Fatshark Dominator / Walksnail Avatar Image quality shootout!

[@Dosclic98FPV]

Best comparison between the two video systems on YT at this time.

[@gloomiehoodie]

Sorry Fatshark, it's been a pleasure but, I just found someone way more attractive and up-to-date. It's been lovely spending time with you, but you became old-tech and boring to be around. After all these years you didn't care much about improving to keep me around, now the competition showed up you decide to wear lipstick?! I know it might hurt, but, you just can't beat the beauty of the feature-loaded DJI's goggles 2. Welcome DJI to my FPV world, but be aware that I'm also flirting with HDZero, she really is an eye-catcher too! 😁

[@nils_vo]

I really hate flying with Focus mode enabled. With the blurred edges I can never see where I'm going in turns or flying at an angle when chasing something. Much prefer having the entire image blurred a bit instead of clear middle and useless edges.

[@MCsCreations]

Compromises... I hope someday someone finds a perfect solution.

[@universalhead]

I agree , I thought the norm was to turn focus mode it off because of that.

[@ChrisRosser]

H265 might allow more detail at the same bitrate. Or perhaps the answer is more bitrate! 100Mbps. And only 2 channels. One for me and one for you!

[@sunnyfpv3694]

@@ChrisRosser Will the 100mbps take much more bandwidth? The old 802.11n provides 300mbps at 40mhz which is of course, only with good RXQ, but it provides up to 7 channels in a row.. At the same time, 20mhz will provide up to 150mbps and up to 14 channles or less with 5-10mhz spacing. And also, lowering the bandwidth usually provides higher sensitivity. Dunno actually, which wireless chip is used in the air units, but i hope it is AC and can provide more mbps/mhz. I know it is always much worse in reality, just my thoughs here

[@ChrisRosser]

​@@sunnyfpv3694 With equivalent range and penetration 100Mbits would need a channel twice as wide as 50Mbits and 4 times as wide as 25Mbits. Trying to get a higher data rate in a narrower channel will always reduce range and penetration according to my understanding. It's to do with the signal keying. You can key more bits into each symbol for more data rate in teh same bandwidth but then the symbols become harder to tell apart.

[@SickocrowAU]

For me it comes down to the headset. Yes the DJI headset is a bit clunky, but it allows me to fit proper diopters for astigmatism which isn't feasible on Avatar

[@MichaelRyannz]

I think it is possible to fit Diopters in the Walksnail but no one talks about it..

[@ChrisRosser]

I don't think there are places for diopter inserts in either goggles but I'm sure there are afterarket options for DJI. Perhaps there will be aftermarket options for Walksnail too.

[@MichaelRyannz]

@@ChrisRosser Looking at the eye part a circular after market part could possibly slip over .. from the quick look at my set. The wall would need to be really thin.

[@cheechfpv]

Would like to see how these two systems compare in more aggressive acro flying situations that’s more likely to be for freestyle flying. Also would like to see an overheating comparison test between the two systems.

[@Humpero]

I would also test and compare it with focus mode turned off on dji, so both systems would follow the same approach and we could better compare the 2.

[@Freehotdawgs]

Why no comparison with focus modes off? I hate focus mode.

[@ChrisRosser]

I'll try with focus mode off and wrap it into the latency testing.

[@Freehotdawgs]

@@ChrisRosser awesome, I look forward to seeing it

[@MindRiderFPV]

Best side to side. I don’t believe any DJI owner will switch. Me included.

[@AdrianoCasemiro]

Unless DJI makes us do that.

[@Bestpubgplayer1]

Would love to see this updated with the new walksnail firmware and the dji 03 unit

[@scienteer3562]

I think the Avatar compression is basically even across the whole frame. As the sky and trees are further in the distance, previous frames are more similar in these areas, this makes it easier to predict the movement and use data from previous frames to aid the compression. I imagine the best way to deal with this is to have non uniform compression over the image and keep track of the error in each region.

[@wiscut564]

aos 5 frame will no longer be on banggood?

[@anthonyfpvminiquad1728]

I fly dji with focus mode off and the compression is still superior on grass and foreground. I prefer not to use focus mode as it sort of kicks in way earlier than it needs too. In areas focus mode kicks in hard, with it off the sides pretty much look like the center. 50mbps 720p120fps exclusively

[@ChrisRosser]

It's interesting that there seems to be quite an even split of focus mode on vs off among viewers. I usually fly with it on, although at 50Mbit it doesn't tend to cut in too hard.

