[Support]: Poor live video quality/filtering on home page, looks fine on individual camera view #22052

coledeck · 2026-02-20T04:06:27Z

coledeck
Feb 20, 2026

Checklist

I have updated to the latest available Frigate version.
I have cleared the cache of my browser.
I have tried a different browser to see if it is related to my browser.
I have tried reproducing the issue in incognito mode to rule out problems with any third party extensions or plugins I have installed.
I have asked the AI at https://docs.frigate.video about my issue.

Describe the problem you are having

When looking at the streaming live view on the Home / grid view of cameras when there's more than a few images on screen (with 8 cameras, like 5 of them showing live stream), the image is using a nearest-neighbor-style filtering when downscaling. This causes significant loss in detail. However, when you go to a camera's page, there is a softer (bilinear?) filtering applied.

Here are 2 screenshots showing what I mean:

Home page, when the camera is showing the live view

Camera page, with the window shrunk to make it around the same size on my screen

Significant detail is lost. It's also quite jarring when it switches from the nicely rendered static image to this. Is this a frontend setting for optimization when showing many camera feeds? I would like to be able to change this.

Interestingly, if I put just 1 camera on a custom view page, when I disable alert videos, it renders smoothly. When I enable alert videos, quality gets bad again even with just 1 camera on the page. WIth several cameras, disabling alert videso does not help. Is this maybe a browser limitation when there are more than some amount of images/videos actively rendering? Or a frigate config in the frontend?

I tried all major browsers.

I'm using H.265 for the main feed, but same issue occurs on h.264.

I'm 100% it's the same exact source stream, there is no other 30fps stream available to stream so it is very obvious if it falls back to detect stream.

Steps to reproduce

Put several cameras streaming high quality stream on home page
Notice jagged edges and visibly worse quality
visit individual camera page, shrink browser window to match home page size, quality is visibly better

Version

0.16.4, 0.17.0-rc2

In which browser(s) are you experiencing the issue with?

All

Frigate config file

mqtt:
  enabled: true
  host: 172.16.30.8
  user: frigate
  password: redacted

detect:
  enabled: true
  fps: 2
  width: 1920
  height: 1080
  annotation_offset: -200

birdseye:
  enabled: false

ffmpeg:
  hwaccel_args: preset-vaapi
  output_args:
    record: preset-record-generic-audio-copy
  apple_compatibility: true

record:
  enabled: true
  # continuous:
  #   days: 7
  motion:
    days: 10000
  alerts:
    retain:
      days: 10000
      mode: all
  detections:
    retain:
      days: 10000
      mode: all
snapshots:
  enabled: true
  timestamp: true
  bounding_box: true
  crop: true
  retain:
    default: 10000

objects:
  track:
    - person
    - face
    - dog
    - cat
    - amazon
    - fedex
    - ups
    - package
    - license_plate
    - car
    - motorcycle
  # filters:
  #   dog:
  #     min_score: .7
  #     threshold: .9
  #   cat:
  #     min_score: .65
  #     threshold: .8
  #   face:
  #     min_score: .7
  #   package:
  #     min_score: .65
  #     threshold: .9
  #   license_plate:
  #     min_score: .6
  #   amazon:
  #     min_score: .75
  #   ups:
  #     min_score: .75
  #   fedex:
  #     min_score: .75
  #   person:
  #     min_score: .65
  #     threshold: .85
  #   car:
  #     min_score: .65
  #     threshold: .85

detectors:
  ov:
    type: openvino
    device: GPU
  ov_1:
    type: openvino
    device: GPU
  ov_2:
    type: openvino
    device: GPU
  ov_3:
    type: openvino
    device: GPU
  ov_4:
    type: openvino
    device: GPU
  ov_5:
    type: openvino
    device: GPU

  alerts:
    enabled: true
    labels:
      - person
      - face
      - license_plate
      - car
      - package

  detections:
    enabled: true

model:
  # width: 300
  # height: 300
  # input_tensor: nhwc
  # input_pixel_format: bgr
  # path: /openvino-model/ssdlite_mobilenet_v2.xml
  path: plus://51e953fa6345541e4082ef12ad235ccb # yolov9s 320x320 2026.0 base model
  # labelmap_path: /openvino-model/coco_91cl_bkgr.txt

semantic_search:
  enabled: true
  model_size: large

version: 0.17-0
face_recognition:
  enabled: true
  model_size: large
  min_area: 1000
  save_attempts: 500
lpr:
  enabled: true
  model_size: small

telemetry:
  version_check: false
  stats:
    network_bandwidth: true
    intel_gpu_stats: false

auth:
  roles:
    Main:
      - CHIRKYCAM01

go2rtc:
  streams:
    CHIRKYCAM02:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.102:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM04:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.104:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM06:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.106:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM08:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.108:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM10:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.110:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM11:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.111:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM12:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.112:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM13:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.113:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM15:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.115:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM19:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.119:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0
    CHIRKYCAM25:
      - rtsp://viewer:{FRIGATE_RTSP_PASSWORD}@172.16.50.125:554/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0

cameras:

