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Video Compression/Noise Reduction Artifacts and camera issues in P4
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19359 75 2016-3-22
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johnwright
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Just to throw another opinion out there....

I was noticing very similar artifacts when panning/tilting and they WENT AWAY COMPLETELY when I optimized the media in Final Cut Pro X. So, instead of editing in the native P4 format, I convert that file to Apple ProRes 422 and then edit that - buttery smooth and much more beautiful. Turn off noise reduction in the P4 too - it's just an extra layer of processing and you could turn it back on when you need it (or reduce noise in post-production instead).  [EDIT TO SAY: Duh, you already talked about 3DNR in the thread. Sorry!]
2016-4-12
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joey.lopina
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My P4 is having the same problem
2016-4-12
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Geebax
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mariuspaun80 Posted at 2016-4-12 21:51
Hello guys! I also have issues with phantom 4. When lightning conditions are changing the image have ...

That is the automatic white balance at work. Switch it to manual and then colour correct in post if necessary.
2016-4-12
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rwhoffart
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Geebax Posted at 2016-4-12 19:22
That is the automatic white balance at work. Switch it to manual and then colour correct in post i ...

Ditto ... turn off auto WB.
2016-4-12
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Troubleshooter
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I had the same exact problem with the DJI OSMO, i had to send that crap back@!
2016-4-12
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Geebax
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Troubleshooter Posted at 2016-4-13 12:12
I had the same exact problem with the DJI OSMO, i had to send that crap back@!

Are you saying you could not turn off the auto white balance in the Osmo?
2016-4-12
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Marius Paun
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Is it normally to exist this stops when WB Auto makes adjustments? I've tested P3 proffesional with WB Auto on and it doesn't makes this things. Are you shure that is not a problem with my P4?
2016-4-12
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wrathofkhan
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Tip: the author has been banned or deleted automatically shield
2016-4-13
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reubenphotograp
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ndsiow Posted at 2016-3-27 08:32
Hi Jim, I do have similar issues.

Sent an email to Dji support.

I never have seen anything of that sort on my P4
2016-4-17
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jackpast
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Just saw this thread.  Jim, I just got my P4 2 days ago through Amazon.  Had trouble with the firmware upgrade but finally figured that out.  After a testflight, I started to feel comfortable with camera settings and started some recording in 4k.  I described it as an aberration but maybe 'artefact' is the same here?  Anyway, here are my notes:  When flying and filming, the video on my iPhone or iPad looks a little skippy when moving the gimbal or turning the drone.  When I downloaded the video to my laptop, all looked great...until I moved the camera up or down.  That's when I see the aberration, which goes away instantly when the camera stops moving.  When I turn the drone the picture looks great.  I have a ticket at DJI and they suggested I do a gimbal calibration.  I told them that I did and the problem is still there.  I may return my unit to Amazon if I don't get a clear answer on this problem.
2016-4-25
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jackpast
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FatedFilmsNC Posted at 2016-4-3 18:27
Wow, it seems there are a lot of people having this issue. I am not having issues with noise artifac ...

No problem from me.  Thanks for letting us know others are out there without this problem!
2016-4-25
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jackpast
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rwhoffart@gmail Posted at 2016-4-5 15:27
Lock your shutter speed at 60 ... you will end up with a much smoother video. Now in most cases yo ...

I saw no example of gimbal being raised or lowered in this video.  My P4 video looks this great, also, until I move the gimbal.
2016-4-25
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jackpast
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johnwright@klpz Posted at 2016-4-12 17:00
Just to throw another opinion out there....

I was noticing very similar artifacts when panning/tilt ...

Could you tell me what program you use to convert to Apple ProRes422?  Thanks!
2016-4-25
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Geebax
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jackpast Posted at 2016-4-26 09:27
Just saw this thread.  Jim, I just got my P4 2 days ago through Amazon.  Had trouble with the firmwa ...

Without being able to see the video you are talking about, I can guess the reason is the tilt action on the gimbal is too fast for the frame rate. If you are shooting at 24 or 30 fps, then all movements must be slow and smooth. It is not an issue with your camera, it is simply fact of life in shooting video at slow frame rates.
2016-4-25
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jackpast
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Geebax Posted at 2016-4-25 19:50
Without being able to see the video you are talking about, I can guess the reason is the tilt acti ...

Thanks for the thought.  I'll do some experimenting with the suggestions here.  I'm wondering why I don't notice it though when spinning the drone around?  I did slow the rate of gimbal via software today thinking the same as you, but no difference.
2016-4-25
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Geebax
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jackpast Posted at 2016-4-26 10:51
Thanks for the thought.  I'll do some experimenting with the suggestions here.  I'm wondering why  ...

OK, then it may be a problem of the gimbal not moving smoothly, perhaps you could post a video?
2016-4-25
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johnwright
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jackpast Posted at 2016-4-25 19:38
Could you tell me what program you use to convert to Apple ProRes422?  Thanks!

