How to Set up Your Smartphone to Shoot in the Highest Resolution
There was a time when cell phone cameras were hot rubbish. However, smartphones are shooting incredible video these days. Hollywood even made a couple of feature films about it. But if you want to take full advantage of this great video quality on your iPhone or Android, you need to make sure that it is actually captured at the highest resolution possible.
What is the video resolution in general?
When we talk about video resolution on smartphones, we really mean the number of pixels a video contains. The more pixels, the more information your camera receives. 1080p is short for 1920 x 1080, which means the video is 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high. 4K, on the other hand, means 3840×2160, which is 3840 pixels wide by 2160 pixels high. We call it 4K because it’s 3840 – that’s roughly 4000.
8K, which isn’t quite as common yet, is a shortcut from 7680 × 4320, which, you guessed it, is 7680 pixels wide by 4320 pixels high. Like 4K, 8K gets its name from 7,680 pixels, which is less than 8,000 pixels.
Why isn’t my smartphone set up for 4K recording yet?
Smartphone manufacturers love to advertise camcorders on their smartphones. So why would they send them without full video quality already included?
There is no official reason, but we can make an educated guess: 4K video takes up a lot of space. For example, on iPhone 12, 4K video requires a minimum of 150 MB per minute and a maximum of 440 MB per minute, depending on video settings. Compare that to 1080p, which uses a minimum of 65 MB per minute and a maximum of 175 MB per minute, again depending on settings.
Galaxy S20, on the other hand, the 8K able to shoot video of 600 MB per minute speed. The file sizes are so large that Samsung splits the file into separate chunks every 4GB. While 8K is not the norm, both it and 4K just take up more space than 1080p. Our guess? Smartphone manufacturers prioritize their customers’ storage needs over video quality, as most are likely to enjoy the look and feel of their 1080p recordings.
However, for those of us who don’t want to settle for less than the best, here’s how to make sure you shoot at the highest quality possible.
How to check if you’re shooting 4K on iPhone
The quickest way to find out what video quality you’re shooting on your iPhone is to look at the numbers in the corner of the screen (if you’re holding your iPhone upright, they’ll be at the top right).
You will see HD 30 by default. This is the code for 1080p at 30fps. Secret? You can press this HD button to switch the resolution to 4K. You can do the same with the frame rate – just tap a number to cycle through the options.
Of course, you can see all of your 4K options in the Settings app. Just go to Settings> Camera> Video Recording and select the 4K option you want.
How to check if you’re shooting 4K (or 8K) on Android
As with iOS, you can change the video quality on Android from the Camera app itself. While Android camera apps can vary, you should find your video quality settings either on the settings gear, drop-down arrow, or ellipsis. For example, on the Pixel 5, you can click the arrow on the side of the display and then change the resolution from there. Just make sure 4K is selected over 1080p.