The ultimate toolkit for videographers

As we move from the 2010s to the 2020s, the demand for high-quality video has never been higher. With multiple streaming services launching against each other, the phrase ‘Content is king’ is heard everywhere, and the numbers of video professionals working in the TV and movie industries is growing steadily. There’s also been a parallel explosion in high-quality, shortform video for popular YouTube and Vimeo channels, and to help brands to get their message across on social media. Not to mention the rise of new video technologies like VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality) mixed reality, and beyond.

So whether you're editing spots, shorts, or feature-length movies, your services are going to be increasingly in demand in the coming years. But at the same time, no one’s expecting the tight deadlines and time pressures to slack off: quite the reverse. And with picture resolution and video file sixes growing all the time, you’re going to need a powerful system that can store, manage and process all your video within a tight timeframe.

But don’t worry: HP has your back. It’s developed an extensive line of powerhouse devices to help you edit, render and more in less time, so you can hit your deadlines effortlessly. Not surprising, then, that HP laptops and computers are now the industry standard for both shortform and feature length video content. Read on, as we look at two killer combinations of HP kit, that will set you up to meet both current needs, and future demands to come.

01. HP Z4 + HP DreamColor Studio Display

The HP Z4 is a video editing beast, with high-performance processor options and dual extreme graphics support allowing you to create, render, and visualise video at breakneck speeds. HP's best-selling performance workstation, it features the newest generation Intel Xeon processors with up to 18 cores for powerful performance and productivity, along with 256GB memory and a massive 16TB storage. And it can be configured with up to two NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 48GB 4DP graphics cards.

So what does this all mean in practice? Basically, even if you’re working on raw 4K or 8K footage and running the most demanding and resource-hungry software, you’ll be able to playback and edit content smoothly, and meet your tightest deadlines. Its next-generation acoustic design is also super-quiet, which can help enormously when it comes to working on your audio tracks. All this leaves you more time to focus on telling your story, in the most creative and imaginative ways possible.

With all that power speeding up your workflow, the other thing every video professional needs is a monitor that displays what you’re working on at the highest degree of accuracy. And HP has you covered here, too. The perfect companion to the HP Z4, the HP DreamColor Studio Display features award-winning HP DreamColor Technology, which displays precise, rich colours and intense shadow detail. 

Its extensive colour spectrum offers more than one billion colours (yes, you read that right; one billion!) with 100% of Adobe sRGB, 99% of Adobe RGB 100% of BT.709 and 98% of DCI-P3 coverage. Plus a pop-up sensor calibrates your display, either on demand or on a regular schedule, ensuring that you always achieve accurate colour. You can choose from eight factory-calibrated color presets or configure your own.

For video work in the studio, the HP Z4 with DreamColor display is the perfect set-up, allowing you to work faster and more creatively, without your equipment slowing you down. But maybe you need something lighter, that you can use to work on the move? Then we’d recommend...

02. HP ZBook Studio x360 + HP Dreamcolor Displays

HP’s most powerful convertible PC, the ZBook Studio x360 is a workstation laptop for the serious video professional. For starters it’s impressively flexible, coming with a clever 360-degree hinge that allows you to configure it either a laptop or a tablet, to better showcase, review or collaborate on footage. And when it comes to performance, it packs a real punch too.

Its six-core Intel Xeon processors allow you to run multiple apps with speed and responsiveness and tackle heavy workloads with aplomb, while NVIDIA Quadro P2000 graphics allow you to edit video and render multi-layered files seamlessly. The x360 also offers blazing fast storage, with up to 4TB local PCIe NVMe storage: that's up to 21 times faster than standard HDD storage and six times faster than SATA SSD2.

And what of the display? Well, you’re in for a real treat here. The HP DreamColor 4K display not only allows you to experience one billion vibrant colours, it’s also HP’s brightest 4K laptop. With an incredible 600 nits brightness, you can see and discern different vivid colours, regardless of the lighting conditions you’re working under. It also comes with anti-glare technology, improving your viewing experience, while the ambient light sensor automatically dims or brightens based on your surroundings, so you can take your work indoors or outdoors.

Conclusion

Your career is something that’s worth investing in, and superior equipment will help you get your work completed more quickly, keeping clients happy and leaving you with a better work-life balance. So videographers everywhere should consider HP’s kit, as any savings you make on lower powered devices will be the very definition of a false economy. 

The desktop HP Z4 and the HP ZBook Studio x360, together with the HP DreamColor studio Display, are the perfect combination for the modern-day videographer. Offering a mixture of versatility and pro-grade performance, they allow you to get your work done quickly and efficiently, without the delays and interruptions caused by slow-running kit. However large your files and heavy-duty your software, you’ll have a better experience editing and rendering video, and be able to complete colour accurate work quickly and consistently.