8K Video Size: Compress and Reduce 8K UHD Video for Better Playback

"I was arguing with my friend how big the files are of 8K movies. Anyone know how large would the file be if the movie would be 100 minutes long?"

8K UHD video, with the resolution of 7680x4320p, has 4 times higher resolution than 4K UHD video and several times larger size than 4K, as well. It's much easier to find out the 4K video size, since 4K UHD video goes viral nowadays. Yet, it's a total different story for 8K UHD video size, for 8K video resource is quite scarce. Fortunately, there is always a way. We access to an enormous amount of information and eventually dig out something useful for you.

How Big is 1Min/Hr of 8K Video with H264/HEVC Codec?

Currently, the application field of 8K UHD video is mainly in 8K broadcasting. And different countries have different standards on 8K video parameter settings in digital terrestrial television. Here we mostly refer to the 8K parameter standards from Japan and Korea, for they adopt 8K UHD most in broadcasting. The estimated 8K video size is listed below:

As you can see, the 8K video file size is badly large in size even the currently most efficient video codec HEVC can't effectively compress 8K video size. Neither Blu-ray disc nor Internt network can bear such enormous file size. Thus, 8K video format can't be widely used unless it's forced to whopping reduce bit rates. But that means it comes at the heavy price of video quality.

You might wonder: though the 8K video resource is limited on Blu-ray disc or Internet, it's an excellent choice to use 8K for propaganda viewing? Yes, it sounds great. However, as for most ordinary users, the 8K video decoding and playback are tough to solve, degree of difficulty equal to crack "top secret".

Why Is It So Hard to Decode and Play 8K 4320p Video?

Firstly, the increase of resolution brings greater pressure on video decoding. You know the peak computation burden of 4K HEVC video reaches 400~500GOPS. As for the 8K HEVC video, the computation burden would be multiplied several times.

Secondly, this high-demanding computation burden can hardly be handled by CPU in video software decoding. It might miss frames or certain datas during the sofware decoding. How about GPU hardware decoding? Not supported so far. Irrespective of Nvidia PureVideo, AMD UVD or Intel QSV, they all lack the support for 8K video hardware decoding.

Thirdly, there is almost no 8K Blu-ray player (hardware) or set-top box in the current market. Therefore, you'd better check if your hardware device supports 8K 4320p UHD video decoding and playback before striving to get 8K video resource.

How to Compress 8K Video Files with Highest Possible Quality?

You've already known the limitations of 8K video. Hence, you're supposed to convert and compress 8K video to 4K HEVC/H264 for successful playback if you get some 8K videos. To downscale 8K to 4K or even 1080p, you can have a try on the hardware accelerated video converter:

MacX Video Converter Pro, which can hardware compress 8K video to 4K/1080p/720p with any codec at highest possible quality.

Let's Shrink and Reduce 8K Video With Minimum Quality Loss

Before you carry out the 8K video compression, have a check on your hardware configurations to see if it supports GPU hardware acceleration techs. This program supports up to three types of HW acceleration techs: Intel QSV, Nvidia and AMD. It will automatically activate and fully use them to speed up 8K video processing up to 5-8X faster if the hardware configurations meet the entry-level requirements.

Step 1: Import 8K Video Files.

Free download and launch this 8K video compressor. Followed by a click on "Add Video" icon to load the 8K Ultra HD video files. Or simply drag and drop the 8K video into this program.

Step 2: Select the Compression Codec.

You're suggested to choose "MP4 Video (HEVC)" as compression codec, which can shrink 8K video with 50%+ size off while keeping the same level of quality. Of course, there are more video codecs available for you to choose from including H264, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, VP8, DivX, etc. if your playback device doesn't support HEVC codec and video compatibility is more important to you.

Step 3: Adjust 8K Video Settings. (Optional)

Tap the settings icon to enter the video parameter adjustment zone, where you can compress and downscale 8K to 4K/2K/1080p/720p resolution, lower bit rate 20%-50% to further downsize 8K video file and adjust 8K frame rate from 60FPS to 30FPS, etc. This 8K UHD video compression process resizes 8K files at the cost of certain quality loss. The degree of quality loss depends on the adjustment range you've done.

Step 4: Edit 8K videos (Optional)

Hit the "Edit" icon and you'll be directed to the 8K video editing interface, where you're allowed to use "trim" feature to freely set up video Start/End time to shorten 8K video length and apply "crop" feature to cut off the unwanted borders from video image.

Step 5: Start 8K Shrinking

Tap "RUN" button and this video shrinker will start to reduce 8K UHD video size at hardware accelerated speed. When it's done, you can eventually import 8K video to your iPhone iPad, Android or smart TV for playback without video compatibility or hardware configuration issues.