1DX II 1080p vs. 4K: can you tell the difference on YouTube?

[jcs]

Here's a test with the Canon 1DX II with 1080 vs. 4K on YouTube. Which of the first two clips is which? Also tested is my new picture style optimized for skin tones*, compared against Canon's Standard (with sharpening and contrast turned all the way down).

* when saturation is pushed, it has to be right on for skin tones to look decent. A work-around for below par color science is to reduce saturation. Canon has excellent color science for RAW stills, however their default picture styles have room for improvement.

 

[jonpais]

I can't tell much of a difference, if any, but I do much prefer to see comparisons like this, between cameras or lenses, using a beautiful flat profile like the one you've come up with, to those with lots of grading, oversharpening and so on. Well done!

[Luke Mason]

First clip is 4K, second clip is 1080p (it has the unique sharpness pattern due to the non-uniform binning used in 1080p 24/25/30p mode, resulting in more vertical sharpness than horizontal sharpness, same applies to the orginal 1DX)

The difference will be more pronounced if you shoot a scene with more details with deep DOF. This particular scene has too shallow DOF and your focus is all over the place.

[jcs]

Thanks @jonpais! One of the goals is an option for zero post and also for live streaming, especially in challenging indoor lighting conditions.

@Luke Mason for medium and close up shots I was surprised how well post-sharpened 1080p compares to 4K. You are right, for wider shots and deeper DOF 4K looks better. In some cases 1080p aliasing can be an issue, however being able to use the full frame and in many cases getting shots than can cut with 4K material when the delivery target is online streaming is pretty cool. Wearing glasses and head turns challenges face tracking algorithms (some day they'll be spot on no matter what). Ultra shallow DOF with full frame and a slight crop along with (currently) class-leading AF is a fun, unreal look that's not possible on any other camera right now (closest would be the A7R II / maybe A9).

I developed 4 picture styles, which also work with other Canon DSLRs such as the 5D3- I'll post examples later this week.