Frame Rate, Resolution and File Size: How They Affect Videos From Sports Camera
If you are planning to bring a sports camera with you on your next adventure or sporting event, then you will eventually need to configure your device - often balancing between resolution, frame rate and file size. Do you want a crystal-clear video that is smooth as silk, or do you want to capture long stretches of video at a time?
First things first: you need to understand the role that the aforementioned three factors play when it comes to the functionality of your action camera.
Understanding File Size
File size is simply the amount of storage space a certain video will take up on a storage medium. Tweaking the resolution and frame rate of your sports camera will allow you to either increase file size for higher-quality videos or lower the file size to record longer videos at a time.
Do note, however, that properly encoding videos will allow you to drastically reduce the size of a particular video. The only time file size becomes a real issue is when the raw video is being recorded on the storage medium aboard or connected to your sports camera.
Understanding Resolution
Simply put, the resolution of your sports camera will define the clarity of the video or images the camera captures. Resolutions typical of most digital sporting camera models include 360p (low-resolution), 480p (standard resolution), 720p (high-definition resolution) and 1080p (Ultra high or Blu-ray definition).
It is worth noting that higher resolution videos will result in larger file sizes. You will get clearer images from, say, your helmet camera while hiking but you will quickly fill up the memory card aboard the camera.
Understanding Frame Rate
Frame rate is the number and speed of still images being consecutively displayed on-screen and is expressed as frames-per-second (or FPS). Capturing videos on higher FPS settings will result in movements that are smoother and clearer but will require more storage space as a result.
Common frame rates include 24p, 30p, 60i - the latter yielding silky smooth movement at the cost of significantly higher file sizes.
Defining Your Resolution Needs
It is tempting to immediately switch the settings on your sports camera to the highest resolution and frame rate possible. While there is nothing to stop you from doing that, you may want to think twice when you consider the limited storage space available on your device. It can be very easy for raw, un-encoded HD videos to eat up a few gigabytes after just a dozen or so minutes of footage.
If you want to be smart about the videos you capture, then you can start by examining the nature of the activity you will undertake.
Will you be using a waterproof camera to capture slow-moving underwater scenes? Reduce the frame rate and increase the resolution.
Will you be expecting a lot of jarring movements as you speed downhill on your bike? Reduce the resolution and increase the frame rate.
Will you be planning to make a living off of uploading videos of your extreme sporting achievements on the Internet? Invest in a high-quality remote sports camera, crank up the settings and work with multiple storage cards that have storage capacities around the 64 or 128 gigabyte ranges.
Keep all these bits of trivia in mind and you will be able to make so much better use of your sports camera!
First things first: you need to understand the role that the aforementioned three factors play when it comes to the functionality of your action camera.
Understanding File Size
File size is simply the amount of storage space a certain video will take up on a storage medium. Tweaking the resolution and frame rate of your sports camera will allow you to either increase file size for higher-quality videos or lower the file size to record longer videos at a time.
Do note, however, that properly encoding videos will allow you to drastically reduce the size of a particular video. The only time file size becomes a real issue is when the raw video is being recorded on the storage medium aboard or connected to your sports camera.
Understanding Resolution
Simply put, the resolution of your sports camera will define the clarity of the video or images the camera captures. Resolutions typical of most digital sporting camera models include 360p (low-resolution), 480p (standard resolution), 720p (high-definition resolution) and 1080p (Ultra high or Blu-ray definition).
It is worth noting that higher resolution videos will result in larger file sizes. You will get clearer images from, say, your helmet camera while hiking but you will quickly fill up the memory card aboard the camera.
Understanding Frame Rate
Frame rate is the number and speed of still images being consecutively displayed on-screen and is expressed as frames-per-second (or FPS). Capturing videos on higher FPS settings will result in movements that are smoother and clearer but will require more storage space as a result.
Common frame rates include 24p, 30p, 60i - the latter yielding silky smooth movement at the cost of significantly higher file sizes.
Defining Your Resolution Needs
It is tempting to immediately switch the settings on your sports camera to the highest resolution and frame rate possible. While there is nothing to stop you from doing that, you may want to think twice when you consider the limited storage space available on your device. It can be very easy for raw, un-encoded HD videos to eat up a few gigabytes after just a dozen or so minutes of footage.
If you want to be smart about the videos you capture, then you can start by examining the nature of the activity you will undertake.
Will you be using a waterproof camera to capture slow-moving underwater scenes? Reduce the frame rate and increase the resolution.
Will you be expecting a lot of jarring movements as you speed downhill on your bike? Reduce the resolution and increase the frame rate.
Will you be planning to make a living off of uploading videos of your extreme sporting achievements on the Internet? Invest in a high-quality remote sports camera, crank up the settings and work with multiple storage cards that have storage capacities around the 64 or 128 gigabyte ranges.
Keep all these bits of trivia in mind and you will be able to make so much better use of your sports camera!