Phantom 3 Video issues - Zebra lines and Purple distortion

[Ujan]

Hello everyone, I first want to thank you all for the excellent help you guys offer

So I recently crashed and my gimbal's home point was off (always facing left). To fix the issue I realigned the gimbal and tightened the little hex screw on the shaft which made the gimbal face straight ahead again.

I figured everything was normal now but I took it up to fly and I noticed my DJI GO app (on Android) was lagging more than usual and showing me some odd artifacts along with randomly losing and regaining the live feed. I thought this was only in the transmission of the video but when I watched the video off the sd card I was seeing the same problems that I was seeing while shooting. I'm getting these weird zebra lines in overexposed areas and random purple distortion as you can see in the video below. When I switch into photo mode I the zebras instantly disappear and I can take photos with no issue.

Anyone have any ideas what could possibly be wrong or any troubleshooting things I can do to possibly fix it.

*keep in mind that when my gimbal was messed up and facing left I was not having any of these video issues except for the fact that there was a landing gear in my shot. All these issues started happening after the fix.

*DID IMU AND GIMBAL CALIBRATION. FIRMWARE IS UP TO DATE ON EVERYTHING INCLUDING APP AND CONTROLLER

 

[bobmyers]

They are over exposure areas of the video, turn off over exposure settings in the video settings.

 

[Ujan]

They are over exposure areas of the video, turn off over exposure settings in the video settings.

If the zebras are there for overexposure why would they get baked in to the final image?

 

[bobmyers]

If the zebras are there for overexposure why would they get baked in to the final image?

I don't know that answer-- turn them off and they wont be there.

 

[Ujan]

I don't know that answer-- turn them off and they wont be there.

I don't even think Zebras are an option in the android app, there is no place to turn them off or on

 

[bobmyers]

I don't even think Zebras are an option in the android app, there is no place to turn them off or on

Could be-- I don't have android-- but they were an issue the first day I flew mine -- until I figured out that they could be turned off.

 

[Ujan]

Could be-- I don't have android-- but they were an issue the first day I flew mine -- until I figured out that they could be turned off.

Again even if the typical zebras for overexposure were the issue while monitoring, there is no reason for them to ever be in the actual video file saved onto the SD Card

 

[TAZ]

Again even if the typical zebras for overexposure were the issue while monitoring, there is no reason for them to ever be in the actual video file saved onto the SD Card

Yeah...pretty sure bob mustn't have looked at the video. Definitely not a setting or over exposure warnings. This looks like a corruption issue. Possibly hardware...possibly software. Does the original file show this issue? Do all videos display this issue?

 

[Ujan]

Yeah...pretty sure bob mustn't have looked at the video. Definitely not a setting or over exposure warnings. This looks like a corruption issue. Possibly hardware...possibly software. Does the original file show this issue? Do all videos display this issue?

Yeah what i posted is from the original file from the SD Card. I was thinking its hardware too, maybe a problem with the ribbon cable or something on the camera. The only thing that makes me think its not a hardware issue is that I was not having any such problems until i tightened that little screw to realign the gimbal

 

[TAZ]

Yeah what i posted is from the original file from the SD Card. I was thinking its hardware too, maybe a problem with the ribbon cable or something on the camera. The only thing that makes me think its not a hardware issue is that I was not having any such problems until i tightened that little screw to realign the gimbal

The ribbon cable was my first thought as well. If you see no physical damage, check all the ribbon connectors, and ensure they are 100% seated as well.

 

[bobmyers]

Yeah what i posted is from the original file from the SD Card. I was thinking its hardware too, maybe a problem with the ribbon cable or something on the camera. The only thing that makes me think its not a hardware issue is that I was not having any such problems until i tightened that little screw to realign the gimbal

Sorry-- didn't look very close-- but yes that is not zebra-- but now you have me thinking-- I was under the impression that the zebra did show up in the video file, now , I am going to have to check it out when I get home and see what happens with the over exposed portion of the video.

 

[Ujan]

Another reason keeping me from believing its hardware is that as soon as i switch to photo mode all of these problems disappear. Only seeing all these artifacts in video mode. I even rolled back the APP to DJI Pilot 1.2.0 and the problems persisted

 

[jcknows0]

Sorry-- didn't look very close-- but yes that is not zebra-- but now you have me thinking-- I was under the impression that the zebra did show up in the video file, now , I am going to have to check it out when I get home and see what happens with the over exposed portion of the video.

It shows up on flight photos in the app but that should be it. I like zebras, brings me back to my high school video days

 

[Ujan]

The ribbon cable was my first thought as well. If you see no physical damage, check all the ribbon connectors, and ensure they are 100% seated as well.

I don't think the ribbon cable is damaged or else I shouldnt be getting clear video at points. I do think it has been knocked out of place. What is the best way you'd suggest to reseat the ribbon cable?

 

[yellowfin35]

Hey all, I know late to this, but I was experiencing lines and artifacts as well and over time the problem grew to what is shown below. It was solved by changing the ribbon cable which I bought new from amazon.com. It was about a 30 minute fix and all is working well again!

Phantom 3 advanced zebra lines

• yellowfin35
• Jul 11, 2016

video issues solved by changing ribbon cable.

 

[kirk2579]

I don't think the ribbon cable is damaged or else I shouldnt be getting clear video at points. I do think it has been knocked out of place. What is the best way you'd suggest to reseat the ribbon cable?

Based upon you mentioning that the issue began shortly after you tightened a gimbal screw I would be looking to see if the screw may be contacting/piercing the ribbon cable somehow. a small short on 1 lead vs many could cause video feed to be effected and not touch the "camera" shot.
Just my guess as to where to look....

good luck and have fun flying!