Hey - I use Final Cut Pro X and the Optimize Media tool inside it. You can also use Apple's Compressor or - for the freebie option - MPEG Streamclip. (Those are Mac, not sure for PC.)
2016-4-25
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dpcam1
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boltupright Posted at 2016-3-24 07:30
I would really like some help from others with P4's.  I have now made the file available via dropbox ...

Hi there...you're not alone with this..I've noticed terrible bluryness in anything finely detailed which means the video compression is very poor.
2016-4-29
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Mabou2
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dpcam1 Posted at 2016-4-29 14:14
Hi there...you're not alone with this..I've noticed terrible bluryness in anything finely detailed ...

Same here gents.  I ONLY notice the problem with there is a ton of detail  and MOSTLY when the move is vertical, such as lifting or lowering the P4 or gimballing the camera up and down.  It looks like the screen is carbonated for a few seconds, then the artifacts disappear.
Rather than post video clips, I've posted two still grabs below.  
The first is fine, taken just before I gimballed the camera down.  
The second shows in great detail (ahem, or lack thereof) how bad the pixillation is when the camera or the drone move vertically.


This was shot on my first day with the drone.  All factory settings in 4K.

I have several video clips that show this issue, every one of them relating to a vertical move (either by drone or gimbal).  Horizontal moves (even spinning the drone over and over again) don't reveal this kind of issue.
djicomp_before.jpg
djicomp_during.jpg
2016-5-7
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Mabou2
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Mabou2 Posted at 2016-5-7 12:58
Same here gents.  I ONLY notice the problem with there is a ton of detail  and MOSTLY when the move ...

UPDATE...  Ok, so, after another marathon round of flying, I seem to have fixed the problem, though I tried so many changes at once, I'm not sure if there was a single remedy.

But here is what I did, and the horrible problem completely went away.
1) Manual White Balance
2) Manual exposure
3) Changed the 4k to the size just below full 4K (Don't recall the exact dimensions)
4) Upgraded my micro SD card to a much faster version.
5) Shooting with all sharpening, saturation, etc turned down to -2.

As I said, I don't know which of these might have fixed the problem, my guess is the SD card could be a big win.  But for right now at least, the pixillation problem seems to have stopped.
2016-5-7
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calls4u2
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I got very grainy image in low light situation, not recorded video on daylight since and assumed it was just the light. Compression does cause some lack of detail even in daylight though.
2016-5-8
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Geebax
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Mabou2 Posted at 2016-5-8 14:58
UPDATE...  Ok, so, after another marathon round of flying, I seem to have fixed the problem, thoug ...

The SD card will or will not be able to do the job, it does not cause macro-blocking (what you call pixelation), the actual thing that would have cured it was setting sharpening to -2.
2016-5-8
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Mabou2
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Geebax Posted at 2016-5-8 05:39
The SD card will or will not be able to do the job, it does not cause macro-blocking (what you call ...

@Geebax, you might be right.  But the card could definitely be a contributor IF the video system is aware that the card can't keep up and has to throttle the bandwidth to the card.  Macro blocking can result from a variety of issues in the bandwidth-path.  This particular brand of macro blocking is really interesting too.  It "Shimmers", but only on vertical moves (lifting or dropping the drone, or using the gimbal to move the camera up/down).  I am a professional videographer and have been creating content for the web for more than 22 years, and have seen just about every kind of image degradation issue possible, but I have never seen this kind of shimmering effect...  almost like the image is carbonated.  The still frame I provided tells the story of what is happening in a single frame of the clip, but the real time playback of that moment is really unusual.  Anyway, thanks for the reply.
2016-5-9
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Endless
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First flight with the Phantom 4.  I also get crazy moire or compression issues.  Not very happy and had better footage with my P3A.

Here is a quick clip.  1080p 30fps.  https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbgw91ai9pjkvtq/2016_05_08_13_01_14.mp4?dl=0  I am aware my exposure value is low and the vid is a little dark.

No matter what I do with the given suggestions within this thread. (AWB, 3DNR off, changed to a faster 64gb card etc)  I still get pulsating blurry in and out footage.  I hope there is a fix.  This is a waste thus far.  I have not contacted DJI as of yet, and it seems most of you are waiting on them anyways.

I look forward to a fix sooner than later.  I don't want to film everything with my OSMO.

Cheers
PS  The pink at the bottom initially was the only time it happened and I chalk it up to the connection of the Samsung Galaxy S6.  Again, it hasn't happened again.
I also have footage from up higher and the same pulsating blur occurs.








2016-5-10
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gustofusion
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That file on dropbox is not original footage from A Phantom. It has been re-encoded with a derivative of FFMPEG "Lavf55.33.100" to be specific.
The meta data is wrong in you're drop box provided file.
In the first attached image is meta data from your video provided. In the 2nd photo below is original meta data taken from footage I just took from my Camera.

re-encode.jpg original.jpg
2016-5-11
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Jim Watkins
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gustofusion Posted at 2016-5-11 13:45
That file on dropbox is not original footage from A Phantom. It has been re-encoded with a derivativ ...

