The conversation on Facebook and forums usually starts off like this: “why should I shoot in 4k when my TV is only 1080p?”. At first this seems like a very legitimate question. However, the answer is possibly not what you would expect.

While there are several different size standards for 4k video let’s take the video from the DJI Inspire 1 as an example. With the Inspire 1, the video is 4096 x 2160 vs 1080p which is 1920 x 1080.  This means the the 4k video is 2.13x larger than 1080.

By shooting in a higher resolution, and editing on a 1080p timeline, you can crop into the image by 213% without losing any video quality. This allows you to reframe your shot, zoom in, or add stabilization with no impact on the quality.

Let’s take a look at an example:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/DJLnbe2x_I4

By utilizing 4k footage and editing in 1080p, you open up a lot of possibilities in being able to add additional effects like a zoom-in effect since you effectively have up to a 2.13x zoom ability.

With higher resolutions such as 6k and even 8k on the Autel EVO II products, this can really change how you capture your images and videos.

Hopefully this is another tool you can use to make the most out of your footage