Camera Feed Just Turned All White

[Seth-11]

We have 5 Amcrest cameras on a job site, and the feed from one of the outdoor cameras just turned all white, but only during daylight hours

During a very short period of time during dawn and dusk, the video feed is fine. But after dawn when the sun comes up the video bleaches all white, nothing can be seen.

At dusk the video feed is fine, but when the sun fully goes down and night vision switches on, there is some limited black and white visibility, but not even close to what is was before..

Amcrest cameras have excellent color night vision, and there is plenty of lighting in the parking lot so that the night vision never came on at night. We got perfect color video at night before this happened

I was thinking maybe a software glitch over exposed the video during daylight hours, but then that glitch should be visible during other hours of the day and night.

Anyone have any clues?

 

[looney2ns]

Have you tried rebooting the camera?

 

[bigredfish]

We have 5 Amcrest cameras on a job site, and the feed from one of the outdoor cameras just turned all white, but only during daylight hours

During a very short period of time during dawn and dusk, the video feed is fine. But after dawn when the sun comes up the video bleaches all white, nothing can be seen.

At dusk the video feed is fine, but when the sun fully goes down and night vision switches on, there is some limited black and white visibility, but not even close to what is was before..

Amcrest cameras have excellent color night vision, and there is plenty of lighting in the parking lot so that the night vision never came on at night. We got perfect color video at night before this happened

I was thinking maybe a software glitch over exposed the video during daylight hours, but then that glitch should be visible during other hours of the day and night.

Anyone have any clues?

It sounds like the Exposure setting got messed up/changed.

For instance:
Here's a camera that I normally run at 0-2ms Exposure during the day



here's with the Exposure set to 1/30

 

[Seth-11]

That' was my first assessment, but I would think a over exposure would be evident at all hours of the day. During 2- 3 hours per day the video feed is normal

The exposure settings are only changeable from the Windows desk top app, which is on another PC not located where I'm at now. Otherwise I would have checked that out immediately. All I have at the moment is the android app.

But I'm wondering how a software setting could have screwed up without the software itself being modified, but I'm no expert in this field.

I'll have to get the Amcrest software located on the PC, and go over the video adjustments.

Thanks for the input

 

[wittaj]

The firmware can get wonky.

Which camera model is it - It likely can be configured via a web browser and that would be preferable over the software.

 

[TonyR]

That' was my first assessment, but I would think a over exposure would be evident at all hours of the day. During 2- 3 hours per day the video feed is normal

The exposure settings are only changeable from the Windows desk top app, which is on another PC not located where I'm at now. Otherwise I would have checked that out immediately. All I have at the moment is the android app.

But I'm wondering how a software setting could have screwed up without the software itself being modified, but I'm no expert in this field.

I'll have to get the Amcrest software located on the PC, and go over the video adjustments.

Thanks for the input

Which model Amcrest is it? If it's not one of the "Smart Home" cameras like the ASH-21 then it could have an embedded webGUI and all you'll need is to open a browser to the camera's IP address to make adjustments.

 

[bigredfish]

That' was my first assessment, but I would think a over exposure would be evident at all hours of the day. During 2- 3 hours per day the video feed is normal

The exposure settings are only changeable from the Windows desk top app, which is on another PC not located where I'm at now. Otherwise I would have checked that out immediately. All I have at the moment is the android app.

But I'm wondering how a software setting could have screwed up without the software itself being modified, but I'm no expert in this field.

I'll have to get the Amcrest software located on the PC, and go over the video adjustments.

Thanks for the input

It definitely WILL be different with that same exposure in lower light times like Dusk and Dawn. It will react exactly like that

 

[Seth-11]

The firmware can get wonky.

Which camera model is it - It likely can be configured via a web browser and that would be preferable over the software.

It's the Amcrest 5MP Turret IP PoE Camera. Not the recent AI version. These cameras are about 4- 5 years old.

