The difference between HD video and high resolution photography

We shoot our videos in 1080p as well as 1080i, both video cameras produce stunning results. Recently, I was asked by a client if frames or screenshots from the HD footage could be used instead of still photography for a website. I do not recommend using high definition video footage frames or screenshots instead of still photographs. It just doesn’t look very good.

HD video footage is a different animal then high-resolution photography. Taking frames or screenshots of HD footage doesn’t work well although of course, the video footage itself looks great.

The technical reason for this difference is as follows: If the video was shot in 1080i, the “i” stands for interlaced which means you get two fields for each frame, then 1080i video footage does not translate very well to a photo image. I’m not saying it can’t be done it just doesn’t convert well to a jpg or tiff or png file. Secondly the pixels in many video files are rectangular while photography typically has square pixels, again I would not recommend taking screenshots, the images can look distorted and can not be easily fixed in photoshop or similar applications.

If photo images are required for a client in addition to the video shoot then we bring our photography gear.

Or get a good camera and take high-resolution stills of your staff or office and the resulting stills will look great on your website and will reflect favorably on your brand and company image.

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