This is why you should never ever upload 1080 HD

[andy_k]

Of course, but you strive for the best.

I strive for the best for what is usable for myself (I nearly always shoot 4K) and my clients at the present time - if they can't view 4K footage then it's no use me delivering it. If they specifically ask for 720p (or even 480p) because it suits their application then there is no point whatsoever in me delivering 1080p footage because 'I think it's the best'.

That's the point I'm making - there's no, one, single answer and for at least 95% of the public 1080p is more than adequate. Of course, I'm sitting here suffering crappy 2k low bitrate uploads to YouTube on my 40" 4K monitor wondering why everyone doesn't upload full res, DVD quality 4K

As for 'archival footage' there is such a plethora of media these days, I really don't care about the archive quality of my material

 

[David_Cambridge]

This conversation does not cover home streaming, where 4k can really come into it’s own. I have a 4k Sony fed by a Roku via HDMI. It is fed by a PLEX server running on an iMac. The original DJI Footage is encoded with the HEVC codec, either from inside Final Cut Pro, or from a ProRes 4k master encoded with Handbrake.

The channel is 4k all the way, at between 15mbps and 30mbps. Viewing is 8 ft from a 55in display, and the benefits are quite clear and compelling. On the 5k iMac monitor, the results are even more dramatic. I would downres to HD only to make a BluRay for someone who couldn’t stream from my server.

 

[Bad Andy]

As for 'archival footage' there is such a plethora of media these days, I really don't care about the archive quality of my material

There is something to be said for archive quality...

For example, those of you stateside who watched the new year's eve Twilight Zone marathon may have noticed the HD quality (4:3 format notwithstanding) of a show that was produced in the early days of NTSC. That's because most of the episodes were shot on film instead of videotape. I'll skip the whole discussion about the fragility of film (since tape has its limitations too) to point out that the videotape standards of the day were far inferior to the resolution of film. So Image Entertainment or whomever was able to perform a fresh telecine of most of the material to Blu-ray without resorting to upconversion trickery.

 

[DroneTurismo]

In 5 or 10 years, do you want to look back at your old drone footage, probably some really great memories, like youre viewing a VHS tape? Go 4K or as close as possible.

I spent a lot of money on a 4K Sony camcorder when they first came out for our baby videos. I am happy i did as they will look much nicer for a long time. Imagine if i used 720p, they would look like a VHS tape today.

 

[andy_k]

In 5 or 10 years, do you want to look back at your old drone footage, probably some really great memories, like youre viewing a VHS tape? Go 4K or as close as possible.

I spent a lot of money on a 4K Sony camcorder when they first came out for our baby videos. I am happy i did as they will look much nicer for a long time. Imagine if i used 720p, they would look like a VHS tape today.

In five or ten years I can almost guarantee you I won't be looking back at video footage shot today

They aren't like baby videos, they aren't going to have any sentimental value - they are very much 'now' and can be replaced tomorrow (or the day after.

Digital photographers love hoarding their material on the grounds that one day they will re-edit it - almost none do and almost all spend more time saving videos/photos than actually watching them.

Today's 4K is next year's 8K, is the following year's 16k and so on - when you look back, everything looks like VHS

 

[anotherlab]

In five or ten years I can almost guarantee you I won't be looking back at video footage shot today

They aren't like baby videos, they aren't going to have any sentimental value - they are very much 'now' and can be replaced tomorrow (or the day after.

Digital photographers love hoarding their material on the grounds that one day they will re-edit it - almost none do and almost all spend more time saving videos/photos than actually watching them.

Today's 4K is next year's 8K, is the following year's 16k and so on - when you look back, everything looks like VHS

While I rarely go back to old material, my kids regularly go through the old pictures for material for school and personal projects.