What Is Vertical Video?

Vertical video refers to video content with a portrait aspect ratio, most commonly 9:16 — nine units wide by sixteen units tall. In standard display resolutions this translates to 1080×1920 pixels at 1080p or 720×1280 at 720p. The format emerged as smartphone usage overtook desktop browsing and social platforms optimized their feeds for phone-held portrait orientation. Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts were all designed around 9:16 vertical video as their native format. On these platforms, horizontal 16:9 video is displayed with black bars on the sides (pillarboxed), taking up only a fraction of the screen — a significant disadvantage for viewer engagement.

For screen recording, creating vertical video adds a layer of complexity because computer displays are horizontal by nature. The two common approaches are: (1) recording the full horizontal display and compositing it into a 9:16 frame with background blur or fill, centering the screen content in the frame; or (2) cropping a region of the display that, when scaled, fills a 9:16 canvas. The first approach preserves the full screen context but results in smaller on-screen UI; the second produces a tighter frame but requires the content to fit within the cropped region.

Limelight handles 9:16 vertical export directly from its built-in editor, automatically compositing the recorded content into a portrait frame — no external editing app required. This means a screen recording of a macOS app, website, or workflow can be exported directly as a vertical video for Reels, TikTok, or Shorts. Combined with auto-zoom on every click and on-screen keystrokes, the exported vertical video is already production-ready for social: zoomed-in action, legible keystrokes, and cursor spotlight in a format that fills the phone screen.