Best Image Quality at 4K 30p or 4K 60p?

AJ_

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Hi,

I have just recently got a Phantom 4 Pro and have been absolutely loving it so far, but I have some questions regarding image quality when recording video.

Firstly, which 4K setting should I use for best image quality: 4096x2160 or 3840x2160 note that I will be playing back the video on a 4K tv.

Secondly, which frame rate option will give me the best image quality? I understand 60p will give me a smoother video but does running at the higher frame rate negatively effect image quality? It is my understanding (I maybe wrong) that the video bitrate for both 30p and 60p is 100Mbps, so does that mean running at 60p halves my image quality?

Thanks in advance,

AJ
 
4K/30 will be much better quality than 4K/60. You won't notice much difference between 3840 x 2160 (UHD) vs. 4096 x 2160 (DCI).
 
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AJ_
I personally take a different view. The reason I would purchase the 'pro' version (besides the 20 megapixel stills) is the fact that it can shoot a frame rate at 50 FPS (I'm in PAL area).
Whereas each individual frame (@50P) may be slightly more compressed then at 25P for the same resulting bit rate, the two time extra frames results in significantly smoother looking video. Particularly in faster pans and yaw movements. An additional bonus is that you have twice as many frames to perform any slow motion. You can half the speed of a move (slow motion) with no loss of quality.
 
I've compared 30 and 60 fps at 4K and while 60 does reveal a visible loss of resolution vs. 30 it is still rather small. My view is that I use 4K/30 for general use but I don't hesitate to use 60 fps for effects if required. The hit is there but it's not that bad.
 
4K/30 will be much better quality than 4K/60. You won't notice much difference between 3840 x 2160 (UHD) vs. 4096 x 2160 (DCI).
Please explain why 4K @ 30fps is gonna be much better than 4K @ 60fps for me? Depends on the type of look you want isn't 4K @ 60fps gonna be a little more buttery than the 30fps?
 
Please explain why 4K @ 30fps is gonna be much better than 4K @ 60fps for me? Depends on the type of look you want isn't 4K @ 60fps gonna be a little more buttery than the 30fps?
Yea this is what i figurred. Also would like to know why one would loose a little quality because in the end u still are recording in 4k correct? Is it to many frames introduces noise?
 
Yea this is what i figurred. Also would like to know why one would loose a little quality because in the end u still are recording in 4k correct? Is it to many frames introduces noise?
No not at all on the noise. Noise is usually a factor of your ISO settings for your sensor. But the more frames you shoot theoretically everything should look smoother. But then you have speed at which those frames are recorded in. Which is where 100mbps comes in. Not sure why Ianwood is saying that footage would be much better at 30fps. But maybe its because there are issues with the 4K@ 100mbps. I have read many things on here about all this. Such as h264 vs h265 and their diff. Lot to learn for sure. LOL Main thing is you have to have a pretty hot computer to handle 4K files period. And 60fps clips are twice as big as it is at 30fps.
 
60fps clips are the same size as 30fps clips (at 4K or UHD) that is why the 30fps clip will be higher quality.


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Please explain why 4K @ 30fps is gonna be much better than 4K @ 60fps for me? Depends on the type of look you want isn't 4K @ 60fps gonna be a little more buttery than the 30fps?
The reason for the statement is that the P4P seems to drop lines at 4K/60 fps resulting in a small but visible loss of resolution. I personally don't find the difference dramatic but it is there.
 
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60fps clips are the same size as 30fps clips (at 4K or UHD) that is why the 30fps clip will be higher quality.


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I'm sure your right as I am fairly new at understanding video footage. But tell me how 1 second of footage shot at 60fps can be same size file as a 1 second clip shot at 30fps?
 
I'm sure your right as I am fairly new at understanding video footage. But tell me how 1 second of footage shot at 60fps can be same size file as a 1 second clip shot at 30fps?
In this case this is easy to explain as the 60fps video has half the vertical resolution as compared to the 30fps. This equates the exact same amount of pixel-information per second.

In general, 60 fps video will also have less changes between the frames which helps the compression (as the speed is half that of 30fps).
 
