Design
Putting a QR code on video
A QR code burned into video must obey the 10:1 rule for the viewer's distance, not the screen's size. A viewer 3 m from a TV needs the code at least 30 cm wide on that screen — roughly a quarter of a 55-inch panel. Keep it in one fixed position for the whole time it is shown.
Size from the sofa, not the timeline
The 10:1 rule — minimum code width ≈ scan distance ÷ 10 — does not care that your code lives in a video file. It cares how far the viewer sits from the glass. A living-room viewer at 3 m needs the code ≥ 30 cm wide on the physical panel. The design question becomes: what fraction of the frame is 30 cm on the TVs your audience owns?
| 16:9 panel | Physical width | 30 cm as fraction of frame | In a 1920 px frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43-inch | 95 cm | 32% | ~610 px |
| 55-inch | 122 cm | 25% | ~470 px |
| 65-inch | 144 cm | 21% | ~400 px |
That is the uncomfortable arithmetic behind under-performing TV codes: a tasteful 100-pixel corner code on a 55-inch panel is about 6 cm wide, scannable from 60 cm — nobody's sofa. Budget roughly a quarter of frame width for living-room distances, or accept that only viewers who walk up to the screen will scan. The full broadcast context is covered in QR codes in TV ads and QR codes on TV broadcast.
Phones watching the same video
On a phone at 30 cm, even a modest on-screen code satisfies 10:1 — but the viewer cannot scan a code with the phone that is playing it. Their options are a second device, a screenshot (scanning from a screenshot), or the share-sheet route described in scanning on the same phone. Since most of those paths end at a typed URL anyway, always show a readable short URL alongside the code.
Keep it absolutely still
Aiming a camera is a closed feedback loop: the viewer raises the phone, finds the code, steadies, and the decoder locks — typically 2–4 seconds end to end. A code that slides, scales or drifts during that window resets the loop each time. The rules:
- One fixed position for the entire time the code is up. Pick it in the storyboard and never move it.
- No scale pulsing, no position animation. Styling animation is separately possible under strict conditions — see animated QR codes — but position and scale are off-limits while viewers aim.
- A solid card behind the code. Video backgrounds change luminance shot by shot; a white panel with the code's own ≥ 4-module quiet zone makes the code's contrast independent of the footage.
Leave it up long enough
Duration is its own budget — unlock, aim, focus, decode — and it is the subject of minimum on-screen duration for a QR code. The short version: 15–20 seconds minimum, or keep the code persistent in a corner for the whole segment. And before the edit locks, verify the burned-in code decodes from an exported frame at final render resolution — compression can soften module edges.
FAQ
How big should a QR code be on a TV screen?
Apply the 10:1 rule to the viewer's distance: at 3 m the code must be at least 30 cm wide on the physical panel, which is about a quarter of a 55-inch screen's width. Frame percentage, not pixel count, is the design unit.
Where should a QR code go in a video?
One fixed position, conventionally a lower corner, on a solid light card with a full quiet zone, held for the entire time the code is available. Never animate its position or size while it is on screen.
Can people scan a QR code from a video on their phone?
Not with the phone playing it. They can screenshot and decode the image, or use a second device. Show a short readable URL alongside the code so single-device viewers still have a path.
Does video compression break QR codes?
It can soften module edges and speckle flat areas, especially at low bitrates. Keep the code large, on a plain background, and verify by decoding an exported frame at the final render settings before publishing.
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Related
- QR code design best practices — seven rules ranked — The seven design rules that decide whether a styled QR code scans, ranked by how often breaking them kills codes, with the number behind each rule.
- Minimum on-screen duration for a QR code — A primed viewer needs 8–12 seconds to unlock, aim, focus and decode. Show codes for at least 15–20 seconds — or keep them persistent in a corner.
- Animated QR codes — Animation is safe when every frame decodes to the same payload on its own. What you can animate, what you cannot, and when motion helps or hurts scans.
- QR codes in TV ads — What Coinbase's 2022 Super Bowl QR proved about TV codes — the size and duration physics, second-screen behaviour, and load-planning the destination.