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iPhone 6 4K Video
- Thread starter macduke
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I meant to say that they were a leader in early adoption of high-quality video codec technologies, such as H.264, and I thought I read somewhere that they are working on implementing H.265 which is supposedly capable of having twice the compression with the same quality, and supports resolutions up to 8K for movie theaters.
https://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/06/23H-264-Video-Codec-Adopted-for-Next-Generation-DVDs.html
I'm glad this post has stirred up some debate. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards Apple not incorporating 4K into the next iPhone. It's an intriguing thought that the iPhone 6 could, in theory, handle 4K capture. But as someone else said, the file sizes are just too huge. Even if they could get 4K up and running on H.265, they would be saving 64% on compression over H.264. 4K is roughly 4x the file size of 1080p, so even a 64% reduction makes for huge files. My phone is always filling up with 1080p videos of my newborn daughter, and it's 64GB, so 4K would destroy it. Apple would have to come up with a revolutionary new codec to get it to work. And those huge file sizes would absolutely destroy their new iCloud Drive network (unless it only syncs 1080p, but then you'd have to do a lot of CPU intensive scaling before uploading). Yeah, so it probably won't be included until the iPhone 7 or 7S at the earliest. I can wait, and will hopefully have a 4K display by then.
What I now think Apple may do, however, is tap that A8 chip to do some fancy stuff with the camera. It would be neat if they used that patent from a while back that takes a series of quick photos (I think they were shifted slightly using the OIS) and combines them into a single higher-megapixel image. Or you could even capture multiple focal points in quick succession if you have a faster focusing mechanism, and make a photo that you can focus after the fact like a Lytro but high-res. Or even better HDR processing. There are lots of cool tricks you can do with a camera that has access to an insanely fast processor and cutting-edge software.
4k displays will not be on the iphone 7. Or 7s. Or 8. Or 8s. There is no point to creating a resolution that your eyes can not see.
...this may change when apple invents a bionic eye. (The iEye? Heard it here first!)
It's not looking like the iPhone 6 will support h.265. And due to the timing, while Apple maybe an earlier adopter on the media side I doubt they will on the mobile side. MAYBE the iPhone 6S.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a decoder in an Apple TV before anything.
Yes, H.265 (aka HEVC) offers roughly 50% reduction in file size for same image quality. And obviously, HEVC can work with any resolution, including 720p and 1080p.
The flip side is that decoding HEVC is more computationally intensive, but if A8 on iPhone 6 has enough muscle, I am all for it offering hardware decoding.
A8 won't be able to handle decoding h.265 on a software level.
You need a core 2 duo @ 2ghz to decode h.264 1080p with software. H.265 needs even better specs. iPhone (any phone) won't utilize h.265 until hardware decoding is in place for mobile device.
It's not too far out but I think I read late 2014 early 2015. That's why I mentioned not seeing it until at least the 6S (probably later).
Yeah, I agree. I was saying that I hope to own a 4K display by then, such as a TV or Thunderbolt 2.0 display for playback. 326ppi is plenty for me on my phone. I can barely see the pixels if I put it up to my face while squinting. Barely.
I imagine Samesung will eventually have a 4K display in some future 7" version of the Note. BECAUSE MOAR PIXZELS!!
4k video is visibly sharper than 1080p-recorded video even on just a 1080p screen. Even on a 720P screen.
Each frame of 4k is ~ 8MP, whereas a 1080P frame is ~ 2MP....4x greater. So that is a significant amount more detail.
There is a youtube video demonstrating the sharpness of a Note 3's 4k (UHD) vs the sharpness of the prosumer Canon 5D Mark III with similar settings (aperture fps, focal length, etc) . And it's easy to see the sharpness difference on a reasonable sized 720p or 1080p screen.
There are now tons of very nice 4k clips of from phone cameras on youtube......LG has 4 4k capable phones. Samsung has 3, Sony now has a few as well .....some requiring mods.
The 5s is capable of 4k, but I think currently the only way is a burst camera app and then creating a video of the captured images.
With respect to how much space 4k takes......the minimum I have seen is something like 30Mbps bitrate or below......which is ~ 100MB for every 30 seconds. It's on the noisy side but it's still very sharp for video. And on all the Samsung cameras you could use a huge SD card and up the bitrate. So for short youtube clips if you are picky about video quality........very usable IMO. Triipod mounting is possible with an extra cheap mount.
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Yeah downsides of lower battery life even on 3K (2560 etc) displays in the Android space, make me hesitant for 4K at this time.
Processing power is one thing, but how useful would it be on a small screen. Its not like Facebook is going to use 4k videos and that's one of the major places these videos end up.
Just because the CPU can handle it, doesn't mean there's a need or a use for it.
Read post 36. Aside from higher quality at 1080 it offers great electronic stabilization since you have so much play room. I'm sure there are many benefits it could offer.
Most of which won't be noticed until the video is exported and on a bigger/better display then the phones screen.
The Iphone 5S screen is lower than 720p resolution.......but why does it have a 1080p camera?
edit......possibly detectable IMO, but not striking. As the screen gets bigger to a point.........clearly night and day.
Depends on the resolution of the 4.7" screen, the higher the resolution, the more the chances of seeing a difference. So far Iphone haven't used even 720p screens to date.
I've used a couple 4k phones, modded LG G2 and Note 3. They use 1080p screens 5" +. Between natively captured resolutions, I believe there is a detectable difference.
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There is a significant amount of people that like to take video with phones, edit and share on youtube. And >27" 1080p screens are common, and IMO anyone can tell a difference with something big enough like that.
I've used a couple 4k phones, modded LG G2 and Note 3. They use 1080p screens 5" +. Between natively captured resolutions, I believe there is a detectable difference.
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