  CHIRKYCAM02:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM02
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
        - 0,0.605,0,0.752,0.299,0.653,0.301,0.533
        - 0.489,0.58,0.708,0.528,0.7,0.44,0.477,0.509
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500

  CHIRKYCAM04:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM04
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500

  CHIRKYCAM06:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM06
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500

  CHIRKYCAM08:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM08
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
        - 0.673,0.47,0.677,0.561,0.848,0.533,0.848,0.442
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500

  CHIRKYCAM10:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM10
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500
  CHIRKYCAM11:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM11
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
        - 0.348,0.511,0.451,0.562,0.779,0.533,0.793,0.417,0.335,0.324
        - 0.148,0.559,0.001,0.626,0,0.628,0,0.457,0.16,0.455
        - 0.164,0.423,0.178,0.377,0.91,0.275,0.877,0,0.404,0,0,0,0,0.399
        - 0.921,0.507,0.979,0.509,0.974,0.425,0.919,0.429
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500
  CHIRKYCAM12:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM12
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
        - 0.779,0.091,0.98,0.358,1,0.26,1,0,0.79,0
        - 0.133,0.088,0.254,0,0.121,0
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500
    objects:
      filters:
        car:
          mask: 0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0
  CHIRKYCAM13:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM13
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
        - 0,0.318,0.325,0.138,0.484,0.099,0.675,0.096,0.67,0.028,0.481,0.019,0.332,0.051,0.149,0.1,0,0.188
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500

  CHIRKYCAM15:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM15
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
        - 0.076,0.145,0.169,0.084,0.168,0.035,0.072,0.078
        - 0.947,0.467,0.928,0.757,1,0.547,1,0.303,0.984,0.246
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500
  CHIRKYCAM19:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM19
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
        - 0.106,0.302,0.539,0.119,0.537,0,0.329,0.003,0.04,0
        - 0.566,0.043,0.679,0.073,0.707,0.069,0.709,0.055,0.802,0.089,0.81,0.043,0.7,0,0.558,0
        - 0.904,0.136,0.965,0.184,0.962,0.295,0.963,0.371,0.923,0.836,1,0.742,0.998,0.142,0.905,0.088
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500
  # CHIRKYCAM20:
  #   ffmpeg:
  #     inputs:
  #       - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM20
  #         roles:
  #           - record
  #           - detect
  #   motion:
  #     threshold: 30
  #     contour_area: 15
  #     improve_contrast: true
  #     mask:
  #       - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
  #   detect:
  #     annotation_offset: -500
  CHIRKYCAM25:
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://127.0.0.1:8554/CHIRKYCAM25
          roles:
            - record
            - detect
    motion:
      threshold: 30
      contour_area: 15
      improve_contrast: true
      mask:
        - 0.842,0.087,0.962,0.09,0.962,0.04,0.842,0.038
        - 0.346,0.178,0.396,0.188,0.536,0.16,0.541,0.1,0.327,0.079
        - 0.223,0.174,0.16,0.178,0.16,0.127,0.218,0.112
        - 0.68,0.175,0.537,0.135,0.542,0.088,0.684,0.115
        - 0.071,0.171,0.073,0.231,0.115,0.228,0.116,0.167
    detect:
      annotation_offset: -500
camera_groups:
  TEMP:
    order: 2
    icon: LuAperture
    cameras:
      - CHIRKYCAM02
      - CHIRKYCAM08
      - CHIRKYCAM11
      - CHIRKYCAM15
      - CHIRKYCAM19
      - CHIRKYCAM12
      - CHIRKYCAM06
      - CHIRKYCAM25
      - CHIRKYCAM10
      - CHIRKYCAM13
      - CHIRKYCAM04
  test:
    order: 2
    icon: LuAlignHorizontalJustifyCenter
    cameras: CHIRKYCAM10

docker-compose file or Docker CLI command

n/a

Relevant Frigate log output

n/a

Relevant go2rtc log output

n/a

Operating system

Proxmox

Install method

Docker Compose

Network connection

Wired

Camera make and model

Amcrest IP5M-T1179EB-AI-V3

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

Any other information that may be helpful

No response

2026-02-20T04:07:21Z

inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]
bot Feb 20, 2026

Based on the available documentation, the quality difference you're experiencing on the Live dashboard versus individual camera views relates to how Frigate intelligently manages streaming to conserve bandwidth and resources(1).

On the default Live dashboard, Frigate uses "smart streaming" where camera images update once per minute when no detectable activity is occurring(1). When motion or objects are detected, cameras seamlessly switch to a live stream(1). The static image displayed during inactive periods is pulled from the stream defined in your config with the detect role(1). When activity is detected, images from the detect stream immediately begin updating at approximately 5 frames per second until the live player is loaded and begins playing(1).

