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4k?

Will this be an option?


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    24
  • Poll closed .

Romy Mutuc

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May 27, 2017
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On a DJI (Spark) ad on YouTube named "possibilities" there is a shot at 48 seconds into the video where the controller is shown. I took a screenshot and zoomed in. The remote shows that video of some go-karts is being shot in 4k. What do you guys think???
Screenshot_20170529-093201.png
 

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4K is possible with a 12 Mpixels sensor, it was maybe a feature on prototypes. Electronic video stabilisation ask for more resolution too. But with a 24 Mbs bitrate image quality would have suffered with a 4K resolution.

A firmware update with larger resolution and higher bitrate or frame rate would be nice though :D, but playing in the Mavic Pro territory...
 
The Spark camera is actually shooting in 2.7k, but using electronic stabilization to assist the manual gimbal, resulting in a 1080p super smooth image. The gimbal on the Spark is not capable of a stable image as per a Mavic or Phantom Pro without assistance (it can't handle vibrations without electronic assistance). Will DJI one day unlock it so we can film in 2.7k? Probably, but I think it will take a future firmware update and some rewritten code to ensure the image stays smooth and it may only be 2.7k at 24 FPS.
 
2.7k would be great, also the Mavic cannot really resolve more then 2.7k but i guess its a "political" decision not to allow 2.7 on the SPark :-(

Ender
 
See by yourself (at 5:06). 4K with DJI Spark! One day, maybe! :)

4k 4096x2160
4k 3840x2160
1080P 1920x1080 (30fps)
24fps 30fps 48 fps
--------------
60fps
720P 1280x720

 

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actually i have seen the same menu today...
I switched to the Mavic camera OSD to find out if i can enable DNG on the Spark (which i failed to do right now) but i had all the same video resoltion choices as on the Mavic. That early version probably HAD no spark camera settings OSD so ironically it looked exactly like what i had to work hard for :)

I WAS able to use the style selection and with -1/1/0 or 0/1/0 i was getting wonderful results.
Choosing a higher resolution just falls back to 1080p :-(

Its complex, the chip is able to deliver a 4k stream and it DOES a "more-then-1080p" stream on the Spark as well, but they use EIS as replacement for the third axis of the Spark gimbal so the high res gets cropped down to 1080p.
IF we manage to enable a higher res EIS maybe will fail or at least be hampered. 4k is out of the Question, the lens is not good enough IMO but MAYBE (and thats a HUGE maybe) 2,7k. But on the other hand 1080p on 0/1/0 looks good already.
DOnt bother me on that, its not wished for in this forum but all good comes to the ones who wait :)

Ender
 
See by yourself (at 5:06). 4K with DJI Spark! One day, maybe! :)

4k 4096x2160
4k 3840x2160
1080P 1920x1080 (30fps)
24fps 30fps 48 fps
--------------
60fps
720P 1280x720

The video is dated April at first. Spark and Mavic share exactly the same Go4 app. What you see is a glitch in the Go4 (or a old / hacked app) that shows some of the Mavic menu when you are using Spark. One time I got some dialog in Chinese but I didn't expect anything good out of it. That doesn't mean you can process such resolution without burning something or impacting flight time.
If you want something like that wait for Phantom 5 and Mavic price dropping, it is more realistic IMO.
 
I dont think it is impossible per se, but due to the lack of the 3rd axis gymbal, spark stabilise the video using electronic image stabilisation. Meaning it actually crop the picture to make it looks stable. So yea, i rather have a smooth 1080p rather than jittery 4k.
 
I think the spark can do 4K. It probably does it natively. The problem is the lack of the 3rd axis to stablise yaw. If you remove the yaw, the 4K video footage has a side to side movement. For 4k Stabilisation the spark will need 5K or more to crop back down to 4K. It will also need a massive processor to do literally on-the-fly stabilisation. As many of you know, 4K requires heavy processing. A lot of PC's currently struggle to play 4k let alone edit in 4K.

