4K versus 1080

And I often shoot my GoPro at WVGA/240fps. Really cool slo-mo at this price is a good thing, even at the expense of higher resolution. Wish the P3 camera had that mode - or better... how about 720/240fps?
 
It's well known that downscaling 4k to 1080p results in far superior image detail as opposed to shooting straight 1080p. The Canon C100 actually takes 4k data off of its sensor and downscales it in-camera for its 1080p footage.

It's also fairly common practice to shoot in 4k, apply cropping, leveling, image stabilization, etc, and downscale to 1080p and still maintain great detail and image quality.

4k allows these kinds of advantages over shooting straight 1080p, and in my opinion is totally worth it. All of this, however, requires commitment to heavy post work. Without post work, you really can't utilize the many benefits of 4k, other than just delivering 4k content.
 
And I often shoot my GoPro at WVGA/240fps. Really cool slo-mo at this price is a good thing, even at the expense of higher resolution. Wish the P3 camera had that mode - or better... how about 720/240fps?

That would be awesome! But I've been having some issues with GoPro footage at frame rates of 90 and higher. There is bad aliasing and compression artifacts, and it gets even more pronounced when you start grading. I'm just not sure that the GoPro is built to handle it's own higher frame rates.

I'm really curious to see how the P3 handles it.
 
so with the P3P is there any option to choose 1080p? or is it 4k and if you want 1080p you gotta do the work yourself to downscale it, then its still at 30 FPS only... thats a concern.. 30 fps vs 60 is a HUGE downside.
If i can do 4k 30 fps and then select 1080p 60 fps for the next video that would be nice, and what i expected, before i read this thread, now im not sure haha
 
so with the P3P is there any option to choose 1080p? or is it 4k and if you want 1080p you gotta do the work yourself to downscale it, then its still at 30 FPS only... thats a concern.. 30 fps vs 60 is a HUGE downside.
If i can do 4k 30 fps and then select 1080p 60 fps for the next video that would be nice, and what i expected, before i read this thread, now im not sure haha

I believe the P3P has everything the Advanced does, including 1080p 60fps etc.
 
so with the P3P is there any option to choose 1080p? or is it 4k and if you want 1080p you gotta do the work yourself to downscale it, then its still at 30 FPS only... thats a concern.. 30 fps vs 60 is a HUGE downside.
If i can do 4k 30 fps and then select 1080p 60 fps for the next video that would be nice, and what i expected, before i read this thread, now im not sure haha

It is user selectable from 4K to 720. Frame rates are no higher that 60fps.
 
so with the P3P is there any option to choose 1080p? or is it 4k and if you want 1080p you gotta do the work yourself to downscale it, then its still at 30 FPS only... thats a concern.. 30 fps vs 60 is a HUGE downside.
If i can do 4k 30 fps and then select 1080p 60 fps for the next video that would be nice, and what i expected, before i read this thread, now im not sure haha
Rather than asking on the forum, it's not very difficult to go to DJI.com and check the specs to get an accurate answer faster than asking others for info. There's lots of good info there in the specs and FAQ that would answer about half the questions asked here.
Here's what you'd find if you do:
Video Recording Modes
Phantom 3 Professional
  • UHD: 4096x2160p 24/25, 3840x2160p 24/25/30
  • FHD: 1920x1080p 24/25/30/48/50/60
  • HD: 1280x720p 24/25/30/48/50/60
Phantom 3 Advanced
  • FHD: 1920x1080p 24/25/30/48/50/60
  • HD: 1280x720p 24/25/30/48/50/60
 
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My question is: do we have enough info already to know if the Advanced will have the same quality as the Professional if shooting in 1080p ? Of the professional has a better camera, producing better videos and stills even when shooting at 1080p ?

In other words: if I'll only shoot 1080p, should I get the Professional either way because it'll deliver more quality in that resolution ?
 
My question is: do we have enough info already to know if the Advanced will have the same quality as the Professional if shooting in 1080p ? Of the professional has a better camera, producing better videos and stills even when shooting at 1080p ?

In other words: if I'll only shoot 1080p, should I get the Professional either way because it'll deliver more quality in that resolution ?
It's going to be so close you'd never know the difference.
Any difference is something for pixel peepers to debate about.
 
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It's going to be so close you'd never know the difference.
Any difference is something for pixel peepers to debate about.
This is everything I needed to know. I'm keeping my Advanced preorder then.

IMO, camera resolution has lately outpaced 3 other very important things that didn't evolve at the same speed: storage, bandwith and GPU.

In my macbook air which is barely 1.5 years old, my GoPro's 4K video is sluggish when playing back.

Storage is not as cheap and these files take a TON of space.

My internet speed hasn't quadrupled in the last year; specially considering upload speed is not much (in my case, 1/15 of my download speed), It takes forever to upload.