[@jejefpv]

Thanks for this side by side comparison, great work ! Even on 1080p60 50mbps, WS image is ultra blurry on the grass, it is really a major issue, hope they solve it quickly.

[@bp328i]

I would love to see this done again but with focus mode turned off on DJI. I tried focus mode once and it was too distracting when flying, turned it off and never have a blurry image.

[@ChrisRosser]

I'll work it into the latency test 👍

[@BrandonBeans]

So we might need a rotated focus mode for HD FPV🤔 = vs ||

[@Tech2C]

Next up, flying behind objects tests? How does avatar compare?

[@ChrisRosser]

I can certainly try, but would it be a fair test with 2 VTXs on the quad? Surely the interference would reduce range.

[@carlwilliambell]

Thanks!

[@slappomatthew]

Finally someone did a direct side by side between these two systems. Thanks Chris.

[@ChrisRosser]

No worries! Happy to help.

[@JeromeDemers]

we need eye tracking in the googles so focus mode can move with your eye motion

[@teamhaggis7791]

Chris, I'm tempted to say you have a hardware/ Antenna issues with your DJI kit Its horrible.

[@ugpfpv361]

Maybe, but for this test it's perfect to show how the system behave when signal get lower.

[@christophergran8313]

It could be just interference because the system are so close together. I fly DJI as well with other pilots I don’t get those bit of stuttering.

[@ChrisRosser]

When you run two digital video systems on the same quad it's unfortunately not possible to get ideal RF performance from either system. Both avatar and DJI would definitely do better if they were on their own on the quad. If you bear in mind the reported bitrate at the top it helps to make a fairer comparison.

[@vegasrider7287]

I was thinking same thing I am flying literal 2-3 miles without focus mode kicking in or nowhere near like his and he's like right next to his quad

[@disco.volante]

Focus mode works great for me but that’s also due to the huge FOV of the DJI goggles. With focus mode off DJI also tends to blur the grass but only in the lower half of the screen (at least to my personal perception).

[@FATSNAIL-FPV]

At 720p120. The avatar DVR shows it taking of later then the DJI footage. So it's no surprise it finished last.... DVR's didn't start in sync to begin with...

[@ChrisRosser]

You can see my sync click at the start of the clip... 2:29

[@FATSNAIL-FPV]

@@ChrisRosser wooooooow so many frames dropped on DJI? Staying on analog for a while anyway. To much stuff coming out or still in development.

[@mbug7973]

Thank you for the detailed comparison! I personally would prefer DJI at any time.

[@ugpfpv361]

For now...;)

[@cagmuer]

Good video, but I don't use focus mode because I'm usually looking at the edges when flying looking ahead to where I'm turning. Yeah our eyes have peripheral vision, but the camera on the quad is fixed. Our eyes are free to look around, looking all over the screen toward where we are turning or getting ready to drop into. I would love for focus mode to follow the rotation of the quad, but that's me dreaming.

[@Freebird_67]

Would be interesting is walksnail or DJI added a gyro into its system or took the gyro data from onboard FC and used that information to adjust where the focus is while flying. So when turning right the focus would be more on left side of screen ,ect.

[@howlfpv110]

So great to have this kind of comparison available for these systems - thanks so much, Chris!

[@ChrisRosser]

My pleasure!

[@andre-7423]

I would like to see more aggressive flying, and with bigger differences in lighting and surfaces, this was "fly over grass and a green world" - what about concrete/asphalt, with transitions between bright sky and asphalt, indoor and outdoor? - please consider another video.

[@flyanddream148]

Super great job! I would have compared the same part of the screen, but the result is still very interesting. The significant mismatch between the two videos is a huge issue: it make impossible to compare the latency reported bye the two systems because, they actually refer to different moments and therefore the comparison is not significant.

[@johnnydepp4114]

will be interesting to compare walksnail/fatshark with the upcoming dji fpv v3 and maybe more fair ? i mean two up to date systems from around the same time ? :)

[@cinematiX.flights]

Once again I am impressed with your video. Very good, detailed comparison. Great job, Chris!

[@ChrisRosser]

Awesome, thank you!

