Ultra image quality - is this what I can expect from the ultra?

[mpoor]

So I have been looking at the 4k live feed vs standard live feed and can't see any difference on my iPhone 11 (except the 4k appears when I am supposedly getting higher resolution video). I have the latest arlo app.

I don't have the 4k recording set up yet, and I am waiting as I may return these; the image quality in non 4k is useless as a security camera, and since I am not seeing a significant difference in the feeds (4k vs 1080) when I have placed an object in view of the camera I may be returning this and getting the nest IQ system.

This is the 1080 feed as played back from the library. I am about 5 feet from the camera, and zoomed in the image is so bad that this would be useless in identifying a person. My app shows 2 out of 3 bars signal for the camera, even if I place the camera next to the hub, but the positioning utility shows max signal strength, both when next to the hub, and in the mounted location on my porch. Obviously this is a bug that needs to be fixed as it occurs with all 3 of my cameras (or I have a faulty hub).

Attached is a screen shot of the video small, and then I changed it to fullscreen and zoomed in on my face (will have to add to my second post I think). Again I am 5 feet from the camera. Is this what I am to expect for the image quality? If the answer is yes then I am confused as to how this can reasonably be marketed as a camera for security purposes.

Had to shrink the images so they would upload, if too small I will make them bigger.

[mpoor]

Here is the zoomed in image. I have tried this again and again, zooming on a person who is within 5 feet of the camera makes their face completely unrecognizable. Is something wrong or is this what Arlo delivers?

[mpoor]

Here is the second image

[mpoor]

So for testings sake I enabled the 4k plan. 6 feet from the camera, middle of day, my nice mail-person walking at a normal pace, you cannot make out the face if you zoom, which you must do to see their face. Check out the screen grab.

This abysmal quality is on an iOS device as well as with the downloaded 4k video on a desktop. No difference.

This product is an absolute fail, as a security camera the Arlo is completely useless. Am I being completely unrealistic in my expectation that a wireless camera should be able to clearly show a face of a person less than 10 feet from the camera in broad daylight? Perhaps I should have known better?

If I am doing something wrong here please someone tell me? I'd love to not have to put everything back in the box and fill in and paint the holes in my porch ceiling. 

[JamesC]

mpoor,

Are you able to share the clip associated with that image so we can get a better understanding of the quality being referenced?

JamesC

[mpoor]

I’d love to if it will help. Honestly I may just have unrealistic expectations here, might be wired is the only option for me.

How can I share the clip? Can I attach it like an image or do I need to make a link to it (using Dropbox for instance)?

[JamesC]

mpoor,

Yes. You should be able to attach it, if it's not too big. You could also share a link from the library but this will only stay live for 24 hours.

This can be done by logging in to your arlo account and navigating to library, select the video you want to share, then click the "share" button on the clip and then "Copy Link"

JamesC

[mpoor]

Thanks, I didn’t realize I could scroll below the email and messaging functions on my phone to “copy link”, nice.

https://my.arlo.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/721B6F92D76EBB9A_201911

[JamesC]

mpoor,

After reviewing the clip, I don't see anything out of the ordinary with the image quality. When trying to identify specific details (license plates, facial features, etc.) many environmental conditions have to be considered. The subjects distance from the camera, how fast they are moving, the angle and positioning of the camera etc. all factor in to how discernible these details will be. In your environment, if your objective is to capture facial details for subjects at your door, lowering the camera and adjusting the angle might capture a better clip for discerning these details.

JamesC

[StephenB]

The lighting is definitely a factor, as the outdoor sunlight is backlighting the area of interest.  The outdoor views are washed out as a result.

What details were you hoping to see better?  The mail (and the carrier) are generally moving throughout the scene, and as a result there is some blur on both.  Some of that might clear up if there were a higher bitrate used, but some of it appears to be the normal motion blur that you'd see at pretty much any bitrate.

When the carrier reaches the mail slot at around 5 seconds in, the reduced motion does result in an increase of the amount of detail.  There are a couple of frames where you can see the benchmark logo printed on the top piece of mail quite easily.  Of course in the others it is either too blurry to read or hard to see because of light reflections.

