4K vs 1080p

[moldorf]

ok, here is my situation: I have the Mini 2 and am enjoying it quite a bit. Enough that I expect I will be getting either the Mini 3 or the Air 2S at some future date

* I have a 40" Sony Bravia TV that is HD 1080p. I am mostly in the 'if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it' stage with that TV. It's been operating just fine with great picture quality. And of course, it won't play 4K video thru my Blu-Ray. I have to pull the TV all the way out of the entertainment center to plug into the usb port on the back of the TV. That's an awkward job

what I have been doing is archiving the 4K video from the Mini 2 after down-converting to 1080p using an app. That usually drops the bitrate from around 100.000kbs to 10,000-12,000 kbs. The videos looked fine on the TV though

but as an experiment, I took a couple of flights and captured video from the Mini 2 in 1080p mode. The bitrate from those videos was about 34,700kbs and looked really good on the TV. Much much better than the down-converted renders

another thing about the TV, is that because of the entertainment center and the size of our living room, even if I did get a new 4K TV it would be no bigger than 43" and we'd still be sitting about 8-10 feet away. That viewing distance makes me wonder just how big a difference our eyes would see between 4K and 1080

so I'm wondering how much quality I'd really be gaining by capturing in 4K over 1080p? and if I'd really notice the difference sometime in the future if/when I make the leap to 4K. Should I keep going thru the effort of archiving the 4K? or be comfortable with 'settling' on 1080?

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I an notice a difference every time on the Large Screen and Wide Screen computer on 1080 and 4K
However I cannot notice a difference between 2K and 4K so that has been the sweet spot for all videos both on the Large Screen and Wide Screen Computer , makes a big difference there as well.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water.

 

[old man mavic]

because of the limitations of my computers graphic card and because i dont do any post editing
i have always on all my drones used 10.80 30fps and they play back perfectly on my computer

 

[snowghost]

I don't have any 4k monitors yet, just Retina display on MacBook (3072x1920) and a Thunderbolt external monitor (2560×1440). I can see the difference between 1080P and 4k. But consider this, even if all your displays are 1080P, you might want to crop or zoom in on some video. The extra resolution will make the zoom look less pixilated if any at all.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I made this video , which I used to determine some key difference in quality , In 4K and 2K it flawless but in 1080 , not so much. Than watch again in 2K and than 4K no difference for me so 2K is nice.

Its a short video in 4k /2K and 1080 you dont need a 4K monitor to see the difference.
Can you see the difference in Quality.

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Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain. Land on the Water

 

[Eagle Eye 62]

ok, here is my situation: I have the Mini 2 and am enjoying it quite a bit. Enough that I expect I will be getting either the Mini 3 or the Air 2S at some future date

* I have a 40" Sony Bravia TV that is HD 1080p. I am mostly in the 'if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it' stage with that TV. It's been operating just fine with great picture quality. And of course, it won't play 4K video thru my Blu-Ray. I have to pull the TV all the way out of the entertainment center to plug into the usb port on the back of the TV. That's an awkward job

what I have been doing is archiving the 4K video from the Mini 2 after down-converting to 1080p using an app. That usually drops the bitrate from around 100.000kbs to 10,000-12,000 kbs. The videos looked fine on the TV though

but as an experiment, I took a couple of flights and captured video from the Mini 2 in 1080p mode. The bitrate from those videos was about 34,700kbs and looked really good on the TV. Much much better than the down-converted renders

another thing about the TV, is that because of the entertainment center and the size of our living room, even if I did get a new 4K TV it would be no bigger than 43" and we'd still be sitting about 8-10 feet away. That viewing distance makes me wonder just how big a difference our eyes would see between 4K and 1080

so I'm wondering how much quality I'd really be gaining by capturing in 4K over 1080p? and if I'd really notice the difference sometime in the future if/when I make the leap to 4K. Should I keep going thru the effort of archiving the 4K? or be comfortable with 'settling' on 1080?

You should always capture in the highest resolution possible even if you are going to output to a lower resolution. It will give you the best picture quality.

 

[old man mavic]

@Eagle Eye 62 , quote you should always capture in the highest resolution possible unquote that from a technical viewpoint is perfectly true it gives more scope when it comes to editing
and is fine if you do edit your videos
but if like me ,you dont do any in post editing and just want to view what you have taken ,then you need a device thats capable of playing 4k video , if i try to play 4k video on my computer the graphics card cant process it fast enough ,so if for instance i have got a moving vehicle ,captured on the video as it was driving by then it stutters, instead of moving at a constants speed ,i am more than happy with my 10.80p 30fps recordings which play back perfectly on my equipment

 

[Eagle Eye 62]

@Eagle Eye 62 , quote you should always capture in the highest resolution possible unquote that from a technical viewpoint is perfectly true it gives more scope when it comes to editing
and is fine if you do edit your videos
but if like me ,you dont do any in post editing and just want to view what you have taken ,then you need a device thats capable of playing 4k video , if i try to play 4k video on my computer the graphics card cant process it fast enough ,so if for instance i have got a moving vehicle ,captured on the video as it was driving by then it stutters, instead of moving at a constants speed ,i am more than happy with my 10.80p 30fps recordings which play back perfectly on my equipment

I agree, if you are not editing, stick to the resolution your TV supports.

