Hi everybody, this is my first post on this forum and I'm hoping I can  get some assistance on the following issue I'm having with my new  Phantom 4 Pro. The issue is this:

I am using an android phone  (with Wifi turned on and/or my sim card activated) with the P4P remote.  The screen on my android phone gets glitchy whenever I use the P4P. Here  is an example of how my android screen looks:



It doesn't glitch as often as on the video, but I do get purple/green lines popping up on the phone.

Now  on that video, the "solution" is to change the SD card. But I have come  to the conclusion that the SD card is NOT the problem. The reason being  is that I changed the default 16GB SD card that came with my P4P with  the default SD card that came with my Mavic Pro.

But even when I  switched it, I had the same glitchy issue on the android screen. This  tends to happen most often when the drone is close to me (10 feet or  less).

But here's how I came to the conclusion that it isn't the  SD card. Besides swapping them, I looked at the video taken by the drone  where while recording, my phone screen DID show glitches, but on the  actual video on my laptop, straight from the SD card, there is no glitch  being shown.

These tests I ran led me to believe the issue is likely due to...

My  phone perhaps not being good enough to support the camera quality. I  have read posts on this forum where people have claimed the same thing  and suggested switching android devices.

I have yet to test this out personally, but I wanted to share this and hope that you guys can tell me if:

The  issue is indeed with my phone. If it is, then there's no reason to  return my P4P and I'll just wait until I get a better android device.

If  the issue is with the P4P camera, please let me know because I have  until Friday to return it to best buy. I did get DJI care for my P4P but  I hear it's a pain to send it out and wait for it to come back.

Hoping to get some clarity on this. As an add on, I have taken a screenshot of 2 videos...

1 image is from the SD card recording myself filiming and my grandfather so it's from the P4P camera.

The other image is me recording my android screen glitch from another phone to prove it.

You came to the right conlcusion... it is the phone. Try another OS too and see if it works!

Same happens with some iOS devices too. I got that with my Nvidia Shield K1, Nexus 7 Gen 2, and iPad Mini 3, especially when saving video cache locally. Just ordered an iPad Mini 4 and I am hoping I get better results. I assume the more powerful the device, the less likely this will happen. So far, my Shield K1 worked best.

Could you clarify what mobile device you're using along with Go app version? Have you tried a different mobile device to see if there is any change?

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-4-24 13:05
Same happens with some iOS devices too. I got that with my Nvidia Shield K1, Nexus 7 Gen 2, and iPad Mini 3, especially when saving video cache locally. Just ordered an iPad Mini 4 and I am hoping I get better results. I assume the more powerful the device, the less likely this will happen. So far, my Shield K1 did this the least.

Grind, I sometimes use MINI4 with no problem. So you should NOT have any issues. let us know!

dronist Posted at 2017-4-24 14:56
Grind, I sometimes use MINI4 with no problem. So you should NOT have any issues. let us know!

I hope I have the same experience. Thanks for the info. I'll post back once I know something.

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-4-24 15:06
I hope I have the same experience. Thanks for the info. I'll post back once I know something.

Hey, you are welcome...

I have the same issue on my samsung s5 and galaxy tab e but not on iphone 7, and getting go app to connect to the samsung devices is a pain, the tablet worked flawlessly until it updated to android 6.0.1

I use an Ipod shuffle and occasionally I get those same green line images but like you mentioned already it does not relay that on the SD files. For my purposes, I can live with it.

Thank you all for the responses!

DJI-Jamie, I use an Honor 5X, it's an unlocked chinese phone I got as a plan B when my main phone fell in water. I use that phone because my main one could not download the DJI Go4 app, but the Honor could, so thus I use it.

Like I said, there's NO problems with the Mavic, but the P4P, yeah....

Also I am considering using airplane mode to test it out.

Also, dronist, I have not had a chance to test this on another OS and it was going to be my next experiment, but with the 14 day refund period coming to a close this Friday and not really having other OS to test it on as of yet, I needed to make a more immediate decision.

I am glad you guys confirmed my suspicion that it is indeed the OS and not the P4P (phew).

Going to try and test it out on other OS and see if it changes! Thank you all for the help again

Also I wanted to note I have everything updated to the latest firmware. Does anyone know if DJI will be releasing an update for this common bug?

fansffae6bdb Posted at 2017-4-24 19:54
Thank you all for the responses!

DJI-Jamie, I use an Honor 5X, it's an unlocked chinese phone I got as a plan B when my main phone fell in water. I use that phone because my main one could not download the DJI Go4 app, but the Honor could, so thus I use it.

