topic Re: Video quality of moving objects in Arlo Pro 2

Video quality of moving objects

Edinburgh_lad1 — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 11:20:58 GMT

Pro 2 is an HD camera, yet I've noticed that moving objects become pixelated while static ones are sharp in HD quality (well, Arlo's HD quality). Have there been any changes to the way the cameras are recording footage and the way it's compressed, its nitrate changed again etc? @BrookeN @JamesC

I hope it's not another trick by Arlo to show that the quality is HD, but it isn't, as as your customer, I constantly feel tricked by your company in terms of what you say you'll deliver and what you actually deliver.

Re: Video quality of moving objects

velma41abbott — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 11:14:00 GMT

Has there been a recent update or change to the Pro 2 camera's compression settings or bitrate that could be causing pixelation with moving objects, despite the camera being labeled as HD?

Re: Video quality of moving objects

jguerdat — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 13:39:17 GMT

If that is the case, it's not due to a firmware update. You can always check here:

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Firmware-Release-Notes/Arlo-Firmware-Release-Table/m-p/1920885#M791

Re: Video quality of moving objects

StephenB — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 14:21:42 GMT

@jguerdat wrote:

If that is the case, it's not due to a firmware update. You can always check here:

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Firmware-Release-Notes/Arlo-Firmware-Release-Table/m-p/1920885#M791

FWIW, I don't know whether changing the compression settings requires a firmware update (or not). There could be some hidden settings that are provisioned in the Arlo Cloud.

I haven't noticed any changes myself, but this might also depend on subscription status.

Hopefully they haven't tried to reduce the bitrate, as IMO it is already lower than it should be.

Re: Video quality of moving objects

Edinburgh_lad1 — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 09:20:14 GMT

And any compression would have been done by the SmartHub, I believe, @StephenB as, for example, GitHub alternatives suggest so. Also, with my SmartHub, I can do local recordings and it's the same. The camera wouldn't have the capacity to do any compression.

@jguerdat any chance you could temporarily move the pro 2 from the subscription to test?

I'd like to invite Arlo staff to comment on this thread to clarify please @BrookeN Thank you!

Cheers.

Re: Video quality of moving objects

jguerdat — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 13:54:09 GMT

@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

@jguerdat any chance you could temporarily move the pro 2 from the subscription to test?

Since current subscriptions are for all cameras in the account, that isn't easily possible. The camera needs to connect to a base or hub and I don't have any extras.

Re: Video quality of moving objects

BrookeN — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 20:27:54 GMT

Please see:

https://kb.arlo.com/1179147/How-do-I-get-better-picture-quality-from-my-Arlo-camera

Re: Video quality of moving objects

StephenB — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 20:55:51 GMT

@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

And any compression would have been done by the SmartHub,

Compression is done by the camera hardware. None of the hubs (including the smarthubs) have that hardware.

You simply cannot send uncompressed HD in real time over a 2.4 ghz wifi link. Each uncompressed frame is about 25 megabits. (1920x1080*1.5*8 for 1080p 8-bit 4:2:0 video). So ~600 mbps for a single 24 fps stream.

Re: Video quality of moving objects

Edinburgh_lad1 — Thu, 12 Dec 2024 07:16:25 GMT

Thank you @StephenB and @BrookeN - much appreciated. @jguerdat it probably explains why you don't see the pixelation that we see.

In relation to that particular KB, information about the reduced bit rate for those legacy cameras was put there in 2022. What if a customer made a decision to purchase what you call legacy

cameras before that date - isn't it that they entered a contract with you then and any changes to footage quality - such as reduction in bitrate - should have been communicated to the registered user?