Problem with Mini 2 when recording at 2.7K 60FPS

[guzewski]

It would bug me, too.

Things I would try next:
- delete and reinstall the DJI Fly app. Make sure you download it from DJI and not the Google Play store
- 2.7K@30
- 4K@30
- a newer Android device
- an Apple device
- a hammer

Unfortunately, I can't try any of these with my Mini 2 as it is on its way back to DJI after a crash.

Keep the faith...

I have tried 30FPS at 2.7K and 4K and it works fine. I'll try reinstalling Fly and I can even try my wife's iPad. The Android tablet and phone (they both experience the smear issue) should not be a problem as both are pretty new and listed on the DJI recommendations somewhere. I'll press on with this.

 

[EpicFlight]

Try it with a different smartphone, wife/gf/kid/friend.

Also, check the transmission section of Fly and see what the RC sees in terms of RF noise, and which band and channel it's selecting.

Forcing a switch to the other band may change things.

 

[guzewski]

Try it with a different smartphone, wife/gf/kid/friend.

Also, check the transmission section of Fly and see what the RC sees in terms of RF noise, and which band and channel it's selecting.

Forcing a switch to the other band may change things.

I'm planning to use my wife's iPad tomorrow. As far as the RF stuff goes, I think I've discounted that. I'll see the smear when the drone is literally 10m away, full signal strength, etc. But the clincher is that the video return is flawless, even at distances of hundreds of meters, unless I'm actively recording at 2.7K 60FPS.

 

[c64-dev]

That’s a very interesting issue! In my line of work, I constantly troubleshoot issues on electronic devices and software, so I find it fascinating.

The problem that you see with the stuck pixels etc is in all likelihood a partially corrupt or incomplete video feed. If you download a video online and try to play it before it has finished downloading, you’ll see exactly the same artifacts coming up.

The fact that the problem is not showing when you try other resolutions -even higher- and only when you choose 2.7K at 60 FPS, leads me to suspect the high FPS rate. Could you please try the following?
1. Record new video at 1080p/60 FPS and even higher frame rates?
2. See if you can record a video at another high rate like 50 FPS (I know that GoPro cameras allow this by switching between PAL/NTSC)

Is the corruption happening with these settings also?

By the way, if the problem only occurs when you are recording video and on multiple devices then this leads me to the following train of thought:
1. The issue is happening on multiple devices, 2 of which are/were flagship phones. So the device itself can be excluded.
2. The issue is not in the feed in and of itself (and that includes signal interference) as when you stop recording the glitch goes away and the video is fine, regardless of the distance.
3. In both cases (recording or not) the feed received is 720p (30 FPS I think?), which begs the question: does something change to the actual feed when you press record?
4. If not, then we need to look at the drone itself. It is recording video at a high frame rate and streaming it at the same time to the phone. Is it struggling to provide the feed?
5. Also, another suspect is the DJI app and/or drone firmware. Was the issue there from the beginning or did it happen recently? If the latter, did it occur after some update to the software on the phone and the drone?

 

[Jurgens]

Good day gents
Have a question about chargers.
What multi port charger will you guys suggest?

I had one of those 6 in 1 sunny life chargers and two of the lead on the charger stop working. Had the charger of 3 months. Any other multi chargers on the market that is better?

 

[guzewski]

That’s a very interesting issue! In my line of work, I constantly troubleshoot issues on electronic devices and software, so I find it fascinating.

The problem that you see with the stuck pixels etc is in all likelihood a partially corrupt or incomplete video feed. If you download a video online and try to play it before it has finished downloading, you’ll see exactly the same artifacts coming up.

The fact that the problem is not showing when you try other resolutions -even higher- and only when you choose 2.7K at 60 FPS, leads me to suspect the high FPS rate. Could you please try the following?
1. Record new video at 1080p/60 FPS and even higher frame rates?
2. See if you can record a video at another high rate like 50 FPS (I know that GoPro cameras allow this by switching between PAL/NTSC)

Is the corruption happening with these settings also?

By the way, if the problem only occurs when you are recording video and on multiple devices then this leads me to the following train of thought:
1. The issue is happening on multiple devices, 2 of which are/were flagship phones. So the device itself can be excluded.
2. The issue is not in the feed in and of itself (and that includes signal interference) as when you stop recording the glitch goes away and the video is fine, regardless of the distance.
3. In both cases (recording or not) the feed received is 720p (30 FPS I think?), which begs the question: does something change to the actual feed when you press record?
4. If not, then we need to look at the drone itself. It is recording video at a high frame rate and streaming it at the same time to the phone. Is it struggling to provide the feed?
5. Also, another suspect is the DJI app and/or drone firmware. Was the issue there from the beginning or did it happen recently? If the latter, did it occur after some update to the software on the phone and the drone?

Thanks for all this, but the problem has been just been identified. I'll make a new post to describe it.

 

[guzewski]

Well... the video smearing problem is the Fly app. I was running 1.5.10 and pretty much as an experiment I loaded an older apk file, (version 1.4.12). Lo and behold, the problem does not happen. Unfortunately, I like some of the stuff in the new version (advanced settings like exp) so now I have to decide if I want clean video or advanced settings.

I wonder if I can set all that exp stuff using my phone with the newer version, and if the older version on my tablet will respect those settings. It all depends if the settings are stored on the mobile device or in the drone, I suppose.

And BTW, the latest app running on my wife's iPad works fine too. Go figure.