Lastly but not least, I don't have a 4k monitor neither a 4k TV to enjoy the full resolution. It's going to be scaled down to 1080p anyway.
 
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4K adds nothing positive for more than 90% of users but the bigger number must be better philosophy ensures that the Pro will sell like hot cakes.
Crappy video in 4K is still crappy video - but now the file size is 4 times bigger and your hardware can't deal with it.
 
My question is: do we have enough info already to know if the Advanced will have the same quality as the Professional if shooting in 1080p ? Of the professional has a better camera, producing better videos and stills even when shooting at 1080p ?

In other words: if I'll only shoot 1080p, should I get the Professional either way because it'll deliver more quality in that resolution ?

Lets hope the they don't have the same lens but different grade. P3P using A grade and P3A using B grade lenses.
 
I hope the advanced has a firmware update to include 2.7k at 60fps as per the GoPro4 .
You have the extra fps over 4k and additional frame size over 1080p for more flexibility in editing.
But I suppose there must be a hardware limitation or DJI would have brought it out on the Inspire.
 
Don't forget the faster charger. (Almost 50% faster. Potentially). *and worth extra even if only 30% faster I suspect. :)). And the free backpack. <stirring>


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Don't forget the faster charger. (Almost 50% faster. Potentially). *and worth extra even if only 30% faster I suspect. :)). And the free backpack. <stirring>


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm sure Blade posted 60min fast charge and 90min standard charge so 33% faster. For me I can't imagine that will make much, if any difference to me, if I'm out and about in the countryside using the money I saved on extra battery and maybe a car charger will be more useful.

And hadn't you heard due to the reported delay on the Advanced they are all now shipping it with a backpack and 3 extra batteries......;)
 
The idea that most users can't use 4K, and 'should' save money by buying the Advanced, is correct - to a degree.

However, chip speed, drive size and speed, and edit software is advancing faster than the development of the codecs needed to record high frame rate, large frame size, and good pixel depth at a reasonable bitrate is advancing. Can you edit 4K DCI on a $500 computer running $100 edit software? Sort of...

Can you do it with a modern multi-core, multicore system with lots of fast RAM and good edit software that can handle the files natively? Yep. It will cost more money, but that's the game.

The whole argument is moot in the professional realm, because 8K will supplant 4K very soon.

But in the consumer world, there's no real benefit to 4K, except that your raw footage will contain more information, and when you're talking about editing for picture quality data is king.

Remember this: The fact is that it is impossible to visually distinguish resolution between a 720p signal and a 1080i signal at a viewing distance of 8 feet on a 42" pixel-based display device. Impossible. How many people bought a cheap 42" 1080i monitor instead of a quality 720p monitor and put it 8 feet away in their living room? How many of those same people are buying 50" UHD sets right now, and putting them 8 feet away from their couches? Even IF there was 4K source material available, they would never see the difference between 4K, and 1080i video, given those parameters.

Why did I buy the Pro? Because I can shoot/edit in HD on it, and when I have a computer, display device, and the edit software needed to edit 4K DCI reasonable efficiently, I'll have the camera to shoot it with.

Assuming of course I don't crash and destroy the darn thing...
 
Remember this: The fact is that it is impossible to visually distinguish resolution between a 720p signal and a 1080i signal at a viewing distance of 8 feet on a 42" pixel-based display device. Impossible. How many people bought a cheap 42" 1080i monitor instead of a quality 720p monitor and put it 8 feet away in their living room? How many of those same people are buying 50" UHD sets right now, and putting them 8 feet away from their couches? Even IF there was 4K source material available, they would never see the difference between 4K, and 1080i video, given those parameters

Personally, I think that 4k will be more common (and used) among computer displays before it becomes mainstream for television. Even now, with 1080p being pretty much standard for tv's, most networks still broadcast at 720.

Youtube and Vimeo now support 4k streaming, and it won't be long before others follow. It's true that 4k will not be noticeably more amazing than 1080 sitting 15ft away from the tv, but on a computer monitor where people are sitting much closer, and where many people spend time enjoying media, the difference is tremendous. 4k is inevitable, and is already becoming very popular and accessible. Case in point, what was once a feature reserved for very expensive and high-end cameras is now available on Gopros and Phantoms. Gopros and Phantoms!! Needless to say, 4k is becoming popular with consumer level products now and is already very standard with pro-level and cinema gear.

As for computer power needed for editing 4k, yes it does require more power than 1080. But the latest and greatest computer technology now has already surpassed the requirements for 4k editing. This means you don't have to spend fortunes on the latest stuff for 4k. My 4 year old iMac edits 4k footage without a problem, and can handle 4k multicam without any issues in proxy mode. For people in the know-how, 4k is not too difficult to deal with. It's the consumer level folks who will slowly follow once technology makes it easy to just point, shoot, and upload.
 
I know the op is very old, but keep in mind, the P3A now shoots at 2.7K, not just 1080
 

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