While FaceTime does allow you to use landscape mode, portrait mode is the default layout. As such, portrait mode is the ideal way to make a FaceTime call from your smartphone. The word portrait describes a picture or painting of a person’s face and upper body.

If you have an e-reader, you will most likely use it in portrait and portrait mode alone. However, they are much closer to tablets than e-readers, anyway. Kindle Fire tablets have looser restrictions with their page layout. These devices lock their layouts in place, typically with no exceptions. They look like a single page of a book, so their page orientation is in a portrait layout. Using an E-ReaderĮ-readers are primarily oriented in portrait mode. Below are some of its typical applications. Now that we have a good idea of when to use a landscape page layout let’s do the same for portrait mode. Projectors display images in landscape mode by default, whether at home or in the office. It’s how projectors work, it’s how screens are oriented, and it’s how presentations are done. An unspoken rule of making a presentation is that the page layout has to be in landscape, not portrait. Oddly, every PowerPoint presentation you’ve ever made has been in landscape mode. Landscape orientation is also helpful when making presentations at work or school. Whether gaming on a console, a computer, a smartphone, or a hand-held gaming system, you typically require a screen that can display in landscape mode. Video games are always best enjoyed in landscape mode, except for early arcade cabinets or the occasional portrait-oriented mobile game such as Candy Crush. Like movies and television shows, most video games are best suited for landscape page orientations. Even films with aspect ratios of 4:3 or 1.33:1 are better suited for landscape page layouts. Movies are typically shot in widescreen format, allowing the footage to fill the entire screen. Television, YouTube, you name it: landscape mode is the perfect orientation for watching videos. Watching Moviesįrom your smartphone to your laptop to your television, landscape mode is the ideal page layout for watching movies.

Let’s look at a few common uses for each layout to understand landscape vs portrait better. Other devices can be turned to switch between landscape and portrait modes. E-readers are traditionally locked in portrait mode. Other devices like a Kindle e-reader or hand-held gaming console - are locked in position with no option to change the layout. Others require you to adjust the page layout manually. Some will switch automatically by simply turning the screen. Modern devices like smartphones, laptops, tablets, and even cameras have options and settings that allow us to switch between landscape and portrait layouts. A person typically sees more from top to bottom rather than left to right. Devices or pages laid out in portrait display taller content. On the other hand, portrait mode is vertical, which means it has a greater height than width. So, a person sees more from left to right than from top to bottom. When a device or a page is oriented in landscape, the content displayed is wider. Landscape mode is horizontal, with a greater width than height. They describe how the screen or the page appears. Landscape vs Portrait: What’s the Difference?Īs we mentioned above, landscape and portrait are both display orientations. Landscape vs Portrait: Side-by-Side Comparison But what’s the difference between landscape vs portrait? And when’s the most appropriate time to use each? Let’s break down these page layouts below, explaining how they differ and some of their applications. Whether working with artwork, printed documents, or smartphone screens, you likely know the terms “landscape” and “portrait.” Both are popular page orientations or page layouts.

Landscape vs portrait missing flier