Just got pinged by DJI support

[Dronefriend]

If they admit there's a problem we might be seeing an improvement soon. I think this is good news!

Regarding the pulsating video effect, could you transcode to Prores and see if it persists? There lies the answer..

 

[Tomas Wangen]

If they admit there's a problem we might be seeing an improvement soon. I think this is good news!

Regarding the pulsating video effect, could you transcode to Prores and see if it persists? There lies the answer..

My sample video earlier in this thread shows a very clear example for h265. The effect is here the result of image gradually degrading between each I frame (every second) and can be observed both in scopes and the actual video. Problem is in source and transcoding has no effect on this.

 

[Dronefriend]

My sample video earlier in this thread shows a very clear example for h265. The effect is here the result of image gradually degrading between each I frame (every second) and can be observed both in scopes and the actual video. Problem is in source and transcoding has no effect on this.

Then they're either lying or .. uninformed?

 

[fhagan02]

Big thank you to you, Brian. This issue has been ongoing since the P3... all the way to the P4Pro. As much of a DJI fan boy as I am...It has baffled and irritated me beyond belief. Thoughout all 4 of my DJI cameras. Right now we're seeing the typical PR responses... "Send us the files...Your issue is important to us...etc. etc. etc." I got the same kind of responses lately also. And that's fine. Heck it's great. The irony here is they don't need anyones files. Take one of your own birds off the assembly line and test it. It's not isolated. You'll find if you just look. Regardless...I'm glad there's a least a stir about it finally. If a 3 year old iPhone 5 can shoot video that has a steady constant exposure... there's no excuse for a 2016 DJI camera to not have the ability to do the same. IMHO. They've grown so fast in 3 years... it's quite amazing. I'm sure they'll sort it out. But... what's the saying? "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

Thanks again, Brian. Thanks for all your hard work and effort.

 

[Raptorman0909]

I plan to do some more P4P video work in the coming week or two. I'm not looking to test every combination and instead hope to get something a bit more artistic. I do need to work a bit with Litchi so that might eat up most of my testing time.


Brian

 

[F3honda4me]

My sample video earlier in this thread shows a very clear example for h265. The effect is here the result of image gradually degrading between each I frame (every second) and can be observed both in scopes and the actual video. Problem is in source and transcoding has no effect on this.

Can you provide the raw/original files for these samples? Maybe to a dropbox or google drive link?

 

[Tomas Wangen]

Can you provide the raw/original files for these samples? Maybe to a dropbox or google drive link?

I could do this, but I am not sure how it would help. Dji did not find Raptormans footage convincing and mine really does not add much as it only shows the iframe spacing and the breakdown of the compression algorithm on very complex content (high contrast with lots of high frequency detail changing rapidly) , which can be easily reproduced (also by dji).

 

[F3honda4me]

I could do this, but I am not sure how it would help. Dji did not find Raptormans footage convincing and mine really does not add much as it only shows the iframe spacing and the breakdown of the compression algorithm on very complex content (high contrast with lots of high frequency detail changing rapidly) , which can be easily reproduced (also by dji).

I just wanted to try and pull out the frames one by one myself to see what you guys were talking about, just so I could understand it as well. That's all. If I could show a frame by frame degredation we could post it on RCG where there are two very active DJI reps who have helped resolve other such issues.

 

[Tomas Wangen]

I just wanted to try and pull out the frames one by one myself to see what you guys were talking about, just so I could understand it as well. That's all. If I could show a frame by frame degredation we could post it on RCG where there are two very active DJI reps who have helped resolve other such issues.

I am flying tomorrow so I will see if I can get a short clip showing the same. This clip is unfortunate long (and sizeable)

 

[F3honda4me]

Use google drive if you want, it has a larger size limit than the 2GB drop box. Ideally any clip showing the issue is limited to 15-30 seconds long and should be the original/raw clip. However it could always be shortened somehow without actually being rendered/edited I think.

 

[phynesse]

Philip Bloom has picked up a Phantom 4 pro. Let s hope he will look into all this.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[phynesse]

OK, I guess I didn't expect much more than that but I'll make a couple points here:

1. I do not have a basic consumer level PC, in fact, my PC is a pretty high end PC with i7-5820K CPU that's over clocked as well as a 980 Ti GPU that is also over clocked -- definitely not a run of the mill PC.

2. The flickering effect was noted on my other DJI drone, the Inspire 1 Pro, and is not present in the video of any other video camera I own -- camera including: Sony HDR-CX500, Panasoni GH2 and G85, Nikon D800E and D7200. So, if this is a PP issue it's pretty amazing that it only effect the DJI cameras.

3. The washing effect IS apparently a PP artifact and I was later able to identify how and when this washing effect happens. When replaying the video within PP at less than "full" resolution I see this effect, but when "full" resolution is selected I do not see the effect. I'm not sure what the cause for that is but this one might well be a PP issue.

So, I'm not sure where we go from here but it looks like DJI has determined the problem is not at there end.


