Hi everyone,

I just purchased a used phantom 4 and went out flying with it for the first time today. It worked like a charm and I was really impressed with the stability of the drone. Howevr during the flying I noticed a reasonable amount of noise on the live feed and vertical lines in places where there was lots of light. I thought oh whell it's probably just the stream. But when I transfered the files from the SD to my laptop and playbacked the video's these exact glitching was visible in the recording.

I tried adding a youtube link to this post with the footage but it's saying "Sorry, you do not have permission to post the URL connection
"?
Is this a settings problem or am I in trouble?
Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Got the video link working

BramLaurens Posted at 2018-6-11 09:16

Sorry for the trouble. May I know what device you are using? Have you tried using a different device? For example, if you are currently using an Android maybe you may try using an iOS. Also, you may try to reset the camera settings and uninstall and reinstall the app. But, please make sure to back up before resetting the camera or uninstalling the app.

DJI Natalia Posted at 2018-6-11 10:03
Sorry for the trouble. May I know what device you are using? Have you tried using a different device? For example, if you are currently using an Android maybe you may try using an iOS. Also, you may try to reset the camera settings and uninstall and reinstall the app. But, please make sure to back up before resetting the camera.

I can fly one more time today before it's dark so I'll try the following things:

- Different SD card
- Camera reset
- Different phone

I noticed one very important detail though. The issue only comes up when in video mode. When in photo mode the picture looks decent. (See attached screenshots) I read somewhere that this issue comes up when the ribbon cable to the camera is damaged. But I checked it and it looks perfectly fine and the image looks fine in picture mode so I doubt (and really really don't) hope it's a hardware issue.
EDIT: I'm using a OnePlus 6

BramLaurens Posted at 2018-6-11 10:10
I can fly one more time today before it's dark so I'll try the following things:

- Different SD card

Thank you for your response. May you please provide us the following details:

Firmware version of your aircraft:
Remote controller:
DJI  Go 4 app:
Mobile Device:
Operating System and firmware version:

Firmware version of aircraft: 02.00.0700
Remote controller: 1.9.3
DJI  Go 4 app: 4.2.20
Mobile Device: OnePlus 6
Operating System and firmware version: Android 8.1.0


I tried using a different sd card's (all class 10) and a different phone (galaxy A5) and the exact same problem still shows up. The thing I find very weird is that the glitching does not show up in the livestream when in "photo mode" as shown below (first image) but it does show up when in "video mode" as shown again below (2nd image). But when I take a picture the problem shows up again in the final saved picture (and videos)? (3rd image). I'm just really confused..

BramLaurens Posted at 2018-6-11 11:57
Firmware version of aircraft: 02.00.0700
Remote controller: 1.9.3
DJI  Go 4 app: 4.2.20

I tried some more flying and yawed in and out of the sun a few times to see when the problem starts. I found out that sometimes the problem just doesn't show up even when filming directly into the sunset but a few seconds later when I turn into the sunset again the image looks almost fine at first but then the glitching sort of just slams into the picture as if the software is trying to adapt to the bright light (@0:22). Could still be a software problem maybe..

BramLaurens Posted at 2018-6-11 12:25
I tried some more flying and yawed in and out of the sun a few times to see when the problem starts. I found out that sometimes the problem just doesn't show up even when filming directly into the sunset but a few seconds later when I turn into the sunset again the image looks almost fine at first but then the glitching sort of just slams into the picture as if the software is trying to adapt to the bright light (@0:22). Could still be a software problem maybe..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiDTxiC-_X8&feature=youtu.be

No, it is not software, it is a camera hardware fault. It can be caused by the ribbon cable, but it does not have to be visible damage, it can also be caused by the ribbon cabl;e connector not being properly seated at either end.  Personally, I would send it in for repair.

Okay so I noticed something even stranger today. When I hold the drone in the air without the motors running and pitch the drone back and roll the drone to the right to the gimbal's limits, the lines just disappear. When I put it back to center, past a certain point, the lines and glitching comes back. Does this mean it almost certainly is the ribbon cable? That would be nice cause replacing it is fairly easy.

So it turned out that my P4 was out of warranty and they wanted to replace the whole gimbal + camera (would have cost me more than 450 dollars). But first, I decided to give the ribbon cable replacement a try. Bought a ribbon cable from a local supplier (always buy OEM cables as fake ones can give more trouble) and replaced the cable myself. It is not easy to do but if you're technical and know what to do and follow some tutorials on youtube first it is doable.

So after replacing the cable, the picture looks crystal clear again and overexposed areas are just plain white as they are supposed to be. Dark and shadow areas show no signs of noise at all anymore so thats fixed too.

Problem solved!