Why is my video feed doing this (pixelation, freezing)

blurred55 · Jun 1, 2018

It started two days ago for no reason at all (latest firmware and I did not do any updates prior to the issue occuring). It seems to happen when I fly in certain spots but its a bunch of random spots. Not 100% sure if its related but I will fly back to the same spot and it happens again and again. But it happens in lots of different spots and will happen several times on an average flight.

When it occurs I have strong 100% HD signal and controller signal which is odd. This only appears on the video feed and will not appear on the SD card recording. It will appear whether I'm recording or not. Sport mode seems to make it worse but I'm not 100% sure on that yet.

It freaks me out because it goes haywire in the video and then will freeze up for a few seconds. The only way to make it stop is fly out of the area.

This is on a CrystalSky Ultra. I tried reinstalling GO 4 app and reset everything and the issue still occurs.

I was about 300 feet away while taking this video

<iframe src="" height="250" width="432" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Irish-apple · Jun 1, 2018

blurred55 said:
It started two days ago for no reason at all (latest firmware and I did not do any updates prior to the issue occuring). It seems to happen when I fly in certain spots but its a bunch of random spots. Not 100% sure if its related but I will fly back to the same spot and it happens again and again. But it happens in lots of different spots and will happen several times on an average flight.

When it occurs I have strong 100% HD signal and controller signal which is odd. This only appears on the video feed and will not appear on the SD card recording. It will appear whether I'm recording or not. Sport mode seems to make it worse but I'm not 100% sure on that yet.

It freaks me out because it goes haywire in the video and then will freeze up for a few seconds. The only way to make it stop is fly out of the area.

This is on a CrystalSky Ultra. I tried reinstalling GO 4 app and reset everything and the issue still occurs.

I was about 300 feet away while taking this video

<iframe src="" height="250" width="432" frameborder="0"></iframe>

just my thought is it a built up area .?

any wifi towers ? signal boosters etc in that area

with the new 4g that went out people do not realise even on lampposts / sides of building companies have little boosters there ..

do this happen in built up area alone or have you tried a wide open area country side ??

Chirp · Jun 1, 2018

Is the problem visible on the monitor live as it is happening?

If so maybe make sure your SD card is of the Speed 10 type with the little "3" in the box instead of a "1".

If the problem is visible in the monitor while watching live this does not apply and the problem is elsewhere.

Also make sure you are playing back from a hard drive and not the SD card. Although I can't think of how you would have posted to the forum here from the SD card directly.

Good luck. If my suggestion is not correct I'm sure someone here will know what's going on.

Sorry. Just re-read your question and it looks like you already anticipated my questions...

Taylor1430 · Jun 1, 2018

Recently, I've been having the same thing occur. I am getting similar video on the display but the video on the card is fine. I am playing with a few things to see if I can determine what it could be. Mine seems to have started when I purchased a new tablet (HD Fire dedicated to flying) and having the tablet affixed on top half of the RC. I believe the tablet is interfering with my signal. I cannot be positive this is the case and plan on playing around some more when we have better weather.

rfc · Jun 1, 2018

Also have a CS Ultra. Same thing happens. At first I thought it was Wi-fi interference, but I don't think that's the case. It has happened in the middle of nowhere (like a mile from the nearest known wifi hotspot or router, no cell phones on, no cell towers etc. Only thing that seems to fix it temporarily is to reboot everything (land the bird; restart; restart the R/C; reboot the CS. I think it's a CS firmware thing, but it seems to happen across a range of firmware updates. Pain in the x%$%, given how much the thing costs.

blurred55 · Jun 1, 2018

rfc said:
Also have a CS Ultra. Same thing happens. At first I thought it was Wi-fi interference, but I don't think that's the case. It has happened in the middle of nowhere (like a mile from the nearest known wifi hotspot or router, no cell phones on, no cell towers etc. Only thing that seems to fix it temporarily is to reboot everything (land the bird; restart; restart the R/C; reboot the CS. I think it's a CS firmware thing, but it seems to happen across a range of firmware updates. Pain in the x%$%, given how much the thing costs.

Same here. Weird part is no issue on CS for first couple days I had it. Then it just appeared.

In the video its a developed area but I also tried in an open field and it still happened

blurred55 · Jun 1, 2018

Taylor1430 said:
Recently, I've been having the same thing occur. I am getting similar video on the display but the video on the card is fine. I am playing with a few things to see if I can determine what it could be. Mine seems to have started when I purchased a new tablet (HD Fire dedicated to flying) and having the tablet affixed on top half of the RC. I believe the tablet is interfering with my signal. I cannot be positive this is the case and plan on playing around some more when we have better weather.

Hmm if you a are getting it too on an HD Fire then maybe its not the CS

Irish-apple mentioned a new 4g signal went out? I wonder if this is causing interference and that's why so many people including myself are having this issue

blurred55 · Jun 1, 2018

Irish-apple said:
just my thought is it a built up area .?

any wifi towers ? signal boosters etc in that area

with the new 4g that went out people do not realise even on lampposts / sides of building companies have little boosters there ..

do this happen in built up area alone or have you tried a wide open area country side ??

