Resolution

I’m still trying to find the optimum video capture setting for my Hero3+ camera. The settings menu defaults to 960p at 60fps (frames per second) with an ultra wide FOV (field of view) which results in a screen resolution of 1280 x 960 (4:3) which is the standard resolution of a typical flat screen monitor along with a fisheye look.

I’m not sold on the fisheye look yet so I flatten it out while converting down to 1280 x 720 (1/2 = 640/360). The 60 frames per second may not be such a great bonus because YouTube makes the decisions as to which frames get kept, merged, or dropped when the file is uploaded and converted to 30fps.

The content portion of my blog (what you’re reading here on the left) is built around a 640 pixel horizontal width. Each main (large format) photo is in the long-standing standard format of 640 x 480 and the supporting photos are in mathematically scaled smaller sizes.

While I was writing this, Steph came in and informed me of a mushroom formation she found on one of our berms, so I decided to use it for an example. Here’s the video I shot and uploaded at 1280 x 720 x 60, presented as 640 x 360 x 30:

I can do better. Today I experiment with 720p, not wide, at 30fps. I’m thinking native format aimed at the upload destination (YouTube), with a minimum of conversion, is the way to go.