2CD2342WD-I vs 2CD2332-I resolution

[Schmark]

First post here...

I just replaced a 2332 (2.8mm, FW V5.2.5 build 141201) with a 2342 (2.8mm, FW V5.3.3 build 150826). Reason for the replacement was higher resolution, more MP, and slightly wider FOV at max resolution.

However, I am disappointed with the resolution of the 2342 as shown in the two captures below. First one is 2332 (max resolution), followed by 2342 (also at max resolution). In the 2332, you can almost distinguish each grass blade, whereas in the 2342, the lawn is one big green blob. Is this a focus issue?

Also, the 2342 FW no longer has hue adjustment which I need as its colors are not as good as the 2332 colors. I was also told by the seller NOT do downgrade the 2342 FW to below V533. So I'm NOT happy with the 4MP unit and I'm thinking of reverting back to the 2332.

I also note the aspect ratio difference: the 2332 is 4:3 while the 2342 is 16:9.

Anyolne else care to share their resolution experiences with the 2342???

-S

 

[wxman]

I was originally planning to upgrade my 3mp to 4mp, but decided against it based on the reviews. It seems the 4mp upgrade was far from the "big improvement" that everyone was expecting.

That said, I don't recall seeing any examples of objects being blurrier on the 4mp, so it's possible that the lens may need refocusing on yours. Could also increase the sharpness setting to see if some of the blur goes away.

As far as the color goes, if there's no hue adjustment, you could try a different white balance setting. Perhaps playing around with the brightness, contrast, wide dynamic range and saturation may give better results as these settings all (to a small degree) can alter the shade of colors.

 

[foobar]

Hello, just bought my first HIK cam. Modell 2342. The IQ is like yours. I played a lot with the settings, but it seems there is no way to improve the IQ like your 2332.
I thought my cam is sharp, but when I looked at your 2332 example image .. :livid: .. its f***ing sharp. Don't know if these cams just have a bad sensor or maybe badly
factory-focused? Hum, is there no possibility to open the chassis and manually adjust (fine tune) the focus?

 

[badmannen]

To me it looks like the sharpness setting needs to be tuned first. There is no way it's a sensor problem since these squares are up to post sensor processing. I think you need to spend a bit more time with that. Also it is probably good to compare other things like motion "trails" (made up the word but you get my point. Normally a video camera is used to see moving objects. Perhaps not so good for counting the number of grass straws just sayin

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[badmannen]

Motion blur maybe it's called btw

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[Schmark]

... Hum, is there no possibility to open the chassis and manually adjust (fine tune) the focus?

There is and I found it at this link:
http://www.cam-it.org/index.php?topic=9907.0

I have not tried it yet, but once I have replaced the 2342 with a good old 2332, I will play with settings as recommended by wxman and perhaps consider opening it up.

-S

 

[aster1x]

I do not believe that you have a focusing problem. If you save the two pics and watch them with any application, look at the sliding gate at the left of the picture and at the pavement. At these distances and beyond the focusing should be optimal and indded the edges of the gate bars or the pavement bricks look sharp. What you see as "green blob" at the grass area is indeed compression artefacts. Ensure that the shutter speed of both cameras is at least 1/100 to minimize motion blurring. Also ensure the highest bitrate at both cameras and the video quality is set at the highest quality setting to minimize the H264 compression losses. Also ensure that you are comparing the images with the same compression algorithm. Even the same compression algorithm ay have been implemented differently at two camera models or firmwares.


In all cases, please quote in your post all the video and image settings to ensure that the conditions used for the captures are the same.

 

[Schmark]

I do not believe that you have a focusing problem. If you save the two pics and watch them with any application, look at the sliding gate at the left of the picture and at the pavement. At these distances and beyond the focusing should be optimal and indded the edges of the gate bars or the pavement bricks look sharp. What you see as "green blob" at the grass area is indeed compression artefacts. Ensure that the shutter speed of both cameras is at least 1/100 to minimize motion blurring. Also ensure the highest bitrate at both cameras and the video quality is set at the highest quality setting to minimize the H264 compression losses. Also ensure that you are comparing the images with the same compression algorithm. Even the same compression algorithm ay have been implemented differently at two camera models or firmwares.

In all cases, please quote in your post all the video and image settings to ensure that the conditions used for the captures are the same.

Thanks Aster1x and all others who chimed in. Below are the two camera setups and they appear as similar as possible. Both shutter speeds are 1/50s but my resolution issue is whith static objects, so should not be a factor. I am at a loss to understand why the 2342 (under)performs so differently from the 2332.

