Hi there,
I have just started using my OA4 and noticing horrible video quality compared to my OA1.

Both videos below were taken at the exact same location, with the exact same lighting, everything being on AUTO, both 4k60FPS, no RS. I tried manually adjusting settings for low light conditions, but I got the same washed out videos. I have seen similar videos posted online where people ended up with a replacement due to a defective unit.  

Osmo Action 1:


Osmo Action 4:


Do I have a defective unit? This quality does not seem okay at all.

Its deffo not washed out, well, not the term i would use, it appears a little bit darker, but then you do have the OA 4 on wide angle compared to the OA, also the different side of the ptich too so that could play a part as well, You really need to record both cameras at the exact same time using the exact same settings (bitrate, wide or standard etc)

One other point that may play a part, is the bitrate the same. I can see a tiny bit better quality in the ceiling on the OA, it appears a little sharper, I really don't know much about videography to be a judge, Im just going on what i see

Bashy Posted at 11-1 19:57
Its deffo not washed out, well, not the term i would use, it appears a little bit darker, but then you do have the OA 4 on wide angle compared to the OA, also the different side of the ptich too so that could play a part as well, You really need to record both cameras at the exact same time using the exact same settings (bitrate, wide or standard etc)

One other point that may play a part, is the bitrate the same. I can see a tiny bit better quality in the ceiling on the OA, it appears a little sharper, I really don't know much about videography to be a judge, Im just going on what i see

The quality on both sides of the pitch comes out the same with the OA1, I have footage but not on YouTube. Good point on the wide vs default setting - OA4 by default runs on wide 10mm, while the OA1's FOV would be more equivalent to the OA4's standard mode which is 14mm. That is the only setting that differs. I will shoot one more test with that setting.

Hi there,

Thank You for reaching out. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience you are experiencing.  Thank you for your interest in Osmo Action 4. The image quality of a camera is determined not only by the pixel count, but also by factors such as sensor size, aperture, and algorithm performance. Although Action 4 has a lower effective pixel count compared to its predecessors, it has an increased image sensor size from 1/1.7 inches to 1/1.3 inches. Its individual pixel size has reached 2.4 um, which is approximately 65% larger than that of Action 3. Additionally, the new sensor can also support more powerful algorithms. These upgrades allow Action 4 to capture motion scene details clearly and significantly improve performance in challenging lighting conditions such as low light and backlight, enabling you to capture richer details and clearer images.

However with with Low-Light Image Enhancement enabled, the camera detects low-light environment automatically and adjust exposure parameters intelligently to improve image quality.
In this mode, the camera supports recording 1080p videos at 24/25/30 fps, 2.7k (16:9 & 4:3) videos at 24/25/30 fps with any of the EIS modes enabled, and 4k (16:9) videos at 24/25/30 fps with RockSteady enabled or EIS off.

Kindly take note at 4K resolution, if the "ultra-wide-angle" FOV is enabled, the "Low-Light Image Enhancement" feature is not supported. I hope this information has helped to clarify your inquiries. If you have any other questions, kindly let us know. Thank You!

DJI Gamora Posted at 11-2 01:00
Hi there,

Thank You for reaching out. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience you are experiencing.  Thank you for your interest in Osmo Action 4. The image quality of a camera is determined not only by the pixel count, but also by factors such as sensor size, aperture, and algorithm performance. Although Action 4 has a lower effective pixel count compared to its predecessors, it has an increased image sensor size from 1/1.7 inches to 1/1.3 inches. Its individual pixel size has reached 2.4 um, which is approximately 65% larger than that of Action 3. Additionally, the new sensor can also support more powerful algorithms. These upgrades allow Action 4 to capture motion scene details clearly and significantly improve performance in challenging lighting conditions such as low light and backlight, enabling you to capture richer details and clearer images.

This is a footage from yesterday with 4K30, Low-Light Image Enhancement enabled, Wide FOV, RS off, manual ISO max 3200, manual AWB 4500K. I don't see an improvement.
Link to footage https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hDhk8XXS9QTleVsd3OuY7tUuqi8R1ZU1/view?usp=drive_link

Having just replaced my OA1 with the OA4, I can confirm the video looked better in every way on the OA1. The OA4 does have a much wider mode though, which makes it a lot less noisy, but the dewarp feature goes away so it's just a big fisheye look. At the same focal lengths the OA1 is much better, and any phone since 2021 will have better quality video than the OA4.