[@TheEviling]

The 1080p60 50Mbit footage does indeed seem to make the Avatar look better. But it also makes it very situational if one is better than the other, so not easy to compare.

[@fooojin]

I still see more detail in dji even on the lower res, probably due to a better sensor. Also, wierd that your bitrate drops so much all the time when flying so close (on dji), my signal i usually alot more stable. Would be a solid 50 unless i go behind trees or something.

[@ChrisRosser]

Yeah having 2 VTXs on the quad really reduces RF performance of both systems. I found the best compromise was both systems on 200mW. If you turn up both systems to 700mW they seem to perform worse!

[@RebelGoatFPV]

Excellent video once again! I don't fly DJI or Walksnail yet (I'm HDZero and Analog), but I'm a bit confused. The blurring on the DJI looks isolated to the left half only, the focus is not really "centered" but split to the right side. Or at least in your captures. 🤔

[@KOrnhOliO1]

That's only because of his split screen demo comparison. If we could see the right side of the DJI image, it too would be blurred along with the left side. Because that's where the FatSnail system is shown, we can't see that, but it too is blurred to keep the center clear. I find Focus Mode to be great, because as pilots, we are mostly looking at the center, and I barely even notice when focus mode is happening. This is especially so because of the gigantic 54 degree FOV that the DJI goggles have. Now, I find that far too vast, so in the settings we can adjust that, and I keep mine at either 90% or 80% so it's not like looking at an IMAX screen while trying to fly! lol Some, I'm sure, love that vastness, but for me it's a bit too much screen for my eyes to keep track of. Just one of the many adjustable features with the DJI system. Another is all the screen parameters for sharpness, saturation, brightness, contrast, etc. I've tweaked those, where I'll venture to guess that most have them at factory settings. Those can be great improved upon! 😎🤘

[@RebelGoatFPV]

@@KOrnhOliO1 Okay, thanks. I was thinking that might be the case, if it was split down the middle like that it would drive me nuts, lol.

[@fpvfun922]

Great job, but Who s flying so slowly.... Testing in the garden ? Even for cinematic speed if faster, with ground proximity..... And therefore, for of DJI is greater.... And your candy disable focus mode.... More test to do I think....

[@ChrisRosser]

Flying super fast doesn't really provide the best data in my opinion. A lot of motion blur makes it hard to see what is blurred due to compression. Mr Steele did a review with some fast flying (but not side by side). I'll work focus mode off into the latency test video.

[@deadmoo83]

The DJI focus mode is just a feature of the H.265 codec that they turned on. So it should be super easier for Walksnail to do it. If there platform supports H.265, the just need to flip it on when they initialize the encoder.

[@ChrisRosser]

DJI uses H264 and I think focus mode is somewhat of a non-standard feature (it's not present on any other H264 encoder's I've used for video editing). Walksnail are definitely working on copying it but at the moment their focus mode isn't ready for prime time in my opinion. It will definitely get there! H265 should give Walksnail an edge over DJI (only H264) in the long run if they can make use of the features.

[@deadmoo83]

@@ChrisRosser Yeah, I guess of I mixing up the two codecs. But there are encoders for both codecs that support a feature called Region Of Interest (ROI). I think that may be what focus mode actually is.

[@ChrisRosser]

@@deadmoo83 Yeah region of interest could be agreat area of optimisation for both codecs. Focus mode on Avatar exists but isn't really ready for daily use yet (very blurry edges)

[@billmcdonald4335]

Interesting. I'm almost ready to go digital, because the new Fatshark Recon HD comes in at a price I can _almost_ afford. By the time the price drops on them to my budget [along with a 1S VTX], I'm hoping the firmware updates will make it an even better option.

[@jdezzy245]

great video, thanks chris for your time.

[@eliokreier522]

Can you compare the modded 60mbit mode on DJI vs the walksnail system? Nice video by the way.

