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Does your phone shoot 4K? Post it here!

Z

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 10, 2006
7,302
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Hi everybody. I wanted to create a thread where we can compare 4K and Ultra HD footage from our phones. I'm amazed that my Note 4 shoots video as good if not better than my $3,000 Canon XF 100. I put together a YouTube video of highlights from the San Francisco Bay that I wanted to share, and I also included a download link to the high quality video without YouTube compression. Let's see what you got! Here it is:

 
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" I'm amazed that my Note 4 shoots video as good if not better than my $3,000 Canon XF 100."

That is hard to believe

I dont have a 4k monitor nd realize it is youtube quality, but I viewed it on 1080p and it certainly looks good considering it is a phone but didnt blow me away. Maybe it was just my stream but it looks like they was stuttering as the camera moves
 
mclld said:
" I'm amazed that my Note 4 shoots video as good if not better than my $3,000 Canon XF 100."

That is hard to believe

I dont have a 4k monitor nd realize it is youtube quality, but I viewed it on 1080p and it certainly looks good considering it is a phone but didnt blow me away. Maybe it was just my stream but it looks like they was stuttering as the camera moves
Click to expand...

It is not just you. To the OP, is it 4k at 30fps? That could be the reason for the judder at high speeds. It does look crystal clear though.

On a side note, do not get a 4k TV right now. There are so many standards that are not finalized. Granted they have dropped so much is price there are virtually the same cost as 1080p
 
mclld said:
" I'm amazed that my Note 4 shoots video as good if not better than my $3,000 Canon XF 100."

That is hard to believe

I dont have a 4k monitor nd realize it is youtube quality, but I viewed it on 1080p and it certainly looks good considering it is a phone but didnt blow me away. Maybe it was just my stream but it looks like they was stuttering as the camera moves
Click to expand...

YouTube is definitely not stuttering on my end. If you download the 4K it's highly unlikely that your computer can play it smooth unless you're on a new Mac Pro. The reason why I was amazed by the quality is viewing good 1080p footage from my Canon, stretched to 1440p on my monitor, frankly doesn't look as clear or sharp as the Note 4 footage played on 1440p in my Final Cut timeline or stretched on the monitor . Also, the YouTube quality really doesn't do it justice as you're aware. The compression really degraded it with blocky compression.

mattopotamus said:
It is not just you. To the OP, is it 4k at 30fps? That could be the reason for the judder at high speeds. It does look crystal clear though.

On a side note, do not get a 4k TV right now. There are so many standards that are not finalized. Granted they have dropped so much is price there are virtually the same cost as 1080p
Click to expand...
30p. Plays smooth for me on YouTube. The 4K is smooth on my Final Cut timeline.
 
4K videos shot with my Note 4 look noticeably better than 4K videos shot with my Note 3. I'd share, but they're all of my kid and my dog
 
Zwhaler said:
YouTube is definitely not stuttering on my end. If you download the 4K it's highly unlikely that your computer can play it smooth unless you're on a new Mac Pro. The reason why I was amazed by the quality is viewing good 1080p footage from my Canon, stretched to 1440p on my monitor, frankly doesn't look as clear or sharp as the Note 4 footage played on 1440p in my Final Cut timeline or stretched on the monitor . Also, the YouTube quality really doesn't do it justice as you're aware. The compression really degraded it with blocky compression.


30p. Plays smooth for me on YouTube. The 4K is smooth on my Final Cut timeline.
Click to expand...

If we don't have monitors that can view it natively and our computers can't even play it smoothly when we download it then what the heck is the point of 4k?? Useless. I have a top of the line rMPB 15'' and I'll let you know if it can play it.
 
bkends35 said:
If we don't have monitors that can view it natively and our computers can't even play it smoothly when we download it then what the heck is the point of 4k?? Useless. I have a top of the line rMPB 15'' and I'll let you know if it can play it.
Click to expand...

I always shoot in 4K because.... why not? It'll look great on my 4K TV in a year or two, I pull beautiful screenshots/stills from the video and at least for now - watch the footage in 1080p and it seems to look much better than video that I shoot in 1080p. I've got the storage space (128GB microSD card, 3TB HDD, 1 TB Google Drive)... so why not?
 
bkends35 said:
If we don't have monitors that can view it natively and our computers can't even play it smoothly when we download it then what the heck is the point of 4k?? Useless. I have a top of the line rMPB 15'' and I'll let you know if it can play it.
Click to expand...

Great explanation here .....

 
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Not to mention that your average photo resolution is 4K or higher.

4K isn't useless, it's just not prevalent. ....yet.
 
bkends35 said:
If we don't have monitors that can view it natively and our computers can't even play it smoothly when we download it then what the heck is the point of 4k?? Useless. I have a top of the line rMPB 15'' and I'll let you know if it can play it.
Click to expand...

As a video professional 4K is more future proof, first of all. I'm not sure if you are making this about 4K in general or about the Note 4 and other 4K capable phones. There was a day when what you said applied to 1080p as well. As retina screens become the norm, 4K is becoming more normal as well. 4K to me already seems outdated honestly as 5K and 6K have been around for some time. If I was buying, say, a Panasonic HC-X1000, I would be content with its 4K capability and not feel like it was outdated. But for the ultra high end market I think investing in 5K and higher is a better idea.

