智能手机制造商正在竭尽全力推出令人兴奋的新功能。有些人比其他人更成功，有些人只是为了营销目的。虽然越来越多的旗舰智能手机配备了 8K 视频录制功能，但它真的是一种有用的功能，还是只是一种时尚？在本文中，我将回答您可能对视频录制提出的一些问题。8K录音值得用吗？在智能手机上录制视频的最佳分辨率是多少？配备了令人敬畏的三星 Galaxy S22 Ultra(Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra)，我分析了不同的录制场景，并准备展示我的发现：
越大越好，对吧？
在讨论视频尺寸和质量之前，我先说一句：对于拍照来说，分辨率越大越好。如果您可以获得类似的原始（未处理）质量，则更高分辨率的照片会更好，因为它们包含更多信息。这意味着您可以在保持质量的同时放大、重构和缩小它们到较低的分辨率。例如，将 4K 图片缩小到 1080p 总是会比以 1080p 拍摄产生更好的效果。现在，继续看视频……
提示：(TIP:)如果您对 4K 或 1080p 等术语感到困惑，我们推荐这篇文章：720p、1080p、1440p、2K、4K 分辨率是什么意思？(What do the 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 2K, 4K resolutions mean?)
1.图像质量和处理
继续看视频，同样的观点通常也是正确的：对于所有意图和目的，使用更高的分辨率来录制视频会产生更好的成品质量，所有其他条件都相同(all other things being equal)。但这就是问题所在：在智能手机上，在录制视频时，从某一点开始，其他设置并不相同。即使您在关闭所有辅助设备（如 AI、HDR等）的情况下拍摄视频，智能手机也会进行一些繁重的处理以使视频更好看。这样做有一个好处：如果分辨率太低，视频会看起来像素化，但另一方面，使用传感器可以捕获的最大分辨率会剥夺你的许多处理功能。即使在Galaxy S22 Ultra这样的旗舰设备上也是如此(Galaxy S22 Ultra)：以 8K 录制的视频通常看起来并不比以 4K 拍摄的视频好。事实上，有些人可能会争辩说它们看起来更糟糕、更柔和，并且有更多的伪影。
从我的角度来看，三星 Galaxy S22 Ultra(Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra)的最佳点是 4K 视频录制，因为录制的质量非常好，将其缩小到 1080p 将产生比 1080p 拍摄更好的视频质量：
在低光下，差异更加明显。8K 视频更暗，噪点更多，而 4K 和 1080p 视频可以受益于芯片组的全部处理能力和三星 Galaxy S22 Ultra(Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra)背面的四个摄像头。
当然，其他旗舰智能手机不一定如此。有些人在以 8K 录制时会产生质量更好的视频，但这种格式的主要问题之一开始显现：由于智能手机的 8K 技术尚未成熟，结果可能会受到打击或错过。
2. 稳定
既然我提到了自动视频处理， Galaxy S22 Ultra(Galaxy S22 Ultra)用来提高视频质量的最重要方法之一就是结合光学图像稳定 ( OIS ) 和电子图像稳定 ( EIS )。简而言之，OIS通过物理移动相机传感器来补偿相机移动，而EIS使用巧妙的算法和图像裁剪来实现类似的结果。OIS对于照片至关重要，但对于视频而言，EIS更为重要，部分原因是它的反应速度更快。在某些智能手机上，例如Realme GT2 Pro, 8K 视频不稳定，这显然会对录制质量产生负面影响。在三星 Galaxy S22 Ultra(Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra)等其他旗舰上，稳定性非常好，并且在所有分辨率下都能完美运行。