[@rcrdps8144]

Excellent video. I almost hit the like button as soon as you showed the camera setup. The main thing I wanted to see was the 50Mbit HQ vs 1080,...which you delivered. That first image was interesting too,.. the raw camera outputs. I'm a little surprised that this supposed "Caddx" based product doesn't have the quality of the Nebula Pro and Nebula Pro Nano. As far as either system "preferring" grass vs sky, I don't think DJI specifically makes that destinction. Rather, it's just because there's not as much detail in the sky in the first place. The more sky you have in view, the more bandwidth is available for grass. You really notice it when flying under tall tree cover. When the sky disappears, focus mode really kicks in. I agree, the 1080p is still noticeable though. Just seems like it's still kinda bandwidth limited even with h265. The extra clarity in the clouds is eating up your grass bandwidth. What's weird is( and I just looked this up), h265 is supposedly half the size per image as h264, and 1080p is double the pixels of 720p. So 1080p/h265 should fit in the 50Mbit pipe just as well as the old 720p/h264. So either a) they're not filling the pipe due to a misconfiguration on the encoder chip( my comments on Mad's video), or b) the Walksnail camera softness is giving the compression a reason to play wack-a-mole with the pixels.

[@ChrisRosser]

The Walksnail camera is identical to the Nebula Pro as far as I know. The DJI System in the video used the DJI Camera which has a significantly more expensive sensor. 110% there is still room for improvement tweaking the encoder settings. The need for a very low latency encode really matters as well. H265 usually takes longer to encode due the more advanced compression approach which is more computationally intensive. So there is a key tradeoff there.

[@rcrdps8144]

@@ChrisRosser Hmm,.. I've been fairly impressed with my Nebula Pro Nano. Think I'd need it side-by-side to tell the difference. He's some footage. Some of the haze is "real", since it just rained: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaelh6CKrcuEi5o EDIT: I didn't realize it when I bookmarked the time, but the sun actually comes out like 30 seconds into the footage. So you get a good cloudy versus sunny comparison. That's interesting about the latency. It makes sense, I just hadn't thought of the newer compression needing more clock cycles and thus a higher clock to do equal performance. I guess that makes me less confident that it's just going to take time for them to get it right unless the new encoder comes clocked higher,.. My main draws to this system is 1080p and canvas mode,....which hopefully I'll have the latter on my DJI v1's soon.

[@mfrfpv9079]

are the WS and DJI cameras interchangeable?

[@steveallam]

Perhaps different code selections for different flights types

[@GuGuHBmX]

Amazing in depth review, good sir! would you perhaps have a HDzero system to take it trough the works as well? Carry on the good work, I wonder which will convince me to replace the trusty HDO2 + rapidfire combo.

[@FrenzyIncarnate]

AFAIK air unit sd card recording setting resets when goggles used with a vista unit .. So everytime you flew with a vista you ll need to turn on air unit recording from goggles

[@Vousie]

16:50 No... DJI prioritises the centre because you've turned on focus mode. A better comparison would've been if you turned that off. Walksnail isn't losing detail in the grass purposely. The grass is what moves fastest, hence the compression algorithm struggles the most because the difference between individual frames is bigger. Also, did you think about how these two systems both transmitting from the same quad might interfere with each other? I don't know if Walksnail is usually quite that bad, but DJI certainly looks worse than usual.

[@rafaelgonzalezmorales1824]

To me, the DJI video seems a bit better; having said that, I see myself switching to Fatshark/Walsnail at a later time!

[@calisti9308]

You compare different areas of the image, although each side might have different light conditions (makes a huge difference on sky and foliage!) and selection of subjects in each half of the frame. What we really need to see is exactly the same full frame compared - not two different sides. Amazing otherwise m, though. Definitely helpful already like this.

[@Lucianrider]

There was more than enough weaving from side to side to make a good comparison of how they render out the details.

[@calisti9308]

Chris distinctly compared freeze frames, pointing out differences even though the frame content was not comparable.

[@typxxilps]

6:20 great analysis what is going on and how results are achieved at what expenses and losses. I guess I will get none of these and wait for Goggles 3 depending on their support of the current fleet. If they will ignore that I will not get any and stay with my good old dji racing edition and its air units I mainly use for dji copters and planes.

[@TheVeganarchism]

Looking forward to the Triclops with HDZero!

[@SilverFox80521]

Sadly these companies just came out with something almost as good as DJI that came out nearly 3 years ago now. Makes one wonder what DJI will come out with next...

[@KOrnhOliO1]

V3 coming soon!

[@ugpfpv361]

True could be Christmas and could just be for their own fpv drone and mavic style... Will be interesting to see though.

[@ChrisRosser]

There have been a few leaks now about the DJI V3. We're expecting another P1 based system but with a big upgrade to the onboard recording so its a replacement for the go pro as well (similar to every DJI drone) but get ready for a bigger heavier and super expensive air unit!

