However, videos with higher resolution come with the caveat of much larger file sizes. Progressive scan technology is also present for 4k resolutions, people just don’t like to say 4kp for some reason…īasically, the higher the number of total pixels used in capturing your video, the crisper and more detailed the image looks. This refers to the way fields are scanned when watching video.
The “p” stands for “progressive” by the way. These numbers actually refer to the length and width dimension of videos in terms of pixels (see the chart below). Numbers like 720p, 1080p, and 4k are all measurements of a video’s resolution. While compression technology is always evolving, here are a few key concepts to give you a better idea of what compression actually does to your video. There have been a lot of compression technology breakthroughs since the digital revolution of video, and there is bound to be more and more every year. The objective of “good” compression is to minimize the file size as much as possible with the least amount of image quality reduction by removing things like redundant or non-functional data from your video file. The trick is to know “good” compression from “bad” compression. Luckily, compression offers the solution of taking the vast amounts of data that cameras generate and interpreting it in a way that is more efficient, creating new files that are only a fraction of the file size! The only way you’ll be able to share, upload, stream and store all of your great video content with any regularity is by compressing it. So much data that you may find your computers and hard drives filling up quickly due to the hefty storage demands of your video, not to mention the extremely long wait times for uploading or sharing these videos to online platforms. The problem is that it takes a ton of data to capture these beautiful images. This informational data is what creates the crisp details and vivid saturation of modern video. If video is such a great medium, why do we have to worry about compressing it in the first place? The reason modern digital video looks as impressive as it does is because of the sheer amount of information digital cameras can capture.
#Handbrake video compression how to#
This blog post is designed to give you a better understanding of why and when video compression is necessary, as well as how to do it yourself! If video compression has ever intimidated or frustrated you in the past, read on and leave those hang ups behind. Creating a video is as simple as taking out your phone or turning on your webcam, but sharing, storing and compressing that video is where things can get complicated.