Impact of Image Resolution on Controlling Drones Using Remote VR Headset Visualization and a Cloud Architecture
Tom Sloan, Bruce Wallace, Rafik A Goubran · 2025
This paper investigates the critical relationship between image resolution, network conditions, and system latency in remote visualization of drone camera and control systems. We present an analysis of how these factors affect the real-time control and visualization capabilities in a system architecture consisting of a consumer-grade drone, controller application, server, and visualization interface (computer and virtual reality). Experiments were conducted across multiple image resolutions (240p to 4K) and three network conditions (Unthrottled bandwidth, Fast 4G, and 3G). Results demonstrate that higher resolutions significantly increase image transmission time, with 4K resolution requiring 231.1ms compared to 69.3ms for 360p under unthrottled network conditions. Lower network performance levels dramatically impact performance, with 1080p transmission increasing from 169.7ms on unthrottled network to 321s on 3G networks. Given drones are moving through space, the latency measurements are converted to the physical distance travelled by the drone during the transmission at various movement speeds (0.5-8 m/s). These provide practical metrics for system usability relating to the potential for operators to not see or be able to maneuver around obstacles due to untimely visualizations. Our findings offer valuable insights for designing real-time drone visualization systems that provide and adapt the balance image quality with latency constraints across varying network environments.