The Q500 videolink delay/lag

[Miika]

Many people have said in various places that the lag of videolink in Q500 4k is so huge that it ruins the whole purpose of having videolink. Some have said that the delay can get up to 2 seconds. I've heard that in the Q500 manual it even says not to fly FPV due to the lag. I cant imagine people being satisfied to a laggy videolink, but I've seen satisfied Q500 owners on the internet nevertheless.

Somebody said that the lag varies with the 4k model depending on what your shooting. Meaning that shooting in 4k instead of FullHD increases the lag etc. Can anyone confirm this?

-I'm planning to buy the Q500 G for GoPro. Could someone tell me if the lag is the same as in 4k model or is there a difference as the setup is bit different. In 4k model the transmitter is built-into the camera in G model the transmitter is external and takes in the videofeed from the GoPro's output.

Thanks!

 

[Miika]

Atleast I know how well Yuneec community works.

 

[Colin]

I'm guessing that the gopro will be transmitting via wifi (otherwise the st10 controller couldn't receive it) in which case I'd not expect the latency to be any better than with the 4k cgo3.

I could be wrong, but since you're not getting replies from anyone who's better informed that's my take on it.

Col.

 

[Miika]

Hi Colin

Thanks for the reply! It is really weird that you are the only one that replied. It's even weirder that there is a lot of reviews of Q500, but havent seen one where they mention this delay/lag. Cant understand why. It's so noticeable that it makes no sense for a reviewer not to mention it. If a reviewer would talk about the delay, people like me (that havent used to have long delay on videolink) could get an idea how it effects the flying etc.

I have been looking for the Q500 G hoping that the upcoming GoPro5 would fit into it, making it that much better drone once it would come out. The problem with Q500 in my opinion is the lack of useful flight modes for videography. Orbiting around the remote controller isnt very useful when doing videography. You need point of interest mode that is in the H model. DJI Phantom is better when it comes to flight modes. The bigger problem is that Yuneec cant update these features to Q500 flight controller, because the flight controllers design wont allow it (as far as I understand).

Now I'm in a situation where I'm wondering if I should just forget the flight modes and get a drone (Q500 G) that has a chance of being compatible with one of the best upcoming drone cameras out there, namely the GoPro5. Or should I just stick my guns out and go for Typhoon H or other higher priced drone like Phantom 4.

I currently own Phantom 1. The longest flight time I can get out of my old lipo's is 5 minutes LOL and the whole gimbal starts to shake when theres windy outside. The shaking wont ruin the video, so I guess it's just a technical issue. The biggest "problem" with Phantoms is also one of their biggest pro's. The form factor. Phantoms are so small, that no matter what they do with it, they cant be as stable as bigger drones like Q500 or Typhoon H. Obviously this doesnt mean that the video footage would need to be unstable.

 

[Colin]

Whether the Q500 suffers from video lag is a pretty subjective matter and every flyer will have their own assessment of it. If (for example) you have a regular r/c FPV background then the amount of lag you get from any wifi based system is probably totally unusable. If on the other hand you come from a cinematographic background then the lag and the lack of range might well be of secondary inportance to things like the steadyness of the gimbal, the amount of distortion of the lens, and instant availability.

For my part I haven't even flown my Q500 4K for a month, prefering instead to go back to APM/Pixhawk based craft with a "proper" FPV system with minimum lag and an analog video signal that degrades gently rather than cuts you off dead. It's a lot more work than just opening a cheque book but if you persevere you can implement all the features you could possibly dream of... multiple frame configurations (tri/quad/hex/octo etc), unlimited waypoints, multiple flight modes, autonomous missions, ROI, Optical Flow, (etc etc etc see Copter Home — Copter documentation ) that make the Typhoon H look like a hogtied cripple by comparison.

You pay your money and make your choice. And the bottom line is that you are the only person qualified to do that for you.

Col.

 

[gyrodude]

does the H have the same lag as the q500 and G?

 

[Bing]

Have you got your Q500 G?? Is the log so huge?
I have the same doubts as you, looking forward to your answer.

 

[Alaska Sean]

It is my understanding the Typhoon is not meant to be a FPV platform. The video link is there to help set up shots to eliminate the need for a secondary device (iPhone/iPad a la DJI and 3DR) and not to provide real time FPV flying.

 

[vertti]

I have been testing out my new Q500 4K this week. I have noticed the lag, and would definitely not fly FPV with it

The reason I bought the Q500 was to have a smaller and quick-to-set-up bird for fun and lighter jobs. My heavy bird is a MK OktoKopter and it does all the heavy lifting for me.

For me the lag is not a biggie. I intend to do a lot of hovering, slow panning and such. There the lag does not matter at all IMHO. Q500 is 100% VLOS and I fly with my eyes on the bird. Screen is for framing the shots of course, but most of the flight operation is with direct line of sight.

Otherwise I enjoy how easy Q500 is out of the box. Very different from MikroKopter at least

Hope this helps!

 

[Ace1]

The Lag sucks bad, Ill stick with my inspire and phantoms

 

[FlushVision]

does the H have the same lag as the q500 and G?

The H does have some lag but nothing so bad that it will be particularly significant. On mine it is less than half a second and only really noticeable on the maintenance bench.