This weeks tech tip follows a conversation with a customer seeking a 4K capable camera with a high frame rate for some slow motion footage. After chatting for a while, it became apparent that the customer was assuming that 4K Ultra HD was four times better than HD, since HD is only 1080P.
While it's true that 4K UHD has four times the number of pixels of 1080HD, the resolution is only really doubled. See, up until 4K, resolution was discussed in terms of the horizontal resolution; 1080HD has 1080 horizontal lines so the standard 1080HD resolution is 1920 vertical lines x 1080 horizontal lines.
Then 4K came along, and they doubled both the horizontal and vertical resolution, so the new resolution was 3840 vertical lines x 2160 horizontal lines. Using some clever marketing, instead of referring to the new resolution according to the horizontal lines (2160) as was done previously, the new standard referred to the vertical lines (3840), and rounded up to 4K. The image below shows the comparison well.
While 4K is no doubt better resolution than 1080, the available options on most cameras at the moment is fairly limited; both the Garmin Marine Ultra 30 and GoPro Hero 5 Black have a max 30 FPS, and many of the other advanced features are not available in 4K modes, not to mention reduced recording times and overheating issues. So for most people, 1080HD is going to produce a more than adequate video, and allow all the extra functionality and high FPS not otherwise available in 4K mode....until the next generation of cameras at least!
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