DDPai mini 3 AWFUL video quality.

[gonzo]

I just got one of these and the video quality is awful, nothing like the examples on youtube, it's heavily compressed and artifacted. Here is a video I just pulled from the camera: https://streamable.com/30wbw
When there's no motion everything is fine, but the moment you start moving it all just turns into a blur. Do yourself a favor and don't waste your money on this garbage.

 

[jokiin]

those conditions are more difficult for any camera, uploading a video that has been re-encoded to a lower resolution and bitrate will make it look even worse though so not really helpful for anyone that might be considering one of these

 

[gonzo]

It looks exactly like that when I look at it on my computer, it's not exaggerated at all. Here is a link to the original file, straight from the camera without additional compression: https://ufile.io/v34on

 

[erlendsae]

@gonzo I’m also new to the DDPai family but my 3 don’t have as bad quality as yours. What resolution are you using and where did you buy it from?

 

[gonzo]

It's running at 1440p(1600p doesn't look any better) Bought it from amazon. I also updated to the newest firmware.

 

[nutsey]

It's running at 1440p(1600p doesn't look any better) Bought it from amazon. I also updated to the newest firmware.

12Mbit/s bitrate is definitely not enough for 2.5K videos. I'd say it should be twice as much.

 

[Fabio.he]

Hello friend,

1, This problem is actually reported by another customer in this forum;

2, Furthermore, DDPai engineer confirmed it is mosaic, because DDPai mini3's acutance and sharpness are high and accordingly it consumes high code rate, if there are too many details in the environment, for example, too many tree leaves, then it leads to "code rate is not enough";

3, DDPai engineer confirmed as well that they are working on new firmware and expect the new version can be released as sooner as possible, thanks for your patient waiting.

 

[Wr1Camman]

3, DDPai engineer confirmed as well that they are working on new firmware and expect the new version can be released as sooner as possible, thanks for your patient waiting.

It would be nice if they took this opportunity of a firmware update to change the option for the start up sound to include a start up tone, chime, or jingle rather than only the choice of either "Hello Ding Ding Pai" or silence. People want to know it started up okay but not hear "Hello Ding Ding Pai". This is a no brainer that should have been included from the start.

 

[blindkarma]

I bought one in June 2018 due to a shill on a forum who bragged about the quality and a Amazon Deal of the Day. (You know who you are!) I thought the video quality and color were excellent, but most everything else was poor due to the software. I agree the “Hello Ding Ding Pai” greeting is annoying, not to mention makes no sense. Just imagine your iPhone loudly saying “Hello Apple” every time you unlock it. Plus it becomes very distracting each time you get into the car with passengers or are focused on other tasks like setting navigation or music. After a couple days, the camera stopped turning on automatically. DDpai offered to send a direct wire connection, but after 5 days the camera stopped working altogether, so I returned it. My biggest complaint, however, is the shill used to promote the product on Amazon and the fake reviews to bolster support for it. Each of the three listings on Amazon for the Mini3 showed old customer pics, old Q&A and old positive reviews for the older Mini2 product. These made it appear there were many sales and great feedback for the Mini3, while diluting all of the negative comments.

 

[jokiin]

I bought one in June 2018 due to a shill on a forum who bragged about the quality and a Amazon Deal of the Day. (You know who you are!) I thought the video quality and color were excellent, but most everything else was poor due to the software. I agree the “Hello Ding Ding Pai” greeting is annoying, not to mention makes no sense. Just imagine your iPhone loudly saying “Hello Apple” every time you unlock it. Plus it becomes very distracting each time you get into the car with passengers or are focused on other tasks like setting navigation or music. After a couple days, the camera stopped turning on automatically. DDpai offered to send a direct wire connection, but after 5 days the camera stopped working altogether, so I returned it. My biggest complaint, however, is the shill used to promote the product on Amazon and the fake reviews to bolster support for it. Each of the three listings on Amazon for the Mini3 showed old customer pics, old Q&A and old positive reviews for the older Mini2 product. These made it appear there were many sales and great feedback for the Mini3, while diluting all of the negative comments.

welcome to Amazon, the system gets played there everyday, unfortunately it's the consumers that lose

 

[M A R K]

I’m glad it wasn’t just me.
I’ve signed up just to post here because like you, having seen various rave reviews I was horrified by the video quality.
I am coming from a Garmin 55 (the voice control is doing my head in) but have actually refitted it into the car and packed the mini3 off back to Amazon for a refund.
So my search for a replacement for the Garmin 55 continues

 

[Fabio.he]

I bought one in June 2018 due to a shill on a forum who bragged about the quality and a Amazon Deal of the Day. (You know who you are!) I thought the video quality and color were excellent, but most everything else was poor due to the software. I agree the “Hello Ding Ding Pai” greeting is annoying, not to mention makes no sense. Just imagine your iPhone loudly saying “Hello Apple” every time you unlock it. Plus it becomes very distracting each time you get into the car with passengers or are focused on other tasks like setting navigation or music. After a couple days, the camera stopped turning on automatically. DDpai offered to send a direct wire connection, but after 5 days the camera stopped working altogether, so I returned it. My biggest complaint, however, is the shill used to promote the product on Amazon and the fake reviews to bolster support for it. Each of the three listings on Amazon for the Mini3 showed old customer pics, old Q&A and old positive reviews for the older Mini2 product. These made it appear there were many sales and great feedback for the Mini3, while diluting all of the negative comments.

