Review-Dahua Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-ZE 800 meter capable ePOE

carbonita

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@EMPIRETECANDY My IPC-HDW5231R-ZE is not reverting back to color during the daytime, unless I reboot the previous night (at 02:00). AFAIK, it shipped with the latest fw (System Version 2.622.0000000.31.R, Build Date: 2018-08-13). Weather is California-mild at night (4C). Otherwise, the cam is working nicely. Any other debugging steps I can explore?

1 time per week is fine, and flash to the latest new firmware. For the no switch, you can check if happen again, if totally can't switch, the hardware should have some problems.
 

giomania

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Did you reset to factory default during bench testing?


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carbonita

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@giomania I did factory reset while benchtesting, but with my old SDcard. IIRC, I didn't with the new 128GB u3 Samsung card. Is this a known issue that would be resolved by factory reset with new card? If so, I'll dismantle the mounting and do the needful.

Did you reset to factory default during bench testing?
 

EMPIRETECANDY

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@giomania I did factory reset while benchtesting, but with my old SDcard. IIRC, I didn't with the new 128GB u3 Samsung card. Is this a known issue that would be resolved by factory reset with new card? If so, I'll dismantle the mounting and do the needful.
Make a hard reset on the camera, this model you are the first guy report to me about the day/night can't be switched. If hard reset still no change,then the camera's hardware have some problems
 

Parity

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I cannot get IR to work on this camera. I have tried smartIR, manual, changing to night/day, colour/b&w etc and there is no difference with IR on or off. Looking at the camera itself I can not see the IR's on. I have factory reset this camera and still the problem persists. Software I am running is: 2.622.0000000.31.R, Build Date: 2018-08-13

I have a bunch of other Dahua cameras. like an SD1A203T, an SD49225T, an HDBW4231F-E2-M and the IR all functions perfectly, I can disable/enable it through the direct camera settings and there is a noticeable difference. However with the 5231 there is no change whatsoever is there something I may be missing here or is this camera DoA?
 

fenderman

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I cannot get IR to work on this camera. I have tried smartIR, manual, changing to night/day, colour/b&w etc and there is no difference with IR on or off. Looking at the camera itself I can not see the IR's on. I have factory reset this camera and still the problem persists. Software I am running is: 2.622.0000000.31.R, Build Date: 2018-08-13

I have a bunch of other Dahua cameras. like an SD1A203T, an SD49225T, an HDBW4231F-E2-M and the IR all functions perfectly, I can disable/enable it through the direct camera settings and there is a noticeable difference. However with the 5231 there is no change whatsoever is there something I may be missing here or is this camera DoA?
Test with a short premade cable. Could be a power issue
 

Parity

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Test with a short premade cable. Could be a power issue
Thanks for the reply. I just took the camera down, tried it on another PoE switch, with short (7ft) brand new cables and it has the same result. I tested it in our media room which can be made pitch black, and I can't see anything. Other cameras in this environment can see everything. I even opened it up to see if there was a cable loose but could see nothing out of the ordinary.

edit: Just tried rolling back to an older firmware, same issue, back to current firmware and still the same.
 
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fenderman

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Thanks for the reply. I just took the camera down, tried it on another PoE switch, with short (7ft) brand new cables and it has the same result. I tested it in our media room which can be made pitch black, and I can't see anything. Other cameras in this environment can see everything. I even opened it up to see if there was a cable loose but could see nothing out of the ordinary.

edit: Just tried rolling back to an older firmware, same issue, back to current firmware and still the same.
Does the ir light illuminate?
 

carbonita

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[2018dec23 update: Schedule profile Day with Camera > Conditions > Day&Night > Mode (color) works]
[2018dec19 update: Schedule profile does not resolve issue.]

Hard reset yesterday (hold reset button 10sec through and after power applied), no improvement at daybreak (remained in B&W mode). Profile is "Normal" -- I wonder if using "Schedule" would fix.

Make a hard reset on the camera, this model you are the first guy report to me about the day/night can't be switched. If hard reset still no change,then the camera's hardware have some problems
 
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xdq

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Hey all,

I've been fiddling with the settings of my HDW5231R-ZE a little bit, just for fun and noticed something. And i'm not sure if this is normal.

Firmware: 2.640.0000002.0.R, Build Date: 2018-05-23

Normally i could set the bit rate settings to a max of 10240 Kb/s, but went with the 8192 Kb/s as i always do with the camera's.

Yesterday i changed the fps to 25 and the i-frames to 50 instead of my normal 14 fps with 28 i-frames. Changed the bit rate to Customized, and now i could set it to a max of 40960 Kb/s ???
Yes I've noticed this too. IIRC it occurs with the xx.640.xx firmware but not the xx.622.xx firmware. I know the latest GoPro records at up to 78Mb/s and my dashcam goes past 25Mb/s so it's not unimaginable that a security camera could record at 40Mb/s. I think the difference may be that without concerns over battery life and with better cooling capacity (not being stuck in a sealed plastic case) the IP camera can afford to compress to image at a higher profile reducing the resulting bitrate.... I'm happy to be corrected if anyone has a better understanding!
 

myipcam

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What is the recommended frequency of scheduled reboots? My IPC-HDW5231R-ZE did not switch to color during the daytime today, which a manual reboot resolved. Previously was rebooting once a week.
Does the performance degrade if the camera is not rebooted every week? Why reboot?

