The remote for our big LG TV died so I watched an episode of Mayor of Easttown on my iPhone last night. I do that from time to time and once again I found this a very satisfying experience. At no time did I have a sense of “this is such a tiny little screen.”

I asked Perplexity about typical movie/TV viewing distance on mobil phones:

“Studies that look at smartphone viewing distances for video and general “digital device” use show that phones are commonly viewed at around about 12–14 inches, similar to reading distance. Experimental work that tested video viewing at 20 cm vs. 40 cm used those as realistic “near” and “far” smartphone distances, supporting the idea that typical use falls somewhere between them, with averages in the low 30‑cm range.”

That’s pretty much me. Had the phone propped against a pillow on my stomach. This works for me (and others?) because the relative screen size is about the same, as I attempted to show in this 10 second video.

Yes, I did this same post six years ago but what really hit me this time was the audio coming through my new AirPod Pro 3’s. Unfortunately there’s really no way to demonstrate what I’m talking about. From a sound perspective, I say it’s the difference between color TV and Black/White (look it up).

For the last couple of years Barb and I have watched TV with the captioning turned on. We were just missing too much of the dialogue. And, yes, we tried a sound bar but found it made no difference. With the AirPods I heard every word. But I heard so much more than the dialogue. It was a symphony of sounds.

There was a long scene where Mike and Ian were in a car on a stakeout and it was like I was sitting in the back seat. All the tiny, subtle sounds that add so much to a conversation were in my head. Yes, I struggle to describe this difference. How about… the taste of steak without the sense of smell vs. with? That’s pretty close.

Granted, there are lots of times where this won’t work. Watching a movie or TV show with others in the room. Or that movie that needs the big TV screen for the action. And probably others.

But I’m going to be watching more on my iPhone in order to enjoy the sounds I’ve been missing.