I think I'll run this by DJI support. We'll see what that yields.

Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate the time you took to respond.

 

[guzewski]

Well... the video smearing problem is the Fly app. I was running 1.5.10 and pretty much as an experiment I loaded an older apk file, (version 1.4.12). Lo and behold, the problem does not happen. Unfortunately, I like some of the stuff in the new version (advanced settings like exp) so now I have to decide if I want clean video or advanced settings.

I wonder if I can set all that exp stuff using my phone with the newer version, and if the older version on my tablet will respect those settings. It all depends if the settings are stored on the mobile device or in the drone, I suppose.

And BTW, the latest app running on my wife's iPad works fine too. Go figure.

I think I'll run this by DJI support. We'll see what that yields.

Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate the time you took to respond.

One final note. It seems that I can use the new Fly app to set everything up, and the older version respects those settings. I set the yaw speed with the new app to something ridiculously slow, like 5 degrees/sec, and then flew with the old app. The yaw speed was still ridiculously slow, which is good, and the video looked fine during recording. It's a reasonable work-around because I don't change the advanced settings much, if at all, once I get them set up the way I like. I'll leave the new app on my phone and use the old app on my tablet, which is my preferred device.

So that's that.

 

[umanbean]

I don't change the advanced settings much, if at all, once I get them set up the way I like. I'll leave the new app on my phone and use the old app on my tablet, which is my preferred device.

So that's that.

Good strategy, glad you got things worked out.

Been watching this thread from the first but had nothing constructive to say, except until now... you did a great job troubleshooting and working your way through it until you figured it out! Happy flying.

 

[guzewski]

Good strategy, glad you got things worked out.

Been watching this thread from the first but had nothing constructive to say, except until now... you did a great job troubleshooting and working your way through it until you figured it out! Happy flying.

I posted my problem and resolution on the DJI forum. Someone might notice it. I'll keep an eye out for any Fly updates and we'll see if this evolves beyond the current situation. It's not the end of the world if it doesn't.

 

[66427cobra]

Well... the video smearing problem is the Fly app. I was running 1.5.10 and pretty much as an experiment I loaded an older apk file, (version 1.4.12). Lo and behold, the problem does not happen. Unfortunately, I like some of the stuff in the new version (advanced settings like exp) so now I have to decide if I want clean video or advanced settings.

I wonder if I can set all that exp stuff using my phone with the newer version, and if the older version on my tablet will respect those settings. It all depends if the settings are stored on the mobile device or in the drone, I suppose.

And BTW, the latest app running on my wife's iPad works fine too. Go figure.

I think I'll run this by DJI support. We'll see what that yields.

Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate the time you took to respond.

well done...

 

[Chaosrider]

The video return to the controller is 720p regardless of the format you use for recording (as per the manual). You say that 1080p@60 is fine but 2.7K@60 isn't. What about 2.7K@30 or 4K@30?

It could be an issue with the downconversion to 720p but I have no idea how to confirm that or what you could do about it.

Wondering if your micro SD card is one that supports high speed recording. Thinking that a slow write speed at a higher bitrate might be taxing the processor or buffers in the drone. Could be way off base (likely)...but swapping out the SD card brand/speed is a simple test.

Good luck...

Not likely the SD in my case.

I use SanDIsk Extreme cards, and they record at 160 MB/s...

MM

 

[guzewski]

Not likely the SD in my case.

I use SanDIsk Extreme cards, and they record at 160 MB/s...

MM

As part of my trouble-shooting I replaced my Sandisk Ultra with a Sandisk Extreme, but that made no difference.

 

[Chaosrider]

Well, I tried the following:

1. Buying an expensive USB C cable
2. Buying a Sandisk Extreme SD card that's listed on the Mini 2 spec page.

And in spite of all that, the image still smears when recording at 2.7K@60.

This is starting to bug me.

Yup, mine do it too.

I'm using the SanDisk Extreme, and I only use the True Blue DJI cable for the connection.

A mystery!



MM

 

[Chaosrider]

It would bug me, too.

Things I would try next:
- delete and reinstall the DJI Fly app. Make sure you download it from DJI and not the Google Play store
- 2.7K@30
- 4K@30
- a newer Android device
- an Apple device
- a hammer

Unfortunately, I can't try any of these with my Mini 2 as it is on its way back to DJI after a crash.

Keep the faith...

Since I don't know what triggers it, it makes it hard to test. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn't, and I haven't noticed an obvious trigger.

I'm flying with a Samsung Galaxy S20 Note with 128 GB, so lack of phone power isn't the problem.

The mystery persists!

MM

 

[Chaosrider]

Well... the video smearing problem is the Fly app. I was running 1.5.10 and pretty much as an experiment I loaded an older apk file, (version 1.4.12). Lo and behold, the problem does not happen. Unfortunately, I like some of the stuff in the new version (advanced settings like exp) so now I have to decide if I want clean video or advanced settings.

I wonder if I can set all that exp stuff using my phone with the newer version, and if the older version on my tablet will respect those settings. It all depends if the settings are stored on the mobile device or in the drone, I suppose.

And BTW, the latest app running on my wife's iPad works fine too. Go figure.

I think I'll run this by DJI support. We'll see what that yields.

Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate the time you took to respond.

I hope this is the right answer, because that means it will get fixed with a future update.

I always use current versions, and I'm content to rotate the drone to get rid of the problem until the underlying caused is fixed.

Thanks for your detailed descriptions about this!



MM