Your wedding video is something you will cherish for many years to come, and years down the line the quality of that video is going to matter. Chances are, you probably aren’t considering hiring a videographer that uses old fashioned 8mm film. Of course past generations were happy to have 8mm technology available to them for their wedding film, but by today’s standards playback leaves something to be desired. 4K wedding video is the way to go.
4K Versus HD
Today’s technology in almost all areas is quickly advancing. From the point of view of a videographer, the issue isn’t always about finding new technology, but it is about taking older, tried and true technology, and making it more affordable and accessible. This is what is happening with 4K technology, also known as “Ultra HD”. Even though it is new to the mainstream market, 4K video has been around in film making for some time.
The difference between the two levels of quality comes into play when considering the resolution. The term 4K comes from the resolution that is in 35mm film, which puts the image together using 4,000 (4K) vertical lines. In contrast, there are 2,000 lines in 16mm, and Imax film has 8000 vertical lines to produce even greater detail and definition.
A wedding videographer today is more likely to explain resolution in terms of the number of pixels in an image or video image. The most common playback images are standard definition, which has 480-540 pixels in the image, high definition, which includes 720-1080 pixels, and 4k, or ultra HD with at least 2160 pixels. These differences have the biggest impact when there is a larger screen being used in playback. Suppose you want to show clips from your wedding on a large screen one day, having the video available in Ultra HD will let guests experience the event in much more detail. Wedding videography sports some shots of the crowd and panoramic views, but many of the scenes are close ups, such as cutting the cake, the first dance, the vows themselves. Having a better resolution will help the viewer to see all these details for years to come.
Accessibility of 4K wedding video
Some people may have concerns about 4K wedding video being accessible to those who do not have a 4K television or monitor. More and more of these are being manufactured and sold, but it is true than many are still happy with HD quality resolution. For these people, a converted file can be made so that they can still enjoy these videos. In the meantime, those who do have the quality available to them can view the video, and with Youtube and Vimeo supporting 4k, the videos can even be shared, and the most comfortable resolution can be a choice that each viewer makes. It is far easier to reduce the resolution in a file on a case by case basis than to try improve an image that has less than optimal definition.