不过，Galaxy S22 Ultra有一项名为Super Steady Video ( SSV ) 的功能，专为 1080p 视频保留。您可以通过转到相机应用程序的(Camera )视频(Video )部分并点击屏幕上部的手形图标来激活它（假设智能手机处于纵向）。
点击此图标可在三星 Galaxy S22 Ultra上启用(Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra)超级稳定视频(Super Steady Video)
为了提供这种级别的稳定性，Galaxy S22 Ultra使用了超广角摄像头，分辨率仅为 1080p，变焦范围为 0.6 到 1.0。由于超广角以 4K 原生拍摄并且具有更大的视野（120 度与主相机的 85 度相比，基本上为您提供 0.6 倍变焦），因此将SSV限制为具有 1080p 分辨率和有限变焦级别的超广角可以提供智能手机有很大的空间可以在不损失质量的情况下裁剪、重新构图和调整图像。
这一切的主要收获是什么？要获得最佳稳定性，您需要有大量的分辨率开销。因此，如果您需要超稳定的图像（至少，在当今的智能手机技术下不是），以 8K 拍摄并不是很好。
3.运动模糊
接下来，我禁用了 Super Steady Video(Super Steady Video) ( SSV ) 并拍摄了两段非常摇晃的视频，手部快速移动，一段为 1080p/30fps，另一段为 8K/24fps。理论上，两者都应该利用标准的OIS和EIS。这是我以 8K/24fps 拍摄的视频，变焦为 1（相当于 4K 和 1080p 的 1.6 变焦）。请(Please)注意，YouTube会压缩视频：
下面的视频是以 1080p/30fps 的速度录制的，变焦大约为 1.6，以匹配相机在 8K 模式下使用的变焦级别，如果你仔细观察，就会弹出一个有趣的东西。
好的(Okay)，标准的图像稳定在这两种情况下都很好，没有什么可评论的。但是，虽然静态图像显然有更多细节（即使以 1080p 观看），但在图像移动时，8K 和 1080p 录制之间没有明显区别。怎么可能？下图比较了每个记录中包含运动模糊的帧。
静止帧比较（1080p 与 8K）
运动模糊质量保持大致相同，因此只要 fps 相似，具有大量运动的视频质量不会有任何改善(Motion blur quality stays roughly the same, and thus videos with lots of movement see no improvement in quality as long as the fps are similar)（我过于简单化了，因为快门速度和其他因素在这里也有很大的相关性）。这意味着，虽然 8K 确实为拍照带来了好处，但当我们谈论录制视频时，情况发生了巨大变化。为了消除运动模糊，只有通过增加帧率（很多）才能实现具有大量运动的视频的质量改进。但是当运动模糊消失时，视频看起来不自然。
4. 处理能力、电池寿命和热量
录制 8K 视频比以 1080p 拍摄消耗电池电量要快得多。原因很明显：捕获的数据越多意味着要处理的数据越多，处理器利用率越高，能耗也越高。为了证明我的观点：以 1080p/30fps 拍摄 5 分钟的视频会消耗 2% 的电池电量，而在相同位置、使用相同设置、但使用 8K/24fps 拍摄视频时，会消耗 3% 的电量。大约多出 50%，如果您录制更长或多个视频，这可能会有所不同。不仅如此，在测试过程中，三星 Galaxy S22 Ultra(Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra)甚至警告我不要在 8K 下拍摄超过 5 分钟，以免过热。事实上，在 5 分钟的 8K 录制结束时，该设备热得令人不快。更多的热量意味着随着时间的推移更多的电池退化，因为热量是电池的敌人。
5.文件大小
