I'm guessing they interpret auto as auto for all exposure controls. Not that surprising. The main factor of interest for us is there is gain control. Maybe there's life in these cameras yet given the side by side test above.
I'll take credit for railroading this thread (since many said I did just that LOL) as it ended up resulting in folks figuring out these things have gain control LOL. That in and of itself is a major find and improvement to this camera that probably wouldn't have been found without so many people trying to figure it out the past 24 hours - how long has this camera been out and we as a group just now figured it out....
Now granted it seems strange that it needs to be on Day setting for gain as it is the night time that we are more concerned about having too high gain. Too high of gain is bad for daytime too, but a faster shutter can overcome a higher gain during the bright daytime. Nighttime is ghost city.
However, even with this find, it still doesn't resolve the fact that this camera for what
@Night-Owl was trying to accomplish - ID people at the sidewalk - simply isn't the right location for this camera. Even controlling gain, the faces are too small and too far away to make an ID even if they were not ghosting. Great overview camera. Great camera if the subjects are closer. But just like any other camera, if the lens size isn't appropriate for the area being targeted to cover, it isn't the right camera for that location - doesn't matter who makes the camera or what the specs say.