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Most camera systems have to compensate in some way for higher resolution and higher frame rates simply because they are most likely pushing the limits in terms of computing power and throughput. In this case, the 4K/60 is effectively interlaced and the missing data averaged back in. This means there is a lot less detail making it to the SD card.

Also keep in mind that 4K/60 or other high frame rates (or Hobbit frame rates as some call it) produce a different look and feel. The shutter will be open for at most half the time that it would be on 4K/30 letting in less light and also reducing natural motion blur creating more of a staccato effect.

I would shoot 4K/60 if I knew I was likely to want a slow motion effect. And I would only do that in good light. I would otherwise shoot 4K/30 or 4K/24.
 
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I'm sure your right as I am fairly new at understanding video footage. But tell me how 1 second of footage shot at 60fps can be same size file as a 1 second clip shot at 30fps?
What he is saying is that the maximum bitrate is 100 MB/s so the file size will be the same either way. You can capture more information per frame at 30 fps than 60 fps (same maximum bandwidth but more frames equals fewer bits per frame) so there is the at least the potential for this to result in higher-quality 30 fps images, but as always much depends on the subject material.
 
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Also keep in mind that 4K/60 or other high frame rates (or Hobbit frame rates as some call it) produce a different look and feel. The shutter will be open for at most half the time that it would be on 4K/30 letting in less light and also reducing natural motion blur creating more of a staccato effect.
To have proper motion blur (and avoid the staccato effect), the general rule is your shutter should be double your frame rate. So why would having double the frame rate and twice the shutter speed (as per this rule) create more staccato effect?
 
To have proper motion blur (and avoid the staccato effect), the general rule is your shutter should be double your frame rate. So why would having double the frame rate and twice the shutter speed (as per this rule) create more staccato effect?

Well, if you stick to double the frame rate, it means your shutter is open half as long twice as often. It doesn't necessarily guarantee more staccato but it can depending on what you're filming. Most importantly, HFR has a different look and feel than 24 or 30. Just ask Peter Jackson!

BTW, you can use the same shutter speed for both if you want. The 180 degree shutter is a guideline not a rule.
 
I will tell you that unequivically 4k/60 is better then 4k/30
I compared the p4 to the p4p and look how much better the p4p is especially when flying fast:
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when i compare the 4k/30 to 4k/60 on the p4p i see no loss in image quality, the whole point of DJI bumping it to 100mbps over the 10 mbps for the p4 is that even at 4k/60 with the p4p each frame will be of better resolution than the p4 on 4k/30, i will also point out that 50mbps is about all you need for 4k/30 to look good at speed and you wont see noticeable difference past that.
Anyone who claims they can see it is either lying or zooming in on a video and/or playing it frame by frame.

Now the easiest way for me to justify this is the file size produced;
If i fly a fixed route for a set time on 4k/30 then on 4k/60 the file size is close to double because the bitrate is completely capable of handling 60fps.
if compression was occurring then the file size difference would not be so drastic.
 
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I will tell you that unequivically 4k/60 is better then 4k/30
I compared the p4 to the p4p and look how much better the p4p is especially when flying fast:
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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

when i compare the 4k/30 to 4k/60 on the p4p i see no loss in image quality, the whole point of DJI bumping it to 100mbps over the 10 mbps for the p4 is that even at 4k/60 with the p4p each frame will be of better resolution than the p4 on 4k/30, i will also point out that 50mbps is about all you need for 4k/30 to look good at speed and you wont see noticeable difference past that.
Anyone who claims they can see it is either lying or zooming in on a video and/or playing it frame by frame.

Now the easiest way for me to justify this is the file size produced;
If i fly a fixed route for a set time on 4k/30 then on 4k/60 the file size is close to double because the bitrate is completely capable of handling 60fps.
if compression was occurring then the file size difference would not be so drastic.

Thank you for all of your responses, but now I am still not sure whether to record in 4K/30p or 4K/60p for overall best image quality...
 
The test above, while nicely done, was comparing the standard P4 vs. the P4P (not P4P-only 30 vs. 60 fps as in your original question) so I'm not sure it's relevant.

Otherwise, I think your question has been more or less answered, that is use 60 fps if you need it for some specific reason (i.e. a slow motion effect) but otherwise use 24 or 30 fps for general work.
 
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