What should DJI do for the P5?

[ftttu]

The most important thing the P5 needs is a different, more professional, or at least better realized version of the H.264 codec which is at the forefront of most of the image issues with the P4 and P3.

DJI is a hardware company and not a software company. Better codec and as you said bitrate which goes hand in hand but the media is also the problem on the bitrate because even at 60, it's hard to record on MicroSD cards that that are too slow for even 60.

They should use those SD cards that aren't micro. Those are faster and larger.

I'm too lazy to look back over this thread, but what about having some type of permanent onboard memory in addition to the removable SD or Micro SD? I and others have complained that we sent our birds up, thinking we had our cards in when we didn't.

 

[John Locke]

I'm too lazy to look back over this thread, but what about having some type of permanent onboard memory in addition to the removable SD or Micro SD? I and others have complained that we sent our birds up, thinking we had our cards in when we didn't.

I personally don't want to pay more, increase weight and design complexity to address somebody's incompetence or laziness that occasionally happens. I don't like obstacle avoidance either, I just don't use it, but I've gotta pay for it in the P4.

 

[9245]

I personally don't want to pay more, increase weight and design complexity to address somebody's incompetence or laziness that occasionally happens. I don't like obstacle avoidance either, I just don't use it, but I've gotta pay for it in the P4.

The obstacle avoidance was a major selling point for me.

 

[ftttu]

I personally don't want to pay more, increase weight and design complexity to address somebody's incompetence or laziness that occasionally happens. I don't like obstacle avoidance either, I just don't use it, but I've gotta pay for it in the P4.

I'm thinking obstacle avoidance is here to stay on the Phantom series due to its pro-sumer position in the market. Even though I don't use my bird for commercial use, I still want a level of professional video quality and imaging. Also, quality features like obstacle avoidance is a plus since it has saved me more than I want to say. Oh, and I don't use it all of the time in an attempt to lengthen battery life on my distance runs, but it still gives me peace of mind when I want to activate it for its purpose in certain situations.

As for an on-board memory, I have only an idea that something around 128 gigs wouldn't add but a negligible weight to the next generation Phantom. If it doesn't come with it, it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me. Also, I wouldn't call forgetting to insert a memory card before flight as "incompetence" or "laziness". To me, it is just an oversight but to a commercial flyer, a probable loss of money and a job, if not just valuable time. Personally, in my over 100 flights, I have probably done it once, so again, not a real biggy.

 

[ftttu]

The obstacle avoidance was a major selling point for me.

That was my quick story. I was on vacation in Houston, waiting for a drone I had ordered which was about to be released at any time. I was getting PO'ed about the delays, and when I saw and handled the P4 with OA at an Apple Store there, I called my dealer to change my order. It was EXACTLY what I was looking for!

I wasn't a DJI fan because their products seemed cheap and toyish. The P4, with its new plastic-appearing to be Apple quality, with OA, internal gimbal, longer flight time, etc, won me over. Still happy with my P4, but I don't foresee me purchasing a P5 unless I lose my P4.

 

[Peppit]

Hey there, my first post in this forum!

What I would like to see is rather small improvements, they could easily be handled within a Phantom 4 update...

• USB card reader function without having to turn on the drone (really, DJI, why?)
• Being able to store presets within the DJI App, maybe even interchangeable (so you could load eg. camera settings from a fellow pilot)
• Hardware-Button for "Face my direction" (maybe this is even possible already, what I mean is that if you lose GPS and /or video and you want to fly the drone home manually, sometimes when flying at higher altitude I can't see which direction the drone is facing...this would be a function similar to "course lock", but semi-automatic -- does this make any sense at all )
• The included foambox should have the space for a small tablet

 

[tempforananswer]

I'm too lazy to look back over this thread, but what about having some type of permanent onboard memory in addition to the removable SD or Micro SD? I and others have complained that we sent our birds up, thinking we had our cards in when we didn't.

Certainly an onboard video SSD would be ideal but would increase the cost by 100s of dollars.

 

[Dronefriend]

There's no problem with the current micro-SD solution as I see it. There are cards well capable of writing in speeds necessary.

The problem is the shitty codec.

 

[Donald Butler]

Flight information on controller for when screen is in direct sunlight and can't be seen.

 

[r62ewa]

Hey there, my first post in this forum!

What I would like to see is rather small improvements, they could easily be handled within a Phantom 4 update...

• USB card reader function without having to turn on the drone (really, DJI, why?)
• Being able to store presets within the DJI App, maybe even interchangeable (so you could load eg. camera settings from a fellow pilot)
• Hardware-Button for "Face my direction" (maybe this is even possible already, what I mean is that if you lose GPS and /or video and you want to fly the drone home manually, sometimes when flying at higher altitude I can't see which direction the drone is facing...this would be a function similar to "course lock", but semi-automatic -- does this make any sense at all )
• The included foambox should have the space for a small tablet

Look at the Home Lock function in the Intelligent flight modes. Once activated, when you press back on the right joystick the Phantom will fly towards the Home point no matter what direction it was facing.

