Horrible picture quality

[Ordinary1]

Hi All.

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.

Since the early hours of yesterday morning (25th April) UK time all of my Arlo Pro cameras have been suffering from extreme pixelation in both live view and motion detection recordings. The location of the cameras and base station have not changed for months.

The base station is VMB4000r3 on firmware 1.16.1.1_3348_facf74c

The four cameras are version H8 1.092.0.25_24_986

The pixelated video is also present on local USB storage suggesting a local issue.

I have checked WiFi strength using an analyser and all is good. All cameras have three bars in the Arlo app.

One of the cameras is within ten feet of the base station with no obstructions and is suffering the same.

I have noticed that a camera firmware update was issued in the last few days. Are there any known problems that could have caused such a drastic change in system performance?

[jguerdat]

You can verify the recording quality by checking the file properties of a downloaded video or by using a utility such as MediaInfo.

There can be various reasons for quality issues, such as low upload bandwidth, interference from nearby 2.4GHz devices, signal strenth, positioning of the cameras, house construction, etc. What happens if you bring a camera closer to the base? What have you tried?

[Sophializama]

My live feed and recordings show pixelated videos. i have 3 bars and have turned on and off and still no solution. it started about a week ago anyone having the same problem.

https://my.arlo.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/F5AA0680619A9C44_202005

[SableBlack]

I've the very same issue and looks like it become worse with the base station firmware update of April 29th - May 1st. I'm guessing arlo is compressing more the videos to facilitate the handling on their servers....

[StephenB]

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@Arcmin wrote:

I’ve always been very pleased with the quality and have some sharp recordings on file, but now it’s suddenly become very blocky on all 3 cameras.

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Perhaps download a file, and see how the bit rate compares with your older one.

You can see that info with MediaInfoXP (you can download that here: https://muldersoft.com/ )

[Kktracy3]

YES I have noticed the same thing. I just got on here to see if anyone else has noticed. I assumed it’s another firmware update. They mess something up every time. My regular arlo pros are all fine but my 2 pro2s are very blocky.

[silverado44]

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@Arcmin wrote:

Morning

Within the past few weeks I’ve noticed a considerable drop in picture quality from my 3 x Pro 2 cameras.

I’ve always been very pleased with the quality and have some sharp recordings on file, but now it’s suddenly become very blocky on all 3 cameras.
We've had the system for a couple of years and nothing has been physically changed, although I did notice a firmware update in progress a week or so back.

Thoughts and hopefully a means to fix? Thanks.

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Yup I too have noticed it but like I have always said in here they fix one thing and break 2 others.

If you go to the firmware release note they always say "Other general stability and performance improvements and other bug fixes" Ok what fixes did they do seems to me its just a generic copy and paste when they post something.

I thought when the new CEO came in I thought things were going to get better, boy was I wrong and I bet he doesn't even own this system for his house.

Like I said before this is a very nice product and its the customer service, programmers and engineers that make this product look bad and you think the CEO would do something about it. NOPE 

[Kktracy3]

Yep same problem. Sounds like another firmware update that does more harm than good. I am so frustrated because my system actually worked great for a while after they fixed a firmware update that screwed up video on plugged in cameras.

[Kktracy3]

Scratch that. All of my cameras have the blocky pixelation on live and video. It has to be the basestation update. They need to fix this ASAP

[Arcmin]

Thanks for the suggestion StephenB. I’ll take a look at that later once I get chance.

[Levelle]

I too was experiencing the pixelation issue after the firmware update.   I first tried unplugging the base unit and let it reboot.  I was still getting the same issue.  As a last resort, I removed the devices from my app.  I then went through the procedure for adding them back.   Fingers crossed,  both of my cameras seem to be working properly now.

[Leeboy]

Same here , we were just talking about how satisfied we were with the arlo pro 2 a year and a half ago . Looked at a video last night and it looked like a lego man ( all blocky and distorted)   I think Arlo is done in the camera industry .  $800 worth may as well hit the garbage can . 

[alchemist50]

I did try removing and re-syncing all of my cameras, but it made no difference in the video quality.  The locally stored .mp4 files for all cameras are now about 40% smaller than they were before the late April firmware updates.  I interpret that as indication of much more compression.  Picture quality has visibly suffered, both on the cloud and local recordings.

I'm currently on the free 7-day plan.  @JamesC , can you tell us whether subscribing to an Arlo Smart plan will improve the picture quality on the Pro and Pro2 cameras?  It's not that I want to move to a paid plan because they really don't offer anything else I was interested in.  And I don't like being forced to because of an intentional performance downgrade in the free plan.  But this new picture quality is really poor whenever there is movement in the frame.

[StephenB]

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@alchemist50 wrote:

can you tell us whether subscribing to an Arlo Smart plan will improve the picture quality on the Pro and Pro2 cameras?  

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It will not.

[Macarioc]

I'd like to report the same problem since 27 April 2020. video starts off OK then degrades terribly after 3 seconds to 7 seconds and is OK after that. During that time people are unrecognizable, rendering the camera useless for identification purposes. Tried al the suggestions and nothing helped. Happens on all three cameras. Will need to replace the cameras with a different brand if this is not fixed soon. Can anybody recommend other cameras which are more reliable?

[Macarioc]

I have the same problem as of about 27th April. Severe pixelation for about  4 seconds. Video starts off OK then degrades after about 3 seconds. After about 7 seconds its OK again.....

