ST16 Video Quality

[L.P.]

Hello Everyone..

I am fairly new at flying as I have made the Typhoon H with Real Sense as my beginners first choice of UAS.
My question is, can anyone tell me if it's just me--when viewing any type of video that I capture on the CGO3+ the video tends to display broken/choppy/distorted/discolored video incrementally on the ST16 transmitter when there is movement involved such as the gimbal panning around ever so slowly or simply flying around without even panning the camera. The video is fine when both the H and the gimbal remain stationary. Otherwise it is not really worth viewing on the ST16 for the most part. I know it's not an issue with my SD Card because it works just fine when viewing on my PC. I've seen some videos on YouTube where certain people review the ST16 and their video seems fine in motion. I've contacted Yuneec about it and they tend to tell me the same thing that the ST16 runs at 720p and the problem usually occurs because it cannot handle video of higher resolution. Especially 4k footage. That all makes sense and I get it, but can anyone tell me if it's just me?

 

[Ty Pilot]

The video on the ST16 is not only low quality because it is 720p but also because the picture signal is transmitted through the air to the ST16. To do this, the data rate is very low, in addition, atmospheric anomalies, trees and other interference only degrades it further. Without seeing your flight video in comparison with another ST16's flight video, it would be difficult to say that yours is or isn't worse. Otherwise its not just you, the video on the ST16 is useless for anything other than live viewing while flying and I can't image any reason to want to use; or view it, over the full image that is stored on the SD card in the CG03+. However, there may be some use for the ST16 stored video if the aircraft was lost and the footage could then be used in a recovery effort.

 

[rdonson]

You're right the CGO3+ should produce good video and it should look good on the ST16 when you're flying.

Assuming you've calibrated everything properly (gimbal, accelerometer, compass) and waited 12-15 min for the GPS to get the full almanac of satellites before firing up the motors and flying first time.

We could sure use some more information.

When you say the SD card looks fine on your computer does that mean the CGO3+ wrote good video to the SD card and the only problem is what you see on the ST16 controller?

Can you share a bit of the video so we can see?

Is this your first time flying the TH?

What is your video setting? 4K 30fps? 1080p?

Do you have the ST16 antennas pointed to the TH when flying?

The ST16 will only play 720p even if you're shooting 4K 30p and it shouldn't be a problem. When flying the ST 16 video should look good.

There are a few things that you may want to check first.

- The CGO3+ requires an SD card that is U3 - it has to be able to write to that SD card at 60 MBps at least.

 

[Ty Pilot]

I agree with Ron, it is hard to read what someones expectations are. The video on the St16 should be good enough to see what the flight looked like and during the flight there are times the video drops resolution or becomes a little distorted but until you see it next to what is normal its hard to tell. Here is a screen shot from a video where I used the view from the St16 to show the display.

 

[L.P.]

You're right the CGO3+ should produce good video and it should look good on the ST16 when you're flying.

Assuming you've calibrated everything properly (gimbal, accelerometer, compass) and waited 12-15 min for the GPS to get the full almanac of satellites before firing up the motors and flying first time.

We could sure use some more information.

When you say the SD card looks fine on your computer does that mean the CGO3+ wrote good video to the SD card and the only problem is what you see on the ST16 controller?

Can you share a bit of the video so we can see?

Is this your first time flying the TH?

What is your video setting? 4K 30fps? 1080p?

Do you have the ST16 antennas pointed to the TH when flying?

The ST16 will only play 720p even if you're shooting 4K 30p and it shouldn't be a problem. When flying the ST 16 video should look good.

There are a few things that you may want to check first.

- The CGO3+ requires an SD card that is U3 - it has to be able to write to that SD card at 60 MBps at least.

