Can Lumix G7 "downscale" 4K to 1080 video in the camera ?

red sled wrote:

After reading many, many reviews I'm seriously considering the Lumix G7 for timelapse video, and also as my entry in micro four thirds and 4K video. One of the reviews said the detail of 4k video is four times that of 1080. At present, we have nothing to view 4k but perhaps in the future. The review also said that 4k "downscales nicely" to 1080 . So I have three questions:

1) Does the G7 downscale 4K to 1080 in the camera ?

Do you mean taking a 4K file and then creating a 1080p file from that? If so, it can't do that in camera (although you can use software on your computer to do it). You can however directly record to 1080p in the camera (p246-247 shows the recording formats supported by the camera).

ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/camera/om/dmc-g7_adv_en_om.pdf

If you mean connecting the G7 to a TV or monitor with an HDMI cable and it downscaling the 4K footage to 1080p during playback, then yes it can do that (see page 78 in advanced manual; by default it automatically downscales to a resolution your TV supports, but you can also manually set it).

ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/camera/om/dmc-g7_adv_en_om.pdf

2) When 4k is downscaled to 1080p , how much if any detail is lost ?

Obviously you get only a quarter of the megapixels, however, the image will still appear sharper because you are oversampling: you have 4 pixels of data for every 1 pixel (see more details below).

3) Is my interest in 4k video a waste of time and money when I have only 1080 TV and computer ?

No it is not. 4K has better image quality even if you downscale it to 1080p. Part of it has to do with more bitrate when recording in 4K (100Mbps vs 20-28Mbps), the other has to do with oversampling. It also gives you flexibility to crop the image and future-proofs you more (your footage may be displayed by others with 4K or even 8K screens).

This article explains all the benefits:

https://www.dpreview.com/what-is-4k/