 

[moldorf]

I agree, if you are not editing, stick to the resolution your TV supports.

which generates another series of questions:

* if you have 4K video from the Mini 2/Mini-3/Air 2S/Mavic 3 on a micro-sd card, will a card reader you plug into the USB-3 port of a 4K TV process the video fast enough to prevent stuttering and play smooth video?

* should you format the micro-sd to NTFS or exfat?

* and if a usb channel won't be good enough, how do you watch those drone generated 4K videos on your 4K TV?

* finally, if I do capture in 4K and down-convert to 1080, what is the best inexpensive app that maintains the best video quality after rendering?

 

[66427cobra]

which generates another series of questions:

* if you have 4K video from the Mini 2/Mini-3/Air 2S/Mavic 3 on a micro-sd card, will a card reader you plug into the USB-3 port of a 4K TV process the video fast enough to prevent stuttering and play smooth video?

* should you format the micro-sd to NTFS or exfat?

* and if a usb channel won't be good enough, how do you watch those drone generated 4K videos on your 4K TV?

* finally, if I do capture in 4K and down-convert to 1080, what is the best inexpensive app that maintains the best video quality after rendering?

- look for a high-speed card reader, too. don't just rely on the USB cable speed.
- always format using the drone whenever possible.. if you have to format on a PC, use exfat. if formatted NTFS i am pretty sure the drone won't be able to read it.
- DaVinci Resolve gives you a lot of options when doing format conversions, including bitrate. it is quite a sophisticated program and there is a learning curve...but it's free.

 

[moldorf]

- look for a high-speed card reader, too. don't just rely on the USB cable speed.
- always format using the drone whenever possible.. if you have to format on a PC, use exfat. if formatted NTFS i am pretty sure the drone won't be able to read it.
- DaVinci Resolve gives you a lot of options when doing format conversions, including bitrate. it is quite a sophisticated program and there is a learning curve...but it's free.

when I mentioned NTFS is was wondering what was a better format for 4K TV input. I was thinking that NTFS might process 4K video better than ex-fat. That would just be for cards that I viewed on the TV. Ex-fat for the drone(s)

upon your suggestion I downloaded Davinci Resolve 17. And yes, it is sophisticated/complicated. I spent several minutes just figuring out how to import a video. I down-converted a 4K video of a 9min47sec flight; made a little bit of contrast adjustment to 'lighten' the video. Set quality as medium and ended up with a 2.6GB video in 1080p. Looks pretty good but that's a big file for 1080p. An hour would be over 16GB

 

[Dale D]

ok, here is my situation: I have the Mini 2 and am enjoying it quite a bit. Enough that I expect I will be getting either the Mini 3 or the Air 2S at some future date

* I have a 40" Sony Bravia TV that is HD 1080p. I am mostly in the 'if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it' stage with that TV. It's been operating just fine with great picture quality. And of course, it won't play 4K video thru my Blu-Ray. I have to pull the TV all the way out of the entertainment center to plug into the usb port on the back of the TV. That's an awkward job

what I have been doing is archiving the 4K video from the Mini 2 after down-converting to 1080p using an app. That usually drops the bitrate from around 100.000kbs to 10,000-12,000 kbs. The videos looked fine on the TV though

but as an experiment, I took a couple of flights and captured video from the Mini 2 in 1080p mode. The bitrate from those videos was about 34,700kbs and looked really good on the TV. Much much better than the down-converted renders

another thing about the TV, is that because of the entertainment center and the size of our living room, even if I did get a new 4K TV it would be no bigger than 43" and we'd still be sitting about 8-10 feet away. That viewing distance makes me wonder just how big a difference our eyes would see between 4K and 1080

so I'm wondering how much quality I'd really be gaining by capturing in 4K over 1080p? and if I'd really notice the difference sometime in the future if/when I make the leap to 4K. Should I keep going thru the effort of archiving the 4K? or be comfortable with 'settling' on 1080?

After having read through all of the posts up until now, it is clear that it is impossible to keep up with the ever so rapid increase in our technology, especially when it comes to our home TV sets. I, for one, have been locked into 1990's technology. We built our home and had a lot of custom cabinetry and the TV's were built in. So now, I cannot even fit any set larger than 42 inches into the built ins!

I can definitely say this...when I walk through Costco these days and see those amazing 60 inch, 8K sets, I just drool.

