Just got my Inspire 1, and after a couple of test flights in the field next door, I'm horribly disappointed with the quality of the footage I'm getting.

The image is way too sharp, and the moire in high detail areas (trees, grass) is horrific. Toning down the sharpness to -1 seems to cure it somewhat, but goes way too far, the image becoming muddy and even more unusable. Also the evidence of i-frame compression - the image 'updating' every 20 frames or so - is very ugly. I'm using the supplied ND filter, but in sunlight the shutter is still at 1/800th (iso 100), which isn't helping.

My question is, am I doing anything wrong? And if not, is there any hope that these issues can be addressed with firmware updates in the future, or am I stuck waiting for DJI to produce a better camera? Also, when can we expect to see some higher-stop NDs?

Higher stop ND filters are a must - the provided one is decent enough, but it would be awesome to be able to get shutter speeds of 1/60th on a bright sunny day at noon.

Image sharpness settings could do with some work - zero sharpness in the app is still a little too sharp and -1 is way too blurred

I did find a solution of sorts...
Since I don't have any kind of 4k display, 1080p is the resolution of choice, but I still record at 4k 30fps.

I then downsample the video to 1080p and THEN apply a blur filter.

I use Adobe Premier Pro CC - a Gaussian blur of 1.8 is the perfect amount of softening to my tastes - just enough to take the edge off the video without losing too much fine detail.

Example: http://postimg.org/image/70jvy946b/full/

That said, a little more finesse in the in-app settings would save me a lot of time

i have the same problem,
and when you convert to the Broadcast TV standard 1080 50i
it is dificult zo interlace the video - it is to sharpen
and when you reduce the sharpness you thing you have SD quality

I agree with OP, camera programming needs serious rework! there's clearly heavy over-processing happening to the image. Reasons for high sharpness could be for easy navigation while flying but I think this should be done within lightbridge transmission rather than processing actual footage this way. I know DJI is busy with actual flight issues at this time but since they're in a market for a mini hand-held gimbal system using Inspire camera they should start working on addressing big camera shortcomings by reworking current image processing and giving more options.

I agree, as a former TV cameraman, the image quality I need is of paramount importance. I have had my Inspire for two weeks now, and like others here, I am going round in circles trying to get a decent image. The worst thing I'm finding is what looks like slow data transfer speeds. I'm somewhat puzzled as I based my decision to buy this quad, on videos I had seen online. Maybe there are ways of improving the image quality, I'm sure there are, but as DJI, as usual, are not forthcoming in supporting their customers, I guess I will have to continue with trial and error.

The more people that actually acknowledge this problem, the better!

Ive tried to focus on this since I've got here but people seem more focused on getting more features into the system instead of actually care about what matters in the end, IMAGE QUALITY in the output. I do not believe this rig is an amateur piece iof hardware, but people with less experience do not know what to look for in footage. They just see the 4K detail and ignore the rest, and its obviously a less experienced video "professional" eye judging the footage. I can understand that, but for people with a decent post production background you see the footage fall appart so quickly.

Im actually scared with the people on this forum stating the 4K footage from the Inspire1 looks gorgeous, IT DOES NOT!

DJI, step up the game. Im here with my knowledge, use me and all the other professionals here! Let us help you fix this thing!


regards
mike

I work in the video industry and I do agree with some of the issues presented here - especially the sharpening. That being said, I think that the I1 can capture "gorgeous" 4K footage if you're careful with your shooting methods and subsequently apply good post effects. Does it look as good as a RED Epic mounted on a heavy lifter rig? Or even a GH4? No, of course not. Nonetheless, it does give the ability to get great aerials. Philip Bloom used the Inspire during his time filming for CNN's The Wonder List - some of the shots he pulled on the I1 are fantastic IMO.

On the sharpening front, it looks like this may have been addressed in the recent FW update (although no documentation by DJI strangely): http://www.inspirepilots.com/thr ... ness-settings.2328/

Awesome! Been out testing it today, and it's so much better! Increments are so small, I'm favouring -3. I'm seeing some improvements in compression/moire too, probably as a result of the non-sharpening. Still looks horribly posterized at 4k, but I'm not sure that isn't just a 4k thing in general. Having no other 4k cameras, I have no basis for comparison.

Thanks everyone for your feedback - I'm feeling a lot more positive about my purchase now

Editart Posted at 2015-4-29 05:55
The more people that actually acknowledge this problem, the better!

Ive tried to focus on this sinc ...

but as long as they only provide about 60 mbit/sec in 4K the compression stays that bad and the video quality stays low.

neumeister@mini Posted at 2015-5-29 15:48
but as long as they only provide about 60 mbit/sec in 4K the compression stays that bad and the vi ...

Agreed.  I keep waiting for Ed or Autumn to tell us what is being done about this, since it's a firmware setting.

PeteGould Posted at 2015-5-29 21:05
Agreed.  I keep waiting for Ed or Autumn to tell us what is being done about this, since it's a fi ...

Surely the bit rate can't be improved on through software, isn't it a limitation of the Sony sensor?

The next generation of camera upgrade will hopefully have a higher bit rate. Don't forget this is the same sensor as GoPro use in the Hero 4. Small sensors are small sensors.

iSkyUnmannedSys Posted at 2015-5-30 17:23
Surely the bit rate can't be improved on through software, isn't it a limitation of the Sony senso ...

Nothing to do with the sensor - It is a sampling/codec problem

iSkyUnmannedSys Posted at 2015-5-30 17:23
Surely the bit rate can't be improved on through software, isn't it a limitation of the Sony senso ...

