What is the best FPS for 4K?

AwesoM · Jan 28, 2017

Wanted to get a poll on what most pilots set their frame rate for 4k. I tried 4K at 30 FPS today and the videos seem jerky at times. As anyone else experienced this?

4wd · Jan 29, 2017

So what happened at the slightly lower FPS?
I suspect it's your computer struggling to play 4K at all but you might try a different media player.

Terry Rodell · Jan 29, 2017

Just been looking at this problem in the help section. Seems to happen at 4k. These seem to be the sweet spot for the Mavic:
2.7k @ 30fps in NTSC. NTSC v PAL is apparently not an issue these days. Not tried it yet, just waiting for good weather to fly.

Sent from my HUAWEI SCL-L01 using MavicPilots mobile app

richardhurst · Jan 29, 2017

It's about a combination of fps and shutter speed. If your using 30 fps then you need to set your shutter speed to 1/60. You should always aim to have your shutter speed double your frame rate. You may need filters to achieve the correct exposure.

4wd · Jan 29, 2017

richardhurst said:
It's about a combination of fps and shutter speed. If your using 30 fps then you need to set your shutter speed to 1/60. You should always aim to have your shutter speed double your frame rate. You may need filters to achieve the correct exposure.

This is not realistically achievable and constantly over stated when using what amounts to an action camera.
It won't be the cause of OP's jerkiness anyway.
I don't see a huge difference between 2.7K and 4K even on a 4K screen but there is a considerable improvement between 1080p and 2.7K.
On a suitable screen, 4K doesn't seem any worse than 2.7K though - another Mavic urban myth that has arisen.
If you can view edit 4K you may as well record in it, the file size is not that big a deal these days with inexpensive SD cards and storage if you really want to keep files long term.

richardhurst · Jan 29, 2017

Of course it's achievable, using filters or a combination of filters, shutter speed and ISO. and it's always best to set your shutter speed to double your fps. This gives you a much better cinematic look to your footage.

chris956 · Jan 29, 2017

I have just done this very test as all the settings were baffling me. I set up a waypoint route and then flew it 3 times with 1080 at 50fps , then 4k at 30fps and then finally at 2.7k at 30fps.

The route was not far , about 1min 30secs of footage but all except the 1080 at 50fps seemed very jerky when the craft was accelerating between waypoints.

There was an appreciable difference once stationary with 4k being the clearest but 1080 at 50fps gave the best watchable footage for me whilst moving around in the air.

ATXdrone · Jan 29, 2017

AwesoM said:
Wanted to get a poll on what most pilots set their frame rate for 4k. I tried 4K at 30 FPS today and the videos seem jerky at times. As anyone else experienced this?

Can you tell us more? There are a couple (or more!) ways it could be "jerky" and I think a few of us would like to understand what you mean.

1) The actual footage is jerky (even when played back at 1080 on Youtube). Most likely caused by high shutter speed rates. Get them down as mentioned by others.
2) The playback (only) is jerky when viewed on your laptop/desktop at full 4k.

In the latter case, there are lots of variables. Do you have a 4k capable monitor? Or what are you actually watching it at (i.e. if you have a 2560x1440 screen), then you have software downscaling it, which is one factor. What kind of video card is another factor. What kind of media is it sitting on (hard drive? SSD? Direct from SD card?) is the final factor.

I have a 4k TV but only have about 60Mbit network connection to it currently (not using WiFi, using powerline ethernet, long story for another day). I can't play 4K videos over that link. If I put the same video on a USB key, I can mount it to the TV and watch it smoothly.

If you are watching the raw video from a local hard drive, and it's busy doing other things (swapping, background operations of any sort), that can cause jerkiness along the lines of #2 above.

AwesoM · Jan 29, 2017

ATXdrone said:
Can you tell us more? There are a couple (or more!) ways it could be "jerky" and I think a few of us would like to understand what you mean.

1) The actual footage is jerky (even when played back at 1080 on Youtube). Most likely caused by high shutter speed rates. Get them down as mentioned by others.
2) The playback (only) is jerky when viewed on your laptop/desktop at full 4k.

In the latter case, there are lots of variables. Do you have a 4k capable monitor? Or what are you actually watching it at (i.e. if you have a 2560x1440 screen), then you have software downscaling it, which is one factor. What kind of video card is another factor. What kind of media is it sitting on (hard drive? SSD? Direct from SD card?) is the final factor.

I have a 4k TV but only have about 60Mbit network connection to it currently (not using WiFi, using powerline ethernet, long story for another day). I can't play 4K videos over that link. If I put the same video on a USB key, I can mount it to the TV and watch it smoothly.

If you are watching the raw video from a local hard drive, and it's busy doing other things (swapping, background operations of any sort), that can cause jerkiness along the lines of #2 above.

Thank you for the feed back. I will have to check the specs on my Mb Pro. I did view it on my Imac Retina 5K and it seems to be much better... but now I see a bit more noise since the monitor is big and clear

I came from a P4P, where the video was much better. I need to stop comparing. I did the swap because of the size of the unit since I do more air travel.

ATXdrone · Jan 29, 2017

you could have been seeing a little bit of each: Jittery video from high frame rates that seem to exaggerate every movement, and a laptop that may have been doing other things, interrupting smooth playback.