How to Fix Pixelated Video on Your Mobotix Camera
Mobotix cameras are renowned for their high-quality German engineering and excellent image clarity. If you are experiencing pixelated, blocky, or blurry video, it's usually not a fault of the camera itself, but rather a configuration or network issue. This guide will walk you through the professional steps to diagnose and resolve poor image quality.
## Step 1: Understanding the Cause - Bandwidth vs. Quality
The core of most pixelation issues is a simple trade-off: video quality vs. bandwidth. A higher resolution, higher frame rate, and higher quality image requires more network bandwidth. If the network cannot support the data stream the camera is trying to send, packets of data are lost, resulting in a blocky or pixelated image at the viewing end. Your goal is to find the optimal balance for your network's capabilities.
## Step 2: Adjusting Core Image and Frame Rate Settings
The first place to make adjustments is within the camera's core image settings. Access these by typing the camera's IP address into your browser and navigating to the Setup Menu.
### Key Settings to Modify:
-
Resolution:
- Go to
Image Control>Resolution and Cropping. - If your camera is set to its maximum resolution (e.g., 6MP or 4K), try lowering it to a more standard resolution like Full HD (1920x1080). This provides the single biggest reduction in bandwidth usage.
- Go to
-
Frame Rate (fps):
- Go to
General Image Settings. - The frame rate determines how many images are captured per second. While 30fps provides smooth motion, it requires double the bandwidth of 15fps. For most general surveillance, 10-15fps is perfectly adequate and can drastically improve stream stability.
- Go to
-
Image Quality (M-JPEG/JPEG Settings):
- In
JPEG Settings, you'll find a quality slider (%). Lowering this from 90% to 75-80% can reduce bandwidth with minimal noticeable loss in visual quality.
- In
## Step 3: Optimise the Video Codec (MxPEG vs. M-JPEG)
Mobotix offers different codecs for video streaming, which can have a significant impact on performance.
- M-JPEG (Motion JPEG): This codec sends a full image for every frame. It's simple and high-quality but uses a very large amount of bandwidth.
- MxPEG: This is Mobotix's proprietary codec. It is much more efficient as it only sends the changes between frames, not the entire image each time.
Recommendation: For almost all use cases, MxPEG will provide a better, more stable image with lower bandwidth consumption. If you are currently using M-JPEG and experiencing pixelation, switching your stream to MxPEG is highly recommended. You can find this setting under the stream profile configurations.
## Step 4: Investigate the Network Infrastructure
If adjusting camera settings doesn't fully resolve the issue, the problem may lie with your network hardware.
- Cabling: A damaged, old (e.g., Cat5), or poorly terminated Ethernet cable can cause significant packet loss. Ensure you are using a certified Cat5e or Cat6 cable for your camera connection.
- Network Switch: If the camera is connected to an unmanaged, low-cost network switch, the switch itself may be struggling to handle the traffic. Ensure your switch has enough backplane capacity for all connected devices. For cameras using PoE (Power over Ethernet), ensure the switch provides adequate power.
- Network Congestion: If the camera is on a network with many other high-traffic devices (computers, servers, other cameras), the overall network may be congested. Consider using VLANs to segment camera traffic from general data traffic.
By systematically reducing the camera's bandwidth requirements and ensuring your network infrastructure is robust, you can eliminate pixelation and restore the crisp, clear image quality Mobotix cameras are known for.