Mark Rosenzweig
July 19th, 2016, 06:02 PM
I received the US version of the Gear 360 camera yesterday. The price was $349, and I got it from Samsung via a special promotion. I did not get any discount, although I did receive (surprise) a free 32 GB microsd card. There was a promotion that would give me the camera for free, but it seemed to create obligations to post and use social media.
This will be a review that will be updated as I learn more. I have already learned some things that are not evident from almost all reviews on the web, and I have seen a lot of reviews. I used the camera in conjunction with the Samsung Galaxy S7.
Here is what I have learned so far:
Video (3840x1920):
1. The original file produced in the camera is H265, at 32 Mbps. H265 gives approximately the same quality as H264 at double the bitrate, so the clips are approximately equivalent to about 64 Mbps H264 (about what the GoPro shoots in 4K).
2. When you save the file on the camera to the device (Samsung Galaxy S7) you get a stitched 360 file (equirectangular) that is H264, with a bitrate of 61 Mbps. The audio is AAC 192 kbps, at 48Hz.
3. You can also trim the video on the phone *losslessly.* You choose what part of the clip you want and then the phone software creates a new H264 file with no re-compression, almost instantaneously.
4. You can also create a stitched file using the free Action Director software on the PC. Take the unstitched video files from the microsd card and load them on the PC.
But - wait for it - the stitched file the PC software creates is half the bitrate of the one produced on the phone: 32 Mbps H264 (not H265), and the audio is also at a lower bitrate, 128 kbps at 48Hz. So, it produces a lower quality video. And there are no options that I could find to change how it stitches (it is automatic).
Who knows how the videos you see uploaded to the web from the Samsung Gear 360 were produced - from the PC or from the phone? If the former, people are not seeing the best the camera can do.
Video and stills:
The S7 will also stitch the camera stills, producing a 7776x3888 equirectangular jpeg still. This is higher still resolution than the Theta S and the dual Kodak 360 K.
Here is a still, in 360 mode (scrollable)
https://kuula.co/post/7fy6d
Here is a 360 video clip from the same place, trimmed on the phone:
https://youtu.be/xCNUvIj8xJg
Select 2160p for viewing for the best resolution regardless of the resolution of your viewing device.
This will be a review that will be updated as I learn more. I have already learned some things that are not evident from almost all reviews on the web, and I have seen a lot of reviews. I used the camera in conjunction with the Samsung Galaxy S7.
Here is what I have learned so far:
Video (3840x1920):
1. The original file produced in the camera is H265, at 32 Mbps. H265 gives approximately the same quality as H264 at double the bitrate, so the clips are approximately equivalent to about 64 Mbps H264 (about what the GoPro shoots in 4K).
2. When you save the file on the camera to the device (Samsung Galaxy S7) you get a stitched 360 file (equirectangular) that is H264, with a bitrate of 61 Mbps. The audio is AAC 192 kbps, at 48Hz.
3. You can also trim the video on the phone *losslessly.* You choose what part of the clip you want and then the phone software creates a new H264 file with no re-compression, almost instantaneously.
4. You can also create a stitched file using the free Action Director software on the PC. Take the unstitched video files from the microsd card and load them on the PC.
But - wait for it - the stitched file the PC software creates is half the bitrate of the one produced on the phone: 32 Mbps H264 (not H265), and the audio is also at a lower bitrate, 128 kbps at 48Hz. So, it produces a lower quality video. And there are no options that I could find to change how it stitches (it is automatic).
Who knows how the videos you see uploaded to the web from the Samsung Gear 360 were produced - from the PC or from the phone? If the former, people are not seeing the best the camera can do.
Video and stills:
The S7 will also stitch the camera stills, producing a 7776x3888 equirectangular jpeg still. This is higher still resolution than the Theta S and the dual Kodak 360 K.
Here is a still, in 360 mode (scrollable)
https://kuula.co/post/7fy6d
Here is a 360 video clip from the same place, trimmed on the phone:
https://youtu.be/xCNUvIj8xJg
Select 2160p for viewing for the best resolution regardless of the resolution of your viewing device.