After owning a Mavic and P3A, i still think 2.7k is the sweet spot for a 50" display @ 2.4metres.
 
actually i have seen the same menu today...
I switched to the Mavic camera OSD to find out if i can enable DNG on the Spark (which i failed to do right now) but i had all the same video resoltion choices as on the Mavic. That early version probably HAD no spark camera settings OSD so ironically it looked exactly like what i had to work hard for :)

I WAS able to use the style selection and with -1/1/0 or 0/1/0 i was getting wonderful results.
Choosing a higher resolution just falls back to 1080p :-(

Its complex, the chip is able to deliver a 4k stream and it DOES a "more-then-1080p" stream on the Spark as well, but they use EIS as replacement for the third axis of the Spark gimbal so the high res gets cropped down to 1080p.
IF we manage to enable a higher res EIS maybe will fail or at least be hampered. 4k is out of the Question, the lens is not good enough IMO but MAYBE (and thats a HUGE maybe) 2,7k. But on the other hand 1080p on 0/1/0 looks good already.
DOnt bother me on that, its not wished for in this forum but all good comes to the ones who wait :)

Ender

Just wanted to catch up on this. Did you manage to figure anything out?
 
....quite frankly, It would seriously worry me if DJI throttled that Spark camera up to 4k (even 2.xk), and even if DJI did, the 4k would in all likelihood be pretty horrendous and unusable (I could see a crippled 4k 24p or 30 interlaced max with this Spark lens technology !). Give me 1080 at 60 progressive frames and high bit rate AND super EIS (or, better, optical) on the next Spark iteration, and I would be ecstatic.

Anyhow, 4k is out of most of the consumer's realm currently, you need a 70+ inch 4k Ultra screen to even notice the difference between that and 1080p HD (and streaming 4k through "the Net" through many consumer-owned laptops could be problematic (could be....not IS) without a 4k Ultra computer screen).........4k ? I can leave it....for now, thank you very much...
 
....quite frankly, It would seriously worry me if DJI throttled that Spark camera up to 4k (even 2.xk), and even if DJI did, the 4k would in all likelihood be pretty horrendous and unusable (I could see a crippled 4k 24p or 30 interlaced max with this Spark lens technology !). Give me 1080 at 60 progressive frames and high bit rate AND super EIS (or, better, optical) on the next Spark iteration, and I would be ecstatic.

Anyhow, 4k is out of most of the consumer's realm currently, you need a 70+ inch 4k Ultra screen to even notice the difference between that and 1080p HD (and streaming 4k through "the Net" through many consumer-owned laptops could be problematic (could be....not IS) without a 4k Ultra computer screen).........4k ? I can leave it....for now, thank you very much...

You make it too simple. You have a lot more to work with, when using 4K, think about cropping for example. Even 2.7K would offer a lot more canvas for a FHD project.
 
You have a lot more to work with, when using 4K, think about cropping for example

...sure there would be "a lot more to crop" with 4k......but we're talking about a 1080p Spark using EIS currently-- apparently, the best "it" can do. Imagine trying to crop a heavily interpolated Spark 4k vid (I wonder if the Spark would just up-sample interpolate to 4k from EISed 1080p) ? Using the Spark's current "camera", how could one get any usable 4k from this drone's camera with its 2 axis gimbal? Unless the next gen Spark comes with optical IS.....but the cost for OIS camera tech would probably drive the Spark cost up to $700 or $800-ish.....unless, a 3 axis gimbal configuration is forthcoming (but 3 axis would be cost $$$ competing with OIS)
 
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...sure there would be "a lot more to crop" with 4k......but we're talking about a 1080p Spark using EIS currently-- apparently, the best "it" can do. Imagine trying to crop a heavily interpolated Spark 4k vid (I wonder if the Spark would just up-sample interpolate to 4k from EISed 1080p) ? Using the Spark's current "camera", how could one get any usable 4k from this drone's camera with its 2 axis gimbal? Unless the next gen Spark comes with optical IS.....but the cost for OIS camera tech would probably drive the Spark cost up to $700 or $800-ish.....unless, a 3 axis gimbal configuration is forthcoming (but 3 axis would be cost $$$ competing with OIS)

Not unless the next spark adopts a 360 degree EIS camera that crops/overcaptures/freecaptures into 1080p. It wont need a gimbal anymore. This means less weight, less cost.

Check this stabilisation out...

On a dog..

On a plane/drone

On a mountain bike (honestly - this looks more stable than a gopro+gimbal).

How is it so stable?? It's taken by a tiny light weight (108grams) RYLO 360 camera. All the 360 video is somehow software stabilised on the fly. The app steps in and does the magic editing. It has almost flawless stitching.

I want to try this camera out but its very pricey, especially for Australians.

If someone can invent a small low/thin profile drone with 2 cameras (either front and back or top and bottom to make the drone invisible) and adopt Rylo's Stabilisation tech, it would be a winner.
If they can add 6k 360 resolution and 2.7K cropping and lens flattening it would be even sweeter.

The only draw backs i can see is that it can't use ND filters and lens flares may cause exposure issues.
 
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