这一点很明显，但我还是要提一下：分辨率越高，生成的文件就越大。对于图片来说确实如此，但对于视频来说，这是一个真正的问题。不仅因为智能手机上的可用空间（尽管这也是一个问题，因为许多智能手机没有可扩展的存储空间）。不，它与文件传输有关。只需尝试以 8K/24fps 录制的 1 分钟视频发送给朋友。不，我敢，你试试。关键是：24 fps 的 1 分钟 8K 视频占用将近 600 MB！为了传输这么大的文件，您需要无限的移动计划或 Wi-Fi 连接。即使您有足够的带宽，也只有少数应用程序可以让您一次性传输如此大的文件。相比下，
8K 视频的文件大小，即使是 24fps，也很荒谬
当然，大多数智能手机可以进一步压缩或调整录制文件的大小，以控制文件大小，但是您要么得到分辨率较低的视频，要么由于有损压缩(lossy compression)而质量较差。
6. 拍摄灵活性
随着时间的推移，8K 录制可能会开始提供合理的灵活性，甚至变得无处不在。尽管如此，在 2022 年，即使使用地球上最先进的智能手机之一，8K 拍摄也有很大的局限性：只有一台相机可用、变焦更少、图像处理更少/更差、没有HDR记录、低帧率等等. 同时，将事物降低到 4K，您可以获得相机应用程序中几乎所有可用的功能：使用所有五个摄像头（是的， (Camera )Galaxy S22 Ultra上的前置摄像头也以 4K 拍摄）为您提供广泛的（光学！）缩放级别，图像处理更好，您可以达到 60fps 等。
7. 回放
太好了(Great)，您以 8K（7680 x 4320 像素）录制了视频。怎么办？Galaxy S22 Ultra(Galaxy S22 Ultra)拥有出色的屏幕，分辨率为 1440 x 3088 像素，像素密度也同样出色（~ 500 ppi）。但这甚至不是4K！高像素密度超出了人类所能感知的范围（说真的，拿你的Galaxy S22 Ultra并尝试用肉眼区分单个像素 - 你很可能会失败），所以即使你设法在同一个像素中塞进更多像素空间，观看 4K 视频和 8K 视频之间的差异将是最小的。
你需要一个放大镜...
但是如何在另一个屏幕上查看内容呢？您有能够播放 8K 内容的显示器吗？如果你这样做了，你就是少数幸运儿之一。实际上，很少有人可以使用 8K 显示器。此外，与Galaxy S22 Ultra(Galaxy S22 Ultra)可以录制的原生 4K 相比，在 4K 屏幕上观看视频的优势（因此，缩小了尺寸）被较低的录制质量所抵消。
用智能手机录制的最佳分辨率是多少？
综合考虑，在智能手机上拍摄 8K 视频是值得的，还是太多了？在我看来，到 2022 年，以现在可用的技术，这是不值得的。明年甚至不值得。或者之后的那个。即使有更多 8K 内容可用，您也只能在对角线为 280 英寸（7 米）(on screens that are 280 inches (7 meters) in diagonal)且高帧率的屏幕上真正利用此分辨率。我预计 8K 视频录制在功能和质量方面会变得越来越灵活，但即便如此，它的用例也将非常有限。总而言之，以下是我在智能手机上录制高分辨率视频的结论：
- 8K 录制(8K recording)主要用于营销目的，因为总是存在缺点：质量不如 4K 录制，没有图像稳定，帧率低，或者缺少其他功能。它可能用于大量编辑，以获得高度稳定的 4K 视频或缩小到 4K，但在当前（2022 年）的智能手机上绝对不值得。非常不建议将此分辨率用于日常录制，并且仅适用于特定用例。(This resolution is highly unrecommended for day-to-day recordings and is only good for specific use cases.)
- 4K 录制(4K recording)似乎是目前旗舰智能手机的最佳选择，尤其是三星 Galaxy S22 Ultra(Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra)，它可以拍摄一些精美的 4K 视频。生成的文件比 8K 的文件小，分辨率允许对 1080p 输出进行大量编辑，并且对 4K 播放的支持越来越广泛。该分辨率非常适合获得高质量的录音。(This resolution is perfect for obtaining high-quality recordings.)