But I do not view my videos on TV sets. I have the amazing Retina screens of the 27 inch Apple iMAC and 13 inch Apple Mac Book Pro, and I can tell you for certain that I always can tell the difference between 1080p and 4K. I have become intolerant of watching anything less than 4K, and if it is not 4K I usually stop watching it.

Dale

 

[Dave Maine]

The resolution issue can be resolved with a little trigonometry. The average human eye can resolve about 1 arc minute of angular separation. Beyond that, any additional resolution cannot be detected By the human eye.

With that number in hand, you can calculate what you can discriminate from your viewing position, and the size and resolution of your tv or computer. This is a well established fact of the average human eye and physics, neither of which is subject to revision. 4K, or 8k, or HD all are covered.

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

ok, here is my situation: I have the Mini 2 and am enjoying it quite a bit. Enough that I expect I will be getting either the Mini 3 or the Air 2S at some future date

* I have a 40" Sony Bravia TV that is HD 1080p. I am mostly in the 'if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it' stage with that TV. It's been operating just fine with great picture quality. And of course, it won't play 4K video thru my Blu-Ray. I have to pull the TV all the way out of the entertainment center to plug into the usb port on the back of the TV. That's an awkward job

what I have been doing is archiving the 4K video from the Mini 2 after down-converting to 1080p using an app. That usually drops the bitrate from around 100.000kbs to 10,000-12,000 kbs. The videos looked fine on the TV though

but as an experiment, I took a couple of flights and captured video from the Mini 2 in 1080p mode. The bitrate from those videos was about 34,700kbs and looked really good on the TV. Much much better than the down-converted renders

another thing about the TV, is that because of the entertainment center and the size of our living room, even if I did get a new 4K TV it would be no bigger than 43" and we'd still be sitting about 8-10 feet away. That viewing distance makes me wonder just how big a difference our eyes would see between 4K and 1080

so I'm wondering how much quality I'd really be gaining by capturing in 4K over 1080p? and if I'd really notice the difference sometime in the future if/when I make the leap to 4K. Should I keep going thru the effort of archiving the 4K? or be comfortable with 'settling' on 1080?

If you have good eyesight or glasses you may see the higher quality in your videos
I do. My wife does not. As for the USB plug in I always use it for my videos from the computer
Here is a little trick I use - get a USB extension cable - now I have easy access without getting behind the TV
HTH
WDP

 

[Robert Prior]

If you have good eyesight or glasses you may see the higher quality in your videos
I do. My wife does not.

There's also knowing what to look for.

My first engineering manager was an audiophile — designed his house around his stereo level of audiophile. He wanted to upgrade a component and his wife didn't understand why because to her they sounded the same, so he taught her how to listen for distortion. He ruefully admitted this was a mistake, as she had better hearing than he did and it cost him an extra $10k in audio components that he couldn't detect the difference in (but she could). This was in the 80s so $10k was the equivalent of $35k now…

 

[snowghost]

The resolution issue can be resolved with a little trigonometry. The average human eye can resolve about 1 arc minute of angular separation. Beyond that, any additional resolution cannot be detected By the human eye.

With that number in hand, you can calculate what you can discriminate from your viewing position, and the size and resolution of your tv or computer. This is a well established fact of the average human eye and physics, neither of which is subject to revision. 4K, or 8k, or HD all are covered.

Exactly. With my media room and viewing distance 1080p and 4k would not be discernible from one another. That being said, if the 14 year old XBR in the bedroom dies, I'll put as big a 4k that will fit.

 

[Dale D]

The resolution issue can be resolved with a little trigonometry. The average human eye can resolve about 1 arc minute of angular separation. Beyond that, any additional resolution cannot be detected By the human eye.

With that number in hand, you can calculate what you can discriminate from your viewing position, and the size and resolution of your tv or computer. This is a well established fact of the average human eye and physics, neither of which is subject to revision. 4K, or 8k, or HD all are covered.

You are probably right! But "arc"/"schmark" I do not need trig or calculations to know that when I am viewing a softish 1080p video, I really want it to sharpen up a bit. I am a retired ophthalmologist-practiced 38 years on eyes, and 20/40 vision is worse than 20/20 vision. I consider 1080p 20/40 vision. Just legal enough to pass a Florida driver's test.

 

[moldorf]

thanks for all the feedback

I've pretty much decided to capture and archive in 4K. For the videos I want to watch on the TV, it's easy enough to down-convert to 1080. And while the cheap GPU I have in my PC won't really process 4K, it's still pretty easy to cut out unwanted sections and join videos from specific flights using AVIDemux...then archive

if I wanted I suppose I could even use DaVinci Resolve (thanks 66427cobra) to adjust colors and contrast with the 4k, then archive

I know we'll be getting a 4K TV in the next couple of years (I'm already lobbying my wife but it will be a long process). At that time I imagine I'll be really happy I archived the 4K

 

[snowghost]

This is what he was talking about.

 

[Wild Drone Pilot]

This is what he was talking about.

The beauty is in the eye of the beholder