How critical is Lux/Low light ability for night capture?

Bitslizer

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I have the Jidetech that looks exactly like the Leftek. 2.0 Mexapixel with supposed 20 x optical zoom. It has a nice crisp lens, I was able to use it for a row of parked cars as an LPR, but you had to decide which out of 8 spots you were going to make the focal point. So you cannot read all of them.
When it was in front and I set a focus in the drive way exit and set the shutter to about 500 not 2000 and went IR mode and played around with setting until I could get plates of slow movers in a parking lot. But never a car moving above 15-20 at my particular angle and location. Seems like the motion detection was starting its capture late, and so I had the pretrigger set on 10-15 sec. But it was blurred when i did get a plate. YMMV.
I ended up spending 259 for the Z-12. But i have not installed it yet. SO now I've spent $200 on the Jidetech, and $259 on the z12.
If Granny One-eye in her jalopy cruised by at a slow pace could i get her plate. But ffs she lives here. I screwed around with it for about 10-11 months and put it in a new location as a rear parking lot overwatch.
it was interesting to learn what wittaj said about PTZ's and autofocus issues and plate captures. mighta been why i struggled.
I only spent a $100 on my leftek. Let me share my setting with you to see if that helps your jidetek. I was going to do a proper write up anyway. 30mph is no problem I think 40mph is ok too. I have it on 24/7 recording, but need the video and not the snap shot as The jpg are only 640x480 and at 1fps miss the plate in frame quite often but the video would be crisp
 

Bitslizer

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I only recently get the MD recording linkage to work on the NVR, checked my MD recording and sure enough like you said its triggering late. But I use the JPG as a time stamp to look through the 24/7 recording and those were crisp
 

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Flintstone61

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Yes. That is what my user interface looks like as well. I'm not there at night to adjust the settings so it took quite a few days of fiddling around and then checking the next morning to see how it looked. I'm hoping it may catch
plates as it looks over the rear Parking Lot someday. But I did buy two more z-12's (used 5231's). 1 will most likely go on LPR duty.
 

Bitslizer

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Yes. That is what my user interface looks like as well. I'm not there at night to adjust the settings so it took quite a few days of fiddling around and then checking the next morning to see how it looked. I'm hoping it may catch
plates as it looks over the rear Parking Lot someday. But I did buy two more z-12's (used 5231's). 1 will most likely go on LPR duty.
I also brought 2x 5231-z12 from him as well. Were you able to get the white one or the brown one? I may leave the ptz aiming north and the other 2 cover South and South west if the 12x is enough zoom... Will have to test once they arrive.


Try setting the ptz to my setting and see if you are able to get plates at night?
 

Flintstone61

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He told me he was sending 2 white cameras. Either one woulda been ok...cuz if they go on LPR duty....they may need to be camo taped or brown, Or hiding in a lawn ornament like a Racoon or Gnome or something.
Thanks for posting your settings. I will try those. Maybe I'll get lucky. But either way it's not a bad camera for being a NOOB on Ipcamtalk. I'm learning. The camera survived the winter on the shady side of a North facing wall, with zero Sun. few nights we were -17 to -19 this year.
 

Bitslizer

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I have the Jidetech that looks exactly like the Leftek. 2.0 Mexapixel with supposed 20 x optical zoom. It has a nice crisp lens, I was able to use it for a row of parked cars as an LPR, but you had to decide which out of 8 spots you were going to make the focal point. So you cannot read all of them.
When it was in front and I set a focus in the drive way exit and set the shutter to about 500 not 2000 and went IR mode and played around with setting until I could get plates of slow movers in a parking lot. But never a car moving above 15-20 at my particular angle and location. Seems like the motion detection was starting its capture late, and so I had the pretrigger set on 10-15 sec. But it was blurred when i did get a plate. YMMV.
I ended up spending 259 for the Z-12. But i have not installed it yet. SO now I've spent $200 on the Jidetech, and $259 on the z12.
If Granny One-eye in her jalopy cruised by at a slow pace could i get her plate. But ffs she lives here. I screwed around with it for about 10-11 months and put it in a new location as a rear parking lot overwatch.
it was interesting to learn what wittaj said about PTZ's and autofocus issues and plate captures. mighta been why i struggled.
So I tried the 1/500 shutter speed and found the plate a little over exposed.... Trying 1/1000 to see if that's a happy middle.