- 在我（不受欢迎的）看来， 1080p 录制(1080p recording)即将淘汰。它仍然非常适合使用中档智能手机或旧旗舰进行日常视频录制，但对于内容创作者来说，它已经过时了。例如，您无法在后期制作中修复糟糕的取景，而在智能手机上以 1080p 拍摄时，通常会附带一些简洁的功能，例如HDR 10+录制、120 fps（慢动作为 240 fps）和超级稳定视频(Super Steady Video)在Galaxy S22 Ultra上可用，这些功能很可能也开始在 4K 上可用，将 1080p 降级为历史书籍，就像 HD 或 720p 一样。1080p 非常适合日常录制，但视频质量并不是最好的。(1080p is great for day-to-day recordings, but video quality is not the best.)
你有什么意见？1080p、4K 还是 8K？
我很想知道您对录制视频的不同分辨率的看法。您认为制造商应该专注于 8K 还是提高 4K 和 1080p 图像质量？你认为我们应该坚持 30 fps、60 fps 还是 120 fps？在评论中告诉我。
Smartphone video recording in 1080p, 4K, 8K: How much is too much?
Smartphone manufacturers are doing everything they cаn to bring forward new аnd exciting features. Ѕоme are more successful than others, some are only there for marketing purposes. While an increasing number of flagship smartphones feature 8K video recording, is it really a useful ability, or is it just a fad? In this article, I’m going to аnswer a few questions that you may have regarding vіdeo recording. Is 8K recording worth using? Whаt’s the best resolution for video recording on smartphones? Eqυipped with the awesome Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, I analyzed different recording scenarios and I’m ready to present my findings:
The bigger, the better, right?
Before discussing video sizes and quality, let me first say this: for taking pictures, the larger the resolution, the better. If you can get similar raw (unprocessed) quality, higher resolution photos are better for the obvious reason that they contain more information. This means you can zoom in, reframe and downscale them to a lower resolution while preserving quality. For example, downsizing a 4K picture to 1080p will always yield a better result than shooting in 1080p. Now, moving on to videos…
TIP: If you’re confused by terms like 4K or 1080p, we recommend this article: What do the 720p, 1080p, 1440p, 2K, 4K resolutions mean?
1. Image quality and processing
Moving on to videos, the same point is generally true as well: for all intents and purposes, using a higher resolution for recording a video yields better quality for the finished product, all other things being equal. But that’s the thing: on smartphones, when recording videos, from a point on, other settings are not equal. Even when you’re shooting a video with all aids turned off (like AI, HDR, etc.), the smartphone does some heavy processing to make the videos better-looking. There is a sweet spot for this: if you go too low with the resolution, the video will look pixelated, but on the opposite end, using the maximum resolution that a sensor can capture will rob you of many processing features. This is true even on a flagship device like the Galaxy S22 Ultra: recording in 8K usually produces videos that look no better than those shot in 4K. In fact, some may argue that they look slightly worse, softer, and with more artifacts.
The sweet spot for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, from my perspective, is 4K video recording, since the quality of the recording is excellent, and downsizing it to 1080p will result in a better-quality video than one shot in 1080p:
In low light, the difference is even more visible. 8K videos are darker, with more noise, while 4K and 1080p videos can benefit from the full processing power of the chipset and the four cameras present on the back of the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Of course, this is not necessarily the case with other flagship smartphones. Some produce better-quality videos when recording in 8K, but one of the main issues with this format starts to take shape: since 8K technology for smartphones hasn’t matured yet, the results can be hit or miss.
2. Stabilization
Since I mentioned automatic video processing, one of the most important methods that the Galaxy S22 Ultra uses to improve your video quality is a combination of optical image stabilization (OIS) and electronic image stabilization (EIS). In short, OIS works by physically moving the camera sensor in order to compensate for camera movements, while EIS uses clever algorithms and image cropping to achieve similar results. OIS is critical for photos, but for videos, EIS is much more important, in part because it reacts much faster. On some smartphones, like the Realme GT2 Pro, 8K videos are not stabilized, which obviously negatively affects recording quality. On other flagships, like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, the stabilization is excellent, and it works perfectly on all resolutions.