1, It is actually super cost-effecive if bought via Amazon lightning deal;
2, "Hello DDPai" is indeed annoying, but luckily it can be turned off via APP settings;
3, If product hardware problem, you could either return it to Amazon or contact the seller for help;

4, Regarding your biggest complaint:
1), DDPai themselves sold mini2 before and then they stopped selling mini2 and I am now the exclusive dealer of mini2 and mini2P, I use my independent listings to sell both;
2), Then DDPai themselves modified all of their previous listings to sell mini3, I personally think this is not a good strategy;
3), But if you check carefully, you will see that there is basically no negative reviews about the image quality of mini3;
4), However, regarding image mosaic of mini3 when in too much details, I am 100% sure that DDPai will release new firmware to solve this, the current delay is mainly because Chinese spring festival.
5), the main negative reviews are actually from previous DDPai mini2, the main complaints are 2: 1), android APP can't be connected with the camera; 2), android APP's permissions, luckily both problems are solved already, at present DDPai android APP no longer needs "phone" & “SMS" permissions.

 

[M A R K]

4), However, regarding image mosaic of mini3 when in too much details, I am 100% sure that DDPai will release new firmware to solve this, the current delay is mainly because Chinese spring festival.

But what do you do in the meantime? Avoid having an accident? Not driving incase another driver takes issue with you?

If the firmware isn’t ready then the camera should not have been released to market. It’s a device with a premium price tag so to expect buyers to be beta testers is not right. If it’s that the last firmware caused these issues then that’s just poor testing. And of course if it was known the current firmware was problematic, why was it not withdrawn?

Meanwhile owners are expected to sit and wait in the hope that a new firmware release will fix the problems sometime after CNY and hope that it will be properly tested first.

This experience has left me with a poor opinion of DDpai as a company to the point where I will probably avoid moving forward.

 

[Fabio.he]

But what do you do in the meantime? Avoid having an accident? Not driving incase another driver takes issue with you?

If the firmware isn’t ready then the camera should not have been released to market. It’s a device with a premium price tag so to expect buyers to be beta testers is not right. If it’s that the last firmware caused these issues then that’s just poor testing. And of course if it was known the current firmware was problematic, why was it not withdrawn?

Meanwhile owners are expected to sit and wait in the hope that a new firmware release will fix the problems sometime after CNY and hope that it will be properly tested first.

This experience has left me with a poor opinion of DDpai as a company to the point where I will probably avoid moving forward.

I completely understand how you feel as an innocent consumer;

Meanwhile I completely understand that there is no any products that is 100% mature;

Always welcome constructive suggestions and friendly criticisms.

 

[Wr1Camman]

I bought one in June 2018 due to a shill on a forum who bragged about the quality and a Amazon Deal of the Day. (You know who you are!) I thought the video quality and color were excellent, but most everything else was poor due to the software. I agree the “Hello Ding Ding Pai” greeting is annoying, not to mention makes no sense. Just imagine your iPhone loudly saying “Hello Apple” every time you unlock it. Plus it becomes very distracting each time you get into the car with passengers or are focused on other tasks like setting navigation or music. After a couple days, the camera stopped turning on automatically. DDpai offered to send a direct wire connection, but after 5 days the camera stopped working altogether, so I returned it. My biggest complaint, however, is the shill used to promote the product on Amazon and the fake reviews to bolster support for it. Each of the three listings on Amazon for the Mini3 showed old customer pics, old Q&A and old positive reviews for the older Mini2 product. These made it appear there were many sales and great feedback for the Mini3, while diluting all of the negative comments.

Not a shill. Just a happy customer after having two Viofos die within 7 months.

As you stated, the video quality and color are excellent. The app has more stuff in it than is needed because of the sharing and social media garbage but you basically have 2 pages of concern. .One for the settings, which you shouldn't need to go into more than once, and another for live view and to download videos.

The "Hello Ding Ding Pie" can be turned off with the options in the app but then you don't get any start up sound so I set my volume to 60% so hear it enough to know it powered up but not enough to annoy me.

I have had mine 7 months with no problem and bought a second one on an even better lightning sale.