Phantom 4 Poor Video Quality - Lemon?
- Thread starter AlexLim
- Start date
Hi there, Leroy....I think the video's look reasonably good....it's hard to say.....there's definitely a softness to the bush in dlog stuff...I found dlog totally unusable on my first phantom. The best test is to blow the video up as you've done....your blow ups don't look too bad...the car has retained some sharpness. I'll post a still from that split screen video I posted....it illustrates the problem perfectly by showing how the compression has completely gone to pieces...I found with my p4 that the material could look perfect and then utter crap....some of the photos you posted definitely have those soft mushy features and others are fine....that's how I've found the problem to be....that's why it drives you a bit nuts!!!! It's a very subtle problem and one a lot of people will not pick up. I'm a cameraman/editor so I'm looking at footage all the time.
Attachments
Here's a couple of video freeze frames from other videos I did and the quality is terrible.
Dropbox - track in over trees freeze crop.tif
Dropbox - flyover lyttellton freeze crop.tif
Dropbox - track in over trees freeze crop.tif
Dropbox - flyover lyttellton freeze crop.tif
I will say for certain that the pasty washed out effect you're getting is how my dlog footage looked like when I first started using my first p4. I stopped using dlog and went back to using all standard factory settings. Everything was fine for a couple of weeks and then the footage started looking like what I've been posting in the last couple of days...no detail or resolution.
Thanks Dave
It is very frustrating sometimes its better and other times it looks very muted and smudgey.
I am also very particular with my footage (I also do photography and videography as my career) I have shown others that have been "looks ok" and I'm guessing that what the company I purchased from is going to say as well.
Maybe I am over analyzing though
Additional images of a tree that I did a fly around...
100% crops below one is the full shot from premiere
.
Thanks Dave
It is very frustrating sometimes its better and other times it looks very muted and smudgey.
I am also very particular with my footage (I also do photography and videography as my career) I have shown others that have been "looks ok" and I'm guessing that what the company I purchased from is going to say as well.
Maybe I am over analyzing though
Additional images of a tree that I did a fly around...
100% crops below one is the full shot from premiere
.View attachment 54810 View attachment 54811 View attachment 54812
thats not good enough!!! for something that costs what it does.....4k should retain a reasonable amount of sharpness when you blow it up....I realize that this is cheap 4k at 60mbs/s but I've blown some of my good stuff up and it looks pretty good. I was able to convince my dji rep by creating that split screen but for days he said to me "that's just how they look sometimes", which is really not good enough....the picture detail should remain consistantly sharp through everything you do, not ok one minute and awful the next.
Thanks Dave
It is very frustrating sometimes its better and other times it looks very muted and smudgey.
I am also very particular with my footage (I also do photography and videography as my career) I have shown others that have been "looks ok" and I'm guessing that what the company I purchased from is going to say as well.
Maybe I am over analyzing though
Additional images of a tree that I did a fly around...
100% crops below one is the full shot from premiere
.View attachment 54810 View attachment 54811 View attachment 54812
here's something i did today with the replacement drone I was given...it looks great, exactly as I'd expect.
Dropbox - lytellton 4k.mov
OK that looks great! that is what I was expecting
4k 25fps what about your other settings ? style etc..
Hi Lerroy, in my opinion your drone is right. Your images' crops shows the vectorized look of D-Log mode, and as I said earlier, D-Log is unusable after the last firmware update. Your "None" footage looks good to me. Find attached my captures so you can compare.
Attachments
Hi Carlos
Thanks for the reply, your D-LOG shot looks exactly like mine not sure if that's good or bad as I was hoping even in normal the quality would be better.
I'll play more tomorrow not in d-log and see how it goes, ill do some runs without ND all set to auto and then go from there adjusting settings.
Hope they fix up the d-log mode in the future..
I think it's necessary to set the right expectations on what we can get out of these drones. They deliver great image quality, perfect for generating internet video assets at a professional level, but we can't expect to get the same quality as you would get from a Panasonic GH4!
These cameras tend to compress a lot more the less contrasted zones of the videos. That's why trees, sand, vegetation, etc, seems to be less detailed than houses and buildings. This can be observed clearly in Dave's footage... look at the trees and think how this video would look like if no houses, roads or cars were there.
When you do your next test try to film some city landscape and you will notice the difference!
These cameras tend to compress a lot more the less contrasted zones of the videos. That's why trees, sand, vegetation, etc, seems to be less detailed than houses and buildings. This can be observed clearly in Dave's footage... look at the trees and think how this video would look like if no houses, roads or cars were there.
When you do your next test try to film some city landscape and you will notice the difference!
Yeah for sure, I was expecting better than my go pro 4 though and it's actuslly pretty close if you forget about the distortion.
