Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras
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How best to troubleshoot poor video quality?

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Geejayz
Aspirant
Aspirant

I'm less than satisfied with the video quality I see via the Arlo app. I've read a number of similar posts and viewed some online video of the quality capabilities. Whilst I understand some of the limitations of wireless connection, I believe the quality is still much less than acceptable for the purposes of a security camera, but I'm not certain if it is due to some limitation in my own setup.

 

My only comparison at present is an Annke view wired 720P camera that connects directly to a PVR. The picture quality when I review recorded material is exceptional and I can zoom in on a book on a table 16 feet from the camera and read both the title text which is large and the author name which is about 1cm high text. I have an old FOSCAM camera that I am going to connect shortly to try similar tests on. This is also wireless but is mains powered.

 

The arlo pro seems to struggle with lighting somewhat - it is a really sunny day but the camera is inside. The room is being well lit from the sun and the camera is not being directly struck by the sun. The image is poor quality and zooming in makes no difference to image quality. Image quality near the camera is washed out with brightness and those far away are quite dark. If I move the same book to 8ft from the Arlo, I can read the title text on the image but not the author name.

Conditions in the room are probably best case scenario at present.

 

Download speed test from my wireless laptop in the same room is 25Mbps and upload 17Mbps.
The camera quality is set to Best Video. Battery life is amazing and with very few trigger events these have been charged well over 4 months ago and still read about 60% battery life. The camera is about 8- 10ft directly from the arlo hub with a wooden floor in between.

 

Ideally I would like to be able to plug the camera in directly to my laptop and see the direct video quality. Is there a way I can do this? Failing that, can I pick up the video without an internet connection? At present I believe what I see is a stream from the internet and not from the camera. i.e the camera uploads to the Arlo site and then the stream I see is pulled from there. It is possible that the data available to send is good quality but is either not been captured as such or that the video quality being fed back to me is poorer than that sent.

 

My issues do not appear to be resolved by moving the camera within a few feet of the router and arlo hub.

 

Ideally if I could check the direct camera output then move to output seen by the arlo hub before being sent to the online server I could verify where the quality is being lost.

 

Thanks in advance.

4 REPLIES 4
TomMac
Guru Guru
Guru

Can u show screen shot as to your quality ?

 

I do believe a lot of the issues you describe are due to the video compression on these cameras, not the quality of video.

 

As to direct access to the cameras and/or video feed, it is NOT possible

 

There is some, but limited, control of the iris re brightness on the live view screen in live view.

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Geejayz
Aspirant
Aspirant

Hi Tom,

 

Attached hopefully is an image taken with the snapshot feature on the app.

TomMac
Guru Guru
Guru

Tks...

Saw pic, I assume that is a sunny window washng out the far end of the picture.

Don't know what you would be able to do with that except possible relocate the camera so the view is angled a bit.

Testing locatiion is really a trial and error at times. ( is is on left side up tight to a white wall ? )

 

The iris can be closed down slightly but prob not much else can be done.

 

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Morse is faster than texting!
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Geejayz
Aspirant
Aspirant

Yes, there are two french doors at the end of the room so light down that end is significant. If I lower brightness, image quality in main part of room is reduced further - more blocky image.

I plugged in the FOSCAM and although it deals with the light better, the image quality is much the same - the kicker here is that that camera is over 10 years old and has a 480P resolution.

I do believe you are correct regarding the image compression - I plugged in a USB drive to capture image straight from hub and sure enough the picture quality is equally as poor so it isn't what is being sent outside the network.

I think what frustrates me is that there are many reviews about how good image quality from the cameras is but even moving the camera and hub together is not producing this for me. I have three cameras and no good image from either.

Thanks for your input however, at least I know what I've got is probably as good as it will get. I think I have to decide whether or not the flexibility of non cabling makes the price worthwhile.