DJI Codecs unique?

[Lazerbrains]

I recently purchased a new 4k TV that has a USB port to read video files from a thumb drive. I typically edit my shots in DaVinci Resolve and then watch them on the TV - it works great.

However, today I shot some footage with my Mini 3 Pro (4k, 30fps, auto, h.265) and copied the raw footage to the thumb drive to watch the unedited shots on my TV. Immediately I noticed that the footage looked bad - strobing and stuttering footage. I went out and shot some more footage with the h.264 coding and had the same results when playing back through the TV. I went back to the computer and rendered the clips through Resolve and saved as h.265 - this footage played back perfectly and looked correct.

I will mention that the unedited shots worked fine on my computer - obviously they were giving the TV (likely a weaker GPU) a hard time. But it leads to the question - why do they not play back cleanly on my TV, yet when I render them in Resolve with the same codec (h.265) they play back perfectly. I thought h.265 is h.265. What is different about DJI's codecs?

 

[db4476]

The short answer is that Codecs (Code/Decode) are standardized, H.265 is H.265 and so on. You can play the file on a computer, so the file is ok. The manual should tell you if the TV is H.265 compliant. You can also make the video H.264 in an editor and that may work.

Or... Possibly the TV can update the firmware, one of mine does that.

Cheers!

 

[Kilrah]

Likely either the bit rate of the original footage is too high for the TV to handle or the USB stick you copied it to is too slow.

 

[Lazerbrains]

The manual should tell you if the TV is H.265 compliant. You can also make the video H.264 in an editor and that may work.

But I rendered it in H.265 in Resolve, and then it played back perfectly on the TV. That is what I am trying to figure out. H.265 straight out of the drone doesn't play back smoothly. Yet the same footage rendered through Resolve at H.265 plays back just fine. Also, the TV manual claims to be H.265 compliant.

 

[retiredNH]

But I rendered it in H.265 in Resolve, and then it played back perfectly on the TV. That is what I am trying to figure out. H.265 straight out of the drone doesn't play back smoothly. Yet the same footage rendered through Resolve at H.265 plays back just fine. Also, the TV manual claims to be H.265 compliant.

As one already said, bitrate. Look at the file sizes for same length clips. I suspect your resolve encoded clip is smaller, so has a slower bitrate.
You could also try shooting same H.265 but at 1080. If that plays, another bitrate clue.

 

[Dave Maine]

There are 4-5 flavors of h265, and various display devices have more or less ability to play them all, particularly with high bit rates. Resolve delivers a particularly reliable h265 stream.

Another way to get more universal good playback is to use H264, which is much less demanding to playback. The penalty for this approach is only a major increase in file size (3-4x). Image quality is the same.

 

[Cymru]

CODECs are standard.
More likely its the ability of the USB to stream at the required bit rate and/or the TVs ability to decode it in real time.

 

[Lazerbrains]

There are 4-5 flavors of h265, and various display devices have more or less ability to play them all, particularly with high bit rates. Resolve delivers a particularly reliable h265 stream.

Another way to get more universal good playback is to use H264, which is much less demanding to playback. The penalty for this approach is only a major increase in file size (3-4x). Image quality is the same.

I had the same issue with H264 - playback of straight from drone footage looked just as awful. For comparison, I put a 4k h265 video from my Pixel 6 on the same thumb drive, and it played fine.

 

[Lazerbrains]

CODECs are standard.
More likely its the ability of the USB to stream at the required bit rate and/or the TVs ability to decode it in real time.

Obviously the TV is having a hard time decoding it in real time, but why only from DJI codec? Same TV/thumb drive combo plays 4k h265 footage from my phone just fine.

Even more interesting - I have the DJI OM5 (gimble for use with phone). Footage using the DJI Mimo app produces the same results - fickering and stuttering video on the TV. Video recorded from the exact same phone (Pixel 6) using the built-in app does not have this problem. There is something going on with DJI's codecs.

 

[Kilrah]

Obviously the TV is having a hard time decoding it in real time, but why only from DJI codec? Same TV/thumb drive combo plays 4k h265 footage from my phone just fine.

As mentioned several times already, compare the bitrate of the various files. The others are most likely way lower than the DJI footage.

 

[retiredNH]

As mentioned several times already, compare the bitrate of the various files. The others are most likely way lower than the DJI footage.

Yes. Interesting how folks ignore advice that might help them solve their problem.

 

[Lazerbrains]

As mentioned several times already, compare the bitrate of the various files. The others are most likely way lower than the DJI footage.