DJI Mavic Air Bitrates

tribar · Feb 17, 2018

DJI Mavic Air Bitrates for all video-modes:

4K30 100mbps 3.33 mbpf (megabits per frame)
4K25 100mbps 4.00 mbpf
4K24 100mbps 4.17 mbpf

2.7K60 90mbps 1.50 mbpf
2.7K50 90mbps 1.80 mbpf
2.7K48 90mbps 1.88 mbpf
2.7K30 50mbps 1.67 mbpf
2.7K25 50mbps 2.00 mbpf
2.7K24 50mbps 2.08 mbpf

1080p120 100mbps 0.83 mbpf
1080p60 70mbps 1.17 mbpf
1080p50 70mbps 1.40 mbpf
1080p48 70mbps 1.46 mbpf
1080p30 35mbps 1.17 mbpf
1080p25 35mbps 1.40 mbpf
1080p24 35mbps 1.46 mbpf

720p120 70mbps 0.58 mbpf
720p60 45mbps 0.75 mbpf
720p50 45mbps 0.90 mbpf
720p48 45mbps 0.94 mbpf
720p30 25mbps 0,83 mbpf
720p25 25mbps 1.00 mbpf
720p24 25mbps 1.04 mbpf

Sanjeev · Oct 18, 2018

could you please confirm if 1080p120 100mbps is correct? because in some other thread i saw it as 25mbps instead of 100mbps..

CanadaDrone · Oct 18, 2018

Sanjeev said:
could you please confirm if 1080p120 100mbps is correct? because in some other thread i saw it as 25mbps instead of 100mbps..

If you play 120Mbps footage back at 30fps (slow motion) it will be 25Mbps. At 120fps it is 100Mb/s. (120 / 30 = 4, 100Mbps /4 = 25). That is where the confusion comes from.

As long as you play it at 120fps it is 100Mbps.

Sanjeev · Oct 19, 2018

Okay. So in general , we can say that, if recorded fps is same as playback fps we will get the mentioned bit rate. Else it will downgrade the quality of the clip.

Thanks for the clarification...

PS: I tried doing a test shoot and is able to see that the Mavic Air saves the 120fps 1080p video as 30fps 1080p.

tribar · Oct 20, 2018

Sanjeev said:
So in general , we can say that, if recorded fps is same as playback fps we will get the mentioned bit rate. Else it will downgrade the quality of the clip.

NO:
When you divide the bitrate by framerate you get the amount of bits used for each frame (Mbps/fps=Mb per frame) and this determines the quality of the footage at the used resolution.
So playing back 120fps at 120fps or playing it back at 30fps gives the same quality because the amount of bits per frame is still the same.

I updated the original list with mbpf (megabits per frame)

Sanjeev · Oct 22, 2018

tribar said:
NO:
When you divide the bitrate by framerate you get the amount of bits used for each frame (Mbps/fps=Mb per frame) and this determines the quality of the footage at the used resolution.
So playing back 120fps at 120fps or playing it back at 30fps gives the same quality because the amount of bits per frame is still the same.

I updated the original list with mbpf (megabits per frame)

Great, thanks for clearing my doubt and updating the list.

GuiCorporation · Jan 30, 2019

I was also wondering how the resolution could affect the final video quality. My personal preference is usually 2.7k@60p, since it gives me enough resolution/clarity and still allows me to play with slow motion should I see fit.

The information about mbpf is indeed important, however, since the amount of pixels in a 4K frame is 4 times the pixels in a typical 1080p frame, it got me thinking: how much data is left per pixel in the end of the equation?
I got a simple spreadsheet with the numbers and got surprised with the results.

It turns out that 2.7k60 delivers the worst megabit-per-pixel ratio of all. On the other hand, surprisingly, 720p24 is the best megabit-per-pixel ratio available to shoot on the Mavic Air.
Please, do not get me wrong. I am NOT saying that the quality of the image will be better if you shoot in 720p. There are several other points to consider. However, if color grading is something that you are planning with your MA footage, perhaps this chart could help.

Feel free to let me know in case you find anything wrong with it.

TiagoUA · Feb 25, 2019

GuiCorporation said:
I was also wondering how the resolution could affect the final video quality. My personal preference is usually 2.7k@60p, since it gives me enough resolution/clarity and still allows me to play with slow motion should I see fit.

The information about mbpf is indeed important, however, since the amount of pixels in a 4K frame is 4 times the pixels in a typical 1080p frame, it got me thinking: how much data is left per pixel in the end of the equation?
I got a simple spreadsheet with the numbers and got surprised with the results.

It turns out that 2.7k60 delivers the worst megabit-per-pixel ratio of all. On the other hand, surprisingly, 720p24 is the best megabit-per-pixel ratio available to shoot on the Mavic Air.
Please, do not get me wrong. I am NOT saying that the quality of the image will be better if you shoot in 720p. There are several other points to consider. However, if color grading is something that you are planning with your MA footage, perhaps this chart could help.

Feel free to let me know in case you find anything wrong with it.

View attachment 61062

That's good info, very useful for night recording. (y)

MikaG · Jul 21, 2019

GuiCorporation said:
... It turns out that 2.7k60 delivers the worst megabit-per-pixel ratio of all. ...

Pleas, take also into the equation, that the MA crops the field of view from 48 fps and more. It zooms in at 48, 50 & 60 fps and uses much less of the sensor, which degrades the image quality even more. Compare my two screenshots. This counts for all resolutions, except for 4k, which doesn't go beyond 30 fps, obviously.

tribar · Jul 21, 2019

MikaG said:
Pleas, take also into the equation, that the MA crops the field of view from 48 fps and more. It zooms in at 48, 50 & 60 fps and uses much less of the sensor, which degrades the image quality even more. Compare my two screenshots. This counts for all resolutions, except for 4k, which doesn't go beyond 30 fps, obviously.

Those screenshots mean nothing, they are just a representation of what is going to be recorded on the SD-card.
Do you have prove that those higher framerates use less of the sensor, even more do you have prove it degrades the image quality ?
On the Mavic 2 Pro the HQ (cropped) setting has a better image quality then the Full VOF setting, so quite the opposite.
It all depends on the way the pixels are processed to get the desired footage resolution.
The sensor is 12MP, 4K is only 8.3MP. So either downsampling (wich can degrade image quality), or cropping (using only a smaller part of the sensor at 1 to 1 ratio) and NO downsampling.
How downsampling (or downscaling) works is explained in a good way in this video: