Shooting in 1080 vs 4K: SEE the difference

Macbook Air M2 15" - easy to see the difference as the 1080p was soft. If 1080p was as good as it gets I'd still be happy.

Good test to take ...it was quite visible viewing on a 4K monitor , but not that obvious on my iPhone.
Really appreciate your stating your preference too ...i see a lot of people just saying in their videos that 1080 is much better , which to me seems like an attention grabbing tactic.
However, i would be keen to know your views in end of 2023 (three yrs from when you published the video) ...do you feel that the trouble of handling 4k is justified by the quality ? 🙂

got them all - watching on a 4k Samsung monitor. But that said I normally shoot at 1080 or 2.7k as it is easier or quicker to edit the footage ----- good video though James will make some think about the differance.

Cool video. Question please. Why does no one ever talk about 2.7k ??? If there is a debate on which is better between 1080 and 4k then why not just settle on 2.7k ? 😂 i can't find any info on this lol. Thanks

I was viewing it on a 4K HP 32" monitor and you can see the difference. Obviously the 4K is more sharp over the 1080. However, if you are filming in motion, I wonder how my better 4K really is to the viewer? Throw in high quality speakers for sound and that slight 4K sharpness becomes meaningless. I would still like to shoot in 4K and that is why I have my GoPro Hero 10 and I plan on purchasing a true 4K video camera. Still, I shoot 1080 and upscale using Topaz and then there is no difference between the 4K video and it being shot of 1080. As a hobby, I would suggest that people buy older good 1080 cameras and upscale using Topaz. It work great. Note: The 4K video coming out of the Canon 90D looks soft in my opinion. The 70D or 80D does a much better job allowing upscale to look fantastic as a hobby.

music level is so high

you should do a comparison between 2k and 4k.

i have a OLED tv. 4k looks better but I think 2k is the best because it's close to 4k but smaller.

iPhone SE couldn’t tell the difference

4kis better

The grass look close to 3d the nighwith the red night is4k

This video was SO WELL DONE. Thank you for making it so clear between the two while keeping it clear of common cognitive biases.

4k mode allows editor more field to editing. Lighting, cropping, ect...

75” Samsung. 9 feet away. Easily could see the difference. Thanks for posting this experiment. I’m not longer considering 1080.

Such an important video! Because of how well you created the comparison between 4k and 1080p it was easy for me to decide: I will definitely be shooting the vast majority of any future video documentary in 1080p, NOT 4k. I found NO difference in the videos with my macbook pro with M1 chip. People have little idea of how significant it is to shoot in 4k in terms of storage space issues. Thanks again.

Awesome!

That was cool…

On my iPhone, cant tell the different.

The difference I saw viewing on an iPhone was the 4K did better in different lighting conditions, crispness they we’re about the same. I believe the resolution really only matters in difficult lighting conditions. The bridge at night has better colors but would be fine in Hd.

6 right out of 8. Night shots significantly better. Watching on a 2017 Samsung galaxy A5 smartphone .

Viewing on a 12 inch iPad Pro. I could spot the difference on every daylight shot but the night ones were 50/50. The clearest difference was probably the flag shot, the detail in the moving folds gave it away. However, both sets were perfectly usable for professional purposes.

I can definitely tell which is 4k even on my mobile phone. The lines are much sharper and crisp.

I prefer 4K and don't believe it distracts. To me it simply emphasizes the subject better since photography and videography is a representational art form.
I don't think 4k is good for human portraits in my opinion though, all the time because the clear pores and imperfections to me distract for the subjects overall personality.

To those who want to view the difference, just zoom in on the video and you will see the difference. No need to watch on bigger screen to see the difference.

Yeah I got them all correct. It was easy. 4K just looks sharper and has more contrast, and I prefer it.

One thing I will say is that the average Joe doesn't really give a crap.

They may say oh yeah it looks pretty good.
But with people's attention spans nowadays it's lucky if they even pay attention to half the movie.
No. Shit

Hmmm
Interesting.
So after you jumble them together, then you will export it as what 1080 or 4K ?
Hmmm
Let me finish watching your video before my next comment.
Keith

watching on 12.9 m2 ipad pro, can tell the differnce in every clip with no doubt

Thank you so much for this information and guidance

I can not believe what you are saying … it’s so obviously different

The only significant difference I noticed was in the flag video. In the "b" clip, the wind was obviously blowing harder... Viewed on newish Windows 11 laptop.

Bad 4k is just as bad as bad 1080p. Good 1080p is better than bad or mediocre 4k. I see a lot of people completely writing off the prospect of buying old 1080p cine cameras like the Canon C100 which is an insanely good deal especially compared to the "4k" non cinema options out there on the second hand market.

Like your content. I am experiencing lots of difficulties doing simple morning walk videos. Never thought I had trouble before. Just shooting with galaxy s10e and s10+. I guess the auto ISO with focus hunting is making my videos unusable now. High contrast nature areas. Its so noisy are looks like tons of spots ..ants.. all around the details of the video. constantly moving. Its upsetting. Even in 4k 60.. same type of noise

Viewing on my iPhone 8. Also I didn’t understand if you meant all the videos a or b? Or each video individually cause that would require pin and paper or something to pause each one! That would take some time!

A is 1080 and B is 4K. My guess?

My video camera only shoots in 1080 but I did try on my old IPhone 8 in 4K. I can tell a difference and yes using a lot more power than normal let’s call it. Interesting thanks for the video!

To me, it's about the bitrate that counts. You can have a 1080p video with 5000kp/s and a 4K video with 2000kp/s and the 1080p video would look better.

watching this video in 480 lol

Hi,

Thank you for taking the time. I found your video very informative and helpful.

I viewed the comparisons twice on my 19.5" desktop monitor. The first time, I focused on particular areas containing detail, e.g., trees, leaves, etc. Then again, from edge to edge, as you would when viewing a video.

In the first viewing, I noticed a slight improvement in the 4K footage; there was more detail. But when watching the video from edge to edge, I could not discern one from the other despite knowing one was better.

On a large monitor/TV, the difference might be more pronounced. But if your target audience intends to view the video on their desktop or mobile device, I don't see the benefit of recording in 4K.

Maybe my TV isn't big enough (55 inches) or I just don't sit close enough but I honestly struggled to find any difference between any of these. When there was a switch between 480 to 720p or 1080p there was a drastic difference but whenever I see these 1080p to 4k comparisons Im just not wowed.

Hi James, I could clearly see the difference too. I was viewing your video on my 2K resolution monitor, thus it makes perfect sense that the 1080p looked a bit blurry. I find this all the time (and do struggle a bit with it) when editing my travel videos as I alternate between footage from my action cam shot at 2.7k and that shot on my DSLR shot on 1080p

iPad Pro. Couldn’t tell any difference. Couldn’t care less

Did you shoot in 24, 30, or 60 fps? Just curious and I would imagine whatever you shot in, it was the same for 1080 and 4k.

usually people bring down the in camera sharpness with 4k footage before hand by 7. sharpness gives the illusion of higher quality but this is not always the case (obviously 4k is higher quality but i’m talking generally). sharpness can always be added in post as well, but not taken away.

i wonder what the difference will be compared to the 1080, because as you mentioned, often the sharpness doesn’t make things look good, especially for videos of people.

Thanks, I could see the difference, and watched it on my iPad Pro as well as my OLED, 65 inch, although, not as big of a difference as I thought it would be. So in the end, will continue to shoot in 1080 for most things. Strange though, when I watch a movie that is in 4k, I do notice a big difference. Most likely better cameras to begin with as well as color grading etc.