As markjacobs says, the camera sensor has nothing to do with it.  The camera sensor merely generates the (uncompressed) image.  The camera electronics DO determine the bit depth (8 bit, 10 bit, etc.) of the video, but not the compression method or bitrate.  After the camera sensor produces the image and delivers it to the compression engine, it is converted to (in the case of the Inspire) H.264 compressed video by additional electronics downstream.

Since you mention the GoPro - if you take a live HDMI output from a GoPro and connect it to a higher bitrate recording device like the Atomos Ninja, you can record a far higher quality video stream than you will get from the GoPro's internal MicroSD card (click on this user story for an example), because you are skipping the GoPro's internal compression engine and using the Atomos' higher quality compression instead.

The real question about the Inspire camera module (which contains the entire video system - sensor, camera electronics, H.264 encoder, memory card recorder) is the degree to which the compression engine is firmware upgradable.  There are several ways of implementing an H.264 encoding solution; some are completely established in firmware (typically FPGA-based systems) and some have the entire encoding solution on a chip that simply "works the way it works" (ASIC-based systems).  However, even an ASIC encoder typically has several modes which are selected by firmware, and sometimes an ASIC encoder has enhanced modes available that were not made available in a first firmware release.

Only DJI knows what is in that camera module and whether it is capable of better performance than we are currently seeing.

Pete, Dji may not Know much beyond how to integrate it. They probably didn't anticipate the issues consumers would find. Now that we have found the issues it will likely come down to someone like yourself to expose them, bring them out into the light, for all to see. Then it becomes an eyesore that needs fixing in order to prevent the competition from providing a better alternative.

A couple million dollar fix could prevent a billion or so in sales being lost?

I have the compression problem on my Phantom 3 4K footage. Sort of flashes each 8 GOP. The only solution I'm forced to use is this plugins http://www.digitalanarchy.com/Flicker/main.html

DJI ? 100Mbps ?.........

vincent.zorzi Posted at 2015-6-11 21:50
I have the compression problem on my Phantom 3 4K footage. Sort of flashes each 8 GOP. The only solu ...

Vincent, which settings are you using with FlickerFree to minimize compression flicker?

Thanks.

rockliffe@btcon Posted at 2015-4-28 12:08
I agree, as a former TV cameraman, the image quality I need is of paramount importance. I have had m ...

We are all having these issues with no solution.
I really do like the inspire 1 but the camera is another story! Honestly there new camera system for the inspire 1 looks interesting but I wouldn't spend that kinda money to upgrade the camera to get the same issues and specially that I was in dire need or hope I should say on hoping the new camera would have the ability to ZOOM. I'm beyond disappointed with DJI.

MY QUESTION GOES FURTHER!
WHY IS DJI CUSTOMER SERVICE/SUPPORT SO HORRIBLE? Is like they don't care, you speak to them and they act like I own them favors. I've never been rude to them but they get verzy angry and can't answer the question and forward me to DJI forums.

noahny Posted at 2015-11-6 06:01
We are all having these issues with no solution.
I really do like the inspire 1 but the camera is ...

It's called corporate arrogance. Bloody disgusting.

noahny Posted at 2015-11-6 07:01
We are all having these issues with no solution.
I really do like the inspire 1 but the camera is ...

They are probably some students with basic knowlede but if you have a problem they didnt already hear 50x they have to ask at devs? superiors? dont know whom they ask but they ask and you wait 30min to get the next answer unlikely to be helpful and so on. You can spend all the night with them for a minor problem and have a 50% chance to solve it.

They are here thats basically a plus but their help is very limited its more for people who are too stupid to read the manual themselves.

I got "simple" problems solved like a bricked RC where I needed only the reset bin. But I didnt get help at my jello problem nor the missing switch off setting for the odd camera move it makes every yaw nor a roll back problem.

So where do we turn to get a petition to sign, and show how many of us who wants 100mbps on our Phantom 3, 4 / Inspire 1 Camera ?

i´ve seen this linkhttps://www.change.org/p/dji-100 ... ntom-3-professional
But it didnt really go that far it seems,,  we gotta be way more then 1200 ppl who wants this upgrade..

This has been discussed quite a bit. There doesn't seem to be any way DJI can improve the encoder bitrate via a software update due to limitations in the SoC they've chosen. Nobody using the A9 SoC is doing higher bitrates with it either, as far as I know. Doesn't prove anything but if it was just a matter of shipping a firmware update with a modified encoder configuration, they would have done it already.
But...

Really, the bitrate isn't an issue. Would it be nice to have higher rates, especially for 4K? Sure! But way more so than birate, it's the in-camera processing where the X3 and X5 both seem to fall down. Case in point, DJI is up running 45Mpbs recording at 1080p/24 now (IIRC). I have 24Mbps AVCHD cameras that utterly demolish the DJI X5 in terms of image quality using similar glass. This is also 420/8-Bit video, so no advantages to the other cameras there. Less bit rate but better internal image processing = better image, every time.

So if you understand that you can get really great 1080p images at a lowly 24Mbps you put the real issues of the X3/X5 down to the capture and processing chain. Those seem like something DJI could in fact do something to address but the fact that this has been an oft discussed, well known issue with the Inspire 1 cameras (both X3 and X5) it seems maybe they either can't or are choosing not to.

Sadly, after more than a year of flying an Inspire 1 it seems the X3 is what it is and the newer X5 is what it is. Nothing is really going to improve substantially, I think. Don't get me wrong - you can get some nice images out of the X3 and X5 but you really have to find their sweet spot settings wise (exposure settings and method, sharp/sat/contrast) and give them a good bit of love in post for them to real deliver.