Airplane mode should help minimize interference from the phone. Try it out and see if it helps.

Will try this next time and will use an iPad to see as well, when I have the results, I'll happily report back here guys, thanks for all your help. I actually went to best buy today and had a guy in the camera/drone section confirm he saw these glitches too, but it worked fine on his iPhone 7. He also said the video footage from the SD card was not affected. Just a further confirmation.

fansffae6bdb Posted at 2017-4-25 15:59
Will try this next time and will use an iPad to see as well, when I have the results, I'll happily report back here guys, thanks for all your help. I actually went to best buy today and had a guy in the camera/drone section confirm he saw these glitches too, but it worked fine on his iPhone 7. He also said the video footage from the SD card was not affected. Just a further confirmation.

Your original dianosis was correct, the SD card is not the problem, so forget that. The problem is that your phone is not up to the task of handling the video signal. You can play around all you like with various Android devices, but the Shield is about the only one that is more or less guaranteed to work. But if you try an Apple product, like the iPad Mini 4 or an Air 2 you will not have any problem.

I wish that were the case Geebax. The SD card is perfect but the download to an iOS can also be a problem. After persisting with an iPad Mini 4 for a few weeks showing green lines and screen freezes on numerous flights, a RTH was the final straw. Hardly Normals have returned the machine for some TLC as a warranty job. Now I sit and get jealous of all the other flyers as I wait.

I have the green- screen /freeze - issue with my p4p.  The screen freezes and turns green for 2 seconds while recording video. The video on the micrioSD is not affected.   I´ve got the newest firmware , and i´ve tried with different devices like iphone 6, ipad Air mini, Ipad mini 2, but it is the same. I never experienced anything like that wit the Phantom 3 Pro I had before.

dronist Posted at 2017-4-24 14:56
Grind, I sometimes use MINI4 with no problem. So you should NOT have any issues. let us know!

Update. I have flown several times with the Mini 4 using many different settings in both DJI Go 4 and Litchi, and I still have issues. I can say for sure that it has nothing to do with transmission rate or video quality settings I use, as I have even shot at the lowest possible quality level and the results are better but not perfect. Disabling local video cache does not completely resolve the issue either. The video recorded to the SD card is always perfect, but my live feed is never clean throughout a whole flight. I am wondering if I have a bad quad or if my transmitter is bad.

I have similar problems with my image transmission signal, extremely weak! I do not know if this is because of the latest firmware. I tried a different RC with somehow better results but still not good!

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-4-29 08:37
Update. I have flown several times with the Mini 4 using many different settings in both DJI Go 4 and Litchi, and I still have issues. I can say for sure that it has nothing to do with transmission rate or video quality settings I use, as I have even shot at the lowest possible quality level and the results are better but not perfect. Disabling local video cache does not completely resolve the issue either. The video recorded to the SD card is always perfect, but my live feed is never clean throughout a whole flight. I am wondering if I have a bad quad or if my transmitter is bad.

Grind,

Where do yo usually fly because this might affect the transmission too. I fly in LOS on top of an open area.
Sometimes if let's say flying around your house the AC is on the other side you would see some interferences or if you are flying above trees and then you make a turn and now your AC is lower behind the trees you might also see some interferences on the screen but always but it depends.

Again when I fly in open areas in LOS, I never had any interferences.

dronist Posted at 2017-4-29 09:22
Grind,

Where do yo usually fly because this might affect the transmission too. I fly in LOS on top of an open area.

I can be just feet (or a mile) from the quad and out in the middle of nowhere and it still does the same, even with clear LOS. My other 3 DJI quads did not do this at all, no matter where I flew (unless I got interference from another quad controller nearby). They were Phantom 3 quads though. I did moments ago just try disabling almost all of the other features like OA and such and the video feed was solid after that. I'll do some more tests when it's not so windy outside, so I can confirm what feature is causing the problem then test it at greater distances.

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-4-29 10:04
I can be just feet (or a mile) from the quad and out in the middle of nowhere and it still does the same, even with clear LOS. My other 3 DJI quads did not do this at all, no matter where I flew (unless I got interference from another quad controller nearby). They were Phantom 3 quads though. I did moments ago just try disabling almost all of the other features like OA and such and the video feed was solid after that. I'll do some more tests when it's not so windy outside, so I can confirm what feature is causing the problem then test it at greater distances.

Baby steps is the way to do it...Keep us updated!