How do I access the configuration panel through a web browser?. I know I can access my router that way, but didn't know the cameras software was available through a web browser

 

[Seth-11]

It definitely WILL be different with that same exposure in lower light times like Dusk and Dawn. It will react exactly like that

I guess my next step must be to access the settings through the PC app

 

[Seth-11]

Have you tried rebooting the camera?

No I have not, that's another option that does work with other electronics

 

[Seth-11]

It sounds like the Exposure setting got messed up/changed.

For instance:
Here's a camera that I normally run at 0-2ms Exposure during the day
View attachment 224712


here's with the Exposure set to 1/30
View attachment 224713

That looks like my problem. So then it's possible for software to screw up on its own, without anyone changing it from the app?

 

[Seth-11]

Which model Amcrest is it? If it's not one of the "Smart Home" cameras like the ASH-21 then it could have an embedded webGUI and all you'll need is to open a browser to the camera's IP address to make adjustments.

It's the Amcrest 5MP Turret IP PoE Camera. Not the recent AI version.

 

[wittaj]

It's the Amcrest 5MP Turret IP PoE Camera. Not the recent AI version. These cameras are about 4- 5 years old.

How do I access the configuration panel through a web browser?. I know I can access my router that way, but didn't know the cameras software was available through a web browser

That doesn't tell us much as they sell many 5MP versions - some can only be configured with an app while others are true IP cameras with a GUI accessible from a web browser)..

If you know the IP address of the camera, open up a web browser (preferably internet explorer) and type in the IP address of the camera and that will pull up the login screen and do the settings there.

 

[Seth-11]

That doesn't tell us much as they sell many 5MP versions - some can only be configured with an app while others are true IP cameras with a GUI accessible from a web browser)..

If you know the IP address of the camera, open up a web browser (preferably internet explorer) and type in the IP address of the camera and that will pull up the login screen and do the settings there.

Net Analyzer gives me the IP address of my cameras. I'll try that and let you know.

 

[Seth-11]

That doesn't tell us much as they sell many 5MP versions - some can only be configured with an app while others are true IP cameras with a GUI accessible from a web browser)..

If you know the IP address of the camera, open up a web browser (preferably internet explorer) and type in the IP address of the camera and that will pull up the login screen and do the settings there.

The Amcrest app also gives the IP address, DUH

I did get to a Amcrest login page and tried twice to log in, but the page told me incorrect name or password and locked me out twice after several failed attempts

I know exactly what the user name is (admin) and I copied the password correctly, unless a space was accidentally added.

I'm not using Internet Explorer, but tried Chrome and Opera

At least I made a little progress. There is a option to access the camera settings. I'll keep trying

 

[Seth-11]

That doesn't tell us much as they sell many 5MP versions - some can only be configured with an app while others are true IP cameras with a GUI accessible from a web browser)..

If you know the IP address of the camera, open up a web browser (preferably internet explorer) and type in the IP address of the camera and that will pull up the login screen and do the settings there.

Success

The gamma was turned up high, but there is no way to tell yet if this works until tomorrow when the sun comes up. There are a few other settings I can play with tomorrow

Thanks for the help wittaj

 

[wittaj]

A high gamma could do it!

 

[bigredfish]

That could make it bright I guess. complete white out?

I still think you need to learn about and dial in the exposure settings

 

[Seth-11]

That doesn't tell us much as they sell many 5MP versions - some can only be configured with an app while others are true IP cameras with a GUI accessible from a web browser)..

If you know the IP address of the camera, open up a web browser (preferably internet explorer) and type in the IP address of the camera and that will pull up the login screen and do the settings there.

Success

The gamma was turned up high, but there is no way to tell yet if this works until tomorrow when the sun comes up. There are a few other settings I can play with t

That could make it bright I guess. complete white out?

I still think you need to learn about and dial in the exposure settings

Yes, there are a few different settings, including "exposure" but it's not immediately obvious what the settings should be because it's not a "white out" at the moment

I'll play with it tomorrow morning

 

[Seth-11]

That could make it bright I guess. complete white out?

I still think you need to learn about and dial in the exposure settings

I will look into that when the sun comes up today.