It was necessary to shorten the video clip to a reasonable length for the purpose of this discussion.  I did that with GoPro Studio.  

NEXT
2016-5-11
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gustofusion
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Jim Watkins Posted at 2016-5-11 17:50
It was necessary to shorten the video clip to a reasonable length for the purpose of this discussi ...

can you upload the full video, I have methods to see what could be the issues with footage if possible. Thanks.
2016-5-11
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Jim Watkins
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gustofusion Posted at 2016-5-11 16:24
can you upload the full video, I have methods to see what could be the issues with footage if poss ...

I just looked and it appears that I no longer have the original.  I also don't have any other video that has that problem.  The next time I fly, I will put the camera settings back to their defaults and shoot a brief test to post on Drop Box.  That probably will not happen until Sunday or Monday.
2016-5-12
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dietero
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boltupright Posted at 2016-3-25 05:04
I think what you're referring to as banding during flight is what you see when there is direct sun ...

Hey Boltupright:
Have you tried a lower shutter speed? I read on one of the forums that too high a shutter speed will make artifacts worse. "They claim that a shutter speed twice the frame rate is ideal, but you need an ND filter then.
I have the same bad effect on small detail like grass and tree branches when tilting the camera.
I have not yet tried to change shutter to a lower speed because I have not yet received my ND filters.
Just a thought.
The detail in the videos though are incredible, but only when not tilting :-).
dietero
2016-5-13
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Jim Watkins
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dietero Posted at 2016-5-14 00:31
Hey Boltupright:
Have you tried a lower shutter speed? I read on one of the forums that too high a ...

I believe that ND filters may reduce or maybe even eliminate the problem, but I don't have any yet.  The reason they may help is that they would result in longer exposure times and therefore more motion blur.  Without ND filters, each frame is very very sharp and detailed.  As a result, all that detail increases the compression artifacts because there is a LOT more detail to compress.  Anyway, I will eventually get some ND's and see.  Meanwhile, I can greatly reduce the artifacts by simply turning off 3DNR and reducing some of the sharpness in the camera settings.  There is way too much enhancement anyway.

--Jim
2016-5-13
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dietero
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Jim Watkins Posted at 2016-5-14 02:46
I believe that ND filters may reduce or maybe even eliminate the problem, but I don't have any yet ...

Jim:
I did some tests this morning concerning what effect size and Frame Rate would have on the pixilations. I think we all noticed that the gross pixilation occurred while tilting the camera up or down. I noticed no aberrations while panning.
I wanted to see what effect the vertical (frame rate) would have on that. At 1080 30fps I could not get pixilation. Neither did I get pixilation on 2701 30fps. Here comes the ambiguity though: while making one test with settings of 3840 30fps I got one clean video, one video that had pixilation on the way down but not on the way up and the next video was completely pixilated. I made those videos all at the same location and stillI have them saved if you are interested.
2016-5-14
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scottrhoyt
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I just recently bought a phantom 4 and took this video this weekend (4k 30FPS, AWB, AE). In it you can notice many compression artifacts and also the black pulsating effect. I would like to know if this is a hardware problem with my unit or representative of phantom 4 performance in general. if this is common, what steps can I take to produce better video? Thanks much.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B35p6JRIH_PGMHU5U2xTTDJ1emM

Scott
2016-6-6
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velascoborja
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Hello Jim,

I'm having the same problem as you and I've realised that there are more people with this problem. What have you finally made to fix this issue. Did you return your Phantom?

I attach an example of my issue and a link to my post.

Thanks!

This is the video: https://goo.gl/Hfi2Br

1 - https://goo.gl/kw9eE3
2 - https://goo.gl/pzqwcN

These are some examples of people with the same problem:





2016-6-13
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daivatam
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Want to inform you that all that identical problems are present also to the mavic ...and on top on mavic we don't have the option to turn down the NR...and the Nr it is overaggressive...also the sharpening
2017-3-8
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WindSoul
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cant see the vid. checked on some of the others posted on this thread.the 4k/30 records on sd card at 60Mbs, or under 8MB/s, same as the hero 4. i guess that is not enough for fast transitions, especially in detail-rich scenery. you may want 1080p/120fps for fast transitions. i noticed that changes in light are usually accompanied by video artefacts, so i use auto exposure and slow turns. this maintains good compensation on gimbals and gives me satisfactory results. as for investing in filters, i dont think is worth a penny.

message 73: the artefacts presented are in detail-rich pictures. while i agree that is not ideal, i believe there is a limit of what to expect from the P4 camera.
2017-3-9
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Mharro88
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I'm having this issue in the mavic but no option to switch off 3dnr ?
2017-4-3
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