[Ordinary1]

Hi All

Many thanks to everyone who is posting with the same problem.

Hopefully the more that register the issue, the more likely we are to get a fix.

I had a support ticket raised last Monday and was advised that I would receive contact within 48hrs. This never happened so I got in touch myself on Friday.

Support advised that they had not been made aware of the problem by anyone else, asked a set of standard troubleshooting questions and did not provide a positive confirmation when I asked for this to be escalated to the development team.
They asked for some example files, that I provide within an hour, and raised a brand new ticket (!).

It has been quiet yet again from that point.

Given the increased confirmation of problems on this post over the last day or two I am hoping that a senior forum member such as @JamesC may be able to help escalate this as video quality is not fit for purpose for those of us on VMB4000/VMC4030.

Removing the camera and reapplying as suggested in an earlier post has unfortunately not worked for me.

I will keep you up to date if I hear anything from support, in the meantime it would be great if those with problems can also call them/online chat with them and refer to this post to see if we can grab their attention.

[Billy137]

Arlo pro blocky image with recording playback, live image is the same problem.

Who has also this problem?

[alchemist50]

I'm not certain I'm checking the right thing, maybe someone more knowledgeable can help.  But using Windows File Explorer and checking properties of locally stored files, it reports that the bitrate has been roughly halved since late April.  My recordings used to have a bitrate of around 850-1000, now they're consistently in the 400-500 range.  Same cameras and conditions.

[Ordinary1]

Hi alchemist50,

Checking properties is a sensible thing to do.

My bitrates have decreased from 750-800kbps to 350-400kbps. Yes, the video resolution is 1280x720 so technically is 720p but the bitrate is so low that regardless of the number of pixels in the image (that technically meets their 720p recording to the cloud specification) the image quality is worse than a lower resolution image at a decent bitrate.

For some reason I now have three open tickets for the same problem, all of which say I will be contacted within 48hrs and no contact has been forthcoming. I have been in touch with support again today to confirm that they received my example files on Friday. The support was very disappointing with constant repeats of "I see" and "I do apologise". I seriously thought at one point I was chatting to a bot!

There was absolutely no commitment to escalate, no confirmation of timescale for future contact, no acceptance that there was even a problem that needed resolving. 

[Mathishard]

Your resolution might be 1920x1080 but check out that bitrate. At a whopping 1024... you're getting a fraction of the rate you would need for actual HD. Most of the videos I checked today are even lower, at 390-460 kbps.

Recommended video bitrates for HDR uploads

Type	Video Bitrate, Standard Frame Rate (24, 25, 30)	Video Bitrate, High Frame Rate (48, 50, 60)
2160p (4k)	44-56 Mbps	66-85 Mbps
1440p (2k)	20 Mbps	30 Mbps
1080p	10 Mbps	15 Mbps
720p	6.5 Mbps	9.5 Mbps
480p	Not supported	Not supported
360p	Not supported	Not supported

[jam436]

I'm seeing this as well.
This is just more of the same.

This recent -explosion- of problems seems to be limited only to the older Arlo Pro and Arlo Pro 2 systems, the only systems left that offer a week's worth of free cloud storage for up to 5 cameras.
Starting with the Arlo Pro 3 systems, a paid subscription is now necessary.

And if you look through the Arlo Pro 3 and higher threads, you won't see these problems.
Is there anyone here who hasn't noticed that each new firmware update only introduces new problems, without fixing any of the old problems?

I've said it before and I'll say it again;

Apparently since breaking off from Netgear in Jan. 2019, the new managers have decided to squeeze owners of these older systems out - by intentionally sabotaging their own systems.
There seems to be no other explanation for this sudden deluge of issues, all cropping up in just the last few months, many of which are rendering these systems nearly unusable. Is this by design? I believe it is.
The new owners no longer wish to honor the original free subscription agreement written by Netgear.

[Mathishard]

They're getting around this by saying they are still recording in HD resolution... but the bitrate for videos stored to the cloud are abysmal. We're talking 300-400 kbps after the last update... where HD should be closer to 5-6 Mbps. I think I'll just toss these damn things in the garbage or figure out a way to use the decent hardware cameras to record locally without touching their server.

[FirstCup]

I have used the Arlo smart premier subscription for several years with my two systems between two locations set up for 10 cameras. Overall no big problems, but I see some have mentioned whether being on a subscription makes their cameras better, Don't know. I just checked my details in windows on a clip and it is:

length              00:59

frame width     1920

frame height  1072

data rate         659kbps

total bitrate   715kbps

frame rate    22.18 frames/second

I do not know much about this and really do not want to, just a good output is what I am looking for. I have a pro 3, 3 camera kit coming soon, not sure if I'll even open the box at this time.

[KenPhan]

Just unpacked then installed the 2 Arlo Pro 2 cameras and base. Picture quality is horrible, so pixelated and grainy. Tried moving next to base and router in case WiFi was the issue. Same $h!t. Repacking and returning today..

[StephenB]

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@KenPhan wrote:

Just unpacked then installed the 2 Arlo Pro 2 cameras and base. Picture quality is horrible, so pixelated and grainy. Tried moving next to base and router in case WiFi was the issue. 

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Did you try moving the base away from the router?  WiFi interference can cause this.