Poor Quality Video Arlo Pro : Suggested Solutions

[sm1975]

Hi, 

First of all, i just wanted to say that i love the Arlo PRO ease of setup, the website, phone app and features.

The biggest issue i have is that of poor video quality. The packaging and marketing all say HD, however when viewing the videos it's not even close to being HD. It’s not even close to being SD. The quality is closer to VGA with images grainy and pixelated even at a very short distance (2 meters away).

Before i start to get suggestions that it's a wireless issue, please note that i design and build wireless solutions for a living.  I have the Arlo Pro base station on a totally separate WIFI network. It's running on it's own WiFi channel with no overlap or interference from neighbours. No other devices in my home are attached to the isolated WIFI environment that the cameras are on. The signal strength from the Camera to the base station is -50 dBm. So it far exceeds the  -67 dBm recommendation for real time voice and video in an enterprise.

Secondly my uplink bandwidth is 10 Mbps for the Arlo Pro cameras. So even with a single camera I should be getting much better quality.

I really believe the root cause of the issue lies in the intentional reduction of resolution and compression to allow for smaller bandwidth and storage requirements. From a business point of view i totally understand this. A HD stream can be around 5 Mbps, so having 4 of these stream to your cloud service may be problematic for most users around the world, not to mention the increased costs of bandwidth and storage on your end.  So i offer these suggestions in the hope i can get better quality videos through your service:

1. I’m aware of the current option to improve quality. I’ve already set it to “Best Video.” So maybe you can add another level for "HD Video", with a caveat that the user will get reduced free storage, say 3 days worth instead of 7.
2. Provide an optional plan to upgrade in order to get access to HD quality. I’ll gladly upgrade and pay for this.
3. Provide a mechanism so that you can dump a HD version of files locally on the USB attached Disk and only send the lower resolution version to the cloud.

Thank you.

[Streak2]

Can you post a link to an example of the video so we can see how it compares to ours?

The Pro should be 720p at the highest setting.

I can see a big difference with my Q at 1080p.

[sm1975]

Hi,

here is an example from a few mintues ago:

https://arlo.netgear.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/A8885DDC7BD593BF_201705

thanks.

[TomMac]

Not a bad video , IMO.   Yes there is compression and you can see it in the slight pulsing of the key frames.  As you said it was a design choice between hi data/transmission rates  but I think also battery life.

In the end, theses are really "activity" type cameras with the wide FOV, not meant for the ID shots of people or plate reading...

I am waiting for the weather proof Q cam ( not in planning TMK ), tho i can see it may require a power supply as opposed to battery and also as you mentioned an user adjustable compression rate would be great.

[sm1975]

thanks Tom.

My only gripe is that Arlo themselves market the product as providing HD quality.  This statement is printed on the box: "HD Quality Enjoy incredibly sharp, detailed video"

It is also in the datasheet:  https://www.arlo.com/en-us/images/documents/arlo_pro_datasheet.pdf

For a great system, its a let-down that we are unable to access the sharp imaging. Looking at a saved recorded file, i can see it is HD resolution (720p), but it is compressed all the way down to 832 kbps. To get  the type of sharp, detailed video it would need to be 2 Mbps+.

I would love to see an option where this can be enabled because the H.264 codec used by the Arlo Pro cameras can support compression at12 Mbps. So its certainly capable of higher quality.

I wouldn't expect number plate viewing, but for a camera mounted 2 meteres away from my entrance, i'd ceretainly expect to ID people wa,king up to the door.

[TomMac]

As an example, here is a vid clip of a Q cam ( 1080 ) which can peak at 1.5mbs... so the higher rez is possible

This is shot thru double pane Andersen window ( the Qs work on pixel change not PIR for motion detection ).

[sm1975]

thanks Tom. That looks like the kind of video quality that the Arlo Pros can certainly do. I'm wondering with the release of outdoor power adapters or solar panels, that the argument against quality vs battery can be put to rest?

[TomMac]

You guess is as good as mine....

Remember there is a base processor limit too, right now they limit a max of 5 cameras streaming at the same time.

[Pickering]

Hi

A long shot, but have you peeled of the lens protector film.

[Lakehouse38]

I have the Arlo Pro system with 5 cameras.  All of my cameras are powered by AC adapters so battery power is not an issue.  I am experiencing low quality images too.  I agree that an option to store the high quality images on the local usb storage should be added to the software.  I have checked the images on the usb storage devices and they are no better than the ones streamed from the cloud. I do understand the need for compression but an HD version should be made available.  As you stated, Netgears documentation says it is an HD system.

[Streak2]

Do you have your video quality setting set to maximum?

[Lakehouse38]

Yes. Video quality is set to best. I have basically the same setup as user sm1975. Picture quality is pixilated. Appears on both streamed view and locally stored file. Wish they would store the video before compression.

