Dahua 2MP Starlight Lineup

[Francisco73]

I am new here and maybe this is not the correct place for my case. I ordered IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E on line but received cameras that according to the box and info printed on the camera are IPC-HFW5231EP-Z12E. The box has dimensions for the camera that are not of IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E but the camera actually is about the size of IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E. The box claims that the lens is 5-60mm and thus not the lens that IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E has.

I have no idea of what this camera really is. It cannot identify a licence plate @20 m despite Dahuas DORI promise of 88 m identification. Should not 64mm lens be better? Night time performance is not what I expected of IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E but since day time is bad I have not used much time for playing with it night time.

Has anybody else bought this camera? Cannot find it on line except some Dutch shops. Thanks in advance.

 

[MixManSC]

Technically according to an official Dahua Datasheet http://la.dahuasecurity.com/download/DH-IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E_Datasheet_20170630.pdf IPS-HFW5231E-Z12E is a series of camera. There are 4 actual model numbers. Two with DH in front have Dahua branded firmware, the two without have unbranded firmware. The only other difference is whether it is a PAL or NTSC model - 5231EN or 5231EP. Regardless of all of that - they are really all the exact same camera - the only difference is the firmware loaded. You can load Dahua branded or unbranded firmware and you can load PAL or NTSC firmware (I think the newest firmware lets you select PAL or NTSC in the UI). According to the datasheet there is only ONE lens option and one physical size. It is possible there is a China market specific model though which might have different specs, different datasheet, and would need hacked firmware to display English. If you paid much under about $200 than I'd be suspect that it is either a hacked China market camera or a fake. Any legitimate international one (new) will be at least around $200 and probably closer to $250.

I'd suggest contacting whoever you bought it from.

Edit to add - apparently Dahua did make some minor changes at some point. A second datasheet does have very slightly different dimensions and weights.
http://www.cctvcentersl.es/upload/Catalogos/IPC-HFW5231E-Z12-S2_eng.pdf

 

[looney2ns]

As long as the sticker on the camera its self, has the correct model number on it, You have the correct cam. The additional P in the model number just means it's for the PAL system.

Read here on how to adjust the camera for your location.
Dahua IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E LPR Talk

Also the DORI Identify range stated is for a person's face, not a reflective license plate.

 

[looney2ns]

Dahua's data sheets generally have many errors in them.

 

[Francisco73]

Technically according to an official Dahua Datasheet http://la.dahuasecurity.com/download/DH-IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E_Datasheet_20170630.pdf IPS-HFW5231E-Z12E is a series of camera. There are 4 actual model numbers. Two with DH in front have Dahua branded firmware, the two without have unbranded firmware. The only other difference is whether it is a PAL or NTSC model - 5231EN or 5231EP. Regardless of all of that - they are really all the exact same camera - the only difference is the firmware loaded. You can load Dahua branded or unbranded firmware and you can load PAL or NTSC firmware (I think the newest firmware lets you select PAL or NTSC in the UI). According to the datasheet there is only ONE lens option and one physical size. It is possible there is a China market specific model though which might have different specs, different datasheet, and would need hacked firmware to display English. If you paid much under about $200 than I'd be suspect that it is either a hacked China market camera or a fake. Any legitimate international one (new) will be at least around $200 and probably closer to $250.

I'd suggest contacting whoever you bought it from.

Edit to add - apparently Dahua did make some minor changes at some point. A second datasheet does have very slightly different dimensions and weights.
http://www.cctvcentersl.es/upload/Catalogos/IPC-HFW5231E-Z12-S2_eng.pdf

 

[Francisco73]

Thank you for your reply. The box of the camera claims length of 366mm (366*176*178) and lens of 5-60mm. The length is not correct on the box but do not know about the lens. The data sheet you provided also states DORI identification of 88m and I only manage less than a fourth of 88m. The seller says that Dahua has printed wrong details on the box and camera but that does not in my opinion explain the fact that I cannot read a plate @ 20m. Should I do more than zoom to read a plate daytime?

 

[looney2ns]

Thank you for your reply. The box of the camera claims length of 366mm (366*176*178) and lens of 5-60mm. The length is not correct on the box but do not know about the lens. The data sheet you provided also states DORI identification of 88m and I only manage less than a fourth of 88m. The seller says that Dahua has printed wrong details on the box and camera but that does not in my opinion explain the fact that I cannot read a plate @ 20m. Should I do more than zoom to read a plate daytime?

Read and study the link I provided.

 

[Francisco73]

As long as the sticker on the camera its self, has the correct model number on it, You have the correct cam. The additional P in the model number just means it's for the PAL system.

Read here on how to adjust the camera for your location.
Dahua IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E LPR Talk

Also the DORI Identify range stated is for a person's face, not a reflective license plate.

I admit that I have only tried with default settings. Should the camera be able to identify a face or licence plate day time at 145ft? 145 ft of course still is a lot less than the promised 88 m.

 

[mat200]

Thank you for your reply. The box of the camera claims length of 366mm (366*176*178) and lens of 5-60mm. The length is not correct on the box but do not know about the lens. The data sheet you provided also states DORI identification of 88m and I only manage less than a fourth of 88m. The seller says that Dahua has printed wrong details on the box and camera but that does not in my opinion explain the fact that I cannot read a plate @ 20m. Should I do more than zoom to read a plate daytime?