You are right though about larger objects houses etc in the shot rather than super detailed trees.
Unfortunately I live about 1200km from a city
I have leave coming up soon though so I'll give it a go then when I'm back in Sydney
Thanks
You are right though about larger objects houses etc in the shot rather than super detailed trees.
Unfortunately I live about 1200km from a city
I have leave coming up soon though so I'll give it a go then when I'm back in Sydney
Thanks
I think I may have narrowed down my issues with soft, smudgy video....there seems to be a link with the way I power the craft up and power it down as to whether the problem reproduces itself...it's either that or an issue with the go app on my ipad mini 2.
I thought back to when the problem first emerged...I'd just bought an Ipad Mini 2....before that results using the Go app on my Samsung Tab 4 using all standard settings were great...sharp and clear,( not so in dlog but it would appear that doesn't work so well anyway.)
I also wondered about my power up and power down sequence....with the samsung I'd got into a habit of powering up the controller, then powering up the app and waiting for it to tell me to turn on the craft. Today, I tried using the samsung all day and using the power up sequence; controller, app and then camera and the power down sequence; turn off app, then camera, then controller. The result has been amazing with great sharp, clear footage all day. For the last 3 shots of the day I tried the same sequence with my ipad mini 2 and that footage was amazing as well.....so there seems to be a link between the power up, power down sequence and how the camera will be the next time you start. It's either that or there's a problem with the go app on the mini. Will try shooting all day tomorrow on just the mini.
I thought back to when the problem first emerged...I'd just bought an Ipad Mini 2....before that results using the Go app on my Samsung Tab 4 using all standard settings were great...sharp and clear,( not so in dlog but it would appear that doesn't work so well anyway.)
I also wondered about my power up and power down sequence....with the samsung I'd got into a habit of powering up the controller, then powering up the app and waiting for it to tell me to turn on the craft. Today, I tried using the samsung all day and using the power up sequence; controller, app and then camera and the power down sequence; turn off app, then camera, then controller. The result has been amazing with great sharp, clear footage all day. For the last 3 shots of the day I tried the same sequence with my ipad mini 2 and that footage was amazing as well.....so there seems to be a link between the power up, power down sequence and how the camera will be the next time you start. It's either that or there's a problem with the go app on the mini. Will try shooting all day tomorrow on just the mini.
Hi alex...I've had months of frustration with the poor video quality from my p4...the people I bought mine from are finally taking the issue up with dji...as I have very similar problems to what you experienced can you confirm that your replacement fixed your issues...I had the opportunity to fly another p4 and it had similar issues of good crisp video one minute and then soft crap the next...if they offer me another I want to know it will be a fix like you had.
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My second copy is definitely better...
It has quality limitations though, I think could be perceived as inconsistency in the tech/hardware. I can only attribute it to light conditions and corresponding settings, but there are definitely some that turn out very crisp, clear, smooth, while others are muddy, noisy, flickering, etc. Usually if it's low light or anything other than 100 or 200 ISO doesn't turn out so great for me... To me it's just an issue of camera picture quality and compression.
I don't always have the same power up sequence, never really though about it, sometimes I'll turn on the controller first or P4, or phone/app... seems weird that would be have anything to do with it? If you think that might be something, I'd just do control tests, indoors, with consistent light and subject, then try powering up in different order, record under all the same settings, and compare.
It has quality limitations though, I think could be perceived as inconsistency in the tech/hardware. I can only attribute it to light conditions and corresponding settings, but there are definitely some that turn out very crisp, clear, smooth, while others are muddy, noisy, flickering, etc. Usually if it's low light or anything other than 100 or 200 ISO doesn't turn out so great for me... To me it's just an issue of camera picture quality and compression.
I don't always have the same power up sequence, never really though about it, sometimes I'll turn on the controller first or P4, or phone/app... seems weird that would be have anything to do with it? If you think that might be something, I'd just do control tests, indoors, with consistent light and subject, then try powering up in different order, record under all the same settings, and compare.
I'm thinking of going with a P3P if they offer a replacement. .do you think they perform better in terms of compression and consistently sharp video?
Hey guys, I recently purchased a P4 and have been really struggling with the video quality, I have the same issues mentioned here. Has anything changed within the past few months with recent firmware upgrades? I noticed that some of my favorite videos on YouTube are shot with the P3P after reading through this thread and going back to check however there are still a lot of really nice videos like the one below shot with the P4. So what are the latest recommended settings for Style and Color since D-Log seems to be unusable on the P4? Thanks guys.
Check your MicroSd card.
I've changed the microsd card yesterday and the captured images and videos were terrible.
Completely different from the original microsd (and faster) that came with my drone.
