Night time pixelation

[GordonScot]

For a while now, my night time video recordings have shown severe pixelation. Mostly with vehicles (see attached picture) but also with people walking by if they walk fast. 
Version is 3.5.8 released Oct. 12 2021. According to my app, no updates available.
Motion is set at 80. 

Motion sensitivity is set at 90.

Flicker adjustment is set to “auto”. 
Brightness is set to 0.

Video Settings: 

Auto HDR “on”

Night Vision “on”.  NOTE, turning this OFF made no difference.

Video quality 1536sq. 
This is a wired video doorbell.

Thanks for any help you can provide! 

[JamesC]

The firmware that should resolve this issue has finished testing and we expect it will be available this week. I will provide more information as it becomes available.

JamesC

[JamesC]

The development team is currently testing a firmware fix that should alleviate the symptoms being discussed here. Once that testing is complete, the fix will be made available to all users. I will provide another update once I have more information to share.

JamesC

[JamesC]

We're currently reviewing a possible solution for these reports. I'm not able to provide an exact timeline for release but this will likely be available in a future (within the coming weeks) firmware update.

I will post new information as it becomes available.

JamesC

[TomMac]

From looking at pic, there is a LOT of reflection of the IR on the left side of picture....

This may be washing out the video/stills of the camera  ( wreath on wall ?? )

Move the object  and see if it improves the vids.

[GordonScot]

Hi TomMac and thanks for your quick reply.

I’ve had the camera/doorbell for almost a year now and the problem started a few months back. The left side you see is a brick wall so can’t move that. 🙂 🙂 🙂 No wreath or anything hanging near by. I made a 1.5” block to mount the doorbell on so the video doorbell would “stick” out a little further to give me the most video area possible. 
Can’t move the doorbell as it’s wired. 
This has me stumped as like I said, this started a few months back and I’ve played around with the settings. 

[jguerdat]

Pixelation frequently has to do with signal strength and/or quality. Is it connected to a base or hub or to your WiFi? Has some wireless device been added or moved to near the doorbell?

[GordonScot]

Hi Jguerdat, thanks for your reply.

It’s connected via WiFi. My Xfinity gateway/modem is about 15’ away from the video doorbell. But now that you mention it, I did replace the gateway/modem the beginning of August with a faster, upgraded one from Xfinity. Could that be the problem? 
Forgot to mention, if a car/person/animal is going slowly at night, video is fine. Daytime videos are always fine regardless of rate of motion. 

[jguerdat]

Your new hardware may be an issue - did the pixelation start immediately when you upgraded? Since daytime videos are fine but some nighttime ones are not is it possible that your network is being heavily used at night? Guess it could be an ISP issue.

[GordonScot]

I wish I could say if the issue started after the hardware upgrade, really don’t know as I didn’t put the two together until your suggestion. 
Network is not heavily used at night as I’ve checked it’s usage.

Again, thanks for your ideas and thoughts. 

[Exia7891]

I am beyond relieved to know that I am not the only one who is experiencing this as well. I noticed this started maybe a couple of months ago. Nothing has changed the setup is the same, doorbell worked flawlessly at night recording video up until a couple months ago. This has been irritating, as the the video is essentially useless as any person walking up to the doorbell is washed/pixelated (trailing pixels with motion). Like I mentioned, nothing has changed since this started. Arlo needs to look into this. 

[GordonScot]

Sorry you’re experiencing the same thing but glad I’m not alone. Hopefully Arlo can provide a fix or firmware update! 

[jguerdat]

What happens if you lower the camera resolution?

[GordonScot]

Hmmmm, don’t know but I will and report back my findings.

[Exia7891]

I have already tried lowering it to 1080x1080 before with no resolution. I will try 720x720 and report back.

[GordonScot]

I too lowered my resolution to 720x720 and no difference, severe pixelation on moving vehicles.

[NewProvSS]

I've been having the same pixelation issue at night with my video doorbell. It started a few months ago and I've made no hardware changes of any kind. It really does make most night videos useless as any people moving past turn into digital blurs. There been no resolution to this still?

[JPav80]

This is the same issue I have been experiencing and it has been happening since I first installed mine back in October. I posted on the forum and was working with support. They did send me a new unit recently but as I suspected it also has the same issue so I am leaning on firmware. Tech support on this has been slow, but seeing more people come forward with the same problem might get Arlo to work on a fix.

[Exia7891]

I changed the resolution and monitored various night time clips throughout the weekend. Unfortunately bumping it down to 720x720 did not seem to help, as others have noted. I too am starting to think this is firmware related ...

Device info:

FW - 1.14.0.0_1117_c9951d1_b4efa46

HW - AVD1001Ar1.2

[Exia7891]

I have opened up a ticket case regarding this issue and linked this thread to the rep so they can pass it along to the engineers to investigate. Hopefully they can resolve this with a FW update.

[JPav80]

Sounds good! I have a ticket open as well and here is a link to the thread referencing it:

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Video-Doorbell/Arlo-Video-Doorbell-Night-vision-green-display-and...

[GordonScot]

I’m really getting fed up with my Arlo video doorbell! 😞

I bought it through Costco and am within the year warranty so a return is very possible.

Ring video doorbell is seriously becoming a possibility. Given that Arlo is so lacking in addressing this issue, I’m really considering this option. There is no excuse for them not to come out with a firmware update!!!

Hello Arlo……are you listening? 

[KCShelton]

I've been having the exact same issue...

[scandad]

I am having the exact same issue and am unable to find a fix. I got my doorbell ~2 weeks ago (so very  new) and noticed the trailing pixelation of moving images at night immediately. The videos are totally fine during the day but the second the sun goes down, any movement in the recorded videos is completely indiscernible -- to the point it renders the videos useless.

As luck would have it, I had a package stolen (at night) a day or two after I started investigating this pixelation issue. My Arlo doorbell caught a video of the thieves in action but the quality of the video is so F'ing terrible that we can't even make out a rough guess of what these guys look like (attachment below). So extremely frustrating.

At this point it appears it is a product quality issue - must be that "super smart video AI!" I am considering just ripping the damn thing out and getting something else.  

[Exia7891]

Total bummer, sorry to hear that. I encourage anyone who is experiencing this issue to open a ticket case with Arlo. The more tickets they receive, hopefully, the more the pressure is put on them to resolve it. Link the URL to this thread in the ticket case so they know that this is not an isolated case issue.

[Retired_Member]

I've experienced this 'night time pixelation' issue a few times with one of my Pro 3 cameras.  Restarting the hub resolves the problem, like magic.  The problem comes and goes but happens rarely for me.  WiFi signalling is typically better late at night for most people, not worse - interference is typically at its most severe at times when many of your neighbors are using their WiFi.  The 2.4 GHz noise floor in suburban areas tends to rise by a few decibels in the evenings when people get home from work and use their WiFi (and microwave ovens) intensively, and fall at night when people go to sleep.  That this 'night time' issue might be due to WiFi issues doesn't make much sense, unless the camera is switching into a low resolution mode in the evenings when signalling is bad in order to compensate for signal interference, but then stays in that mode for several hours after the signalling issue is no longer a factor.

[scandad]

Thanks, I opened a case and passed along the video mentioned above. Hopefully support can elevate for a fix soon. 

[JPav80]

My ticket has been escalated and plan on calling me to go over the issue.  The only frustrating thing is that they have me repeat many of same troubleshooting steps that I  have already answered.  A lot of wasted time for sure.   Either way I hope it gets resolved soon.  When I talk to them I will also mention this thread.