[@ugpfpv361]

Yeah, that's what I've heard just really more geared towards their new "cinewhoop"

[@SilverFox80521]

@@ChrisRosser if whatever DJI comes up with could truly replace a GoPro then I’ll take 6 of them please.

[@SumolX]

Shouldn't the walksnail system be capable of having the same image quality as DJI at 50mbps with only 25mbps? I remember when h265 was released... it could achieve the same perceptual quality with half the bitrate of h264. For whatever reason they seem to be on par with each other at the same bitrate which does not make sense.... obviously things can be tuned.... but I would expect more detail with Walksnail at same bitrate.

[@ChrisRosser]

I think the latency is the main factor. H265 can be much more efficient but takes a lot longer to encode to achieve that compression. Walksnail need to tradeoff encoder efficiency for encoder latency.

[@SumolX]

@@ChrisRosser good point! However, there should still be an overall improvement to image quality over h264 which I'm not seeing if we are comparing apples to apples.... meaning both implementations utilize hardware accelerated codecs and if they are configured for the same bitrate then we should be able to see a difference.... maybe not a 2x improvement.... but an improvement should exist none the less. Well I guess it all depends on how well the h265 was implemented as a hardware accelerated codec.

[@ChrisRosser]

@@SumolX I get where you're coming from H265 is newer so it feels like it should be better. But if you have equal time and processing power then I don't think that's necessarily the case. H265 can give you better results but only with more processing power. Hopefully the Walksnail chipset has more oomph than the P1. But DJI have spent a lot of time optimising their codec implementation so Walksnail will need to do the same to come out on top.

[@walkershot92]

Would love to see an honest comparison against HDZ as well. I noticed that the latency increased more as resolution increased, as expected. Does HDZ have the same potential afforded to the Walksnail due to the chipset used?

[@jonconhaim6258]

Thanks for the great video! This is the best comparison video for the two systems that I have seen.

[@ShermanKenB]

My understanding is the avatar system uses two channels when transmitting 50mbs which would have implications at current firmware state on image quality and how many people you may be flying with. I agree with your assesment that the avatar system has lots of potential upside since it's newer hardware. I really want to jump to some hd system and it seems like we're in such a state of flux right now that for me it makes sense to let avatar and dji (rumored V3 of googles) have some time and see where things are at in three to six months.

[@KOrnhOliO1]

Agreed! Terrible time to buy right now. HDZero goggles coming very soon too.

[@tk-maker]

awesome side by side review

[@ChrisRosser]

Thanks!

[@KhoPhi]

Not that it's even noticeable when flying, but does the dropping of frames on the DJI part mean technically DJI is cheating? Not saying it's a bad or good, just curious, since that means technically, if even the DJI is dropping 20 frames outta the 120fps, but another system has to do all 120, the DJI will have an extra 20 fps advantage.

[@ChrisRosser]

Hard to know if it's just the DVR dropping frames or the screens as well.

[@KhoPhi]

@@ChrisRosser Well sure. But even if the screen is dropping, it'll be hard to know too. I'm not sure it's gonna be easily noticeable between 110fps and 120fps for example, in real time by the human eye when speeding through grass. At least for cinematic flyers, 60fps should be more than enough. Racers, on the other hand I believe could use all the 120fps

[@ChrisRosser]

@@KhoPhi I agree, I can't tell that frames are dropping when I'm flying it (because I am not that great a pilot) but if they are then that's not great for hard core people who really need that info!

[@Kopterheld]

So many good information about the digital systems, thanks. I have a Flywoo Venom H20 since some days. My is with Walksnail Avatar HD system. Very good video footage with only 25mW, but only if I use 50mbit. With 25mbit it is terrible. Today I trust more the DJI FPV digital System. Walksnail need to work more on they firmware on bringing the nose forward.

[@scrimdog3328]

Outstanding 👍 always look forward to your videos

[@ChrisRosser]

Awesome thank you!

[@trebor1477]

Best will be when he disable focus mode on DJI. My settings are focus mode off, 4:3, 50mbps and low letancy. And picture is better compare with this here. And one thing what fatsnail can't do is analog. Yes some of us still using analog and digital😁

[@dominicamptell1285]

Such a great comparison! Thanks for all you do Mr. Rosser!