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-4-29 10:04
I can be just feet (or a mile) from the quad and out in the middle of nowhere and it still does the same, even with clear LOS. My other 3 DJI quads did not do this at all, no matter where I flew (unless I got interference from another quad controller nearby). They were Phantom 3 quads though. I did moments ago just try disabling almost all of the other features like OA and such and the video feed was solid after that. I'll do some more tests when it's not so windy outside, so I can confirm what feature is causing the problem then test it at greater distances.

I disabled all OA functions - nothing changed, image signal is very unstable, from 5 bars to 1 bar to 2 bars to 0 bars. The screen sometimes becomes chaos.

kykphantom Posted at 2017-4-29 12:08
I disabled all OA functions - nothing changed, image signal is very unstable, from 5 bars to 1 bar to 2 bars to 0 bars. The screen sometimes becomes chaos.

What mobile device are you using and do you have these issues with all your quads or just the P4P? BTW, I disabled far more than just OA. I basically turned off everything that allowed me to. Again though, it was a one-time test, so next time I possibly will have the same issues as before. I may try again tomorrow if it's not too windy. With all the features disabled, the quad drifts like crazy.

I have the same issues with my 3week old p4p. Three different Samsung tablets/phones also the app freezes and I get a grey screen . Restart the app and its o.k. then randomly stops again. Drone never more than 50m away and it still happens.

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-4-29 12:35
What mobile device are you using and do you have these issues with all your quads or just the P4P? BTW, I disabled far more than just OA. I basically turned off everything that allowed me to. Again though, it was a one-time test, so next time I possibly will have the same issues as before. I may try again tomorrow if it's not too windy. With all the features disabled, the quad drifts like crazy.

I am using an iPhone 6s Plus. I have the problem with a P4P (10 days old). My previous P4P didn't have this problem (actually I was able to fly at a distance of 5 miles without any signal issue), however that was with the previous firmware. I cannot be sure that the problem is due to the firmware or not.

Yesterday I had a test with my phone set to airplane mode, and the image signal was much better, but I have to try again at the same area where my drone achieved the 5 miles range without problem and I will let you know.

Geebax Posted at 2017-4-25 16:55
Your original dianosis was correct, the SD card is not the problem, so forget that. The problem is that your phone is not up to the task of handling the video signal. You can play around all you like with various Android devices, but the Shield is about the only one that is more or less guaranteed to work. But if you try an Apple product, like the iPad Mini 4 or an Air 2 you will not have any problem.

I have a iPad Air 2 and having problems

jeron Posted at 2017-4-29 20:48
I have a iPad Air 2 and having problems

Then your issue is elsewhere, the Air 2 is probably the most reliable device to use with a Phantom.

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-4-29 08:37
Update. I have flown several times with the Mini 4 using many different settings in both DJI Go 4 and Litchi, and I still have issues. I can say for sure that it has nothing to do with transmission rate or video quality settings I use, as I have even shot at the lowest possible quality level and the results are better but not perfect. Disabling local video cache does not completely resolve the issue either. The video recorded to the SD card is always perfect, but my live feed is never clean throughout a whole flight. I am wondering if I have a bad quad or if my transmitter is bad.

Have you tried a different usb cable?

Also no one has mentioned here to turn off video cache.. This creates an extra burden on the processor that will after some time heat the processor up so much that the processor will start to throttle down it's power.  I never had any problems with my iPhone7plus until one day when it was VERY sunny and hot out and my phone was on the verge of shutting down.. At the point where the screen was dimmed down to prevent it from overheating, it started throttling back the CPU big time and I started getting lines of "interference" - which are honestly just the device being unable to process any error in the signal from the controller fast enough. As for signal issues at close range, if you are losing bars - I would think that issue would be something completely different. If you have full bars but the screen is unstable, chances are it's your phone or tablet not having enough horsepower, or if it happens overtime - it is just the processor getting hot.

Definitely there is an isssue the latest firmware version and/or DJI Go 4 app, as far as video transmission signal stability is concerned.

Mobilcams Posted at 2017-4-29 22:03
Have you tried a different usb cable?

Yes. I have tried two separate, new cables. My issues seem to be with the quad or the controller. I have determined environment, mobile device, and cables are not the issue.

Mobilcams Posted at 2017-4-29 22:12
Also no one has mentioned here to turn off video cache.. This creates an extra burden on the processor that will after some time heat the processor up so much that the processor will start to throttle down it's power.  I never had any problems with my iPhone7plus until one day when it was VERY sunny and hot out and my phone was on the verge of shutting down.. At the point where the screen was dimmed down to prevent it from overheating, it started throttling back the CPU big time and I started getting lines of "interference" - which are honestly just the device being unable to process any error in the signal from the controller fast enough. As for signal issues at close range, if you are losing bars - I would think that issue would be something completely different. If you have full bars but the screen is unstable, chances are it's your phone or tablet not having enough horsepower, or if it happens overtime - it is just the processor getting hot.

