Video Modes of the Garmin VIRB Ultra 30

Garmin’s VIRB Ultra 30 action camera has a wide selection of video modes to select from, including the ultra-high definition 4K30 size at the top end, some very fast frame rates of up to 300fps in order to shoot for slow-motion playback, and what they call “expansive” field of view, which incorporate either a wider or taller field of view.

Here’s a rundown of the various video modes available on the VIRB Ultra 30.

The Garmin VIRB Ultra 30’s maximum bitrate for video recording is 60Mbps. That means that you’ll need a memory card that’s fast enough to prevent errors or the recording stopping unexpectedly. Here are some recommendations.

Framerates

The framerates available depend on which video mode you’re in. The fastest framerate of 300fps is available in the smallest resolution of 480p. At the largest resolution, 4K, the maximum framerate is 30fps.

Which framerates are available will depend on whether you’ve set it to NTSC or PAL mode. For instance, the 50fps and 25fps options are only available in PAL mode.

Resolution	Framerate (FPS)	Field of View (FOV)	Format
4K	30	Wide	NTSC
	25	Wide	PAL
	24	Wide	NTSC
4K Expansive (Wide)	24	Wide	NTSC
2.7K	60	Wide, 1.5x Zoom	NTSC
	50	Wide, 1.5x Zoom	NTSC
	48	Wide, 1.5x Zoom	NTSC
	30	Wide, 1.5x Zoom	NTSC
	25	Wide, 1.5x Zoom	PAL
	24	Wide, 1.5x Zoom	NTSC
2.7K Expansive (Wide)	30	Wide	NTSC
	25	Wide	PAL
	24	Wide	NTSC
2.7K Expansive (Tall)	30	Wide	NTSC
	25	Wide	PAL
	24	Wide	NTSC
1080p	120	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	NTSC
	100	Wide, 2x Ultra-Zoom	PAL
	96	Wide, 2x Ultra-Zoom	NTSC
	90	Wide, 2x Ultra-Zoom	NTSC
	75	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	PAL
	72	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	NTSC
	60	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	NTSC
	50	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	PAL
	48	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	NTSC
	30	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	NTSC
	25	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	PAL
	24	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	NTSC
1080p Expansive (Wide)	80	Wide	NTSC
	75	Wide	PAL
	72	Wide	NTSC
	60	Wide	NTSC
	50	Wide	PAL
	48	Wide	NTSC
	30	Wide	NTSC
	25	Wide	PAL
	24	Wide	NTSC
1440p	80	Wide	NTSC
	75	Wide	PAL
	72	Wide	NTSC
	60	Wide	NTSC
	50	Wide	PAL
	48	Wide	NTSC
	30	Wide	NTSC
	25	Wide	PAL
	24	Wide	NTSC
960p	200	Wide	NTSC
	120	Wide	NTSC
720p	240	Wide, 1.5x Zoom, 2x Ultra-Zoom	NTSC
	120	Wide	NTSC
480p	300	Wide	NTSC

Sizes and Resolutions

The largest video resolution that the Garmin VIRB Ultra 30 can shoot is 4K. Often referred to as UHD, of Ultra-High Definition. It is also less commonly referred to as 2160p. It measures 3840 x 2160 and is an aspect ratio of 16:9.

The smallest video resolution is 480p, which measures 848×480.

There are also two enhanced, or “expansive” modes. The Expansive (Wide) mode uses the same dimensions at an aspect ratio of 16:9 but restores some of the wide-angle fisheye distortion to cram a wider view into the frame. The Expansive (Tall) mode switches the aspect ratio to 4:3 by adding more resolution vertically but keeping the horizontal dimensions the same.

Here’s a visualization for how those sizes compare relative to each other. You can click on the graphic to open a full-size 1:1 version.

Fields of View

The VIRB Ultra 30 has three fields of view. The Wide field of view is standard for all video modes. Some video modes also include a Zoom (1.5x) or Ultra-Zoom (2x) FOV. See the table below for which specific fields of view are available in which modes.