How big a QR code needs to be on screen
How large a QR code has to be in a video for a phone to scan it, how long to leave it up, where to put it, and why a code on a TV needs different numbers.
Almost every guide to QR code sizing is about print: business cards, posters, billboards. Video is different, because the viewer is a variable distance from a screen of unknown size and the code is only there for a few seconds. No platform and no standards body publishes guidance for it, so here is ours, with the reasoning shown so you can adapt it.
The one rule everything else comes from
A QR code can be read from roughly ten times its own width. That ratio is the basis of every print sizing chart in circulation, and it holds on a screen too: what changes is that the screen's size is not yours to choose.
Sizing by where the video is watched
| Watched on | Rough viewing distance | Make the code | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| A phone, held | About 30 cm | 10 percent of the frame width | The screen is small but so is the distance, and the camera is the same device, which is the awkward case |
| A laptop | 50 to 75 cm | 10 to 12 percent of the frame width | The most forgiving case, and the one people test in |
| A screen in a room, standing | 1.5 to 2.5 m | 20 to 25 percent of the frame width | Distance grows faster than screen size |
| A television | 2.5 to 3 m | 25 percent or more, and hold it longer | The viewer has to get up or find a phone. Everything takes longer |
How long to leave it up
Longer than feels necessary. A viewer has to notice the code, work out that it is for them, pick up a phone, open a camera and aim it. Eight to ten seconds is the minimum for a code partway through a video. On an end card, ten to fifteen. On a television, more again.
Hold it still
Do not animate a code while it needs to be scannable. Fade it in, hold it completely still, fade it out. Sliding, spinning or pulsing a code makes a phone camera chase a moving target, and the few seconds you have are spent on that instead.
The quiet zone is not decoration
A QR code needs an empty margin on all four sides, four modules wide, before a scanner will commit to reading it. It is part of the symbology specification rather than a design preference, which is why our prop always includes it and why a code pasted tight against an edge or a busy background often simply does not scan.
Dark code on a light plate
Inverted codes, light on dark, fail on a meaningful share of phones. It looks better against a dark video and it costs you scans. If the scene is dark, put the code on a light plate rather than inverting it.
Keep it out of the corners on vertical video
On a phone feed the interface covers the bottom third and the right edge, so a code parked there is partly under a caption. Keep it at least a twentieth of the frame width away from any edge, and a tenth if the video will ever play on a television, where the picture can be cropped slightly by the set itself.
A warning about QR codes on TikTok
TikTok moderates against what it calls unoriginal, low quality or QR code content, and creators do get flagged for it. A QR code on a TikTok is a platform risk in a way it is not on YouTube. If the goal is a link, use the tools the platform gives you for links and keep the QR code for the video going somewhere else.
Common questions
What is the minimum QR code size in pixels?
About 200 pixels in the delivered video for normal viewing, more for a television. Remember that the delivered video may be smaller than what you exported.
How long should a QR code stay on screen?
Eight to ten seconds partway through a video, ten to fifteen on an end card, longer for a television.
Can somebody scan a QR code from a video on a phone?
It is the hardest case, because the phone is both the screen and the scanner. Some people pause and scan with a second device, some use a photo of the frame. Assume a lot of them will not manage it, and make sure the same link exists somewhere tappable.
Does a bigger code hold more of a link?
No. Size and capacity are separate. A longer link means more modules and finer detail, which is its own reason to keep links short.
Will a QR code scan from a TV?
Yes, if it is big enough and still enough. A quarter of the frame width and fifteen seconds is a sensible television target.
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Last updated 2026-09-15
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