The Increasing Popularity of FPV HD Drones

The introduction to the public of high definition first-person-view (FPV) method to control an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone gives the UAV operator or “pilot” a sense of realism in flying the drone. The drone operator sees through the drone-mounted, onboard camera, downlinked to the operator’s video monitor or FPV goggles. With additional and more advanced set-up, the UAV operator can even monitor the drone’s position via GPS and telemetry on the screen display or OSD or FPV goggles, giving the “pilot” an added touch of realism to the experience of flying a drone.

Applications and Employments of Drones

At present, flying an HD video drone is a very popular hobby for both RC (radio-controlled) racing and videography/photography enthusiasts due to the drone’s added FPV or video piloting capability. Fixed-wing drone is more popular in RC aerial race, while the rotary-winged drones are suitable for a greater number of applications. The zero-latency of the transmitted video gives the pilot the capability to instantaneously respond to the drone’s flight attitude during the duration of flight. Likewise, the FPV provides the operator with the needed situational awareness from the drone’s perspective.

The drone with live camera feed, especially, the rotary-winged type, is a very popular platform for surveillance and reconnaissance duties, whether for law enforcement or public safety, for it can silently hover over the vicinity of a target area. Moreover, the stability, agility, and versatility of a rotary-winged drone make it a viable platform for visual inspection of power lines and other high-rise structures as well as for damage assessment during the aftermath of a calamity, and thus eliminating the need for sending people to dangerous zones unless it is an absolute necessity.

News and movie industries are likewise enthused and encouraged to acquire drones with FPV due to these drones’ cost-effectiveness in terms of operational expenses and their lower logistical demands. For the same reason, the camera-equipped drone is very popular to film producers as an alternative to the manned aerial platform in taking aerial shots. Rotary-winged drones can hover above its target without disrupting its subject with its downwash. The rotary-winged video platform has also given amateur videographer and photographer an affordable tool to create or shoot video and photo documentaries with ease and facility.

The Rotary-winged Drone

While the fixed-wing UAV can cover more distance in less time, the rotary-winged drone can stay in a stationary position above an area, hovering for a given time, subject only to the power stored in the drone’s battery. The rotary-winged UAV can readily move vertically or horizontally while moving forward and backwards with ease.  The rotary-winged drone video HD is highly adaptable and can be launched and retrieved even in the highly cluttered environment of an urban area.

Drone HD Video Equipment

Nowadays, drones with an integral video camera and video downlinks are commercially available in the market. However, for budgetary reasons some people opt to buy the items separately to save a bit. There is a vast variety of multi-rotor UAVs—from tri-copter to octocopter. The four-armed quadcopter is currently the most favored type of UAVs due to its size and price. This type has highly stabilized camera mounts, analog video transmitter and receiver, and FPV goggles that are sold as after-market products.