Local and Remote Access to Local Storage for Arlo Ultra via Arlo App Expected in Second Half of 2019

[Prat32]

What happen to this release I’m waiting for this it’s been second half of 2019 any news please let us know thanks

[Redpower187]

Another unrelated UI aspect that annoys me...

In the filter section in video library there is a string of text at the top that reads "Arlo Smart Notifications" problem is the text is cut in half (see attached image) this text should be removed as is not necessary.

[Redpower187]

6) Remove the annoying pop up notification in the local storage library telling us to subscribe to Arlo Smart for faster access to recordings.

If we want to buy a subscription we will, no need to spam customers who have paid thousands of dollars already on this system.

[JJAdV]

I haven’t had a local recording show up in the app for weeks.

Any idea when this lacks recording will work as described? Or at all?

[sia_later]

Would appreciate some clarification on this. My Smarthub is currently connected to a wireless bridge which connects to my main router.

Don't quite understand how this is not considered the same network.

[LandJS]

I know when I had mine plugged into one of the ports on my providers equipment which I consider the same system it wouldn't work.  I had to plug it into the router plugged into the same equipment because that was what my phone was using.  A pain especially since they recommend distance between hub and router and I got a better signal to the cameras that way but that's what it took to work.

[sia_later]

Thanks @LandJS. Fully understand what you did.

From a technical perspective, I still don't understand the limitations. Hoping a rep can actually chime in because this is quite flawed given the constraints around where a router/modem would be placed versus efficient Smarthub placement for all cameras. There are even recommendations for the use of extenders and the like...

A big part of using switches and bridges in a household environment is to network enable other parts of the house.

[sia_later]

Another update on this issue for those that may have a similar experience.

So it turns out that by connecting to any of my SSIDs does allow me to access my local recordings via app. However, it is so sporadic. This means when I connect to my local  network, it's entirely pot luck whether the app detects whether I am or not which means the app doesn't enable the option of accessing said recordings. This also means I'm not able to stream 4k because "I'm not on my local network".

Version is 2.12.3_27015

Anyone else have this issue?

[rjmcinnes]

"Share" or "Save to Photos" of SSD videos recordings does northing...

Last night we experienced an intrusion, captured on camera, and the recording is visible and shareable in standard resolution on both the iPhone and iMac apps...

On iPhone 11Pro (with the latest version of Arlo app) I can view and play the videos captured in 4K on the hub SSD, just great.

But while tapping on the triple dots prompts me to "Share or Save to Photos", the app does nothing.

Nothing appears in Photos after tapping "Save to Photos"

and there is no prompt at all in response to "Share".

Help please, I need the 4K videos for police investigation, like, NOW...

[LandJS]

Just take  the SD card and use your computer, there you can make a copy and send to whoever you wish.

[rjmcinnes]

LandJS,

Thank you so much for your prompt response...

When I could not "Share" or "Save to Photos"  I tried desperately to find the recordings direct from the SSD card, but could not find any current folders or videos, frustrating.

A few minutes ago, I tried again; took the SSD card out of the Arlo Smart Hub, plugged it into my iMac, after messing around trying desperately to find the newest files, changed the Finder default View, to Sort By, Date Created, and there they were.

Aaaahhhh...  must be getting old...

PS: the resolution appears to be the same as the files stored in the Cloud.

More to do to sort that out.

Thank you once again for your quick response, very much appreciated...

[LandJS]

Do you have the SD card set to best video ?  Mine wasn't by default and were lower res until I set it.

[rjmcinnes]

Yes, the SD Card is set to "Best Local Recording"...

I went snooping around the User Guide, and Help stuff, and found the following:

"Note: When Local 2K Live Streaming is enabled, Auto Zoom and Tracking is disabled. When Auto Zoom and Tracking is enabled, video plays in 1080p."

These guys set to have terminology mixed up a bit, 2K is essentially the same resolution as 1080p, or HD.

So when "Best Local Recording" is set, recording is at 1080p (or 2K), and preserves the Auto Zoom and Tracking functionality.

1080p or Full HD resolution is 1920×1080 pixels whereas... 

4K or UHD resolution is 3840 × 2160 pixels, or exactly double the resolution.

2K indicates a display of roughly 2000 pixel horizontally, for example DCI 2K (full frame) is 2048x1080.

[StephenB]

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@rjmcinnes wrote:

1080p or Full HD resolution is 1920×1080 pixels whereas... 

4K or UHD resolution is 3840 × 2160 pixels, or exactly double the resolution.

2K indicates a display of roughly 2000 pixel horizontally, for example DCI 2K (full frame) is 2048x1080.

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The Pro-3 resolution is 2560x1440 pixels.  This is technically 1440p (also called QHD).  But it is commonly called 2K.  https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/what-is-qhd-wqhd,5755.html

FWIW, your interpretation is used for cinema (and some do call FHD 2K) - so there is some ambiguity in the term.

[rjmcinnes]

StephenB,

Thank you for the clarification, obviously the ambiguity got me...