FYI - the numbers I used for ID distance is based on 100 ppf ( that's about 300 ppm ) which is more pixels than Dahua uses when they calculate their DORI data - so do keep in mind that their DORI ranges will be longer than those many of us are using.

 

[Francisco73]

Read and study the link I provided.

Thank you for the link. Two questions:
1) Where can I adjust anti-flickering, shutter, gain and the rest? Do not find these under camera-exposure. I use Dahua NVR connected to a display=no browser.
2) The link has no settings for day time but somebody has nice image @145ft of person and plate. How to do it?

I am new as you can see. 145 ft day time and night time identification of people and possibly reading license plates is pretty much all I need.

Thanks.

 

[mat200]

Thank you for the link. Two questions:
1) Where can I adjust anti-flickering, shutter, gain and the rest? Do not find these under camera-exposure. I use Dahua NVR connected to a display=no browser.
2) The link has no settings for day time but somebody has nice image @145ft of person and plate. How to do it?

I am new as you can see. 145 ft day time and night time identification of people and possibly reading license plates is pretty much all I need.

Thanks.

Welcome Franciso73,

Q: 145 ft day time and night time identification of people and possibly reading license plates is pretty much all I need.
A: Look for a mega zoom capable Dahua OEM 2MP starlight PTZ. License plates are hard to read at night, so you may need another camera tuned just for that.

 

[Francisco73]

Welcome Franciso73,

Q: 145 ft day time and night time identification of people and possibly reading license plates is pretty much all I need.
A: Look for a mega zoom capable Dahua OEM 2MP starlight PTZ. License plates are hard to read at night, so you may need another camera tuned just for that.

First I need to learn how to use the existing cameras.

 

[mat200]

First I need to learn how to use the existing cameras.

Hi Francisco73,

Re:
Q: 145 ft day time and night time identification of people and possibly reading license plates is pretty much all I need.
A: Look for a mega zoom capable Dahua OEM 2MP starlight PTZ. License plates are hard to read at night, so you may need another camera tuned just for that.

If you are not yet ready for a reply to a question it would be useful to hold off on that question.

Thanks

 

[Francisco73]

Hi Francisco73,

Re:
Q: 145 ft day time and night time identification of people and possibly reading license plates is pretty much all I need.
A: Look for a mega zoom capable Dahua OEM 2MP starlight PTZ. License plates are hard to read at night, so you may need another camera tuned just for that.

If you are not yet ready for a reply to a question it would be useful to hold off on that question.

Thanks

I am thankful for the PTZ idea but if I understand the link correctly my existing cameras can identify people @ 145 ft and maybe even read plates at the same distance. The acute problem is not knowing where to adjust the shutter etc values. Obviously I would have the same problem with a PTZ.

 

[mat200]

I am thankful for the PTZ idea but if I understand the link correctly my existing cameras can identify people @ 145 ft and maybe even read plates at the same distance. The acute problem is not knowing where to adjust the shutter etc values. Obviously I would have the same problem with a PTZ.

Hi Francisco73,

Go to the ipvm calculator and check the results.

For ID purposes we recommend using 100 ppf, for license plates I like 80 ppf, others like 60-70 ppf.

 

[aristobrat]

x2 on seeing what the IPVM Camera Calculator V3 tool suggests the image should look like. =

 

[looney2ns]

Thank you for the link. Two questions:
1) Where can I adjust anti-flickering, shutter, gain and the rest? Do not find these under camera-exposure. I use Dahua NVR connected to a display=no browser.
2) The link has no settings for day time but somebody has nice image @145ft of person and plate. How to do it?

I am new as you can see. 145 ft day time and night time identification of people and possibly reading license plates is pretty much all I need.

Thanks.

Some of these settings should be adjustable via your NVR, but, you will get more out of the adjustments by doing so by disconnecting the camera from the NVR, then directly access the cameras configuration via a browser such as chrome.

 

[kiwibird]

What do you recommend for this situation.
Camera for getting details on a car driving up, at night with headlights on, likely aim for rear number plate.
Prefer wifi, variable zoom. Issue is burglar steals tools from parked car in the street.
Would love the colour of the car, but at night black and white mode only. Shown is a picture of the rear of the car at 4:50 am, and front at 4:49 am. The wagon in front is silver, so looks like the car is a dark colour.
The camera location will be at the bowl of the court, not the house shown at the side of the court.

Full video here Dropbox - Dahuja.20180716_044953_1 - Simplify your life

 

[guykuo]

You're going to need TWO cameras aimed at that location to capture both license plates and visual scene. No single camera will have enough dynamic range. So, the LPR camera's exposure and IR is set up to optimize license plates. It won't be able to see anything else. The 2nd camera would have exposure set up as usual for scenery. It simply will need to be two cameras with current camera physics. Take a look through the LPR threads.

I just went through this myself. One camera simply cannot capture both types of data.

 

[looney2ns]

What do you recommend for this situation.
Camera for getting details on a car driving up, at night with headlights on, likely aim for rear number plate.
Prefer wifi, variable zoom. Issue is burglar steals tools from parked car in the street.
Would love the colour of the car, but at night black and white mode only. Shown is a picture of the rear of the car at 4:50 am, and front at 4:49 am. The wagon in front is silver, so looks like the car is a dark colour.
The camera location will be at the bowl of the court, not the house shown at the side of the court.

Full video here Dropbox - Dahuja.20180716_044953_1 - Simplify your life

Read the LPR subject area of this forum. It's an art form.