Terrible Video Feed Lag Makes Inspire Unusable

[YeeaaBoii]

My friend and I have had the worst time with weak video feed signal and glitching to the point of unusability. We have tried literally everything and can rarely make it to 1,000 feet away even in clear areas. And when I say everything, we even purchased a second Inspire to find it has the same live feed lag issues. Are all Inspires just that bad? The gimbal remote always seems to do much worse. Hardware decode, changed cables, changed iPads, updated everything, kept the iPads cool, tried in different areas around the USA, and more. You name it, we've tried it. Is it possible to get two duds in a row? We still manage to get the shots we need but it would be so much easier if we could actually see what we were doing.

The only thing I can think of is downgrading the iOS app but that's nearly impossible.

Let me know if anyone has had any similar experience with their Inspire. My Phantom 3 flies infinitely farther and with better signal than either one of my friend's Inspires.

 

[turbodronepilot]

I'll take a stab at it and say your iPad isn't up to par..
what model are you using? ?
The current pilot app taxes CPU's to the limit ..

 

[Loaderbull]

I'll take a stab at it and say your iPad isn't up to par..
what model are you using? ?
The current pilot app taxes CPU's to the limit ..

He did mention he changed iPads, but which one? I'm using the Mini 2 - which in fairness handless things quite well. The recommended one is the Air 2 I think? Faster CPU etc. The best, no lag device by all accounts is to use a HDMI monitor. I use a Black Pearl on occasion which does produce a very bright vivid picture. It is the least lag but hasn't got the map view and other info like the iPad app. I have also tried HDMI monitor and iPad - the monitor to display the video and the iPad to display the map. Works well but a tripod is needed.

 

[turbodronepilot]

He did mention he changed iPads, but which one? I'm using the Mini 2 - which in fairness handless things quite well. The recommended one is the Air 2 I think? Faster CPU etc. The best, no lag device by all accounts is to use a HDMI monitor. I use a Black Pearl on occasion which does produce a very bright vivid picture. It is the least lag but hasn't got the map view and other info like the iPad app. I have also tried HDMI monitor and iPad - the monitor to display the video and the iPad to display the map. Works well but a tripod is needed.

The op's statement was kinda vague ,but there is one common denominator which is the op..lol..
I get almost 20 times that distance in a unobstructed area and can get at least 3 times that facing the opposite direction..
maybe he's not pointing the antennas correctly ..
maybe he's not installing his camera correctly or has damaged the pins..
I'm sure it's possible to get two i1's with bad light bridge ,but not probable. .
Hopefully we can help figure out what's going on...

 

[FangsCPO]

..........maybe it's his location. There could be something in that area that's causing interferance. If that's the case, you could bring in a dozen Inspire 1s and they would all have the same issues. Change your location and see what happens.....not just feet, try going a mile away and see what happens. Good Luck!

 

[DodgeP]

I don't have any issues with my iPad Mini 2 but I do have problems with my Samsung Tab S 8.4 and so I never use it to fly my Inspire 1.

 

[Loaderbull]

..........maybe it's his location. There could be something in that area that's causing interferance. If that's the case, you could bring in a dozen Inspire 1s and they would all have the same issues. Change your location and see what happens.....not just feet, try going a mile away and see what happens. Good Luck!

To be fair he did say he has changed locations too...

"tried in different areas around the USA, and more. You name it, we've tried it."

 

[YeeaaBoii]

We are using iPad Mini 2s. Our feed also is usually worse on the slave controller. Luckily the dealer let us return the Inspire we just bought since we only flew it once.

 

[YeeaaBoii]

The op's statement was kinda vague ,but there is one common denominator which is the op..lol..
I get almost 20 times that distance in a unobstructed area and can get at least 3 times that facing the opposite direction..
maybe he's not pointing the antennas correctly ..
maybe he's not installing his camera correctly or has damaged the pins..
I'm sure it's possible to get two i1's with bad light bridge ,but not probable. .
Hopefully we can help figure out what's going on...

Yeah, sorry for being vague. If I wrote everything we've tried, I would have been typing for a long time. I just don't know what else to try. I think it must be the latest iOS app version so hopefully an update comes out soon.

 

[damoncooper]

To be fair the OP referred to latency (lag), not reception.

To the OP: try lowering your video bandwidth usage to 4mbps under custom to see if that helps.

Also disable video caching.

I've also found latency worsens the further away you are, but 1000ft should be workable.

Personally, I tried doing a smooth POI move last weekend around a lighthouse built in the open ocean 2.1km off shore and the latency made impossible. I did get a few smooth POI orbit moves but not nearly as much as I would have liked.

 

[Richard Hurst]

He did mention he changed iPads, but which one? I'm using the Mini 2 - which in fairness handless things quite well. The recommended one is the Air 2 I think? Faster CPU etc. The best, no lag device by all accounts is to use a HDMI monitor. I use a Black Pearl on occasion which does produce a very bright vivid picture. It is the least lag but hasn't got the map view and other info like the iPad app. I have also tried HDMI monitor and iPad - the monitor to display the video and the iPad to display the map. Works well but a tripod is needed.

Hi, being new to all of this if you use a HDMI monitor do you just get the camera view and no other info like you do on the DJI pilot App. So how do you tell if battery low or taking video not images etc etc?

 

[Arsh]

I'll tell you about my experience yesterday afternoon in sunny South Florida. I have an iPad Air 2 which I've never had a problem with but yesterday while I was filming I had horrible video lag that made it nearly impossible to shoot. My iPad did "shut down" on me twice because it got too hot. The latest version of the DJI Pilot App make the iPad very hot plus standing in the sun was too much for the iPad. I think the video lag was the result of the heat and the iPad actively slowing down the CPU.