View attachment 9067

Thank you Ty Pilot and rdonson for your input.
I see and get what you guys are saying and I apologize for not being more specific.
The video feed that I receive while flying works just fine. Sometimes it breaks up or freezes momentarily when I fly too far at around 1000ft. away at the maximum altitude but that's because I'm not flying in an open field usually I would imagine. Flying in a residential area at times.
But the broken video quality I was referring to is when I'm viewing the footage on the ST16 when not flying. I think it's cool for one thing that I don't even have to remove the SD Card from the camera and place it in the ST16 to view still pics or video. It's not a really big issue to me because I prefer to view everything on my PC anyway. But it would be nice to view video with fluidity.
I even conducted a test and set the video parameters at it's lowest setting and still yield the same results. Just one of the shortcomings of the Yuneec system.

 

[L.P.]

You're right the CGO3+ should produce good video and it should look good on the ST16 when you're flying.

Assuming you've calibrated everything properly (gimbal, accelerometer, compass) and waited 12-15 min for the GPS to get the full almanac of satellites before firing up the motors and flying first time.

We could sure use some more information.

When you say the SD card looks fine on your computer does that mean the CGO3+ wrote good video to the SD card and the only problem is what you see on the ST16 controller?

Can you share a bit of the video so we can see?

Is this your first time flying the TH?

What is your video setting? 4K 30fps? 1080p?

Do you have the ST16 antennas pointed to the TH when flying?

The ST16 will only play 720p even if you're shooting 4K 30p and it shouldn't be a problem. When flying the ST 16 video should look good.

There are a few things that you may want to check first.

- The CGO3+ requires an SD card that is U3 - it has to be able to write to that SD card at 60 MBps at least.

View attachment 9067

I have that exact same SD Card by the way and have been flying since the beginning of this year.
So far I haven't had any problems as many people would mention. And I know I am not supposed to fly over things such as people, houses, cars, animals and so forth, but I do fly in my neighborhood. I always have my video parameters set at the highest resolution at 4k as well.

 

[rdonson]

How are you viewing the video on the ST16 after a flight? Are you playing the flight from the SD card or looking at the video that is native to the ST16?

 

[Ty Pilot]

@L.P. Okay so I see what you are saying. Essentially the live video on the ST16 looks okay but when played back it looks worse. Hmm, I just went and checked my last flight on the ST16 and reviewed the flight and feel like it looks about the same as when I flew. I also would ask how you are viewing? I just used the play button on the home screen.

 

[L.P.]

How are you viewing the video on the ST16 after a flight? Are you playing the flight from the SD card or looking at the video that is native to the ST16?

I've tried both ways and both yield same result.
Viewing video with SD Card in camera and viewing video with SD Card inserted in ST16.

 

[PatR]

RTFM. Put the SD card in a laptop and view the product at a resolution higher than 780p. If you read the documentation you would know that already. Sorry, but way too many newbies buy an H and don't bother reading the documentation, review the data that comes on the SD card, or visit the Yuneec website to learn more. They come here to ask questions for which they have the answers to already in their hands.

 

[L.P.]

I've tried both ways and both yield same result.
Viewing video with SD Card in camera and viewing video with SD Card inserted in ST16.

I should retract what I said about not having any problems thus far because I nearly forgot now that you guys reminded me that I was having a problem with the way the SD Card is inserted in the ST16.
I know it's supposed to be inserted upside down with the gold pins facing up but that's another story.

 

[L.P.]

RTFM. Put the SD card in a laptop and view the product at a resolution higher than 780p. If you read the documentation you would know that already. Sorry, but way too many newbies buy an H and don't bother reading the documentation, review the data that comes on the SD card, or visit the Yuneec website to learn more. They come here to ask questions for which they have the answers to already in their hands.

Hello Pat and thank you for the advice.
But with all due respect, I read the manual and if that piece of information was there as you said, then somehow I overlooked it. My bad. And since stumbling upon this forum, I felt compelled to inquire of those in the know if that's okay with you.

 

[L.P.]

Hello Pat and thank you for the advice.
But with all due respect, I read the manual and if that piece of information was there as you said, then somehow I overlooked it. My bad. And since stumbling upon this forum, I felt compelled to inquire of those in the know if that's okay with you.

