Panasonic GH4: can it do 4:4:4 at 1080p?

The GH4 can be preordered in Finland at Topshot.

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Andrew from EosHD  “believes” you can get 1080p 10bit 4:4:4 with your GH4:

Actually the theory is 8bit 4:2:0 4K material from this camera can be taken through a workflow in post that converts it to 10bit 4:4:4 1080p – with all the smoother tonality, better colour and workflow advantages that format brings. This is a big leap for 1080p based on the much more expensive C300 which only does 8bit 4:2:2.

The way this works is quite technical but it essentially amounts to using the extra pixels present in the 4K files to rebuild the lost colour information. Neighbouring pixels are summed to create a super pixel with a greater bit depth and better sampling. It requires a lot of processing power and a finishing codec good enough to store the extra colour data (10bit 4:4:4, with CineForm and ProRes being suitable choices) which is why the camera doesn’t do it internally. It does require a transcoding step in post but the increase in quality over the 8bit internal 1080p codec will be marked. The message is clear. Even if you’re working in 1080p, shoot 4K on the GH4 if you want the best quality.

Well this would be really big news if real!

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Some more GH4 tidbits:

David: “As came across another GH4 article, this is interesting as it shows the difference between the cropped GH4 4K and Super 16 film size, it isn’t hugely different so I reckon a few S16 lenses might work on it? Exciting news I think for C mount fans! http://filmmakermagazine.com/84315-with-4k-gh4-panasonic-comes-out-swinging/”

Japanese CP+ Hands-on video on Youtube.

Anonymous soruce: “Real final GH4 price will be between 1 300 € and 1 400 € for Europe and $ 1,499 for Usa. no more. Availability in April.”