[@mikeallenfpv]

This is so well done, Chris. Thank you!

[@kelsey7k]

awesome comparison. walksnail, pls sort out focus mode!

[@nolandfpv]

Thanks for the comparison. Your suggestions are on-point except the internal SD card. I guess, if the VTX could still work without a card - no problem. Personally, I don't find the usb cable connect cumbersome nor do I wanna worry about a card popping out after all my crashes. 😛

[@ChrisRosser]

I'm not against internal storage per se but here are the issues I see: Storage is very limited (it would be nice to have at least 64GB so you don't ever run out of space) but that would add cost. Speed of transfer is very slow compared to a fast MicroSD. That JST connector doesn't have a long cycle life compared to a microSD slot or USBC connector.

[@nolandfpv]

@@ChrisRosser I see your point about capacity. A USBC would be a nice upgrade.

[@vegasrider7287]

DJI footage seems strange, I am flying 2-3 miles out without having focus mode kick in. You are so close and should have crystal clear image for a LONG ways. How are both of those so pixelated when you are within yards of the quad??

[@magicsmokemitlothar7377]

I think walksnail is watching you. Focus mode and OSD DVR are implemented. I would love to see a better image sensor. Your Videos are amazing and I really appreciate your work.

[@ooHotcooleRoo]

DJI had some serious signal issues with 50mbps tests. Half the time you were comparing 45mbps on WS to like under 15 on DJI.

[@ChrisRosser]

It's tricky to get optimum RF performance with two VTXs on the same quad. That's why it's handy to have the SRT files up top so you can track the bitrate. I think it's really interesting to see how the two systems make use of the bitrate they have.

[@PoTtZy.]

Make the Focus Mode more rounded to 1up DJI.

[@MRdeLaat]

dji is better but 90% of people their air unit stops recording after a minute of flight, i have the same issue

[@KOrnhOliO1]

I'm so glad their are competing digital systems now! Should make for great competition and eventually drive prices down or more features for the buck! I'm so impressed that Fatsnail has gotten sooo much better in less than a month after it was released! Way to go SnailFart! ;) With HDZero's goggles and DJI's V3 system coming in the next couple of months, it's really wise to hold off on purchasing until you can see all the systems against one another, and make a wise decision on which one will truly be best for you. BE PATIENT! :)

[@ChrisRosser]

You know I'll be doing a shootout if I can scrounge up enough for the new DJI system!

[@strattonford2557]

It's an interesting phenomenon that is totally different for different people. For the Avatar system, I completely understand preserving the top part of the image. Racing tends to look at the top of the screen and see what's incoming. Slower flight makes more sense for the top being compressed. I think DJI did a good job with the middle ground with focus mode(lol). Even in the worst situations, I can still see where I'm going and get the frames I need to get out of sticky situations. Combined with dji's top notch support (I have personally experienced), I can't see where me as a pilot will switch any time soon

[@TheMadmacs]

great stuff fatsnail guys, keep on pushin.

[@SkyGizmmo]

Great setup valuable data thanx

[@changeagent228]

DJIFPV has a 60Mbps mode thanks to WTFFPV.

[@ChrisRosser]

Ooh interesting. I'll need to try that out!

[@changeagent228]

@@ChrisRosser It changes it to 30Mbps / 60Mbps from 25Mbps / 50Mbps. 😄👍🏻

[@GR8SCOTT]

Thanks for all the hard work!!!

[@andrewbt87]

Not the most equal terms review... Why did you keep focus mode enabled? most people turn it off the first time. With focus mode off DJI will have full detail at all times across the image, much better than walksnail now. Also don't run both system at the same time on the same quad, they will interfere and increase retransmission rate and bitrate will fall

[@ChrisRosser]

Hi Andrei, I'll run another test with focus mode off. Focus mode is the default and based on what people have been saying more pilots run focus mode than not. Without focus mode DJI will not have full detail across the image. It will macroblock across the whole frame evenly rather than just the edges. In my opinion seeing the exact same image through both systems at equal power and range is the fairest comparison there is. Different lighting, motion, and speed significantly affect image quality so back to back flights suffer from many confounding variables that make comparisons less accurate.