And quite honestly, I have contacted Yuneec a good number of times for all of these same issues but the thing is each representative I get ahold of tends to tell me something different which kinda gives me the impression either they don't know like a doctor. And much like a doctor, instead of simply saying "I don't know" as they will never do, they will offer an explanation that they think you want to hear or ought to hear. Henceforth I would like to hear from those with similar experiences.

 

[AH-1G]

I should retract what I said about not having any problems thus far because I nearly forgot now that you guys reminded me that I was having a problem with the way the SD Card is inserted in the ST16.
I know it's supposed to be inserted upside down with the gold pins facing up but that's another story.

 

[L.P.]

@L.P. Okay so I see what you are saying. Essentially the live video on the ST16 looks okay but when played back it looks worse. Hmm, I just went and checked my last flight on the ST16 and reviewed the flight and feel like it looks about the same as when I flew. I also would ask how you are viewing? I just used the play button on the home screen.[/QUOTE

Same as you.
Just hit the play button on the home screen.

 

[Ty Pilot]

Well, at this point I don't know what else to say. If I were you, I'd find another Typhoon H owner and get them to show you their playback and see if there is a difference.

 

[L.P.]

You're right the CGO3+ should produce good video and it should look good on the ST16 when you're flying.

Assuming you've calibrated everything properly (gimbal, accelerometer, compass) and waited 12-15 min for the GPS to get the full almanac of satellites before firing up the motors and flying first time.

We could sure use some more information.

When you say the SD card looks fine on your computer does that mean the CGO3+ wrote good video to the SD card and the only problem is what you see on the ST16 controller?

Can you share a bit of the video so we can see?

Is this your first time flying the TH?

What is your video setting? 4K 30fps? 1080p?

Do you have the ST16 antennas pointed to the TH when flying?

The ST16 will only play 720p even if you're shooting 4K 30p and it shouldn't be a problem. When flying the ST 16 video should look good.

There are a few things that you may want to check first.

- The CGO3+ requires an SD card that is U3 - it has to be able to write to that SD card at 60 MBps at least.

View attachment 9067

I do have the antennas pointed or angled I should say.
The CGO3+ did write good video on the SD card, yes.
Everything is calibrated, yes.
The only thing I do not do is wait 12 - 15 minutes for SAT lock because I usually get 10 - 17 SAT locks on both the H and ST16 within a few minutes.
I will see if I can provide the video?

 

[L.P.]

Well, at this point I don't know what else to say. If I were you, I'd find another Typhoon H owner and get them to show you their playback and see if there is a difference.

Okay, no worries.
I do appreciate all of your input.
Thank you.

 

[L.P.]

Okay, no worries.
I do appreciate all of your input.
Thank you.

Hello again Ty Pilot.

I feel compelled to inquire a few things if I may....
The first being how long have you had your H and have you ever experienced any sort of problems that simply came naturally like a fly away, battery failure, power loss or anything of the like?
Secondly, I couldn't help but notice that pic of your ST16 that you shared clearly showed that you customized it. Rather than the top portion of the screen displaying Welcome Pilot, you have Welcome Ty Pilot. A very cool and clever greeting I must say. How did you accomplish that I wonder? I was going to ask you initially but was up to the challenge in figuring it for myself. The only thing I managed to accomplish was to set a security lock in place on my ST16 with my tag name and emoji beside it. So now I input a 4 digit number every time I power up. Ya just never know, ya know?

 

[Ty Pilot]

1] I've had my Typhoon H for a little over a year and in that time I have had a few compass warnings and the like but fortunately, I have been a sponge of the information and expertise of this forum and have skirted any big disaster so far. These aircraft are pretty reliable when properly maintained and operated but there can be problems no doubt.

2] As for the screen shot of my video welcoming my Avatar's namesake - that is simply an overlay I did on the video as one of those things that some video makers do, it was an overlay on the video - NOT something that an end user can do in the ST-16's programming.