High frame rate revolution - GoPro 2.7K 60p & 720 240p firmware coming

[A.Y.]

The just announced (February release) GoPro firmware will add 2.7K 60p and 720 240p frame rates to the Hero 4 Black, delivering the most impressive and affordable high-frame-rate camera to the consumer market:

•3840x2160 30p 8MP capture & playback (too choppy for fast-moving subjects - running kids, sea lions, and sports in general even with lots of slow shutter induced motion blur, softening the frames)
•2704x1520 60p 4MP capture & playback (as smooth as human eyesight and sharper than 4K 30p for fast-moving subjects and panning since motion blur is not needed so the frames can remain sharp)
•1920x1080 120p 2MP capture & 60p playback (ultra smooth and sharp 1/2 speed slow motion)
•1280x720 240p capture & 60p playback (ultra smooth and sharp 1/4 speed slow motion)

GoPro sales has been increasing because the founder is a visionary who fully understands the importance of high frame rates to the fast-paced sports his users are engaging in.

GoPro users are definitely fueling the high-frame-rate revolution, and YouTube has responded to growing demands by adding 60p and 48p streaming.

The legendary filmmakers George Lucas (Disneyland Star Wars/Star Tours 60fps), Peter Jackson (Hobbits 48fps, Universal Studio King Kong 60fps), and James Cameron (Avatar 2 60fps) are all pushing the entertainment industry toward high-frame-rate contents while educating the public on the benefit of high-frame-rate capture and playback.

4K 30/24p vs. 2K 60/48p - James Cameron: "A 2K image at 48 frames per second looks as sharp as a 4K image at 24 frames per second ... with one fundamental difference: the 4K/24 image will judder miserably during a panning shot, and the 2K/48 won't." Why? 4K 30/25/24p require 1/60sec or slower shutter speeds to introduce motion blur to smooth out the panning shots and fast moving subjects which soften the image. 2K 48/50/60p will appear smooth without motion blur so the 2K frames can remain as sharp as possible even for panning shot and fast moving subjects.

Keep in mind that most filmmakers are forced to use the 80+ year old 24fps because many theaters around the world are still using 24fps film projectors. The good news is that these outdated equipments are fast being replaced by digital projectors capable of 120+fps so we'll definitely see the end of 24fps movies in the not so distance future. Furthermore, all movie studios will eventually follow Paramount lead and stop making film prints first in the US and then the rest of the world and that will accelerate the conversion to digital projectors.

After seeing Doug Trumbull's groundbreaking ShowScan presentation on the benefit of high frame rate, many in the entertainment industry have become converts. Personally, I have never shot any HD videos for family or work below 60fps - ever.

 

[tamas970]

I'd rather appreciate enhanced bitrate/10bit 4:2:2 recording. Scuba/UW video is usually not about fast action but much more about coping with the lack of light and the distorted spectrum. Besides, experience on external HDMI recorders says, there is plenty of room to improve IQ for the Hero4.

 

[A.Y.]

GoPro website now list 2.7K 60p under GoPro 4 Black.

By the way, Doug Trumbull's ShowScan studies show that a tiny amount of choppiness is still visible at 48fps but it pretty much disappears completely at 60fps. Peter Jackson shot Hobbits at 48fps so that converting it to 24fps for film release would be easy. He actually prefers 60fps.

 

[ronscuba]

Increased frame rate specs alone don't automatically translate to better video. Kind of like how resolution increases, but data recording speed decreases. Or camera digital zoom increases the zoom capability, but resolution goes down.

Here is a video with a lot of movement. Take a guess on the camera and recording specs.

[vimeo]91793709[/vimeo]

 

[tamas970]

The bitrate should go up simultaneously, what it doesn't do. Before buying my h4, i received 2.7k protune samples shot at 24 and 48Hz: at 24Hz the bitrate was 45mbps, at 48Hz 60, theoretically the bitrate should also double.
I also saved single frames from each vids, the higher fps sample produced significantly smaller files (~30-40% smaller, cannot be coincidence on identical static target...), that tells me, going faster I sacrifice quality.

Increased frame rate specs alone don't automatically translate to better video. Kind of like how resolution increases, but data recording speed decreases. Or camera digital zoom increases the zoom capability, but resolution goes down.

Here is a video with a lot of movement. Take a guess on the camera and recording specs.

guess: hero3(+) black with snorkel filter, 30fps.

Question back, what did u use for this? [video=vimeo;91370369]http://vimeo.com/91370369[/video]

 

[A.Y.]

People who prefer slow frame rates won't have to change at all. Shooting slow-moving subjects with minimum amount of panning, slow frame rates are more than good enough.