Yes, developed area but it also occurred when I tried a less developed area. I'm starting to think its the new 4g causing interference. That's the only thing that makes sense, considering it seems to occur in a bunch of "hot spots"

bsevald · Jun 1, 2018

I just started having this problem as well with video freezing even when I had a full signal for both the controller and video feed with an android device supposedly on dji's approved list. Switched to an iPad mini 4 and the problem went away. Hopefully the iPad won't start having the problem as well.

ac0j · Jun 1, 2018

If the video on the sd card is good, and the video on the device is not, it is the device, or the cable to the device.
Always shut down ALL apps that are not needed for the flight, the DJI Go4 should be the ONLY thing the device has to run. Reboot the device before every flight to clear Cache and kill TSR software.

blurred55 · Jun 1, 2018

ac0j said:
If the video on the sd card is good, and the video on the device is not, it is the device, or the cable to the device.
Always shut down ALL apps that are not needed for the flight, the DJI Go4 should be the ONLY thing the device has to run. Reboot the device before every flight to clear Cache and kill TSR software.

But its only when I fly in certain spots it seems. I just did a test by watching the screen and moving my Mavic all around my house....zero issues with the video feed

Yet if I take it outside and fly in one of dozens upon dozens of spots I will get the pixelated/freezing feed (yet full signal)

Already tried apps, reinstalling Go4....this is on a brand new CrystalSky which gave me no issue up until 2 days ago

bsevald · Jun 1, 2018

Mavic Oldie said:
Hi All I really appreciate all the info that is posted. My turn to contribute.
I run ver 03.06.06.00. Ive been getting poor live video at any distance for a while. It was pixelated rolling and crappy. The video on the SD card is fine. I followed several posts on here and combined several suggestions.
1. I used an Ipad mini and all was good. So the CS is the problem.
2. I cleared CS video cache and formatted the Maviv SD Card.
3. I had loaded a few extra apps on the CS. I realized that there was not enough free space in memory. Was under 2 GB free.
4. Did a CS reset to get back to default apps. Now have 2.91GB storage space free and the video is great so far.
Do not load extra apps via APK as you will run out of space quickly and strangle the video. It needs room.
My apologies if Ive repeated already posted stuff.
Love the CS in the bright Australia sun!
John

From another thread about the same issue.

Mossiback · Jun 1, 2018

What are you flying? Are you recording in 4K? Does the same thing happen with a lower resolution? Is caching turned on (if so turn it off)? Any other apps running? Are you flying in airplane mode (or the CS equivalent)?

If the video is good on the SD card but not on the CS, it used to work and now does not, and there have been no software/firmware updates, the problem is usually wireless interference between the AC and RC, the CS (or any other display device) RAM getting full or the CPU gets overloaded, or a faulty connection between the CS and RC. There may be other causes but these seem to be the main ones.

Eagle Jr · Jun 15, 2018

I'm having the same issue. New Mavic Pro Platinum using a Pixel phone. Worked great for about ten days then suddenly started giving me a horrible video feed to the phone. All connections can be at 100% and I can be a few feet away from the unit and still get this pixelation. This happens in the middle of nowhere with no power lines or cell towers in site. Not recording in 4K. Firmware up to date and I don't think that I've changed any settings except from 4K to 1080p.

Mossiback · Jun 15, 2018

Eagle Jr said:
...Worked great for about ten days then suddenly started giving me a horrible video feed to the phone. All connections can be at 100% and I can be a few feet away from the unit and still get this pixelation...

The same thing happened to me. Worked great one day and horrible the next. Turned out that Go 4 got updated because Google Play is set to automatically update by default. I turned off auto-updating and downgraded Go 4 and have not had a problem since, except for a couple of times when I had minor pixilation problems that a switch from video to camera to video solved.

AForceone · Jun 15, 2018

Issue with 4.2.20: Problem with Latest DjiGo4 Version 4.2.20 - Video Lag

Video Lag / cutting out / freezing with 4.2.20.

Eagle Jr · Jun 15, 2018

Mossiback said:
The same thing happened to me. Worked great one day and horrible the next. Turned out that Go 4 got updated because Google Play is set to automatically update by default. I turned off auto-updating and downgraded Go 4 and have not had a problem since, except for a couple of times when I had minor pixilation problems that a switch from video to camera to video solved.

Not sure how do downgrade. I removed it and re-loaded Go4 and it is of course version 4.2.20. I'm downloading 4.2.16 from a third party site listed on AForceone mentioned in the post above this.

Eagle Jr · Jun 15, 2018

AForceone said:
Issue with 4.2.20: Problem with Latest DjiGo4 Version 4.2.20 - Video Lag

Video Lag / cutting out / freezing with 4.2.20.

Downloaded 4.2.16 from apkpure.com with no problem and it loaded and opened. Unfortunately my office building is right next to an airport and it is a NFZ. I won't know until I get home if it works. Thanks for the help.

Mossiback · Jun 15, 2018

I used DUMLdore. If your attempt does not work you can try that. Some call it Dumbledore. You can find instruction in the forum and on line. Good luck with your attempt and don't forget to turn off auto updating or you may have to do it again.