findings also suggest that the producer's intentions represented in the video content may not be appropriately delivered to the viewers, depending on the viewing conditions.…”