Actually, disabling video cache was mentioned already in this thread. Also, some members in this thread have indicated they use devices that should have more than enough power to process anything these quads throw at them.

I used exactly the same device with the same settings but with another P4P running the previous versions of firmware and DJI go 4 app. I managed to get a range of 8km without disconnection and the image signal had never gone below 2 bars all the way.
Now with this drone, everything updated, exactly at the same environment, the video link is a disaster - unstable - screen goes blank at many instances during a range test. Even, at 300m sometimes.
Disappointed.

I can't remember where I saw the post but one member here had his phantom go out of warranty and he opened up his controller only to see one of the antenna connections completely broken. It is plausible.

Mobilcams Posted at 2017-4-30 11:34
I can't remember where I saw the post but one member here had his phantom go out of warranty and he opened up his controller only to see one of the antenna connections completely broken. It is plausible.

I suppose that makes sense. Thanks for that info. That's something I can look into at some point.

kykphantom Posted at 2017-4-30 10:35
I used exactly the same device with the same settings but with another P4P running the previous versions of firmware and DJI go 4 app. I managed to get a range of 8km without disconnection and the image signal had never gone below 2 bars all the way.
Now with this drone, everything updated, exactly at the same environment, the video link is a disaster - unstable - screen goes blank at many instances during a range test. Even, at 300m sometimes.
Disappointed.

Yup. Exactly what a few others are saying.

This is the strangest thing. My P4P's video feed hasn't worked for weeks with any mobile device or settings I have used, or location I flew it. Then, today I ran it through all sorts of tests to see if I could determine where the issue was. Almost no issues arose! What the heck, man?!! I have changed nothing with my hardware, software/firmware, or location, yet this thing randomly began to work as designed. I even have WIFI on (so I can download maps while I fly) and the local video cache enabled, and my feed is continuous and clear. I only got one short "freeze frame" that lasted about 1 second, and I had a couple thin, black horizontal lines on the screen once for about 1 second. Trust me, I'm not complaining that it's working, but I would still like to know what changed. I'll post back if things take a downturn again.

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-4-30 15:15
This is the strangest thing. My P4P's video feed hasn't worked for weeks with any mobile device or settings I have used, or location I flew it. Then, today I ran it through all sorts of tests to see if I could determine where the issue was. Almost no issues arose! What the heck, man?!! I have changed nothing with my hardware, software/firmware, or location, yet this thing randomly began to work as designed. I even have WIFI on (so I can download maps while I fly) and the local video cache enabled, and my feed is continuous and clear. I only got one short "freeze frame" that lasted about 1 second, and I had a couple thin, black horizontal lines on the screen once for about 1 second. Trust me, I'm not complaining that it's working, but I would still like to know what changed. I'll post back if things take a downturn again.

Please keep us informed. This is really strange, is it really an antenna/RF problem or a firmware "illness"? DJI would be nice to get into this thread and please say something.

kykphantom Posted at 2017-4-30 19:25
Please keep us informed. This is really strange, is it really an antenna/RF problem or a firmware "illness"? DJI would be nice to get into this thread and please say something.

Will do. The wind has died down here, so I intend to fly out about a mile to see if things run well at a greater distance. Yesterday, I only tested outside my home. I'll post back with my results.

theGrindLab.com Posted at 2017-4-30 15:15
This is the strangest thing. My P4P's video feed hasn't worked for weeks with any mobile device or settings I have used, or location I flew it. Then, today I ran it through all sorts of tests to see if I could determine where the issue was. Almost no issues arose! What the heck, man?!! I have changed nothing with my hardware, software/firmware, or location, yet this thing randomly began to work as designed. I even have WIFI on (so I can download maps while I fly) and the local video cache enabled, and my feed is continuous and clear. I only got one short "freeze frame" that lasted about 1 second, and I had a couple thin, black horizontal lines on the screen once for about 1 second. Trust me, I'm not complaining that it's working, but I would still like to know what changed. I'll post back if things take a downturn again.

That is really weird. I'm still thinking a connection is intermittent on it.

I have been out 4 more times at 4 different locations since my last post and the issue does seem more intermittent than constant now. Even with ALL features enabled, 3 sessions (multiple batteries/flights per session) were 99.9% error free. But, one single flight at one location gave me the same problems as before. The crazy thing is that this was the second LEAST residentially congested area I tested in, so my video transmission should have been much better than it was in at least 2 other areas where I had virtually no problems.