Brian

Hi Brian,

maybe you saw my video about this. In it, I already came to exact same conclusion as DJI did - it's a matter of h.265 HEVC decoding, not part of the footage. It seems, in point 3. you have come to the same conclusion regarding the washing effect. Still not convinced this is also responsible for your blooming waveforms?

I also converted h.265 to ProRes 422HQ and blooming was 100% gone.

Then there is Tomas Wangen's footage of course. Not sure about that, hard to judge. There may be some slight issue in extreme situations, but the main blooming is caused by HEVC decoding / Premiere previews for now.

 

[Tomas Wangen]

Then there is Tomas Wangen's footage of course. Not sure about that, hard to judge. There may be some slight issue in extreme situations, but the main blooming is caused by HEVC decoding / Premiere previews for now.

Hi, I have since concluded that my example was not representable as it was really harsh conditions for any single-pass encoder. I have gone to sharpness -1 since, and not seen this again in any footage so far (during similar conditions). I find that h265 is working and am really only waiting for a correct log implementation.

 

[Raptorman0909]

The pulsing effect exists in both the newer H.265 AND the older H.264. The pulsing exists in both the newer P4P and my older Inspire 1 Pro. The pulsing exists in both my DJI cameras AND NONE OF MY OTHER CAMERAS!


Brian

 

[John Locke]

OK, I guess I didn't expect much more than that but I'll make a couple points here:

1. I do not have a basic consumer level PC, in fact, my PC is a pretty high end PC with i7-5820K CPU that's over clocked as well as a 980 Ti GPU that is also over clocked -- definitely not a run of the mill PC.

2. The flickering effect was noted on my other DJI drone, the Inspire 1 Pro, and is not present in the video of any other video camera I own -- camera including: Sony HDR-CX500, Panasoni GH2 and G85, Nikon D800E and D7200. So, if this is a PP issue it's pretty amazing that it only effect the DJI cameras.

Couple of questions:
1. Does your 980TI GPU support h.265 decode capability in hardware, or is your PC dependant on an h.265 codec to decode?

2. Do any of your other cameras use h.265 to compress? If yes, does PP edit those h.265 files OK on your PC with the 980 GPU?

 

[KevMo Photog]

Big thank you to you, Brian. This issue has been ongoing since the P3... all the way to the P4Pro. As much of a DJI fan boy as I am...It has baffled and irritated me beyond belief. Thoughout all 4 of my DJI cameras. Right now we're seeing the typical PR responses... "Send us the files...Your issue is important to us...etc. etc. etc." I got the same kind of responses lately also. And that's fine. Heck it's great. The irony here is they don't need anyones files. Take one of your own birds off the assembly line and test it. It's not isolated. You'll find if you just look. Regardless...I'm glad there's a least a stir about it finally. If a 3 year old iPhone 5 can shoot video that has a steady constant exposure... there's no excuse for a 2016 DJI camera to not have the ability to do the same. IMHO. They've grown so fast in 3 years... it's quite amazing. I'm sure they'll sort it out. But... what's the saying? "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

Thanks again, Brian. Thanks for all your hard work and effort.

Totally agree Frederick! Great to see you in here btw! Love your Youtube Channel man!

 

[F3honda4me]

Couple of questions:
1. Does your 980TI GPU support h.265 decode capability in hardware, or is your PC dependant on an h.265 codec to decode?

2. Do any of your other cameras use h.265 to compress? If yes, does PP edit those h.265 files OK on your PC with the 980 GPU?

I have problems decoding or watching h265 on my pic with the 980ti. I have to use proxies.

 

[Raptorman0909]

Couple of questions:
1. Does your 980TI GPU support h.265 decode capability in hardware, or is your PC dependant on an h.265 codec to decode?

2. Do any of your other cameras use h.265 to compress? If yes, does PP edit those h.265 files OK on your PC with the 980 GPU?

I can't say with any certainty how the 980 Ti interacts with H.265, but I do know that when I play an H.265 raw file within Windows 10 Media Player the video plays but plays slowly -- about 40% speed. So, my guess is that M$ hasn't taken the time to make Windows 10 work with H.265 the way it should. M$ doesn't care.

The only other camera which could support H.265 is the new Panasonic G85, all my other cameras are too old to have it. But, I can't find any source that will confirm the use of H.265 on the G85 though my guess is that it does not, at present, support H.265.

But, once again, the flickering effect is NOT limited to H.265 and is present with H.264 as well.


Brian

 

[BroKyle]

I just received a private message from DJI through a YouTube message. They'd seen my YouTube video on the video problems and want me to send the original files. I'll send then the first file of the flight as that contains both the blown highlights with low IRE values and the pulsing artifact -- not possible to send the whole 13GB.


Brian

That's awesome! I watch a bunch of your videos on YouTube and was hoping this issue would be resolved. Glad to hear they're reaching out.

 

[F3honda4me]

Did some testing today. H264 and h265 show no discernible quality difference to the naked eye for fairly stationary video. However you can see an improvement if there is a lot of movement or motion using h265 over h264.