I’ve taken snapshots with the Yi App on both a Yi Outdoor (plug-in) and a Kami Outdoor Wire Free camera and see a 1920x1080 file, but when I download a video all I see is a 640x360 image playback.
I don’t see anything under Settings -> Device Settings to address stored video resolution. Is there a setting that I am missing?
Thank you!
Hey Dave, I downloaded a clip from my Kami Wire-Free and it was 1920x1080. Where does it say 640x360 for yours?
640x360 comes from both the small video playback window and windows properties -> details -> [video frame width, frame height]. On android:
However, if I remove the SDcard from the camera, I see the full 1920x1080 video.
I’ll amend my question: How do I download the full 1920x1080 video from the app?
Here’s an example of what my downloaded from the app videos look like: (640x360)
[oops… mp4 uploads are prohibited]
Hey Dave, can you please let me know what process you go through to download the clip?
Did you create these downloads from the alerts section of the app? For example, clicking on a 6 second alert clip and then downloading from there?
Or are you hitting the record button when playing back a clip from the SD card timeline?
I downloaded a 6 second alert from the phone (640x360)
Ok I just did a bit of testing and learned that if you set your camera to HD mode then you will get 1920x1080 clips when you download a 6 second alert clip.
If the camera set to SD then you’ll only be able to download a 640x360 clip.
However, it doesn’t matter if you have the camera set to HD or SD, you can still access HD clips if you eject the MicroSD card and load the card into your computer and download the files there.
Also, if you want to download full-length SD card clips, (not just 6 second alert clips) from the app, you can start SD card playback using the normal method, then tap the live view part of the screen and hit the record button circled in red below.
I’m not having much success with the 6 sec alert clips. They seem to be 640x360 with SD or HD set.
I can use the 6 sec alert timestamp to find the related 45 sec video on the SDcard and retrieve an 1920x1080 clip.
The difference between HD and SD is the ability to read license plates or not.
(edit 20200811) When I set the resolution to HD, I have observed that many times when I return to the app, the resolution has reverted to SD. I have not tried the Auto setting. How is it diiferent? I have also observied that when the resolution is set to HD, many times the alert clip is SD 640x360.
thanks.
Hey Dave, I believe the auto setting will optimize the resolution based on the signal strength between the camera and the router.
I’m not sure why your camera is switching back to SD. The only thing I can think of is that when you are pressing HD it may be a bit far from the router to successfully make the switch from SD to HD. But that is just a guess.
No matter the setting, the 6-second clips are always 640x360.
On the Kami Outdoor Wire Free when download the related 45 second clip is 1920x1088
It can be difficult to download the first second of the SDcard clip as it starts to play before there is time to press the record button.
As for signal strength, the camera is about 180 feet away from the AP antenna, 2 bars with “excellent” connectivity.
180 feet! Wow that is very impressive. To be honest, I’m not sure how accurate that connectivity meter is. For some reason I’ve never seen it show anything other than Excellent. If you can be bothered, it might be interesting to bring the camera closer to the router and test switching it to HD then downloading an alert clip.
Is the 6 second alert clip only 640x360 because it is stored on you amazon servers?
That would save amazon storage fees for currently non-subscribing customers.
i.e. do only paid subscribers have HD video stored in the cloud? non-subscribers have SD-resolution in the cloud and HD-resolution on the local SDcard?
@YetAnotherDave your theory does sound plausible… I don’t know the answer but I’ll try and find out.
Thanks for looking into this.
I am now convinced that all “alert” video clips are 640x360.
I have confirmed this on both Yi Outdoor Wifi (plug-in) and Kami Outdoor Wire Free cameras.
Set Live view to HD: Transfer rate is varies from 95KB/s to 194KB/s (mostly low 100s)
Set Live view to SD: Transfer rate is varies from 30KB/s to 50KB/s (mostly low 40s)
In either mode: “alert” video clips are 640x360.
In HD mode recorded video (not “alerts”) is 1920x1088.
Hey Dave, thanks for the info. I can definitely download HD alerts clips and I’m on a premium subscription. Still need to check with our head of product to confirm.
@Kami_Mark Thanks. Just need to confirm that “freeloaders” should be able to download HD alert clips. I can not. 
Hey Dave, I’ll pair my Wire-Free with an account not tied to a cloud plan and do a test for you over the weekend.
Great… the simulated freeloader test! 
Thanks!
As best as I can tell, it is still true that:
I’d really like to see Alert Downloads provide an HD download option WITHOUT requiring a cloud subscription.
When using the record option in playback mode I am unable to press the record button fast enough to get the first few frames.
IMHO it is unreasonable to require users to either:
…to capture the first few frames of a 6 second alert video.
