DS-2CD2035FWD-I and WDR

Hey Guys,
I just got 2 of the above cameras and installed them yesterday. First off, these are a huge upgrade from the prior generation camera (comparing to a DS-2CD2032F) - the night performance is really good.

I noticed an odd issue with one of the cameras though. I have some LED lighting on my patio and it seems to create issues with WDR. It appears as if there is a swarm of gnats that follows the light path of the patio lights. It does this in a wave starting from the lowest lights and cycles to highest lights. It will do this regardless of WDR value and cycle all night. If I turn WDR off, it stops.

The camera on the front of the house does not have this issue, but I also don't have those types of lights there. Since I just got these, I want to make sure the camera is not defective. I am hoping this is just a bug/quirk with WDR and those patio lights.

It is running firmware 5.4.5 build 170123

Here is a video showing the issue: WDR Artifacts.mp4

At what value / setting do you have WDR set at? I can assert the issue you're having is not one that my 2035fwd exhibits - with that said, I typically don't find WDR very helpful at night (and I have experimented with it with the 2035fwd).

dfhawk said:

I typically don't find WDR very helpful at night (and I have experimented with it with the 2035fwd).

Click to expand...

This is my experience as well, but then, I have low-light scenarios as I live in the boonies. I have scripts set up which turn on WDR at sunrise, and off again at sunset.

I tried settings from 0 to 100 - no change. I am guessing the lighting on the patio is causing the issues, but only a guess. I could try swapping the cameras, but this one is on the eave of a second floor so not that easy of a swap.

With WDR off, it works just fine so that might be the best route. I also didn't notice any real improvements using WDR, but I just want to make sure the camera is ok and does not have a defect.

It almost looks like the sync rate of the camera, and the sync rate of the LED lighting, is off ever so slightly, which causes a "rolling" effect.... sort of a video camera equivalent of the "wagon wheel effect" you see on videos ()

Under your "Image" tab, can you check to see if your camera is set to 50 or 60Hz?

I'm wondering if your camera is processing at 50Hz and your LED lighting is 60Hz.

I have it set to NTSC (60hz). For what it is worth, the camera in the front of the house is configured the exact same.

It is interesting, if you watch the black "cloud" it follows the light output of the LEDs on the patio almost to a T. Maybe the LED output of the patio lights is on a different frequency? It is also odd that this only happens with WDR enabled.

Yeah, that's why I think you're seeing some form of "optical illusion" similar to a wagon-wheel effect. What is your shutter speed set to? If you adjust your shutter speed, will the cloud motion change?

Maybe the cloud is really there, and your camera/led lighting has discovered a new alien life form on earth.

Current exposure is 1/30 - I will mess with it tonight and see if it has an impact.

My wife thought the same thing - we have evil spirits on the patio...

Wasn't there a ST:TNG episode where a bunch of "nanites" looked like a small swarm of bugs, and they ate the computer core of the ship?

There you go. They're eating your deck. You need an exterminator, not ipcamtalk