Should you upload video in 4k or 1080p? Today we ask the question if you need to upload video to TH-cam in 4K. What are the pros and cons? This video is the 4K version.
TLDR: It is DEFINITELY worth it to render 1080 footage in 4K and upload in 4K. The playback is much higher quality with the 4K setting on, regardless of screen resolution. Full explanation: I have a 1080 monitor. I opened both videos in separate tabs, selected 1080p for both, paused the video at the start, skipped to 1:00 using the arrow keys, and then switched between tabs using ctrl + tab number to compare. The difference when both are in 1080p is small, but noticeable. The details of the 4K version are slightly sharper, such as the North Face logo, shirt color seams, beard hair, and some other skin features. However, the 4K version actually has some potentially undesirable smoothness in 1080p, such as the large areas of shirt color or the couch cushions, where it can look a bit blurrier. I think it likely looks nicer in motion though. The REAL difference is when you play the 4K version in 4K and the 1080 version in 1080. There is absolutely no contest. The 4K version is leagues better than the 1080 version. Every single detail in the video is sharper, the colors are richer and less blurry, and all textures are more clear. Easy comparison points are the eyes, beard, fingers, couch cushions, North Face Logo, and t-shirt. The background is relatively equal. For this secondary comparison alone, it is absolutely worth it to render a 1080 video in 4K and upload it as such. I also just did some localized testing, and I found that in Premiere Pro at least, rendering a 1080 sequence in 4K got me BETTER quality results than putting 1080 footage in a 4K sequence and rendering in 4K. This was true regardless of if I used set to frame size or scale to frame size in the 4K sequence. I also found that Hardware encoding provided better results than software encoding, at least with the H.265 encoder. These comparisons were done with bitrate and all other settings the same and by screenshotting full screen images from the same time in each render and zooming in with a photo editing program to compare fine details and textures. Just thought I'd share. Thanks for the comparison videos!
Viewing on a laptop TH-cam initially automatically set my viewing resolution to 480p which looked fine, I switched to 1080p, I think there was a slight improvement when viewing full screen but was barely noticable, when I switched to 4k the first thing I noticed was significant buffering delay, I am not watching on a 4k screen, however there was a slight difference that I could see in the black monitor in the background but I couldn't really see any significant improvement in picture quality. Perhaps on a larger screen or 4k display the change would be more visible but my preference is still 1080p.
1080P HD is high enough quality for most monitors and less data intensive. For you tube totally fine for most uses, except for videos which actually discuss 4K or want to show a very high cinematic quality. Shooting at 4K has lots of advantages for cropping in video or panning and zooming digitally back to HD if that is the final format. So there is also that. I can see You Tube wanting to promote 4K though, as you say.
@@PluggedinAV yes. The 4k is sharper it is quite certain. Thks. Next time I will choose the best high upload resolution in yt Creator Studio. It takes longer to complete the processing but it's just once off. Do subscribe my channel, like you I am very close to 1000 subs. I had also subscribed to your channel as I enjoyed your style of presentation.
I tried this with my latest video for the first time , I found this really useful thank you. Have viewed on 4k tv iPhone, Macbook Pro and iPad The drone footage over the racecourse was rain and low cloud/wind so I think it looks good... any comments advice welcome.. th-cam.com/video/dAqFrzcV6us/w-d-xo.html 😊👍
TLDR: It is DEFINITELY worth it to render 1080 footage in 4K and upload in 4K. The playback is much higher quality with the 4K setting on, regardless of screen resolution.
Full explanation: I have a 1080 monitor. I opened both videos in separate tabs, selected 1080p for both, paused the video at the start, skipped to 1:00 using the arrow keys, and then switched between tabs using ctrl + tab number to compare.
The difference when both are in 1080p is small, but noticeable. The details of the 4K version are slightly sharper, such as the North Face logo, shirt color seams, beard hair, and some other skin features. However, the 4K version actually has some potentially undesirable smoothness in 1080p, such as the large areas of shirt color or the couch cushions, where it can look a bit blurrier. I think it likely looks nicer in motion though.
The REAL difference is when you play the 4K version in 4K and the 1080 version in 1080. There is absolutely no contest. The 4K version is leagues better than the 1080 version. Every single detail in the video is sharper, the colors are richer and less blurry, and all textures are more clear. Easy comparison points are the eyes, beard, fingers, couch cushions, North Face Logo, and t-shirt. The background is relatively equal.
For this secondary comparison alone, it is absolutely worth it to render a 1080 video in 4K and upload it as such. I also just did some localized testing, and I found that in Premiere Pro at least, rendering a 1080 sequence in 4K got me BETTER quality results than putting 1080 footage in a 4K sequence and rendering in 4K. This was true regardless of if I used set to frame size or scale to frame size in the 4K sequence. I also found that Hardware encoding provided better results than software encoding, at least with the H.265 encoder. These comparisons were done with bitrate and all other settings the same and by screenshotting full screen images from the same time in each render and zooming in with a photo editing program to compare fine details and textures. Just thought I'd share.
Thanks for the comparison videos!
I think it’s subtle but I do think this version is better. What do you think?
Viewing on a laptop TH-cam initially automatically set my viewing resolution to 480p which looked fine, I switched to 1080p, I think there was a slight improvement when viewing full screen but was barely noticable, when I switched to 4k the first thing I noticed was significant buffering delay, I am not watching on a 4k screen, however there was a slight difference that I could see in the black monitor in the background but I couldn't really see any significant improvement in picture quality. Perhaps on a larger screen or 4k display the change would be more visible but my preference is still 1080p.
1080P HD is high enough quality for most monitors and less data intensive. For you tube totally fine for most uses, except for videos which actually discuss 4K or want to show a very high cinematic quality. Shooting at 4K has lots of advantages for cropping in video or panning and zooming digitally back to HD if that is the final format. So there is also that. I can see You Tube wanting to promote 4K though, as you say.
I feel there’s less compression on this video Thanks for the tips!
But where is the link to the 2K version you asked us to compare with??
Do you mean the 1080p version? Here you go
th-cam.com/video/iCler2FxwUE/w-d-xo.html
@@PluggedinAV yes. The 4k is sharper it is quite certain. Thks. Next time I will choose the best high upload resolution in yt Creator Studio. It takes longer to complete the processing but it's just once off. Do subscribe my channel, like you I am very close to 1000 subs. I had also subscribed to your channel as I enjoyed your style of presentation.
So this 4k video will make 1080 p setting look better?
In theory yes
BUT for the first two hours it will look like crap until they finish processing the 4k.
I tried this with my latest video for the first time , I found this really useful thank you. Have viewed on 4k tv iPhone, Macbook Pro and iPad The drone footage over the racecourse was rain and low cloud/wind so I think it looks good... any comments advice welcome.. th-cam.com/video/dAqFrzcV6us/w-d-xo.html
😊👍
@Plugged-in AV subscribed to your channel - thanks 😊👍