Pixelated video Arlo Pro

[jjs4653]

Has anyone experienced pixelating video in the first 2-3 seconds of the recorded video.  It happens every time for me.  It has great reception  full Wifi bars... and does not happen with my original Arlo camera.. just with the new Pro.

[greekspiro]

Its becoming worse and worse. Netgeat you need to fix this! I didn't buy a Netgear Orbi due to the no response from Arlo here. I chose Linksys, and about to pull these cameras out once the Blink Outdoor camera arrives. I suggest Arlo you publically state this is an issue or people will be running away from you. I had an incident last night where a car I was trying to keep tabs on was caught in the first second, very blury, then it disappeared like a ghost and another vehicle showed for the rest of the seconds. How am I supposed to use that? You offered nothing to arlo customers and now I went out and bought a Pro but its worse in every way other than detecting motion quicker, but its pointless if the object becomes like casper and disappears.

[ArloPro15]

It seems like this issue only happened to someone who installed the Arlo Pro under porch or shaded area.   Is it true????

[greekspiro]

Mine is under the garage gutters this is he first I'm hearing about people having issues in a shady area.

[Mad_Davey]

Seems like a video compression issue to me.  Whoever is in charge of server space allocation per paying customer needs to allow a little more server space for us paying customers and the people in charge of compression need to chill out.  The video I have been getting from my 9 Arlo cams lately is far worse than video I have gotten from other wireless setups I have used for decades granted I never ran 9 cams at once.  A year ago I got an 8 cam wired Samsung 1080p setup and have not installed since Arlo was easy and good enough.  It's no longer "good enough" and I will have to move away from using them if they don't fix this.

[Mad_Davey]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_artifact

[Mad_Davey]

Maybe the addition of audio data has cut into the video quality, since it's likely they have a set data rate per cam.  Has anyone tried turning audio off to see if there is improvement, I have not read every post in detail.

[Mad_Davey]

I strongly believe netgear sets up low recording quality to save on thier cloud server space causing artifacting in the videos, it's worse in the begining wich is normal for video compression since it has no previous video to base the interpolation on.  Ever get a compressed video then try to start in the middle and notice what we used to call mpeging?  Blocky compressions artifacts.

The video quality is very low even after the compression catches up, my old 480 line security videos had better detail.  720p on the Arlo should be magnitudes better.

[Mad_Davey]

I wish there was some way at least the local usb video could be higher quality but then they would have to impliment two layers of compression and it might not be feasible or possible for them.

[steeler560]

I was a step ahead of you in disabling the audio feed, thinking it's causing a bottleneck in upload bandwidth but eliminating audio did not help.

[steve_t]

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Mad_Davey wrote:

Maybe the addition of audio data has cut into the video quality, since it's likely they have a set data rate per cam.  Has anyone tried turning audio off to see if there is improvement, I have not read every post in detail.

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I've also turned off the mic and speaker on my Pro and it's no better. I did wonder the same thing too

[Ralphmd]

I've been reading this thread looking for some answers on my pixilation and blocki intermittent picture quality from a new Arlo Pro Camera being added to my existing non pro system which I've had for a year.

Pro Camera was approx  3 metres from my Base Station (original base version).

Base Station was plugged directly into Router, about 1 metre from Router in an office with wi if from Router, lap top, and various blue tooth devices.

But now I get excellent picture quality and none of the above picture issues.

The solution for me was to move my base Station into another room now about 8 metres from the Router with no close proximity to a wi if source or other electronic interference and also extending the distance to the camera by 4-5 metres,  so far all great.

I've plugged the base Station into a spare powered wi if extender I had,  to connect the base to the internet rather than plugging it directly into the router and being limited by the length of an Ethernet cable.

Anyway thanks all for your opinions,  to date, my pixilation has been fixed. The other non pro cameras are all working fine but they were all located 10-20 metres from the base, so not sure if the solution was due to increased distance from base to Camera, or better location for the base, or both, but very happy  with the outcome.

Thanks.

[ArloPro15]

When I placed the Arlo Pro indoor, i dont have any pixilated issues. It only gives me problem when it is outdoor....

[steeler560]

Funny, prior to reading this I started thinking my high output router might be causing interference...it's the last potential issue I haven't tackled.

I'll try moving the base to a different room. I'll post if this fixed the issue. Blows me away that Netgear Level II Support never suggested it. It lead me to think their base unit isn't adequately shielded or should have external antenna to overcome imterference.

[jguerdat]

ArloPro15, a different location implies a connection issue, such as distance. A weak signal will cause this. Some folks have said that their Pros seem to not work as well as the original wireless cameras. No idea if it's inherent in the design or just bad hardware.

Steeler560, my base has always been inches away from high-powered bases from Asus and Netgear with no issues. Others have said moving the base away has made a big difference. I can't explain why what works for one doesn't for another.

[ArloPro15]

But the connectivity signal bars showed it was full. It was having an excellent connnection to the base. Unless there is something wrong with its connectivity.

[steeler560]

We can rule out distance as the issue. My Arlo Pros have been within a foot of the base and still issues with pixilation, artifacts and ghosting. That leaves from the consumer's environment end wifi interference. If I can prove that not to be the issue then we all know it's undoubtedly an issue with the Netgear hardware or servers.

[jguerdat]

Or faulty cameras or base.

[Knewt]

Anybody noticing improved video quality (less artifacts/pixelation) and fewer frozen frames after the firmware update on 5/9?

[pcuser12345]

Yes I have noticed it. Since the firmware has been update its much clear and less pixelated or ghost it's not perfect it's better than before

[steve_t]

What firmware version are you running?

My Arlo Pro is on 1.092.0.3_12290

Edit: Oh, never mind. I see this is the latest that was released the other day

[ArloPro15]

How was the latest firmware? Does it work any better?

[steve_t]

I still have ghosting and pixelation but maybe a smidge less? Still not quite there yet though

[Knewt]

ArloPro15 wrote:
How was the latest firmware? Does it work any better?

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I think it has improved the video quality so far, but I've only had a few videos since it was pushed to my camera. Time will tell.

[Knewt]

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steve_t wrote:

I still have ghosting and pixelation but maybe a smidge less? Still not quite there yet though

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Good to know. I'll be keeping a close eye on mine over the next few days. I was THIS close to returning it and going with a first gen camera since I've read (mostly on this thread) that they don't have the issues that the Pro has...but if this update helps, the Pro may get to stay! We shall see...

[rajah2010]

After adding an Arlo Pro to my existing 2 camera Arlo setup in March, I started to suffer the stuttering and pixelated video issue.

There followed a number of communications with the support team (ticket raised) and I tried all their suggestions to no effect.

Today I received this message:

"Our Engineers are already aware of this problem.  Unfortunately, we do not have an ETA as to when a fix will be pushed.  What we can assure you is they are certainly working on a fix for this issue."

So at least now there's an acknowledgement that the issue is known and it's a Netgear issue.

Looks like swapping my cameras around to move the Pro to a less important location (i.e. not my Front Door to the house) so I can get reliable recordings from one of my existing cameras (non-Pro) of anyone approaching the house from the front.