Panorama II / S Bit-rate: 12 vs 15 / 18 / 21Mbps Day'n Night test

Thanks Niko for your comprehensive report. I now realize the only way I can tell a difference between 15M and 21M is on the Apple MBP Retina display viewing the raw file. On my non-retina display or viewing in Youtube I can't see much difference. Now I must weigh up absolute clarity versus file size. Maybe I'll opt for 18M which is a compromise.

You are welcome.
Glad you also found device ( Apple MBP Retina display ) where you can see difference, because most "standard" displays does not show difference, so it is essential to watch raw files on higher specs displays.
 
was the unit ran hotter in 21 mbits? than 15 mbits.

Touching with hand I could not feel any difference, but I did not had special temperature measurement devices to know exact difference.
 
Due to some Panorama II buyers "requests"-suggested ( I was one of them who was asking for ) to rise a bit-rate, developer released 3 additional firmwares with options of higher bit-rate: 15, 18, 21Mbps ( variable ).

For over 2 weeks ( total approx 40h work ) I was testing side by side new high bit-rate firmwares to see how much they can improve a video quality.

15 / 18 / 21Mbps Bit-rate FW Download for Panorama II / S

Below is my extensive side by side test and conclusions.

- higher bit-rate option: 12, 15, 18, 21Mbps
- more natural colours
- removed blue "haze" background at daytime ( tree / sky )
- Brightness "ON-delay" / WDR tune-up for 15, 18 mbps bit-rate*.
* with 15mbps bit-rate brightness stayed ON for about 30sec when I drove into the multistor car-park
* with 18mbps bit-rate brightness stayed ON for about 10sec when I drove into the multistor car-park
* with 21mbps bit-rate brightness adjusted to darker value instantly after I drove into the multistor car-park

* regarding brightness "ON-delay" / WDR tune-up please watch my video comparisons and screenshots.

Video data comparisons for day and night videos. Bit-rate is variable.

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Side by side tests. ( YouTube videos )

DAY





NIGHT





Side by side Day screen-shots comparison

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Same ( above ) screen-shots bigger size

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My conclusions:

Is it worth upgrading to higher bit-rate ?
- Yes, but in my opinion not over 15Mbps.

To see a difference in video quality you need to have a high quality monitor / display and use original / raw video files, NOT YouTube compressed.

I do have 24" quite good specs AOC 1080p PC monitor, but I was able to see only about 5-10% improvements on that monitor, mainly for day time videos. Also I tested on 42" 1080p LED TV and there I was able to see maybe another extra 5% improvements changes. Later I tested on 50" Plasma LCD and I was able to see maybe another 5% extra improvements. So, it total improvements between 12 vs 15Mbps are about 15 ( maybe 20% ) ?
Those differences I was able to see mainly for day-time videos, night time noise was also reduced slightly but not that marginal to see big difference, hence I did not do any night side by side screen-shots.

NB! Those % figures ( above ) are just from what I was able to see with my eyes. I did not had any special professional measuring tools or software / players, so it is my average conclusions what my eyes saw.

For real comparison test ( not youtube compressed) I am adding original RAW videos ( not youtube compressed ).
You may download raw original video files: DAY and NIGHT

18 and 21mbps bit-rate looked to me same as 15Mbps. At this stage I don't see any reason to use higher than 15Mbps bit-rate.

I think for better affect of higher bit-rate on video quality improvement, need to sharpen a video, then I guess 15Mbps and even 18Mbps bit-rate will show much more improvement result.
Developer working on a new firmware. Hope it will be out soon.


Let’s say it makes 5% or even 10% better picture (main-problems are Aliasing, Moire, Sharpness - nothing gets better with higher Bitrate). It adds a very high risk of the recording being stopped.
 
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