Also moved the ptz to the second floor eave testing to avoid the neighbors car and trees
 

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Bitslizer

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I think you have nailed the elusive using a PTZ for LPR LOL.
Trying to get the last hurrah in before the second hand 5231e-z12 arrive then I will be busy playing with those :D

Seem the camera alternate between the near and mid marker as those are stronger reflection. But which ever one it focus on the car will pass by a zone where the camera will have focus on the plate. In the previous example, the plate we blurry when the plate enter the frame at the left but sharp when the plate get to the right as the focus was on the right side mid marker
 

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Since I will likely have 3 LPR to play with, planning my LPR placement. What do you guys prefer? #1 or #2?

#2 have the benefit that I can place some driveway marker near my front curb and also the LPR long range IR light would really supplement the 2.8mm at the same mount locations aim more or less along the same direction.
I have confirm I can get usable capture from the SE pointing camera

#1 I can try to catch both side of the T intersection to the southeast, I have already confirm the NE pointing camera I can get good capture

The Southwest T intersection will be iffy. It will be hard for me to place any focusing aid like reflecting tape so a Z12 where I can set the focus manually would be better than the PTZ, but I worry if the Z12 have enough zoom although the angle will be nearly 0
 

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wittaj

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If you use the sunrise/sunset utility a member here created, you will not need the reflectors for the Z12! Or you set up the schedule in the Z12 to go into night 45-60min before sunset.

And holy $#!+ BATMAN - send a LPR cam viewing from the backyard in between two houses! Now that is helping out the neighborhood.

#2 is the straighter shot, but since you have proven you can get good caps from #1 I would probably go with that.
 

Bitslizer

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If you use the sunrise/sunset utility a member here created, you will not need the reflectors for the Z12! Or you set up the schedule in the Z12 to go into night 45-60min before sunset.

And holy $#!+ BATMAN - send a LPR cam viewing from the backyard in between two houses! Now that is helping out the neighborhood.

#2 is the straighter shot, but since you have proven you can get good caps from #1 I would probably go with that.
Basically I have been testing the PTZ from my front porch on the NE corner of my house. I have pointed the PTZ at 12x NE (#1 pointing NE) and SE (#2 pointing SE) and I can get readable plate in both direction

We already had a case of some kids vandalizing one of the under construction home, along with neighbor reporting suspicious car that seem to be casing the neighborhood, but of course they are all Ring/Blink/Vivint/ADT nobody can get a plate :D

The reflector... If the backyard SW cam can work with a z12, then I would leave the PTZ at the NE corner of the house (moved from under the porch to the 2nd story eave) which would need the reflector

The irony is, Before I moved to this house, I used to live at the very pointy end of a cult de sac. Would have made the lpr so much simpler hah!
 
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Bitslizer

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@Flintstone61 Do you have this behavior on your jidetech too? Also what version is your firmware mine is
Version:V1.04.11-200828
Product info:IPD-E1B2Y18

Bitrate and I/P ratio.... at the default of 30fps and 30 I/P I can go CBR up to 2048 bit rate, any higher than that the video wouold randomly stutter and randomly have movement artificat/ghosts
If I do 30 I/P and 8192 bitrate the video would freeze altogether. If I change the I/P to 5, I can run CBR at 8192 and various bitrate and I/P combo in between. Seem about 4096 is a happpy medium between picture quality and bitrate, same scene with 2048 at 12x and 150 ft won't work although 18x would. 1024 everything is mushy.

still don't have a delivery date on my 5231-z12 from UPS yet... probably Wed I hope
 

Flintstone61

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I kinda gave up on mine. I should check the version for you tomorrow. It's out back pouting under a porch. Goose shit cam/ parking lot cam overwatch. what is I/P? like I frames? I'm at 15 fps with Subs turned off. It looks like the thing seems to record the sub and play the sub when i review footage. I am by no means versed with all the stuff in BI. Plus It's a work system. So i get like 45 minutes a day to goof with it.
 

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I kinda gave up on mine. I should check the version for you tomorrow. It's out back pouting under a porch. Goose shit cam/ parking lot cam overwatch. what is I/P? like I frames? I'm at 15 fps with Subs turned off. It looks like the thing seems to record the sub and play the sub when i review footage. I am by no means versed with all the stuff in BI. Plus It's a work system. So i get like 45 minutes a day to goof with it.
Yes basically I frame interval
 

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So my used z12 arrived. Tested one of them close by/next to the lefttek ptz

the 18x fov of the leftek is virtually the same as the 12x from the 5231-z12 lol...

Ptz have the x18 at the lower right, the z12 was shooting through a double pane window so that is not as sharp as it should be
 

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wittaj

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Yeah, the times zoom is a marketing term LOL. Focal lengths are more appropriate indicator.
 
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