Poor photo Quality when using Zoom

[Droning on and on...]

I don’t need to pixel-peep, I believe you. And that is actually great news.

It is not about stupidity. It is a choice the manufacturer makes whether to implement changing the method of sensor readout between 1x mode and 2x mode.

What happens between 1.1x and 1.9x?

I'd need the data sheet and application notes from the manufacturer (and for the imaging SoC too). And boy would I love to get my engineer hands on that documentation.

DJI has been cropping for resolution changes back at least to the M2P with the "HQ" mode that caused a lot of controversy, and much pixel peeping arguments.

That was fun