[jguerdat]

Sincce all your cameras are doing this, it could be a 2.4GHz signal issue near the base.  What other devices may be near the base that use that frequency?  Doesn't have to be WiFi.  You could try moving the base to see if that makes any difference.

[Streak2]

Here is what one of my Pro's look like at best video.

https://arlo.netgear.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/ACBA997F90FC4232_201709

[Lakehouse38]

No other devices in the house use 2.4Ghz.  All other devices use 5Ghz.  Do you have an example of a photo or video taken from an Arlo Pro camera that has HD quality? If so can you share it?

[Lakehouse38]

Sorry, saw your video after I hit Post.  In your video you can not read the sign in the window.  Below is a link to a video of mine.

https://arlo.netgear.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/64679E2AFA7CA21D_201709

[Streak2]

Looks like yours is working to spec.

What's more important to me than reading the sign is seeing who is delivering packages to my door and it serves its purpose for that.

[Lakehouse38]

The resolution would tell me what the person was wearing and the colour but when I try to zoom in to identify a face for police it gets too pixelated to make any sort of identification.  I guess I am expecting too much from these cameras.  Thanks for confirming that my system is running at best quality for the product. Thought they were better than this.  I wonder if it is possible to see the uncompressed version of the video. Most likely only developers have access to that.

[jguerdat]

Both of the two videos like exactly right for this camera. Remeber that it's a 130 degree angle of view which is equivalent to a 10mm fisheye for a film or DSLR camera on a >1 megapixel camera. You simply won't be able to zoom in for details even if compression wasn't used, which simply exacerbates the issue. As TomMac like to point out, these are not ID cameras which would need a longer focal length, producing a much smaller angle of view.

[Lakehouse38]

This is very good information.  The next time I shop for a camera I should look for one with a smaller angle of view and higher megapixels.  Hopefully Netgear will come out with one compatible with this system.  Thanks for your help.

[DDarko]

Well after reading this convo, i will return the arlo pro system (4 cameras) i bought just 5 days ago. I am getting the same issues... grainy video, pixelated poor quality video.

 Just one question if a $300 samsung wired system can do better than the arlo pro why is the arlo pro so expensive? It is because i do not have to run cables? I prefer to run cables for better video than getting poor quality video when something is happening at my home and i am not there.

Really, why not place a label on the box the says “These cameras are not for IDing people or cars. They are meant for motion detection only with grany and pixelated video” that way we would not be having the same question over and over and people can refrain from buying them for the purpose.  I see that answer all over the board. I bought the system for the “HD quality video” and peace of mind... right now i get neither.

[pc2k17]

---

DDarko wrote:

Well after reading this convo, i will return the arlo pro system (4 cameras) i bought just 5 days ago. I am getting the same issues... grainy video, pixelated poor quality video.

 Just one question if a $300 samsung wired system can do better than the arlo pro why is the arlo pro so expensive? It is because i do not have to run cables? I prefer to run cables for better video than getting poor quality video when something is happening at my home and i am not there.

Really, why not place a label on the box the says “These cameras are not for IDing people or cars. They are meant for motion detection only with grany and pixelated video” that way we would not be having the same question over and over and people can refrain from buying them for the purpose.  I see that answer all over the board. I bought the system for the “HD quality video” and peace of mind... right now i get neither.

---

LOL. That's funny. No company, EVER, is going to put on their packaging that the product won't meet up to claims the company makes about it's product. Can you imagine a car company......... Hey buy our car, but btw, the engine should be good until 100,000 miles, but more than likely you'll have problems with the engine long before 100,000 , but buy our car anyway.....

If you're looking for a system that ID's faces in crystal clear videos you should spend the money ($1500 - $2000 easy) and get 1080p POE cameras and have your house wired with cat6 (or cat5) network cable. That setup should give you the results your looking for.

[DDarko]

LOL u r incorrect! Before buying the arlo pro i had a friend with a samsung 1080 p good video an you can see faces. He paid $300 to $400 for the system. He can also do remote viewing and zooming.

I did not buy them because there are wired and wanted to avoid that. Now i prefer wired than the useless motion detection system i got ( arlo pro ).

You might want to do a little more research before posting bro! By the way, did the car dealership had you that now u r trying to sell me your car? Lol

[sm1975]

i can see that the Arlo Pro 2 are now available. Does this solve the problem of poor quality?

[DDarko]

I thought about it @sm1975 but i do not believe that is the correct way to fix my issue. Netgear needs to fix this or not advertised “Live stream and watch recordings in more brilliant detail than ever before.”

I get pixelation and grainy video no matter where i place the cameras.

Thanks for ur help.