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Level 1

45 points

60p vs 60i video quality

Sorry for asking a very common question but every thread I've searched tends to go down a tangent that doesn't quite answer my question.

I have a Panasonic camcorder that records in 1080 60p or 60i.

My question is video quality. Even though all my output is going to be turned into 30 fps for Apple TV viewing or 30i for YouTube distribution, is my video quality going to be higher, shooting in 60p with a data rate of 34 MB/s vs 60i at 17 MB/s whether the subject is fast moving or not. My thought is to shoot in 60p at the higher data rate even though it will be converted to 30 fps and possible even interlaced for youtube, due to I am dealing with full frames, not interlaced frames and at a higher data rate. Is my logic correct?

I know the file size is doubled shooting in 60p vs 60i, but if the video quality is higher, then I am willing to make that sacrafic.

I guess a follow up question would be, how does FCP convert 60p video into 30i video.

Thanks for your help.

Posted on Jan 25, 2013 5:18 PM

33 replies

Joe Herth Author

Level 1

45 points

Feb 12, 2013 10:51 AM in response to A.Y.

Thanks so much for your added response A.Y.

Your screen shots and thoughts are well received and make since. I appreciate yours and everyone else's input on this subject. I feel like I have gotten closer to understanding the concepts of shooting 60p vs 60i, fields vs frames, etc.... I'll drive these concepts home with a little testing on my own. But again thank you for all the expert advise.

Without testing it myself. (which I don't have a camera that can shoot 30p) I'm assuming shooting 60i and bringing it into a 30p timeline, vs. truly shooting in 30p with your camera, will give you somewhat different results.

Shooting in 60i, you are blending two fields shot a 60th second apart to make one frame.

Shooting in 30p, each frame is shot at one time.

So if the subject is moving quickly across the frame, you will inherently have more motion blur when shooting in 60i vs 30p? Or will shutter speed be the driving factor in this situation?

A.Y.

Level 1

63 points

Feb 12, 2013 12:42 PM in response to Joe Herth

The best way to see the real difference is to shoot the same panning shot in 1080 60p and 60i, import both to your Mac, and then compare them with QuickTime Player. If your current computer is not fast enough to play 1080 60p smooth, bring the clips to an Apple store and play them on the Mac you're planning to get.

To see what you'll get by deinterlacing 60i to 60p or 30p, do these tests:

Custom set the new Project Properties to 1080p and frame rate to 59.94 for 60p test and 29.97 for 30p test.

Add 30 seconds of 60i clip to the timeline.

Share/Master File and see how long it takes to output deinterlaced 60p and 30p.

Compare the 1080 60p clip to the deinterlaced 60p and deinterlaced 30p.

Yes, Motion blur is determine by the shutter speed used. Normally, AVCHD 2 camcorders use 1/120sec shutter for 60p and 60i footage and will drop down to 1/60sec under low light. Frames shot with 1/120sec shutter have half the motion blur compared to the 1/60sec ones.

Joe Herth Author

Level 1

45 points

Feb 12, 2013 1:00 PM in response to A.Y.

I'll do the test. Thanks A.Y.

Oh and I liked your comment of 'and play them on the machine you plan to get'. 🙂 How did you know? 😉

60p vs 60i video quality