The Power of 4K

If you haven’t heard of 4K, you probably live under a rock. Patrick, is that you? Spongebob jokes aside, 4K is the future of technology in both the display and device industries. Not an entirely new technology, but rapidly growing in popularity, 4K is paving the way for the future of digital resolution. 1080p has over two million pixels, (1920 x 1080), whereas 4K has over eight million pixels (3840 x 2160)- hence 4K has four times the resolution of 1080p. Images, videos and cinemagraphs look more crisp and colourful on 4K displays. While 8K is already on the horizon, 4K is what we’re going to be using for the next few years.

The Future of Photography & Videography

At CES 2015, LG, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Panasonic and many others debuted hundreds of new products that support 4K UltraHD resolution. Cameras and camcorders with 4K support that used to costs thousands, now start at a few hundred dollars. Panasonic even introduced a  Lumix Android Smartphone with built-in 4K camera. You no longer have to be a big production company to own an effective 4K device- just take a look at the Panasonic Lumix GH4. With increase in the active camera market, the ability to shook 4K footage is becoming more of an interest. Imagine recording video from a surfboard and being able to pull a single frame out with the same quality and resolution as a photograph… say hello to GoPro Hero4 Black. As technology advances, there is more and more demand for video resolution to look just as good as digital still-imagery. People are always searching for sharper and overall better image and video quality- the solution is 4K. Looking at these trends, it wouldn’t be ludicrous to predict that the future of photography and videography is actually a mergence of the two. Why just take a photo when you can take video and photos all at the same time? Enter, Cinemagraphs- centre stage.

What Does This Mean for Flixel?

The art of creating cinemagraphs is shooting a video, taking a still from that video and then revealing parts of the video using a masking technique. 4K videos give users the ability to take any single frame as a high-resolution image. Instead of debating whether to record a scene or capture it as a photograph, do both at once with incredible results. Cameras and camcorders with 4K capabilities are ideal for cinemagraph creation, where the goal is for the quality of living photos to look as great, (if not greater), than photographs. Quick to adapt, Flixel Cinemagraph Pro for Mac allows users to edit and export their 4K video. For now, uploading your cinemagraph to Flixel.com will transcode the video to HD resolution for web. Don’t fret, H.265 is projected to become the new industry standard codec; with support for high frame rates and 10-bit colour, H.265 is optimized for 4K. Even with the same output resolution, there is an obvious difference between the clarity of cinemagraphs shot in HD, to those shot in 4K. Check out the cinemagraphs below which were created with 4K footage:

Cinemagraph shot in 4K, by: Travel Alberta Cinemagraph shot in 4k, by: Ixhumni

Forever evolving, photography has come a long way from the camera obscura. With the most recent innovations in technology, the photo and video industry is moving towards 4K and beyond. Soon, HD will be a word of the past… and years from now, 4K will take its place. Flixel has and will continue to adjust and embrace the newest and best inventions in the tech industry. 4K is just about ready for the everyday consumer market- will you be one of the early adaptors?