Poor quality 4k Premiere Elements

I don't have your drone.  I have three cameras that shoot H.264/3840x2160 at 30fps.  I have one Samsung phone that shoots 3840x2160 at 60fps and H.265.   I get excellent results that equal the results from Premiere Pro.  

I can get in over my head with codecs.  Your MediInfo says AVC1 High@L5.2 .  When I look that up it says that is an H.264 variant.   So my guess right now is that the trouble might be that Premiere Elemens only likes 3840x2160 and not 4026x2160.  

Steve,  

You probably have it figured out.  Everything I've tried is 3840x2160 and both H.264 and H.265 up to 60fps.  My "normal" from my own gear is 3840x2160, 30fsp, H.264 and PrE 2020 never hicups.  I did get tangled up with some H.265 from my phone and a few files from forum posters.  It turned into a few conference calls with India over a couple weeks.  I learned a lot and enjoyed the contact.   

(Side note:  Creating a forced 1080p project, "Default Scale to Frame Size" set on and using 4K footage opens up lots of  options in the project with cropping, framing and Pan/Zoom.  Output at 1080p shows no picture qaulity loss.)

Other than asking the OP for a sample clip (DropBox) I don't know what can be done.  I looked up his drone and discovered one I'd not seen or heard of before.  

I have a couple questions....

You wrote "Import to PE at max bit rate."   There is no way to change the bit rate when adding a file in "Add Media".   Are you using an alternate procedure from simple additions"

You wrote..."Video play back is smooth but quality is not even close to 4k."  Video editing is down with previews created in real time by your computer.  It may not be possible to create previews of 4K quality.   They are only previews to allow you to set all the editing markers.   Can you provide a screen shot that shows the quality of the video editing previews?

You wrote "Tried exporting in 4k but finial export looked the same."  The output settings determine the quality.  The sources are read using the editing markers as a guide and then processed to be whatever you ask for.  Matching the source will create output as good as the source.  What are your output settings and how did you set them?  (Screen shots help.)

I routinely use Premiere Elements to edit and output 4K video.  The quality of the output is as good as the source.   You previews during edit depend on your computer, some settings and how you set up the project.  They are created in "real time" and not meant to match the output.   The output should match.  What are your output steps?  Can you provide some screen shots of your workflow?

Depends on the specs of your video file and if Premiere Elements' project settings match those specs.

To find the specs of your video, open one of your drone videos in the free download MediaInfo. In MediaInfo, set View to Text and copy the text from that report and paste them to this forum. Once we know the specs of your drone footage we'll be able to tell you how to ensure Premiere Elements is matching it with its project settings -- or if you'll need a different video editor for that footage.