Panasonic GH4 Gives 10-Bit. Will Give 4K Native HDMI

Panasonic GH4 Gives 10-Bit Will Give 4K Native HDMI.

But needs a 4K recorder to do via HDMI.

When Panasonic announced the GH4 (and I still think they should call it the GH4K), the promise was that it would shoot 10-bit 4K video in 4:2:2 with a little help from its external YAGH HD-SDI box. But that's not necessarily the case. In fact, the latest news is that the GH4 could record 4K video directly through its mini HDMI port natively. But Panasonic hasn't invented it yet. Still, there are options.

The latest details coming about the GH4 specs is that while users can output the GH4′s ultra high definition signal through the optional YAGH HD-SDI attachment and record to a 4K recorder, it by no means is the only way it can take the ultra high definition stream. It turns out that the GH4′s YAGH box relies on the native 4K stream via HDMI in order to route it to the HD-SDI ports in the attachment.

So, that means that if there was a 4K HDMI external recorder available, users could plug the GH4 directly to it and record, bypassing the need for the YAGH attachment altogether. But since Panasonic hasn’t announced or even invented the 4K HDMI external option yet, it needs the YAGH to process the signal. That’s welcome news to third party recorder manufacturers who are probably feverishly designing one as we speak.

But some, like EOSHD‘s Andrew Reid, say that external recorders, while convenient for long duration imaging, offer little benefit in terms of recording quality, especially with DSLRs. “I found the quality gains to be virtually zero with DSLRs,” writes Reid, “no increase in colour depth or resolution and as for compression even with the Sony FS100 at just 24Mbit/s I was hard pressed to tell the difference between the externally recorded 220Mbit/s footage and internal AVCHD codec in terms of outright quality.”

So why would you invest in the optional YAGH box to output to an external source, or even the external HDMI recorder? Well, Reid says that the SD-HDI connections are far more solid and robust, and offer audio advantages like balanced inputs, pre-amps, and phantom power for XLR connections, vs. the “wobbly” micro HDMI connection.

There’s also the benefit of running cable to an external monitor, which Reid says will degrade farther out with HDMI after only a few yards, vs. an SD-HDI cable which can go for hundreds of feet. And the YAGH interface also allows for processing the time code generated by the GH4, whereas, users would be hard pressed to get it routed through HDMI, because it can’t.

And while that’s a very good argument, at around $2,000, there has to be a more cost effective option out there for low budget indy’s looking to up their game to 4K. One option would be an all in one monitor recorder which can hook to the HDMI and record right from the camera rig itself. Yep. That’s a good idea. But you still don’t get time code that way. So it really comes down to this… with the amazing color and resolution quality that the GH4 will provide, where are you going to put your money for add-ons? It’s just a matter of naming your poison.