I agree with @JamesC that the image quality looks fairly typical for the camera.  Lowering the camera would give you a better look at people's faces.  Moving the camera to the other side of the door could help with the backlighting/exposure problem.  Though my own front porch cameras are also a bit high (there's nothing to mount them on lower down).

[mpoor]

Thanks for overlooking my crankiness and giving me this useful feedback. I have not had a wireless camera system so I was honestly not sure if mine was operating correctly or not.

That makes sense about the lighting- I can move it to the other side to get better conditions. I also realize that when the person is closest to the camera, they are crossing its field of view at an angle, so I will try and position it so the person is more straight on to the camera. There is a lot to like about the system (the notifications and activity zones work great) so I will try and optimize the placement. Ideally I’d like enough of a face to share with police as our area is known for porch pirates.

Thank you both for your time, I appreciate it.

[StephenB]

We're happy to help.  If you have more questions/concerns, please do follow up.

[mpoor · Accepted solution]

I repositioned the camera slightly so people are facing it when walking into the porch, image quality is great. Thank you James and Stephen- a little tweak and it really has made a difference.

Today I recorded a porch pirate coming on to the porch after the mail had delivered packages in our neighborhood. He looked and saw the camera and tried to whack it off its mount. Caught him perfectly and the very distinct jacket he had on. Cops saw the video, said it’s a perfect shot of the guys face, he matches a description of a trespasser several of my neighbors have given to them. Luckily they also know exactly where he is, not his first time evidently.

All I can say is boy was my first reaction wrong. Again, thanks and I will definitely recommend this product to anyone looking for a simple home system.

[StephenB]

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@mpoor wrote:

Today I recorded a porch pirate coming on to the porch after the mail had delivered packages in our neighborhood. He looked and saw the camera and tried to whack it off its mount. Caught him perfectly and the very distinct jacket he had on. Cops saw the video, said it’s a perfect shot of the guys face, he matches a description of a trespasser several of my neighbors have given to them. Luckily they also know exactly where he is, not his first time evidently.

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Great to hear that adjusting the camera position a bit resolved your problem - and that the camera helped you deal with the porch pirate.

[Joel1978]

Thanks for confirming that my phone takes better, more usable video than the Arlo security systems

[mpoor]

Well yes, a phone has a better daylight camera, but hanging out on a porch 24/7 with your phone seems like a bad use of time to me. Arlo quality was good enough for police to use to serve a trespass notice, that’s good enough for me.

[Joel1978]

My point being that the Ultra doesn’t capture more usable footage than cameras a fraction of the cost. It’s no different than the Pro or Pro2. You May be ok with it but that’s your choice. For me, if I can’t zoom in 10 ft and read my own, perfectly still license plate, or recognize myself standing still, it’s not worth installing, much less paying for. You will rarely get that perfect-angle to be able to identify someone.

[mpoor]

My driveway one using 4K can easily read the license plate of my car at 30 feet when I zoom in on the 4K live feed, I just looked at it. I have not used other cameras so I can’t offer any info in terms of a comparison.

Are not getting the same results from yours? My front porch issue was due to the backlighting combined with the person moving sideways across the field of view. Adjusting the position of the camera and reducing the wide angle to the medium setting resolved this for me. Can you adjust your camera at all? Definitely takes some fiddling to optimize it.

[Joel1978]

Mine is installed on the top framing of my garage door, looking between our 2 cars (about 10’ away) even in perfect sunny days can’t read our license plate, nor make out a persons facial features... and if they move at all it’s even worse. I don’t know how I can adjust it to change that...

[mpoor]

Oh man that sounds terrible, my driveway one seems to read the plates well (I have not checked when they are moving). Sorry you aren’t getting the same results.

I had also looked at some of the Reolink cameras, they are wired (if that’s an option)- some have an optical zoom, pan and tilt functions, and they record to a drive in your house. Looked like they would have excellent resolution, could you go wired?

Also when I posted an image of what I was seeing from the camera I got some helpful feedback, have you tried that?

[Joel1978]

I have not, but when they said that the video you posted was normal, I knew that I was returning these. I don’t know where they get off saying it’s 4k... I literally have a Logitech circle that records in 1080p and is far better resolution. Like I said, I have footage from all hours of the day under all conditions and they are all pretty similar and all pointless.