When you film sea lions that circle the divers quickly and one needs to pan the camera to keep the subjects in frame a little longer, then high frame rate will make a noticeable difference. It's great that 2.7k 60p is now an option!

James Cameron made this statement: "A 2K image at 48 frames per second looks as sharp as a 4K image at 24 frames per second ... with one fundamental difference: the 4K/24 image will judder miserably during a panning shot, and the 2K/48 won't." based on carefully administered screening tests done by major studios. 2k 48p delivers the same amount of resolution to the eyes as 4k 24p and human perceive the two being roughly equally sharp. The reason why people were so surprise how much sharper Hobbits (4k 48fps) was compared to regular 4k 24fps movies was because their eyes actually received twice the resolution.

 

[ronscuba]

Faster frame rates work great for slow motion and if you want to see detail on action shots. Picking out details on action shots is cool, but a little blur looks more natural. For regular motion recording the faster frame rate is not doing anything for you. I like to have an occasional slow motion or detailed action shot in my videos, but it's more of a special effect used sparingly. I try not to pan too much, preferring to keep the camera still and let the subject do the moving. I find too much panning can be tiring to watch.

There is a lot more going on inside the camera than just resolution and frame rate specs. Just because the GoPro can shookt 4k or 2k high frame rates does not mean it can compare with a professional camera. With consumer cameras, the faster frame rates often come at the expense of lower picture quality, less low light capability, increased video noise. A firmware upgrade does not mean a better lens or better sensor or a better processor. It means an change in how the data is handled and manipulated. The increase in frame rates is coming at the expense of something.

My 2 videos above were shot with 2007 Sony consumer camcorder, filter, no lights, 1080 resolution, 60i frame rate which is equivalent to 30p. The whaleshark was a deep dark dive. GoPro would not have been able to handle the low light.

The increased resolution and frame rates on the GoPro means more options, which is a good thing, but I'd rather a GoPro with better low light capabilities and options for narrower lenses.

 

[Dauntless]

Thinking back to photography days, an image shot at 1/60th sec will be sharper than one shot at 1/30th if the subject is moving. Another thought about 60 fps, in Europe where the house current is 50 hertz, if you look closely at an incandescent light, you can detect flicker that you don’t see in the US where the house current is 60 hertz.

 

[Interceptor121]

Thinking back to photography days, an image shot at 1/60th sec will be sharper than one shot at 1/30th if the subject is moving. Another thought about 60 fps, in Europe where the house current is 50 hertz, if you look closely at an incandescent light, you can detect flicker that you don’t see in the US where the house current is 60 hertz.

The flicker has to do with shutter speed so in 60 Hz countries use 1/60 or 1/125 in 50 Hz countries 1/50 and 1/100

PAL handles pretty well as 25p and 50p are exact multiples and 24p does OK in PAL region as it is pretty close

Instead in 60 Hz countries 24p with 1/60 gives stuttering look when pulled down.

Ron is totally right underwater there is little light having more dynamic range, color sensitivity and low noise is far more important than double frame rate. The exception is of course macro shooting with light that you can slow down 50%.

The other issue is of course bitrate H264 is temporally compressed so increasing frame frequency defeats a bit the purpose so you need a lot more bitrate to equal image quality when double frame rate. Most cameras limit bitrates to 15-20% more or even same bitrate when increasing frame rate and the result is that as your eye is quite good at interpolating frames you only loose image quality
I have shot all my clips in 2012 and 2013 in double frame rate as it was the highest bitrate and it was a mistake I went to Raja Ampat and it was not that bright I wish I had shot it at 1/50 25p.

Raja Ampat 50p 1/100 shutter speed
[youtubehq]DuCMkUyYiDE[/youtubehq]

In 2014 I shot in 25p 1/50 shutter speed I went to Galapagos and despite the light was not good I managed good colors

[youtubehq]Oac1AQ2j5kg[/youtubehq]

When I then went to Malta and I had a few bright shallow dive really the 25p 1/50 brought so much colors and saturation

[youtubehq]-zhv3XfhE9E[/youtubehq]

I have to say instead that increasing resolution like shooting 4K at 25p does look better in outdoors although the few underwater videos I have seen are not exactly amazing

For who is technical I have done a write up

Demystifying video formats | Interceptor121 Underwater Photo & Video Blog

You can see the way the streams are done in AVCHD 25p and 50p and see what I mean

 

[Dauntless]

The flicker has to do with shutter speed so in 60 Hz countries use 1/60 or 1/125 in 50 Hz countries 1/50 and 1/100

PAL handles pretty well as 25p and 50p are exact multiples and 24p does OK in PAL region as it is pretty close

Instead in 60 Hz countries 24p with 1/60 gives stuttering look when pulled down.

Actually I was speaking about with the naked eye I could notice the difference between 50 and 60 hrtz