Back to the discussion about "useless", the idea is that since many people have 1440p 27" displays, 4K will be sharper on it than 1080p even if you only select the 1440p option on YouTube and not full 4K. That is why I said it looked better than my Canon, because one played 1440p downscaled, the other upscaled. I don't know of any cameras that shoot quad HD as the top setting... usually it is 1080p or 4K and higher. For that reason, 4K is certainly not useless.
 
Curious...

Why on earth would one need a new Mac Pro to view 4k? It plays perfectly here on my 2008 octo Mac Pro and likewise my 2014 MacBook Pro.

Heck if our phones can play back 4k, they are vastly more underpowered than our computers.


Anyway, yes I have a galaxy alpha that shoots 4k, though I've only shot sample test shots as I generally don't shoot much video outside of jobs that require video - so the footage I have is quite inconsequential. But whilst certainly an improvement over 1080p, wouldn't say as dramatic as SD to HD was.

And yep I've sent test footage from my phone directly to a brand new Sony 4k TV to see it on big screen.
 
Interested to hear opinions on here as to whether it's worth shooting 4k on the Note 4 or whether it's better to stick to 1080p smooth mode (60fps)?
Is it noticeably smoother?
 
MacRumorUser said:
Curious...

Why on earth would one need a new Mac Pro to view 4k? It plays perfectly here on my 2008 octo Mac Pro and likewise my 2014 MacBook Pro.

Heck if our phones can play back 4k, they are vastly more underpowered than our computers.


Anyway, yes I have a galaxy alpha that shoots 4k, though I've only shot sample test shots as I generally don't shoot much video outside of jobs that require video - so the footage I have is quite inconsequential. But whilst certainly an improvement over 1080p, wouldn't say as dramatic as SD to HD was.

And yep I've sent test footage from my phone directly to a brand new Sony 4k TV to see it on big screen.
Click to expand...

You don't need a better computer to view 4k. I use my crappy work computer with 2gb of RAM and a 4 year old processor. It views 4k just fine. Maybe he meant if you are going to do some final cut pro work in 4k. I agree you need a beast of a machine or it will take all day.

You are 100% correct on the part I bolded. The reason 4k is not taking off in the TV market is b.c the jump is nowhere near SD to HD. In the next 2-3 years all new TVs will be 4k, so it does not really matter. People just are not flocking to 4K tvs b.c the jump is minimal and the content is sparse. The most important factor of Picture Quality is Contrast Ratio. That is why a 1080P OLED crushes any LED 4K set. The biggest benefit of these higher resolutions is for people who work with photoshop.
 
Not yet, but with the next firmware update I will apparently be able to. Makes sense, I do have a good camera on my phone.

http://m.windowscentral.com/lumia-denim-firmware-announced-microsoft

Will I? Probably never.
 
Markyboy81 said:
Interested to hear opinions on here as to whether it's worth shooting 4k on the Note 4 or whether it's better to stick to 1080p smooth mode (60fps)?
Is it noticeably smoother?
Click to expand...

I'm also interested in this. 4K 30fps vs 1080p 60fps

Might have to do some side-by-sides this week. Especially action shots.
 
Hey everybody, I posted another one that I shot in Vegas over the weekend:
 
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Chodite said:
I'm also interested in this. 4K 30fps vs 1080p 60fps

Might have to do some side-by-sides this week. Especially action shots.
Click to expand...
I haven't tested it but I reckon...;

4k for good light conditions, not too much movement.

1080p 60fps for good light with movement/action

1080p normal for everything else
 
Markyboy81 said:
Interested to hear opinions on here as to whether it's worth shooting 4k on the Note 4 or whether it's better to stick to 1080p smooth mode (60fps)?
Is it noticeably smoother?
Click to expand...
1080p at 60fps is smoother, but sligtly lower detail than 1080p at 30fps from what I can see. 4K at 30fps yields the best result, just pan slowly and it will make up for the 30fps.

Video clip I shot in 4K 30fps. Gave it to my friend so he could upload it on his channel. Youtube naturally compresses the video more. But with good panning, 4K at 30fps is better than 1080p at 60fps in a phone. Different story on an actual camcorder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb8neQDhVXU&list=UUgM26wgbc8nzVLtfZm_bm3g


Viewing back the original file on my Note 4, I can see the compression artifacts around the sky. I guess 50Mbps in mp4 isn't enough to produce the highest quality 4K video on a phone. Compression artifacts would probably be more visible in a 4K/2160P display.
 
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Big update! I shot some really cool video of Carlos Santana on my Note 4 ... I mixed the audio and multiband compressed out the low end 'problem' so you can enjoy that on YouTube (links posted below). Otherwise, the original video files straight from the phone are available:

Black Magic Woman (Clip)
YouTube Link

Smooth
YouTube Link

Saideira (Part 1)
YouTube Link

Saideira (Parts 2 & 3) Carlos Introduces His Band
YouTube Link (Parts 1 & 2)
 
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Thought I'd bring this thread back with a video I shot last night on my Galaxy S6 Edge+

 
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