However, the Galaxy S22 Ultra has a feature called Super Steady Video (SSV) which is reserved for 1080p videos. You can activate it by going to the Video section of the Camera app and tapping on the hand icon in the upper part of the screen (assuming the smartphone is in portrait orientation).
Tap this icon to enable Super Steady Video on the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
To provide this level of stabilization, the Galaxy S22 Ultra uses the ultrawide camera and a resolution of only 1080p, with a zoom range of 0.6 to 1.0. Since the ultrawide shoots natively in 4K and has a much larger field of view (120 degrees versus the 85 of the main camera, basically giving you that 0.6 zoom), restricting SSV to the ultrawide with a 1080p resolution and a limited zoom level gives the smartphone a lot of room to crop, reframe and adjust the image without losing quality.
The main takeaway from all this? To achieve the best stabilization, you need to have a lot of resolution overhead. Thus, shooting in 8K is not great if you need super steady images (at least, not with today’s smartphone technology).
3. Motion blur
Next, I disabled Super Steady Video (SSV) and shot two very shaky videos, with rapid hand movements, one at 1080p/30fps and one at 8K/24fps. In theory, both should take advantage of the standard OIS and EIS. Here’s the video I shot at 8K/24fps with the zoom at 1 (which is equivalent to 1.6 zoom on 4K and on 1080p). Please note that YouTube compresses the videos:
The video below was recorded at 1080p/30fps with a zoom of roughly 1.6 to match the zoom level used by the camera in 8K mode, and if you look closely, a fascinating thing pops up.
Okay, the standard image stabilization works well in both cases, nothing to comment there. But although static images clearly have a lot more detail (even viewed in 1080p), there is no discernible difference between the 8K and the 1080p recording when the image is moving. How can that be? The following picture compares a frame containing motion blur from each recording.
Still frame comparison (1080p vs 8K)
Motion blur quality stays roughly the same, and thus videos with lots of movement see no improvement in quality as long as the fps are similar (I’m oversimplifying things, as shutter speed and other factors have a big relevance here too). This means that, while 8K does bring benefits for taking pictures, when we’re talking about recording videos, the situation changes drastically. Quality improvements on videos with a lot of movement can only be achieved by increasing the framerate (a lot), in order to eliminate motion blur. But when motion blur disappears, the video looks unnatural.
4. Processing power, battery life, and heat
Recording 8K videos drains the battery much faster than, let’s say, shooting in 1080p. The reasons are obvious: more data captured means more data to be processed, much higher processor utilization, and more energy consumption. To prove my point: shooting a 5-minute video on 1080p/30fps took 2% off the battery while shooting a video in the same location, with the same settings, but with 8K/24fps, sucked 3%. It’s roughly 50% more, and that can make a difference if you’re recording longer or multiple videos. Not only that, but during the test, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra even warned me against shooting in 8K for more than 5 minutes to avoid overheating. And indeed, at the end of the 5 minutes of recording in 8K, the device was unpleasantly hot. More heat means more battery degradation over time because heat is the enemy of batteries.
5. File size
This one is obvious, but I will mention it nonetheless: the higher the resolution, the larger the resulting file. It’s true for pictures, but it’s a real problem when it comes to videos. And not only because of the space available on the smartphone (although that is a problem as well since many smartphones don’t have expandable storage). No, it’s got more to do with file transfer. Just try to send a 1-minute video, recorded in 8K/24fps, to a friend. No, I dare you, try. And here’s the catch: a 1-minute 8K video at 24 fps occupies almost 600 MB! In order to transfer a file this large, you’ll need either an unlimited mobile plan or a Wi-Fi connection. Even if you have enough bandwidth, there are only a small number of apps that allow you to transfer such large files in one go. In comparison, a 1-minute 1080p video shot at 30fps takes up 124 MB of space, and a 4K video at 30 fps takes up 350 MB.
