Let’s talk 4k

[Bigjames83]

I’m a bit confused how the 4K feature works on this camera. I understand you can live stream in 4K. I have a SD card inserted and 4K recording is selected but how exactly can I watch the video that was recorded in 4K. Do I need to remove the card to see the clip in 4K?

[jguerdat]

If you have 4k selected, the videos in the cloud should be in 4k and the app will show that for each video in the library. Videos on the SD card have to be viewed on a computer after safely ejecting it. The card is a backup, not a NAS.

[Retired_Member]

You have to upgrade in order to get 4k cloud recordings.  The Smart Premier or Elite only include 1080p cloud recordings.  There is a stand alone 4k upgrade for $1.99/month/camera or $19/year/camera.

I haven't looked at them yet, but it is supposed to be recording 4k to the micro SD card.... but yes, you have to eject the card and view them on your PC.  There is no way to view those recordings from the app or web.

[zincyellowcobra]

My subscription is smart elite. I did not know you had to modify the subscription for 4K cloud recordings. How do you add the 4K upgrade? 

[Bigjames83]

Wow arlo has defiantly passed nest in the pricy department with all these add ons. Kinda crazy

[Retired_Member]

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@zincyellowcobra wrote:

My subscription is smart elite. I did not know you had to modify the subscription for 4K cloud recordings. How do you add the 4K upgrade? 

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If you go into your account, change plan, select the same package you already have and click Continue, then it should get you to the next page for the 4k upgrade...

Premium Video Recording

Get a crystal clear view of your surroundings with video resolution that is up to 4x higher than 1080p.

+ $19/yr Per Camera

[zincyellowcobra]

Duh for me. Wouldn’t you think Arlo would include that info inside the box?! I feel like a ding dong. 

[BestBuyGuy]

Yup, you have to PAY EXTRA to get your 4k camera to record in 4k right out of the box. When your free year is up you will have to pay for not only the basic 1080p quality cloud storage, but another fee on top of that to actually record in 4k. Or you can go through the hassle of yanking the miniscule microSD card (no longer the more convenient USB flash drive) since you can't access recordings on your mobile device. You can't do that either with the Pro series but there is no reason to. What genius came up with this business plan?

[Bigjames83]

It’s pretty crazy honestly. I have 3 nest cams that record 24/7 for 5 days and it costs me 15 a month. Adding all the bells and whistles to arlo will cost me at least that. Forget it If i add 24/7 recording at 10 bucks a month per camera

[joema4]

Using the Ultra 4k camera and SmartHub, I don't see any option to live stream 4k to PC or Mac on the local WiFi. I have camera firmware 1.060.20.10_30273 and hub firmware 1.12.0.1_30356. I tried various browsers. 

Is 4k local live streaming only available to mobile devices?

[Mavrrick]

The whole idea of 4k is problematic. First you have to have devices that can display it. Most mobile devices don't have 4k displays, those that do are normally all tablets. Then the issue of getting the stream to the device. 4k simply needs a better codec and more data, and when talking about mobile devices the data needed isn't always a easy to get. It is possible that even on devices that are suppose to support it something along the way would cause servers to auto adjust to lower resolutions.

I suspect Arlo just hasn't gotten all the parts right yet.

[jguerdat]

If the browser doesn't support it, there's nothing Arlo can do:

https://caniuse.com/#feat=hevc

[joema4]

Yes, HEVC support in browsers is currently limited, which raises the question -- why would Arlo choose to use a browser-based client when it handicaps Ultra's marquee feature? Other options were write an app (as was done on for both iOS and Android) or use VP9 which in some tests has roughly similar performance to HEVC, is free and already widely supported in many (but not all) browsers. It would also avoid distributing a new Flash-based web app in 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5_video#Browser_support

[jguerdat]

If you read the threads all through here, you'll realize that browser usage is minimal. People don't even seem to know that browsers can be used. I agree that browse viewing is important but that doesn't change anything.

[Mavrrick]

We are completely oversimplifying what is needed for 4k. It is allot more then does your hardware mobile device or browser support the codec. If it that does happen there are still bandwith requirements, a good bitrate to retain quality, and can there hardware on the other end provide the stream to you.

My guess is we are seeing the effects of two things happening. First arlo is probably crushing the video to much and loosing detail. Then I bet in many cases we are seeing additional impacts when playing remotely and the Arlo servers that are designed to stream it to us in 4k are further degrading the video by transcoding again in 4k or what our devices support.

It doesn't take much to take a good quality video and make it look like crap with compression and transcoding. I would hope arlo will continue to improve its ultra cameras but I suspect the recording in 4k is more of a gimmick the really a useable feature.

I would think we should be more focused on using the 4k sensor similar to nest where it is used for zooming in and not for full frame recording. That should give us better recording and more detail at a larger distance if implemented properly

[Bigjames83]

The best outdoor IQ does a terrible job with its 4k sensor. I will put a ultra next to it tomorrow to compare.  I would say at the very least if best cannot stream 4k to the cloud then store 4k clips to the micro SD card and make it accessible via the app

[Mavrrick]

I 100% agree that local recordings should be made avaliable. But it doesn't make sense from a business perspective if they make their money on Cloud subscriptions. But either the prices of the cameras have to give for that to work, or they need to give us workable options outside of the cloud. Frankly a usb drive on the older basestation was a little rediculous, but workable. A MicroSD card is down right stupid. They aren't ment to be taken in and out of devices requently.

I wouldn't even mind if there was some option to either pay x price for the device with cloud storage or y with local avaliable on the web. I hate it when companies try to use one thing to subsidize income, but then try to hid that in other practices.

Heck if they designed there system to let us lean on home storage then we could take a huge weight off their servers to.

[DRA_PA]

Agreed. Perhaps recording to our own network drive? Recording to a USB is too cumbersome. But still I wish Arlo would consider the 7 days cloud recording as a competitive advantage and not a profit center.

[Irishmike]

One of my camreas started recording in4k I don’t want it to what’s up

[JamesC]

We've heard your concerns and have an exciting announcement based on your feedback. Take a look here for more information: Local and Remote Access to Local Storage for Arlo Ultra via Arlo App Expected in Second Half of 2019

JamesC

[PhylumT]

Are you saying the poor video quality is because my subscription could be wrong?

[Norman619]

WOW...  I was looking to get this and save to external HD.  It doesn't stream 4K to the base and store to an external HD? I wasn't interested in the cloud storage.  

[DRA_PA]

Looks like the capabilities are going to be added later this year. This is from JamesC who helps us out on the forum.

We've heard your concerns and have an exciting announcement based on your feedback. Take a look here for more information: Local and Remote Access to Local Storage for Arlo Ultra via Arlo App Expected in Second Half of 2019

[jguerdat]

The base has a microSD card slot instead of USB connectors for local storage.