Changing shutter speed on a schedule?

[slickwillie1981]

Is it possible to change the SS/Exposure of a camera based on a schedule for time of day through ONVIF? I can manually change the SS/Exposure through my camera's web interface, but in ONVIF device manager, the values are grayed out. Are there other apps/generic software that allow adjusting camera imaging parameters -- perhaps based on a schedule? Is that a typical feature of a more expensive camera w/ a better firmware? I'm happy with the imaging performance of this camera, but to adequately adapt to changes in light while maintaining the right SS, I'd need probably three different cameras... (which still might be cheaper than one expensive camera...)

 

[pozzello]

what camera model? what NVR or recording software (eg, BI) is being used?

why do you need to control exposure setting based on time?

typically, one limits exposure (say no longer than 1/60th or 1/100th) of a second to minimize motion blur, especially at night.
but of course, during the day, 1/100s is WAY too long and would be overexposed so cams automatically adjust this as needed (unless locked in manual)

for license plates, as another example, one might run 1/500s or1/1000s at night both to minimize blur at car speed and to 'zone in' on the IR light reflecting off the plates. This tends to result in being able to see ONLY license plates and head/tail-lights.

in other words, unless you have a specific constraint, best to let the cam auto-adjust for the most part...

 

[slickwillie1981]

It's for license plates. Right now, I've got two cameras (one is basically dedicated for night and the other for day). Between the two, I get great shots on the respective cameras for most of their respective coverage times, but the twilight hours (the crossover) and extremely overcast days seem to cause issues with getting 100% coverage.

I'm using BI to record all the streams.

The cameras are dirt cheap, which is why I'm almost inclined to just run three of them:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074TBXWMQ/

I've also got a IR LED Floodlight for the night time setup.

 

[pozzello]

On my LPR cams (Huisun 1x mini-ptz's), I have the exposure set at 1/1000, but this acts as a 'maximum', not fixed.
So at night, it's as long as 1/1000, which is fine for plates with the IR and (low) gain settings,
but during the day (and dusk/dawn) it can use shorter exposures to avoid being completely over exposed.
I have no problems at dusk/dawn. a slight change in focus when the IR-cut filter is removed going into night mode,
but i deal with that using scheduled presets in BI (as the Huisun's include precise focus setting in the preset.)

perhaps the cheap-o cams only have a 'fixed' exposure setting? or maybe there is some combination of config settings that will
give you an effective 'maximum' exposure. I would suggest using BI to schedule changing exposure via ONVIF commands (BI does have 'shutter' options in the camera control event schedule options), but you mentioned your cams don't seem to support that...

 

[looney2ns]

It's for license plates. Right now, I've got two cameras (one is basically dedicated for night and the other for day). Between the two, I get great shots on the respective cameras for most of their respective coverage times, but the twilight hours (the crossover) and extremely overcast days seem to cause issues with getting 100% coverage.

I'm using BI to record all the streams.

The cameras are dirt cheap, which is why I'm almost inclined to just run three of them:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074TBXWMQ/

I've also got a IR LED Floodlight for the night time setup.

Please avoid those cams for your own sanity. Study this: Cliff Notes
And see here: LPR

 

[slickwillie1981]

So that's where you can push commands in BI! I figured there had to be a place to push commands on some type of schedule, but never seemed to see it referred to anywhere. Thanks guys!

 

[looney2ns]

So that's where you can push commands in BI! I figured there had to be a place to push commands on some type of schedule, but never seemed to see it referred to anywhere. Thanks guys!

Referenced in the BI help file that is built in.