The live view player selection depends on several factors. Frigate uses three different streaming technologies: jsmpeg, MSE, and WebRTC(1). The jsmpeg live view has a resolution capped at 720p and uses the same resolution as your detect role stream(1). When you have go2rtc configured, Live view initially attempts to load your stream with MSE technology(1). An initial timeout, low bandwidth condition, or decoding errors will cause Frigate to switch to the stream defined by the detect role using jsmpeg format, which the UI labels as "low bandwidth mode"(1).

For the best live view experience, you should configure go2rtc to connect to your camera stream(2). Setting the stream name under go2rtc to match the name of your camera allows Frigate to automatically map it and use better live view options(2)(1).

The behavior where multiple cameras on the dashboard show lower quality may be related to browser limitations when rendering multiple video streams simultaneously, causing Frigate to fall back to the lower-resolution detect stream. If you're using continuous streaming mode or loading more than a few high resolution streams at once on the dashboard, your browser may struggle to begin playback before the timeout, causing Frigate to prioritize showing a live stream quickly using the lower quality jsmpeg stream(1).

To customize this behavior, you can create camera groups with specific streaming settings rather than using the default "All Cameras" dashboard(1). Camera groups allow you to configure streaming type (no streaming, smart streaming, or continuous streaming) and compatibility mode per device(1).

📚 Sources:

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

0 replies

hawkeye217 · 2026-02-20T04:23:40Z

hawkeye217
Feb 20, 2026
Collaborator

Frigate does not apply any filtering or scaling algorithms to video in the UI. You didn't post your config, so I am assuming you are using go2rtc. The frontend simply requests the stream from go2rtc and plays it via MSE, WebRTC, or jsmpeg, as the AI described above.

When using go2rtc configured with the default settings, the same stream source is used in both the grid view and the single camera view. Any difference in appearance is coming from the browser’s rendering behavior when scaling the <video> element, especially when multiple videos are active at once. Browsers may change rendering paths or decoding behavior under load, and CSS layout differences can also affect how scaling looks. There is no Frigate configuration option to control this because Frigate is not modifying the video in any way.

If you post your config as originally requested in the template, we may be able to make some more recommendations.

7 replies

coledeck Feb 20, 2026
Author

You could try using the ffmpeg module with go2rtc to see if that changes anything.

If you're using 0.17 beta, you can also view the browser console logs to see if the players are falling back to jsmpeg.

I will give ffmpeg module a shot.

Players are definitely doing MSE, based on inspect element & the video framerate is too high for jsmpeg.

Maxcodesthings Feb 20, 2026

@hawkeye217 what happened to webrtc anyways? From my research MSE is now perferred by Frigate UI?

 const p = "MediaSource" in window || "ManagedMediaSource" in window;                                                                      
  const S = streamExistsInGo2rtc;
                                                                                                                                            
  // If browser supports MediaSource → use MSE                
  // If browser does NOT support MediaSource → use WebRTC
  p ? mode = S ? "mse" : "jsmpeg" : mode = S ? "webrtc" : "jsmpeg"

hawkeye217 Feb 20, 2026
Collaborator

MSE is more widely supported and WebRTC requires extra setup (opening ports, using a STUN server) and does not support h.265 on some browsers, so Frigate defaults to MSE. Additionally, we've written some extra code for Frigate's MSE player to make it more robust to connection issues. MSE provides the best experience in Frigate for the most users.

Maxcodesthings Feb 20, 2026

Feature flag to allow WebRTC stream selection in 0.17.X on a per camera config?

hawkeye217 Feb 20, 2026
Collaborator

Frigate 0.17 is feature-frozen. We've chosen to prefer MSE within Frigate at this time, but we'll see how things play out in future versions.

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coledeck Feb 20, 2026

Checklist

Describe the problem you are having

Steps to reproduce

Version

In which browser(s) are you experiencing the issue with?

Frigate config file

docker-compose file or Docker CLI command

Relevant Frigate log output

Relevant go2rtc log output

Operating system

Install method

Network connection

Camera make and model

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

Any other information that may be helpful

Replies: 2 comments · 7 replies

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inkeep-ai-assistant[bot] bot Feb 20, 2026

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hawkeye217 Feb 20, 2026 Collaborator

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coledeck Feb 20, 2026 Author

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Maxcodesthings Feb 20, 2026

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hawkeye217 Feb 20, 2026 Collaborator

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Maxcodesthings Feb 20, 2026

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hawkeye217 Feb 20, 2026 Collaborator

coledeck
Feb 20, 2026

Replies: 2 comments 7 replies

inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]
bot Feb 20, 2026

hawkeye217
Feb 20, 2026
Collaborator

coledeck Feb 20, 2026
Author

hawkeye217 Feb 20, 2026
Collaborator

hawkeye217 Feb 20, 2026
Collaborator