[@andrewbt87]

Dji will start to macroblock with focus mode off, only when the signal gets really bad like miles away, Walksnail doesn't really macroblock at low signal it just stops, Walksnail also blurs parts of the image even when it has full bitrate and signal and also in the dvr which means the on-board dvr records an already processed image ready to be transmitted. But with focus mode off DJI should look better in most situations for now. I know running them separately will add more variables but with these digital systems you have to, even in this test the bitrate was quite low, varying way too much and I don't think you were flying very far

[@ChrisRosser]

@@andrewbt87 Focus mode on or off I think it's clear DJI looks better for now in most tests. The goal of the test is not to get the best range/penetration/bitrate performance out of each system. The goal of the test is to compare the systems in an equally crappy situation. They each only get the same 200mW output power and equivalent antennas and a bunch of intereference from the other system and have to do their best with exactly the same view (albeit different cameras). Feedback has been really positive in the comments so I don't want to change the test setup too much!

[@bomb_and_gouge]

how is the walksnail goggles to wear? Weight, comfort etc. Even after changing headstrap, padding and antennas, the DJI is such a chore to use. Simply to big, bulky and heavy

[@ChrisRosser]

It's much more like a traditional Analog goggle. Lighter and smaller than DJI.

[@panosfpv]

Amazing Video

[@ChrisRosser]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@typxxilps]

Wondering why this just got only 1216 views even though I am pretty late - or maybe too sunny sunday across europe

[@inakidb]

Excelent conparison. thanks for sharing. This review it was I looking for.

[@Terazuk]

It might be nice if both could use something similar to DLSS, that helps preserve detail.

[@ChrisRosser]

Yeah that's definitely the next step and the best way to get great detail with limited bitrate.

[@pfeerick]

This give me high hopes for FatSnail... It is still in its infancy.and is already performing this good after a rocky start. Having a better camera would certainly make a big difference, as would options to let you tune it better - i.e. The fixed latency that was mentions as being worked on, as well as whether to compress evenly or sacrifice parts of the frame to keep quality up in others. I'm also quite surprised SD recording isn't there as standard since image quality is a major focus... so you can transmit good video, but you can't record the best? 🤦‍♂️

[@calisti9308]

Fantastic comparison!

[@FlyZoneFpv]

Great video comparison Chris👊🏻👊🏻

[@Brian-S]

Untill walksnail has a better camera I'll stay flying dji

[@biggfpv2721]

Its the same as the nebula pro..u can change the settings just like in dji..if u like the nebula pro. Just thought id say that since he didn't mention it

[@ChrisRosser]

Yeah WS is the neb pro. The DJI camera is the one I would take for 5" builds today. Nothing else quite matches it.

[@Brian-S]

@@ChrisRosser yep, this is what I meant really the nebula pro is nice and works great but it's not quite the same as the dji cam

[@mateuszjasek]

Nice, very nice... as usual!

[@JoeMommaFPV]

I disagree with the conclusion, I've been using DJI for years now and from day 1 I HATED focus mode and turn that off on everything I fly. I think even with focus mode off, DJI would preserve more detail overall throughout the image frame, from what I've seen online. I'm quite disappointed actually that in your tests you didn't do any of them with focus mode off, and half the image was gone from each camera, leaving a DJI view with mostly blurring from focus mode taking over the 1/2 frame you were showing. I would have liked to see full image of each system to be able to compare overall frame quality between the two for myself. I'm staying away from fatsnail system until it's ready, but I am doing all my comparisons and determining when it's ready, or at least good enough to replace DJI on videos like yours. So I appreciate your work and this test, it's more data and info for me. But just not as usable as I would have normally expected from you. Keep up the good work Chris, thanks for all the informative content.

[@pacospete4299]

As someone who knows VERY little about this subject, my first impression is the DJI is a brighter image and the colors are not pronounced ..................

[@ChrisRosser]

Yeah that's the DJI FPV camera, it's really the best in the market at the moment. The DJI system with Caddx cameras isn't as good.

[@TacticallyMaxed]

I keep hearing from just about every reviewer how great the image quality is of the new system. I'm not seeing it. Unsure why every big name has jumped on the fatshark bandwagon even after a abysmal launch without a ready product and the odd behavior of the parties involved during such time.

