When to use 4k video ?

[Jirka]

I made 2 identical videos, 2k7 and 4k. I watch it on a big TV screen and I don't notice any difference in quality. When is it worth using 4k quality?

 

[herein2021]

I made 2 identical videos, 2k7 and 4k. I watch it on a big TV screen and I don't notice any difference in quality. When is it worth using 4k quality?

4K is pretty much the standard now, YouTube will compress your video with a higher quality codec if you upload in 4K, also you can shoot in 4K and edit on a 1080P timeline which gives you recomposition and lossless zoom options in post production.

None of that really matters if you are just shooting home video footage; even 1080P is actually fine in the real world, but with the world's current obsession with 4K it has become the standard.

 

[Jirka]

After all, I only found a little extra when I played both files directly on TV, not on YT. Thanks!

 

[loyukfai]

Always use the best quality available, even if you don't need it now. You may need it later.

 

[herein2021]

Always use the best quality available, even if you don't need it now. You may need it later.

I wouldn't say always, there are no absolutes even here. I have a camera that can shoot raw 8K, no way will I use that capability for 99% of my projects. Even with the EVO II 6K, I think I've only shot over 4K once or twice and only to test the feature. I've never shot over 4K with the EVO II 6K for a paying client. Storage, while relatively cheap is still not free not to mention editing later is more difficult the higher you go in quality/resolution.

In the OP's case, if their workstation can edit 2.7K effortlessly but they need proxies for 4K, that would be a good reason to stick to 2.7K most of the time.

 

[ccadden]

As above, 4K gives options in editing - zoom and pan - even if are outputting in a lower resolution. At the moment I don't have any way of viewing 4K and I suspect that a very small minority of my potential audience do.

 

[loyukfai]

Sure, I don't use 4k for recording conferences either. I'm replying based on the context of OP.

Just think about it, you may watch the video 10 years later, and by then you'll probably have 4k tvs.

 

[herein2021]

As above, 4K gives options in editing - zoom and pan - even if are outputting in a lower resolution. At the moment I don't have any way of viewing 4K and I suspect that a very small minority of my potential audience do.

Funny thing is, I have a 4K TV but people don't realize that everything in the pipeline has to be 4K and everything in the pipeline has to actually be set to 4K in order to actually see 4K. Many people probably think they are watching 4K if their TV is 4K but in reality most are watching 1080P or at most upscaled 1080P. In my case, my main TV is 4K, but my computer connected to my TV has a video card that works better in 1080P and the stereo that the video signal passes through also had issues with 4K when configured for 4K so it also defaults to 1080P.

With enough fiddling, I got the TV, stereo, and computer to all handle the 4K signal......but it did not look much better than 1080P and it was too problematic so I went back to 1080P. HDCP becomes a real pain for some reason when you start using 4K resolution; I even had to get a different HDMI cable just to get that far.....not worth it at all in my opinion.

Sure, I don't use 4k for recording conferences either. I'm replying based on the context of OP.

Just think about it, you may watch the video 10 years later, and by then you'll probably have 4k tvs.

Oh I agree, I shot some footage early on in the drone days when 1080P was the only option and I still wish to this day that it was 4K. The footage just doesn't match with the rest of my current projects when I want to use it as b-roll or stock footage.

 

[jcommstudios]

I made 2 identical videos, 2k7 and 4k. I watch it on a big TV screen and I don't notice any difference in quality. When is it worth using 4k quality?

@Jirka If you are a pro shooter and are archiving video for clients shooting 4K future proofs the clients footage. Once we make the transition to 4K, as we did from SD to HD years ago, you have usable footage for the future. I shoot most projects 4K and convert to 1080p for the edit unless someone specifically wants a 4K project.

 

[gschulzuio]

I made 2 identical videos, 2k7 and 4k. I watch it on a big TV screen and I don't notice any difference in quality. When is it worth using 4k quality?

Unless a client requests only 1K, I generally shoot 4K or 6K on E2P & E2 (rarely 8K) for the simple ability to have more room to work with the footage in post. Now and then will shoot 120fps at 2.7K for slow motion. Common theme I here from clients and producers who request footage at 4K and 6K is that they will render out at 1K, however they want ability in post to use the higher resolution for zoom, shifting x y center focus, rotation, and other things.

Here's a simple test, demo, exercise, shoot a short segment at lower resolution (1K, 2.7K), then shoot same segment at 4K, then at 6k. Then process footage applying some amount of the same zoom to each segment, render, and compare. Thats were especially on a larger screen you should start to see a difference. Good luck.