Arlo PRO 4 image was clear and is now pixelated

[kevinh2003]

Set up Arlo Pro 4 at bird feeder a couple of weeks ago. Initial image was very clear. A couple days ago the image became very pixelated with poor resolution. I cleaned the lenses and camera face an nothing improved. Set up a second camera today and it is also very low resolution. I have selected the battery power option for highest quality video.

[jguerdat]

That usually implies a signal strength and/or quality issue. If you bring the camera closer to your router or hub does the issue go away? You may need to move your hub (if you use one) for a better connection or a WiFi extender that's closer to the cameras to fix this.

[kevinh2003]

Same poor quality image with the camera within 5 ft of router. 

[StephenB]

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@kevinh2003 wrote:

Same poor quality image with the camera within 5 ft of router. 

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Can you post a sample?

[kevinh2003]

[kevinh2003]

To photo is current setup, bottom photo is screen shot of a video from 4/7.

You can see the pixelation change in the two photos from the brown feeder at the back of the shot.

[StephenB]

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@kevinh2003 wrote:

To photo is current setup, bottom photo is screen shot of a video from 4/7.

You can see the pixelation change in the two photos from the brown feeder at the back of the shot.

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Thx.  I'd describe the top image as blurry/lacking detail (for me pixelated is something different) - but whatever you call it, certainly a lot lower quality.  The bird bath is particularly striking.

Does removing/reinserting the camera battery bring the quality back to something like the original? 

Also, the camera position looks a bit different.  The one on the top has noticably less sky, so more ground detail at the bottom.  That would make the video a bit harder to encode.  Did you move the camera, or did you adjust the field of view in the video settings???  

[kevinh2003]

Thanks - I have tried lots of stuff including the following:

Shut camera off and restart

Remove battery and replace battery

Replace camera with a new out of the box camera and battery

Poor resolution image appears regardless of camera angle - I am sure it changed as part of my activities

Poor resolution image appears inside the house close to the router as well as outside.

It really seems that something changed. Is it possible a firmware update or something on my subscription affected resolution? 

[StephenB]

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@kevinh2003 wrote:

It really seems that something changed. Is it possible a firmware update or something on my subscription affected resolution? 

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The subscription wouldn't matter.  Hard to rule out a firmware update - in the past bugs there have sometimes resulted in lower quality.

If you enabled auto zoom & track, then the video is 1080p, so lower quality than 2K.  So perhaps check that.  Also go into the video settings, and make sure the camera is fully zoomed out.

Signal quality could also be a factor, but usually that shows up as loss - which is not what you are seeing.

FWIW, part of the puzzle here is that Arlo insists on recording at a quite low bitrate.  Even your bottom sample has blurred out details in places.  Personally I'd like to have a setting to trade retention for quality.  For example, 3x the bitrate with 10 day retention instead of 30 days.

[Mammoth670]

Since the last firmware update all 4 of my arlo 4's playback recordings are absolutely terrible

that firmware update needs to be reviewed asap

id made no changes on my part they have worked well for over a year.   Now recordings are blurry 

[ShayneS]

HI @Mammoth670 

May I ask which troubleshooting steps you have performed so far? I don't want to suggest anything you have previously performed.

[kevinh2003]

Thanks - I have tried lots of stuff including the following:

Shut camera off and restart

Remove battery and replace battery

Replace camera with a new out of the box camera and battery

Poor resolution image appears regardless of camera angle - I am sure it changed as part of my activities

Poor resolution image appears inside the house close to the router as well as outside.I’m 

[Mammoth670]

i have tried 3 different wireless access points.    UI.    Flex HD,  Flex Nano, and AC LR.   on 2.4 ghz   static wireless channels with the least interference.    they all have over 75% signal.

swapped batteries (means power cycling the cameras entire)

i've tried different default light settings

i've changed recording times from 1 minute. to detection only

no matter what i change.    the playback video is now entirely distorted and blurry... since the last firmware update

[ShayneS]

Is this with the library videos and live streaming? Does it occur on the web portal as well? Do you have any screenshots of the pixelation that you can share? 

[Mammoth670]

to be honest from the web portal I can't find a way to zoom in / maximize.   from what I can tell Yes it still gets pixelated.   I am using a MacBook Pro using Safari browser.. 

I have donated (with in the app) a half dozen of these.  and of the chirping I experience.    would that not be enough to see the issues? 

[ShayneS]

@Mammoth670 

If you could PM me with a screenshot that would work too.

[ShayneS]

Thank you, I provided the videos and notified the team. I will provide another update as soon as possible. 

[Bjohnson6626]

when I go to view my cameras, the video is distorted in all my cameras. This just started happening, they were fine when I installed them 6 months ago. I have checked for firmware updates but none are available. The signal strength is very strong on all 3 cameras. Any idea what is causing the distortion?

[jguerdat]

Are they connected to your WiFi or to a base/hub? If to WiFi, are you using a mesh network or just a normal router? Have you tried rebooting the router or base/hub?  Have you tried bringing a camera closer to the router or base/hub to see what happens?

[ShayneS]

Are you able to provide a screenshot of the image quality? 

[Bjohnson6626]

This is from Arlo Pro 4 wireless camera with no base station. I have tried taking the batteries out and replacing them, remove the camera and reinstall, checked for firmware updates, moved them closer to the router but nothing seems to work. They worked perfectly fine for about 6 months now they are worthless.

[Bjohnson6626]

The cameras are wireless with no base station. I have tried everything you suggested, All cameras are  within 30 feet from the router and showing a very strong signal. Nothing has changed since I purchased these cameras, they worked perfectly fine for 6 months and now they look terrible. Sounds like a camera issue or a flawed firmware update. Any help would be appreciated. From what I see through the community, I'm not the only one with this issue.

[jguerdat]

You didn't try moving a camera closer to your router for testing so even though you apparently have a good connection it's still worth trying. Also, have you checked the camera settings to see if the Power Management setting has changed as well as Auto Zoom and Tracking has been enabled?

[ShayneS]

The team is investigating, I will provide an update as soon as possible. 

[Mammoth670]

i bought these in case my house was visited by an unwanted intruder.    at this point even if something was recorded it would be entirely unusable by Law Enforcement.    its been almost a month of this