-S
= = = = = = = = =
2332
Resolution: 2048x1536 (main stream)
Bitrate type: variable
Video quality: highest
frame rate: 8 fps
Max bitrate: 2048
Video encoding: H.264
Profile: Main Profile (only option)
I Frame Interval: 50
SVC: OFF (Scalable Video Coding)

White Balance: AWB1
Digital Noise Reduction: ON
Noise Reduction Level: 50
BLC Area: OFF
WDR: OFF

2342
Resolution: 2688x1520 (main stream)
Bitrate type: variable
Video quality: highest
frame rate: 8 fps
Max bitrate: 3072 (50% more to account for 33% more pixels)
Video encoding: H.264 (only option)
H.264+: OFF <<- Not available on 2332
Profile: Main Profile (only option)
I Frame Interval: 50
Smoothing: 50 <<- Not available on 2332. Tried 1, no changes

White Balance: AWB1
Digital Noise Reduction: ON
Noise Reduction Level: 50
BLC Area: OFF
WDR: OFF

 

[aster1x]

So given the settings on both cameras are the same, then my conclusion would be that the compression settings of the 2342 camera do not suit the optical complexity of the grass texture.
One last chance, turn off DNR, WDR, smoothing (i.e. turn off all image "supposing" improvement features), and compare again.

 

[klasipca]

Have you tried with a higher bitrate?

 

[beepsilver]

Not sure if it's because your settings are set to variable and you're unable to change the iframes, but your iframes should match your fps. If it's grayed out while on variable, then the camera must handle that for you. Food for thought, some folks believe Constant is the way to go with these camera setups: https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/10504-h-264-constant-vs-variabel

 

[pghcamman]

For the mainstream setting you have currently your bitrate is way to low on the 2342. At those settings the bitrate would need to be around 5700. If you don't want to go that high keep all the settings where they are but change video quality to medium and set bitrate at 3420. Keep bitrate type as variable, iframe interval does no need to match fps but for the 4mp I like to lower it to 25. Hope this helps!

 

[Schmark]

So I changed the 2342 settings as follows:

Resolution: 2688x1520 (main stream)
Bitrate type: constant <<- changed from variable
Video quality: highest
frame rate: 8 fps
Max bitrate: 6144 <<- changed from 3072
Video encoding: H.264 (only option)
H.264+: OFF
Profile: Main Profile (only option)
I Frame Interval: 8 <<- changed from 50 (to match fps)
Smoothing: 1

White Balance: MWB <<- changed from AWB
- WB red gain: 50
- WB blue gain: 50
(this allows me to adjust colors, since there is no longer a hue slider)
Digital Noise Reduction: ON
Noise Reduction Level: 50
BLC Area: OFF
WDR: OFF

Before (4/19) and after (4/25) frame captures are below. Resolution has NOT improved, but color is better thanks to the MWB setting which gives control over the red and blue channels (in lieu of the hue slider).
Next I need to turn DNR off and see if it makes any difference.

Thoughts???

-S
= = = = = = =

 

[badmannen]

Try adjust the sharpness setting. I find on my camera where I have it it gives a better image with a value of 15-30

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[Kroegtijgertje]

You should update the 2342 cam to firmware version 5.3.8 for better image quality

 

[Schmark]

@Kroegtijgertje

Is image quality a well-known fix of version 5.3.8? Do you have a link of what that version does over prior versions?

-S

 

[Kroegtijgertje]

There's no official changelog for version 5.3.8, but compared to 5.3.3 the webinterface is changed and overall picture quality is better.

 

[Schmark]

@Kroegtijgertje

I noticed that you have a 2CD2342WD-I like I do. Would you be kind enough to post a day-time and a night-time image from that camera? Also all your video and image quality setups would be great.

Thanks

-S

 

[Kroegtijgertje]

Resolution: 2688x1520 (main stream)
Bitrate type: constant
Video quality: highest
frame rate: 20 fps
Max bitrate: 16384
Video encoding: H.264 (only option)
H.264+: OFF
Profile: Main Profile (only option)
I Frame Interval: 10
Smoothing: 10


Brightness: 50
Contrast: 45
Saturation: 50
Sharpness: 40

Smart IR: On
Mode: Auto

Shutterspeed: 1/25
Gain: 75
White Balance: Natural
Digital Noise Reduction: ON
Noise Reduction Level: 20
BLC Area: OFF
WDR: OFF

 

[Schmark]

Thanks for the setups and the photos. I must admit that the quality in your photos is far superior to the quality in mine.