Tom from Tom's Tech Time explains it well

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[Peppit]

Thank you, r62ewa. The Home Lock function is close to what I mean, but as long as I know you do have to activate it with the desired direction. If you are flying in normal P Mode when something happens, it is to late to activate it, isn't it?

(By the way, Tom's Tech Time does a great job!)

 

[AnthonyM1]

With solar thin technology....make the top all solar so it can stay up longer

 

[ftttu]

Certainly an onboard video SSD would be ideal but would increase the cost by 100s of dollars.

If it is going to cost 100s of dollars more, I withdraw my recommendation of some type of non-removable on-board memory which would be a fail-safe for us boneheads who forget to insert our Micro SD card before flight. For 100s of dollars more, it is far cheaper to pull our heads out and get on board with the 99.9% who don't forget. Not being an engineer, I had no idea the cost would be prohibitive.

Again, it really hasn't been a problem for me, but I thought it would be a good idea for those who just can't afford to have lost "that shot" or "that video", either commercially or privately. Carry on.

 

[tempforananswer]

If it is going to cost 100s of dollars more, I withdraw my recommendation of some type of non-removable on-board memory which would be a fail-safe for us boneheads who forget to insert our Micro SD card before flight. For 100s of dollars more, it is far cheaper to pull our heads out and get on board with the 99.9% who don't forget. Not being an engineer, I had no idea the cost would be prohibitive.

Again, it really hasn't been a problem for me, but I thought it would be a good idea for those who just can't afford to have lost "that shot" or "that video", either commercially or privately. Carry on.

100s more if that onboard card was an SSD drive I mean. Otherwise, non removable media would not be too expensive but would be a little odd I think.

I want SSD like on the X5R simply so I can get better video than h.264 at 60kbps.

 

[jbird]

I've only had my P4 for a few weeks but I must say that I love it. It worked out of the box as expected and has proven to work as hoped for in every way. I have one single problem, the tilted horizon; everything else about this baby just delivers. However, obviously, things can get better.

Without getting crazy, we need to consider that this is a business and things cost money and if it's too expensive few will upgrade. And things you put in your main product have to benefit the largest number of users, not just answering a niche.

So, what are you Most looking for in whatever next model, presumably the Phantom 5, will be?

For me, and let me clear the obvious ones out so we don't all mention them:
Faster & Further - duh!

I'd like the ability to click off a photo while video is running.
Smart Automatic Landing: if above water, do not land, hover at 2 meters until, literally, battery failure, but do not automatically land in water.
Higher resolution Photos
Higher ISO (6400?) should be available in both video and photo.
Add Rear Obstacle Detection
Improved Obstacle Detection and Avoidance
Send charging power to Android/iDevice from controller (bigger battery if necessary), switchable
Optional OEM Water Landing "feet"

Semi-Related: Not an upgrade but a demand:
FIX the horizon tilt - this is class action category annoying DJI, hello?!

ZOOM !

 

[Mindflights]

- Less image compression
- Better codec capturing at 100Mbps or 200Mbps write speed with 4K at 60fps (like Panasonic GH4 and better)
- More fligh time, 30-35 minutes
- 360 degree obstacle avoidance (up-down, front-rear, left-right)

I think is more than enough for this price range

 

[Lonewolf]

- Less image compression
- Better codec capturing at 100Mbps or 200Mbps write speed with 4K at 60fps (like Panasonic GH4 and better)
- More fligh time, 30-35 minutes
- 360 degree obstacle avoidance (up-down, front-rear, left-right)

I think is more than enough for this price range

Hmmm. Trying to land with obstacle avoidance should be challenging.[emoji31]


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[Mindflights]

Hmmm. Trying to land with obstacle avoidance should be challenging.[emoji31]


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

Yesterday I was active tracking a person in a park and I forgot to disable the "Enable Backward Flying" in Visual Navigation Settings of GO App.

When the person stop walking and change course the P4 start flying backwards and I took control of it just 30cm before a tree in order to stop it!

With a rear obstacle sensing that would never happened.

 

[David Cooke]

How about some high intensity strobes so I can see it a mile or more out. Ultimately, I think this will become "required equipment" for commercial use. . . and very useful in congested areas.

 

[David_Cambridge]

Camera improvements would be first on my list. An aperture on the lens to allow stopping down rather than needing ND filters. Higher video frame rate would be nice. This would probably require a faster bit rate.

For those advocating a higher bit rate, this will make all the playback problems others have experienced worse. An alternate approach would be to move to the HEVC CODEC, which is almost 3x better. That would mean that you would need to transcode the footage to something easier to handle on normal computers. The 4K tvs would lap it up, as they already have hardware support for theHEVC CODEC.

A short remotely controlled optical zoom would be nice, along with the gimbal work to insure that the image is steady when zoomed all the way in.


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