360p, 480p, 720p, 1080p Measure Up

360p
This is an Animoto video’s default resolution. The majority of YouTube and Hulu videos are displayed in 360p, so that’s about the video quality that 360 lines of resolution provides. This (as well as the 480p) is a great resolution for mobile devices since the mobile screen rarely has enough pixels or enough memory to support HD videos.

480p

640x480 (480p) is the resolution that almost every camera can shoot at, most digicams from the last two years shoot at least 480p. Although there are lower resolutions (typically for high speed video), 640x480 should really be the lowest resolution to consider. 640x480 is a pretty good resolution, its not HD but its the resolution of standard definition television (SDTV) and a good quality source at 480p can look pretty good. Most people will be happy with this resolution but those who love the idea of widescreen, high definition home movies will want to venture into the two HDTV options. A 480p video will play beautifully on both your laptop and desktop monitors, and though it isn’t quite HD, it is definitely good enough to view on that spiffy new flatscreen TV you just bought

How does 480p Measure Up?

§  480p vs 720p: 480p has 1/3 the resolution

§  480p vs 1080p: 480p has about 1/7 the resolution

§  Click on the full resolution sample and you'll see that a clean 480p image can be fantastic - DVD is after all "only" 480p

720p (1280x720)

1280x720 (720p) is the lowest of two HDTV resolutions. The ability for digital cameras to shoot high definition video started to pick up in 2009 and is now available on many cameras. 720p provides fantastic video quality that is perfect for large screen TVs and high definition home movies. An HD 720p Animoto video is crisp, sharp, and takes full advantage of any display you want to view it on

How does 720p Measure Up

§  720p vs 480p: 720p has 3X the resolution

§  720p vs 1080p: 720p has about 1/2 the resolution

§  720p is a fantastic high definition resolution to shoot at

 1080p (1920x1080)

1920x1080 (1080p) is the highest of two HDTV resolutions. 1080p is also known as Full HD and is very high resolution video. Because of it's extreme size it requires more storage space, faster computers to edit, more powerful camera processors and a very large TV to notice the difference. Currently 12 of 500 cameras released in the last 2 years shoot 1080p

How does 1080p Measure Up?

§  1080p vs 480p: 1080p has 7X the resolution

§  1080p vs 720p: 1080p has about 2X the resolution

§  1080p is a fantastic high definition resolution to shoot at

§  1080p is the pinnacle of HD quality - but more suited for pros and hard core enthusiasts.

High Definition Formats (I.E. HDTV):

720p - The Resolution is 1280x720 pixels, sent at 60 complete frames per second.

1080i - The Resolution is 1920x1080 pixels, sent at 60 interlaced frames per second or 30 complete frames per second.

1080p - The Resolution is 1920x1080 pixels, sent at 60 complete frames per second.