The file size for 8K videos, even at 24fps, is ridiculous
Sure, most smartphones can further compress or resize the recordings in order to keep file size under control, but then you are either left with a lower resolution video or with one that has poor quality due to lossy compression.
6. Shooting flexibility
With time, recording in 8K may start to offer reasonable flexibility or even become ubiquitous. Still, in 2022, even when using one of the most advanced smartphones on the planet, 8K shooting has significant limitations: only one camera available, less zoom, less/worse image processing, no HDR recording, low framerate, and the list goes on. Meanwhile, taking things down a notch to 4K, you get almost the complete set of features available in the Camera app: using all five cameras (yes, the front-facing camera on the Galaxy S22 Ultra shoots in 4K as well) gives you a wide range of (optical!) zoom levels, image processing is way better, you can go up to 60fps, etc.
7. Playback
Great, you recorded your video in 8K (7680 x 4320 pixels). Now what? The Galaxy S22 Ultra has an excellent screen, with a resolution of 1440 x 3088 pixels and an equally good pixel density (~500 ppi). But that’s not even 4K! The high pixel density is beyond what humans can perceive (seriously, take your Galaxy S22 Ultra and try to distinguish individual pixels with the naked eye - you will most likely fail), so even if you would somehow manage to cram more pixels in the same space, the difference between viewing a 4K video and an 8K video would be minimal.
You're going to need a magnifying glass...
But how about viewing the content on another screen? Do you have a display capable of playing back 8K content? If you do, you’re one of the lucky few. Realistically, very few people have access to 8K displays. Furthermore, the advantages of viewing the video on 4K screens (thus, downsizing) are offset by the lower quality of the recording compared to the native 4K that the Galaxy S22 Ultra can record.
What is the best resolution for recording with smartphones?
Taking all things into account, is shooting videos in 8K on your smartphone worth it, or is it too much? In my opinion, in 2022, with the technology available right now, it’s not worth it. It won’t even be worth it next year. Or the one after that. Even if more 8K content becomes available, you’d only be truly able to take advantage of this resolution on screens that are 280 inches (7 meters) in diagonal and at high framerates. I expect 8K video recording to become more and more flexible in terms of features and for its quality to increase, but even so, its use cases will be very limited. To sum up, here are my conclusions on recording high-resolution videos on your smartphone:
- 8K recording is mostly there for marketing purposes, as there are always drawbacks: either the quality is inferior to that of 4K recordings, there is no image stabilization, the framerate is low, or other features are missing. It could potentially be used for heavy editing, in order to obtain highly stabilized 4K videos or for downsizing to 4K, but definitely not worth it on current (2022) smartphones. This resolution is highly unrecommended for day-to-day recordings and is only good for specific use cases.
- 4K recording seems to be the sweet spot for flagship smartphones right now, especially for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, which shoots some great-looking videos in 4K. The resulting files are smaller than the ones for 8K, the resolution allows for plenty of editing for 1080p output, and support for 4K playback is becoming more and more widespread. This resolution is perfect for obtaining high-quality recordings.
- 1080p recording is, in my (unpopular) opinion, on its way out. It’s still excellent for day-to-day video recordings using mid-range smartphones or older flagships, but for content creators, it’s becoming outdated. For example, you can’t fix bad framing in post-production, and while shooting in 1080p on smartphones usually comes with some neat features like HDR 10+ recording, 120 fps (240 fps for slow-motion), and the Super Steady Video available on the Galaxy S22 Ultra, these features will most likely start to become available on 4K as well, relegating 1080p to the history books, just like HD or 720p. 1080p is great for day-to-day recordings, but video quality is not the best.
What is your opinion? 1080p, 4K, or 8K?
I’d love to know your opinion on the different resolutions for recording videos. Do you think manufacturers should focus on 8K, or on improving 4K and 1080p image quality? Do you think we should stick to 30 fps, 60 fps, or go to 120 fps? Let me know in the comments.