OT: another question: assuming the camera handles the auto-zoom and tracking locally, then what is the technical constraint that prohibits 2K and 4K being recorded locally (on the SSD card) direct from the camera.

[Redpower187]

It is now February and we have no answers or updates to any of our issues with Direct Storage Access.

@JamesC Do any of you read our comments? a simple we're working on it from you guys would be good.

[StephenB]

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@rjmcinnes wrote:

OT: another question: assuming the camera handles the auto-zoom and tracking locally, then what is the technical constraint that prohibits 2K and 4K being recorded locally (on the SSD card) direct from the camera.

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Autozoom/tracking uses electronic PTZ.  While I guess Arlo could upscale to 2K or 4K, instead they've chosen to scale the zoomed image segment to 1080p.  There could be a hardware constraint (or a power management tradeoff) here.

A related aspect is that AFAIK the camera can only stream one resolution at a time.  So if it is recording to the cloud at 1080p, it would also put 1080p into local storage.  

[LandJS]

??? for an entire year it sent 1080 to the cloud while sending 4K to local storage until your year was up.

[rjmcinnes]

LandJS,

Hmmm...  

My year is not up until July 2020.

The oldest recordings retained on my 32GB SSD card (older recordings are overwritten) are from 25 September 2019.   

All recordings prior to 05 October are 1920x1080, after that they change to 1920x1072 (what ever that means).

The root arlo_metadata folder earliest entry is 31 July 2019 (when I first setup the Arlo System), the  last on 02 December 2019.  The current arlo/metadata folder has entries from 03 December 2019 until today.

Here is s typical metadata entry: declaring the recording is Full HD, h.264.

And here is Finder listing of a typical recording showing the recording is 1920x1072.

 

All very interesting, but does not really explain why I cannot capture recordings locally at 4K?

[LandJS]

I can only say what Happened here.  I still have my clips back to Oct 2019 and when I put the SD in my computer they are all 4K up to Jan 21 2020 when they turned off my plan without notice and said I must purchase either 2k or 4k plan to stay on.  Everything from that date is 2K despite the fact that on here they continued to insist all plans continue to get 4K live and to the SD card.  What source are you viewing on, if they can't show 4K they downgrade the res for viewing.  I had to upgrade my card reader to one capable of viewing 4K to access them and download a viewing program to view them.  Just like trying to view in a browser, both 2K and 4K can only be seen with the edge browser, they are not supported by the others and must be downloaded to view.

[rjmcinnes]

LandJS,

I am using a 32GB ScanDisk Extreme microSDHC card with an  adaptor, plugged directly into my iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014).

I would've thought that the iMac would automatically view the .mp4 movie in the native resolution (including 4K).

Am I missing something here?

[LandJS]

My HP is about a 2016 model and I needed a card reader designed for 4K, the built in wouldn't read it and the Windows viewers that came with it didn't want to play them so I downloaded a viewer based on what specs in the Arlo site links.  All you should need to do to find the res is to put the card in the computer go to a file of choice and right click, properties, details and the res is in width and height.  No need to play it to find out.  Couldn't tell you how an Apple works.

[rjmcinnes]

According to the Apple Finder Info...

the videos are 1920x1072 resolution on the SSD Card.

Here is the macOS info on the oldest and newest  from my SSD Card.

[LandJS]

If it's set for best video not sure what to say.  I just pulled my SD to double check as of today and everything up until my free year expired is 3840X2160 and everything after I started paying 1/21/2020 right up to today is 2560X1440.  Sorry I couldn't be more help.

[StephenB]

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@rjmcinnes wrote:

LandJS,

Hmmm...  

My year is not up until July 2020.

The oldest recordings retained on my 32GB SSD card (older recordings are overwritten) are from 25 September 2019.   

All recordings prior to 05 October are 1920x1080, after that they change to 1920x1072 (what ever that means).

The root arlo_metadata folder earliest entry is 31 July 2019 (when I first setup the Arlo System), the  last on 02 December 2019.  The current arlo/metadata folder has entries from 03 December 2019 until today.

Here is s typical metadata entry: declaring the recording is Full HD, h.264.

And here is Finder listing of a typical recording showing the recording is 1920x1072.

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On the 1072 rows:  H.264 encodes 16x16 luma blocks, so the encoded resolution itself has to be a multiple of 16.  1080 isn't a multiple, so to get all 1080 rows you need to add 8 rows and encode 1088 (and set the overall resolution to 1080, in order to crop the extras).  Looks like Arlo introduced a small bug, and ended up with 1072 rows instead (which is a multiple of 16).

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@rjmcinnes wrote:

All very interesting, but does not really explain why I cannot capture recordings locally at 4K?

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You should be able to.  Do you have auto zoom and tracking turned off?  Is the camera's power management set to best video?

[LandJS]

The simple answer is, if you are on your first year of free service and best video is set on the SD card your SD recordings should be 4K.  If they are not then you need to contact support and open a ticket for this issue.