DS-2CD2342WD with really bad night vision

[larsras]

Hi

Just bought this as a replacement for one of my Foscams. It is mounted indoors. Day picture is great, but at night the picture is really noisy. I have tried all settings of Day/Night switch. Picture are black/white so I guess the IR is on.
Any suggestion to what I can have missed here?

br Lars

 

[fenderman]

Hi

Just bought this as a replacement for one of my Foscams. It is mounted indoors. Day picture is great, but at night the picture is really noisy. I have tried all settings of Day/Night switch. Picture are black/white so I guess the IR is on.
Any suggestion to what I can have missed here?

br Lars

Higher resolution cameras have worse low light vision...unless you buy one specifically designed for low light performance like this one Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)
That said, indoors it should be no problem. You likely have it set wrong. Post an image of the camera view as well as images of all your video settings.

 

[Ryan00]

I just got that same camera, here is my settings at night outdoors. I found these to work best for me, my goal was to get a facial id. So your mileage may vary, I also have 4 lights outside . Let me know how to goes. And I have all other settings turned off

 

[larsras]

Thanks.
I will try those settings. I don't really have any lights (except from a diode in a PC and in the PSU) in the room, so it is quite dark. My Foscam it replaces had far better night vision (though only 1MP, and half the price).

 

[fenderman]

Thanks.
I will try those settings. I don't really have any lights (except from a diode in a PC and in the PSU) in the room, so it is quite dark. My Foscam it replaces had far better night vision (though only 1MP, and half the price).

Indoors, the IR reflects off the was so you will have a great image with that camera. You have not set it up correctly. Post your settings. Foscam is garbage.

 

[larsras]

Haven't got the time today to post my settings.
I have just noticed that on this camera i can't "see" the IR light on, where as on my Foscams i can always see when the diodes are red (= IR is on). So should i be able to see the IR diode light when it is on? ( i know i can't see IR light, but i guess you know what i mean)

 

[fenderman]

Haven't got the time today to post my settings.
I have just noticed that on this camera i can't "see" the IR light on, where as on my Foscams i can always see when the diodes are red (= IR is on). So should i be able to see the IR diode light when it is on? ( i know i can't see IR light, but i guess you know what i mean)

yes, you likely have the camera set to day mode or have turned off the IR lights. Possible to Disable Built In IR on Hikvision DS-2CD2032-I 3MP?

 

[tigerwillow1]

I have the LTS bullet version of the same camera and the night vision quality stinks. My opinion from looking at the image is that it's the jpeg compression. Zoom in around the headlights and judge for yourself. The jpeg image is 235 kB, pathetically low for a 4mp image. Daytime image quality is not all that good either, for 4 mp.

 

[fenderman]

I have the LTS bullet version of the same camera and the night vision quality stinks. My opinion from looking at the image is that it's the jpeg compression. Zoom in around the headlights and judge for yourself. The jpeg image is 235 kB, pathetically low for a 4mp image. Daytime image quality is not all that good either, for 4 mp.

The OP has it indoors. HUGE difference. The camera will be excellent indoors even with no lighting at all. The op confirmed that the IR lights are OFF on his camera. Your issue is completely different. If that is a screen capture from the video then you dont have proper settings and/or insufficient lighting. You need to understand what you are buying when you choose a 4mp camera with a 1/3 sensor....higher resolution is NOT better. You fell for the megapixel scam that everyone from cellphone manufactures to camera makers are pulling on folks. If you want good night vision at a reasonable price look at the 1080p dahua startlight turret discussed in the dahua section.

 

[tigerwillow1]

The OP has it indoors. HUGE difference. The camera will be excellent indoors even with no lighting at all. The op confirmed that the IR lights are OFF on his camera. Your issue is completely different. If that is a screen capture from the video then you dont have proper settings and/or insufficient lighting. You need to understand what you are buying when you choose a 4mp camera with a 1/3 sensor....higher resolution is NOT better. You fell for the megapixel scam that everyone from cellphone manufactures to camera makers are pulling on folks. If you want good night vision at a reasonable price look at the 1080p dahua startlight turret discussed in the dahua section.

For the purposes of clear communication, I'm concluding that you're saying the blocky-ness in the picture is NOT a result of data compression. I'm pushing because that's what it looks like to me, not intending to be argumentative.

 

[larsras]

My night pictures doesn't look like that. They are just really noisy, like when your camera is on a very high ISO value.
FW is v5.4.1 build 160525. I believe IR is ON, as if I set it to Day mode, at night, it goes completely black.

 

[alastairstevenson]

I'm concluding that you're saying the blocky-ness in the picture is NOT a result of data compression.

I'd say it looks like a substream image, not a main stream image.
Either that, or there are some extreme image settings.
Where and how are you getting the jpeg image from?
Presumably not live view or a recording.

 

[larsras]

Argh, scheisse... Found the IR Light was disabled, under System / Maintenance / System Service. What an unlogical place to have this. And the manual I have downloaded from the web doesn't match the layout in my camera. I was quite convinced that in case the IR could be disabled, it was the option called Smart Supplement Light (which seems to have no effect at all).
Hopefully it works now....

 

[nayr]

For the purposes of clear communication, I'm concluding that you're saying the blocky-ness in the picture is NOT a result of data compression. I'm pushing because that's what it looks like to me, not intending to be argumentative.

correct, the blockyness in the image is the result of poor lighting conditions, its caused by your image sensor trying to see in conditions its not capable of.. most of that image is pure black, and the headlamps are totally fucking with the exposure its running with... thats what happens when the shutter speed is too slow and something moves because its desperately trying to gather more light.

 

[tigerwillow1]

I'd say it looks like a substream image, not a main stream image.
Either that, or there are some extreme image settings.
Where and how are you getting the jpeg image from?
Presumably not live view or a recording.

The picture I posted is a mainstream image. The metadata says 2688x1520x24b jpeg. It came from a single frame capture off of a recording. Live view looks the same. Camera settings are below. I'd tried a lot of settings and can make the image look different, but not any better. If it's just a low light problem, I wonder why my $50 dashcam can get way better pictures?

 

[tigerwillow1]

Argh, scheisse... Found the IR Light was disabled, under System / Maintenance / System Service. What an unlogical place to have this. And the manual I have downloaded from the web doesn't match the layout in my camera. I was quite convinced that in case the IR could be disabled, it was the option called Smart Supplement Light (which seems to have no effect at all).
Hopefully it works now....

THANK YOU for posting this. I've been "pulling my hair out" trying to figure out how to shut off the light. Not a peep about in the the manual.

 

[alastairstevenson]

It might be worth checking how the same view looks with exposure at AE.
1/120 is pretty short for that scene.

 

[fenderman]

It might be worth checking how the same view looks with exposure at AE.
1/120 is pretty short for that scene.

this..

 

[tigerwillow1]

It might be worth checking how the same view looks with exposure at AE.
1/120 is pretty short for that scene.

Does AE mean Automatic Exposure? I don't have that option available. From the manual: "If the camera is equipped with the fixed lens, only Manual is selectable, and the iris mode is not selectable." I don't want to lengthen the exposure time or I won't be able to read license plates during the day due to motion blur. The camera won't let me have different day and night settings if it's in auto switchover mode. A pretty stupid design decision IMO. I've given up trying to read license plates at night. Couldn't find any setting even close to working for that.

 

[nayr]

1/500 or higher, there is no way to read plates 24/7 without a dedicated camera for the job