H.265 vs ProRes 422HQ. Sample footage? (2024)

canadian drone videos

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  • Dec 30, 2021
  • #32

CanadaDrone said:

This is objectively untrue, and does not take into consideration image size or viewing distance - both of which make it much easier to see differences between 4K and 8K. 8K is already a big deal in the projector world, because it's one application where the difference is particularly noticeable. People said the same thing about 1080P and also about 4K.

Whether or not you will benefit from an 8K display entirely depends on your usage case, just like anything else.

It’s fair to say we don’t agree on much lol.

I don’t take others peoples feelings into consideration when I call a product junk, it is what it is. If people are too sensitive that isn’t going to get me to go Vegan. I sit a typical distance away for a typical sized TV, so, I’m not going to see the difference between 1080 or 4k, most people won’t... unless they sit close to a 110” TV lol. No typical Hollywood movie maker would ever consider using a M3, 4/3rds sensor for big screen. They want big full frame sensors so when the film footage is enlarged onto a 40 foot screen it holds its resolution. The bigger the sensor the better it holds its res when you blow it up on a screen that big.

CanadaDrone said:

Seems we agree that building your own combo is the most economic. I suspect that will be the case for a lot of people.

This is highly subjective - I personally much prefer the RC Pro style remote, as do many others. I have also been extremely happy with the outgoing Smart Controller over the last several years. Nice that there are options for everyone. I don't really see the point in calling something "junk" just because it doesn't work for you personally - it's great that you love your tablet mount, but suggesting that anyone who doesn't share your opinion has opted to use pointless junk seems unnecessary.

I have to disagree with you here. A 4/3 sensor is more than capable of producing "movie" quality footage. There are feature length films shot on 4/3 sensors (cameras like the Panasonic GH4/5 are incredibly popular in the production world), Netflix purchases videos that have been shot on even less, and high profile movies like The Martian have used GoPros (tiny 1/2.3" sensor) for some footage. If it's good enough for Ridley Scott, I think it's fair to say that there is a lot more to it than just looking at sensor size - it's about using the right tool for the job. The idea that 10bit or ProRes or whatever else is only useful if you are using Hollywood-grade video equipment or making a movie for theaters is nonsense. If it isn't required for your personal usage, there is nothing wrong with that, but that doesn't mean others don't benefit from it. If 99.9% of people can't tell the difference, how are companies like Arri still in business if nobody can tell if something is shot on an iPhone or an Alexa? It's almost as if there's more to it than that H.265 vs ProRes 422HQ. Sample footage? (2) It's the same reason you wouldn't hire a wedding photographer to shoot your special day with an iPhone, even though Grandma probably wouldn't notice the difference.

The quality difference between 8bit and 10bit footage is night and day. If you play them back at original quality (and not completely destroyed by the YouTube compression algorithm) it's very easy to see a difference in the colors, DR and gradients. If you have to do any significant editing, it's even more obvious. If you cannot see a difference or aren't taking advantage of this difference, then there is a good argument to be made that you could save a lot of money by buying a cheaper drone. Or if all you want to do (I don't mean you personally) is share unedited 8bit videos on YouTube with your family or something, there is no need for something like a M3. There is nothing wrong with that, but I do think it's wrong to project your personal needs onto every other user by saying that "nobody needs ProRes" or whatever. ProRes is an extremely popular codec.

I very much disagree with this - the differences are easily noticeable between the different bit depths. If you can't tell the difference, or don't edit your footage, you can save a lot of money - and that isn't a bad thing. The difference is very much like shooting JPEG vs RAW on a still image. Even if the end use for the video is something that will not highlight the differences (i.e. a thumbnail sized video or a client or something), maybe you needed to process that video in such a way that would not have been possible with 8bit footage. Just like JPEG still images, there are times where 8bit video footage is acceptable - but it's important to realize that does not making shooting 10bit video or RAW still images pointless.

The reason ProRes is so well liked is because it's extremely easy to edit and it can be reused non-destructively - I find that most people who think ProRes is useless haven't bothered to learn about it. Since it's uncompressed, it doesn't have to be decoded before you edit it, and it's not as taxing on your computer. The other reason you would want to use it is for longevity, or if the video is going to be used for multiple projects because you do not lose quality when you make repetitive changes to it (just like working from a RAW file instead of a JPEG). H264/H265 on the other hand will degrade every time you make changes to it, just like a JPEG does every time you re-save it. The only downside to ProRes really is the huge file sizes, but storage is dirt cheap these days. Some agencies also require their shooters to deliver footage in ProRes.

Send me two original files, one 8bit one 10bit, and I will happily take your $500 without looking at the metadata. There are simply things you can't do with 8bit footage and this is very obvious the instant you get it into an editor or look at a scene that highlights how bad 8bit gradients are.

Send me a message, I travel across Canada on a regular basis for work. Maybe you can meet me at a Tim’s, bring $1500 with you, I’ll show you 3 pieces of video $500 a shot. Challenge is you tell me the res and what codec I used, nothing will be edited. In fact, to keep it super honest I’ll shoot video of you in real time, then show it to you on the Retina display 15” laptop, I have a M3 Lut for Dlog in FCPX. There is no way you or anyone else will know the difference. At the very least we can meet up and do some flying eh.

I find it hard to believe anyone would know the difference for sure between 1080, 5k 264 265 8-10 bit Dlog or ProRes at a typical viewing distance relative to screen size. What difference does it make if your using 10 million or 20 million colours for that matter. I could sneak a piece of P4P footage in there and you wouldn’t know. Researchers say the human eye can only distinguish around 1 million shades of colour. 8 bit puts out about 16.7 million colours, 10 bit is 1.07 billion. So even if I use 8 bit I’m using 15.7 million colours that don’t need to be there.

The technology is well beyond what human biology can take advantage of. If you can see the difference between 8-10 bit then that’s... I really only need what, 1 bit?

At this point it becomes more about marketing and how to fool us into buying something that’s pointless.

How is DJI going to get us to buy an M4? Make it 12 bit lol. Here you go, buy this drone because it produces 10 billion colours your eye will never see lol.

They need to bring new technology to the market, like a fluid silicone sensor? It wouldn’t have pixels, or resolution. They need to think outside the box to upgrade the tech we already have. We don’t need more bits or megapixels or lines of resolution, the human eye can only do so much. A drone is a flying camera, editing 8k footage down to 1080 becomes a task that becomes too great. The more magnification you add to the camera on a drone by either increasing res to crop it latter or add optical zoom the more precise the physical flying of the drone must get. The smaller the drone the more the workload, wind effects smaller drones more.

The bulk of this debate, as I understand it, is to do with technology. How to get us to buy the M4? We’re at the point that cropping drone footage is close to maxing out... unless your just flying straight and not turning. I’m not a fool, I’m not going to by the M4 to get more bits, more res, or even optical zoom. Only one upgrade would get me to drop another $3k on a M4, interchangeable Prime lenses. Not gonna see that ever on a drone with the Mavic airframe.

DJI already knows all this, when they designed the M3 they considered how to get you to buy the next Mavic? Obviously they could have ditched that explore camera and gave us optical zoom, but in a way they gave us big zoom anyways when they gave us 5k on a 4/3rds sensor... and had they not have done that no one would have bought the drone. DJI is holding back from introducing all the technology we have right now in one drone, smart of them but bad for us.

H.265 vs ProRes 422HQ. Sample footage? (2024)
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