If it is rebooting on a schedule and doesn't come up while I am on vacation for more than a week... ??

Normally, I would be able to power cycle / troubleshoot but during vacation -the time I really want them to work without fail, don't want to try rebooting etc., if they are working properly.

Can someone share their thoughts on this?
 

Aajjoo

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Does the performance degrade if the camera is not rebooted every week? Why reboot?

If it is rebooting on a schedule and doesn't come up while I am on vacation for more than a week... ??

Normally, I would be able to power cycle / troubleshoot but during vacation -the time I really want them to work without fail, don't want to try rebooting etc., if they are working properly.

Can someone share their thoughts on this?
My cameras have been running for four months straight now without rebooting. Haven’t had any issues at all.



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myipcam

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My cameras have been running for four months straight now without rebooting. Haven’t had any issues at all.

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That's what I thought. But I don't know enough about the device to understand why some are rebooting them on a schedule..?
 

looney2ns

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If you are not having any issues with the cam, don't have them rebooting weekly. It may well create what you fear, that they fail just when you need them.
I have cams that have ran for 6 months without a reboot. No problems.
 

inference

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I'm planning on buying a few of these (plus some 8M ones for the front of the house where there's good street lighting and we mainly want to monitor daytime activity). One challenge is getting POE to the garage, which has power but no scope for ethernet cabling from the house. I'm planning on having two cameras mounted on the outside of the garage (either 2 x hdw5231r-ze, or 1 of these plus an 8M).
I'm planning on using EOP from my router to the garage, then once I have ethernet connect the cameras via POE injectors . At the garage end, I'm undecided whether to have two POE connections or one POE socket and an old router in slave mode to connect the 2 cameras.

Am I likely to forego any of the ZE's 'extras' using this sort of setup compared with connecting directly to the NVR? Also, does anyone have any advice on injectors that will work well with these cameras?

@EMPIRETECANDY, if you see this, when are you expecting white back in stock?
 

myipcam

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I'm planning on buying a few of these (plus some 8M ones for the front of the house where there's good street lighting and we mainly want to monitor daytime activity). One challenge is getting POE to the garage, which has power but no scope for ethernet cabling from the house. I'm planning on having two cameras mounted on the outside of the garage (either 2 x hdw5231r-ze, or 1 of these plus an 8M).
I'm planning on using EOP from my router to the garage, then once I have ethernet connect the cameras via POE injectors . At the garage end, I'm undecided whether to have two POE connections or one POE socket and an old router in slave mode to connect the 2 cameras.

Am I likely to forego any of the ZE's 'extras' using this sort of setup compared with connecting directly to the NVR? Also, does anyone have any advice on injectors that will work well with these cameras?

@EMPIRETECANDY, if you see this, when are you expecting white back in stock?
Do you have the same house somehow??? Because, this is exactly what I am trying to accomplish AND face same challenge(s). Well, we don't have street lighting exactly. Instead each house has "post lights" in the lawns and almost everyone leaves them ON during night.

I want to get a Higher resolution camera too. After reading materials and interacting with members here, the solid advice is to go for 2MP starlight cameras. That's what I am doing and it makes sense as low light performance is what I really NEED but, high-res is what I WANT. :)
Maybe later on...

In any event, I have similar issue with garage as it is finished. No choice but to cut holes in drywall to get inside to run cables. I would suggest you do the same. EOP may be good as I don't have any experience. But general suggestion here is to run an extra line along with one you need for future use. What that means to me is that it requires location planning far in advance. And, that's where I am stuck trying to optimize location(s)/Camera(s).
Let us know of you progress.
 

myipcam

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No attic access to allow fishing down through the walls? What about running surface conduit or a raceway on the inside of the garage?

As for cameras, I'm setting up a new system myself. From everything I've seen, 5231R-ZE cameras will make a solid foundation. Once those are in place, I'll fill in with other cameras for more specialized needs - front door, LPR, etc. With that approach, you may find that you don't necessarily need higher MP cameras for some coverage, just different focal length lenses on lower resolution cameras.
In my situation, there is a way around this as the joists run perpendicular to the garage doors so, I CAN fish it through ceiling to get to planned location. Just that if it would be SO much easier to do it before insulation and drywall.
 

holland53

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I didn't read through the entire thread, so I'm not sure if any posters encountered this.

I was just in the process of mounting this camera on a PFB203W wall mount. After I attached the pedestal to the wall mount, I found that I couldn't get the camera enclosure to slip back onto the pedestal, even with the set screw completely out. It was on there before - so I'm a bit flummoxed as to why it doesn't just slip back on.

Is there something I'm missing, or do I just need to keep fiddling with it?
Pedestal Issue.jpg
 
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