[@ChrisRosser]

From what I've seen most reviewers are now saying the system is usable for daily flying on 23.23.4 but not perhaps quite at the level of DJI yet. Image quality is great compared to analog (but that's not really the benchmark any more for image quality). Totally agree that the launch was an absolute shambles and the chip mislabelling (only on the Fatshark goggles(!) not the WS goggles or VTX) a real turn off for me.

[@BagrijRoman]

Great video. Thanks

[@SeeFPv-qm6ie]

dji rules can't wait for the v3 dji fpv goggles

[@jaydronezz]

Great analysis of the 2 systems. I'm personally far away from being able to afford either system so still analogue for me at the moment! Are the Walksnail and Fatshark goggles identical as far as you can tell? Do you think Fatshark designs their goggles or vice versa? 🤔 ❤️

[@Fly_High_FPV]

Seems there is a small difference, as FatSharks max at 5S and WalkSnails can handle 6S Edit: WalkSnail cant actually handle 6S either...very out ofntouch with the community

[@ChrisRosser]

They are identical apart from plastic colour and brand badges, and WalkSnail have corrected their original specs to reduce max voltage from 6S to 5S.

[@Fly_High_FPV]

@Chris Rosser really? That's so dissapointing...i guess we're going back to using regulated cables...i've gotten really spoiled using my shittiest old flight packs for goggle batteries without needingto carry dedicated goggle batteries

[@scottmilano2940]

Avata clearly lost before data was OTA. That lack of color range and darker image need to be addressed as the first action. There's no way to be better OTA until they start with a better/equal image. Also, a comparison without focus mode would be interesting, its the first thing a lot of pilots turn off.

[@ChrisRosser]

Yeah no matter how good the link is DJI has an advantage with that sensor!

[@KOrnhOliO1]

Maybe racers turn it off, but I love it! Crystal clear in the center pretty much 100% of the time!

[@papitolindo5092]

The Rosser!

[@jondoe6618]

I am excited for the avatar system. Saying that, Im keeping my dji for sure. I still fly analog sometimes, just not my main 5in qwads. Great time to be in FPV!!

[@ChrisRosser]

Totally agree, it's a great time to be in FPV.

[@sleepycbr]

bought you a coffee and I will become a patren soon.

[@rctrix9063]

Why would you soften the foreground. The details in the distance are never as critical to the pilot as those that are imminent. DJI wins the image quality test.

[@ChrisRosser]

I agree. Walksnail still got some work to do but they are making progress

[@biggfpv2721]

I dont think people can say the image transmission is way better on dji it looks same now ... The other stuff not so much dji is a more polished product but give walksnail 6 months

[@Qwarzz]

I'm just hoping the HDZero survives

[@ugpfpv361]

Yeah, the problem with HdZero IMHO is they're too hung up on getting the lowest latency, was told that to get variable latency requires two way communication which they don't have, wonder if the had an option to double the latency if that would improve the static and penetration..., Then they would be more likely to get more freestyle pilots.

[@Qwarzz]

@@ugpfpv361 Now that HDZero is at least partly open source I'm hoping some wizards will be able to improve on it.

[@NightRiderFPV]

This video makes me sad that Bardweoll ,Bubby and Drew are pushing such a clearly inferior system. The latest Steele video with HDZERO looks pretty good, much less digital blur, and static breakup that is very manageable.

[@jamesmichaelcabrera9613]

Nice 👍 work thanks

[@xsalamand3rx]

Well done, although, i would have preferred you display the exact same image for each, rather than half of the overall image. I like the walk snail better, color saturation is better, and the algorithm to blur the ground is soo much more advanced. Who tf cares what the ground looks like anyways? That's NEVER the subject matter of ANY flight, and I would prefer that be blurred then what DJI does. Not to mention the level of detail on the ground, and rate of change is much greater and will consume more bandwidth, yielding a smaller percentage of the overall image being blurred, than that of a fixed algorithm. Not to mention, dropping frames all together to make up for the bandwidth capacity is a red flag. I'm sold on walksnail, just gonna give it a few months to work out the bugs.

[@ChrisRosser]

Thanks for the feedback. I did consider full frame side by side but the images become very small for people watching on mobile.

[@xsalamand3rx]

@@ChrisRosser Yes sir, thanks for the content! That is true, aestetically speaking, I like how you did it, but I feel I still need to see an exact frame to make a definitive decision. Which alternatively, could be the same half of the picture for both.

[@crow1fpv]

I love you!