Take a look at this image. It's beautiful, right? Lots of detail, eye-catching choices of color, and it's dripping in artistic composition. Now, you might think that this image could be this pretty if it were presented in the highest resolution possible. Like 4K, which is becoming more and more popular amongst videographers and cinematographers. Well, I'm here to tell you that, while 4K is an excellent option for image capture, it doesn't always guarantee the best possible image no matter what your ultimate presentation is. How do I know this? Because this image you've been looking at is only 1080p. Which, like celluloid film, is a capture option that should not be forgotten.
For those of you outside of the video technology world, resolution refers to the amount of digital information captured by a camera. When a camera looks at a subject, like a lighthouse seen above, it creates tons of small representations known as pixels or photosites. Usually, the more pixels there are, the more detailed the information. In the world of Video and Television, HD (High Definition) has 1,080 pixels, which has become the standard for capture and delivery. However, in recent years, a new resolution has risen into the market known as 4K, which has four times more pixels than standard HD. This more advanced pixel count has been around since the early 2000s but has only recently become more widely available to the public. Now, 4K is slowly becoming the next standard in both capture and presentation...but should it? Once more, does this mean 1080p is no longer relevant?
The short answer, at least for me, is no.
For one thing, as an option for image capture, 1080p still holds up in quality, both on the big screen and the home screen. In fact, when 1080p HD video was introduced in both the professional and consumer market, a lot of things had to be changed to accommodate the amount of detail it could capture. One particular change was makeup. Because 1080p video could obtain more information than any other video format, brand new makeup products, like better foundation and darker eyeliners, were developed to make it less visible in HD. Another aspect of 1080p which makes it so versatile is the fact that, at least in the early days of digital capture, 1080p was not only being used by the indie crowd or the documentarians, but even by big time Hollywood. Most of the early high-end digital cinema cameras, like the Panavision Genesis or the Sony F35, all shot high-end footage at 1080p. Here are just a few big budget feature films that were captured mostly or entirely at 1080p.
Yes, even this one.
Furthermore, the vast majority of big-time feature films, regardless of capture format, are usually mastered in 2K, which is just slightly above 1080p.
Now, does this mean I hate 4K and will only advocate 1080p? Of course not. I actually happen to like 4K. I love how it can capture more detail and provides better images in low light. 4K offers these benefits and more, making it an excellent option for the best image capture possible.
One of the primary benefits of shooting in 4K is actually when your final product is delivered in 1080p, which it most likely will be anyway. Shooting in 4K and editing in a 1080p timeline allows you to further manipulate the image. You can digitally crop into the shot turning a wide shot into a mid shot or even a close-up. You can use digital effects to further stabilize an otherwise shakey shot. Once more, your 4K footage will look even better when delivered in 1080p, as the extra detail and information can reduce video noise, enhance sharpness, and create an overall more vibrant image.
The only real challenge with 4K, be it professional or not, is storage and computing power. Because 4K creates such a large image area and usually comes in large digital files, they tend to take up a lot of space on the hard drive. Furthermore, when editing 4K, you either need a computer that is powerful enough to handle the image (said computers usually run for over $2,000) or you need to create what is called Proxys. Which are smaller copies of the original footage for editing, thus taking up even more storage space. 4K is an excellent option for image capture, provided you have the tools to handle it.
So, with all of this in mind, why is there still a debate? Why do we seem to be tossing 1080p video aside in favor of 4K? Well, in addition to the standard aspect of human nature to want to go for the new shiny thing, it is also, at least to me, part of a false perception of image making. The most prominent side-effect of available consumer 4K is the assumption that it is entirely required to create and present the most professional and cinematic image possible, and that any other resolution will never be accepted as such. This is wrong for many reasons, but the most important one is that, like all forms of art, it is the eye that makes great images, and not the tool. For a more in-depth discussion on the myth of high resolution, I highly recommend checking out this video lecture by Steve Yedlin, the cinematographer of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. He goes into much greater detail than I will here and has an excellent point about various capture formats.
Shooting in 4K is not the problem. Indeed, the problem, at least from my perspective, is the assumption that you "need" 4K to have the best image possible. 4K is not a magic button that will automatically turn your video more professional or even cinematic. It is merely another option at our disposal that has its pros and cons and requires a talented and skilled mind to know when to put it to use. Much like the still on-going debate with digital vs. celluloid, this argument of 1080p vs. 4K is just misguided. So long as your story is compelling, who cares what it was shot with?
Ladies and gentlemen, I am TheNorm, thank you for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment