Dahua IPC-HDW5442T-ZE 4MP Varifocal Turret - Night Perfomance testing

[looney2ns]

All

Quick update.

I concluded about 2 hours of capture testing tonight using the latest test FW (7/31). Unfortunately the IR on this is still too strong center of image on SmartIR/Auto IR even when using Auto Iris. I have passed the feedback and my suggested tweaks to IR to @EMPIRETECANDY and Dahua who continue to work on resolving this FW issue, THANK YOU !

I did want to share my results at 2 main exposures to help others if they want to dial in using Manual IR only (I show how to do this with IR, HLC and other combinations in my original night videos for reference but wanted to focus on IR only adjustments on this FW test here).

I did some testing with Manual IR so I could let you know what the IR strength needs to be at center of image with targets as close as 6ft to 8ft away. All testing was completed at full wide because at full zoom you are just benefiting from IR drop-off and distance of target to camera. Please bear in mind that as always your location may need little more tweaking but this should get you close. Here are those results:

• When running exposure 1/60 and using 1 x 60w bulb to light the scene then the IR needs to be dialed down to strength 16 at 6-8ft
• If you run this same exposure (1/60) with IR only then you can run between 26 and 40 maximum for IR strength
  
  
• If you move to an exposure of 1/100 with IR and using 1 x 60w bulb to light the scene then you can run up to a max of 25 strength
• If you run this same exposure (1/100) with IR only then you can increase to a maximum of 40 for IR strength. You could push this to 50 but then start to see a little too much washout for my liking at this distance

HTH. Will continue to test and report back

I'm seeing the same with mine with the 7/31 firmware.

 

[PlexApex]

Thanks for the kind words. I meant 6 inches as I said it should be 6” lower than I had it

At what height is it mounted? I didn't catch that detail. Thanks for the excellent review of this new varifocal camera. I appreciate it!

 

[nhs128]

Am I missing it, or does this not have Starlight? The night vision still looks amazing, I just want to be sure I am happy prior to swapping from 5231.

 

[bigredfish]

Starlight is simply a marketing term Dahua uses. They apply it to a wide range of low light cameras. Yes it is Starlight rated by Dahua.

 

[Zimberto]

Am I missing it, or does this not have Starlight? The night vision still looks amazing, I just want to be sure I am happy prior to swapping from 5231.

Be sure you have a fair amount of light at night in order to use color mode otherwise you won't be much better off. I found that out the hard way. Once I installed a floodlight I'm back to where I was with the 5231 but with color at night, which is of course much better. However I honestly don't notice any change in video detail from the increase in pixels.

As always, buy one and try it before buying more.

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

The stock come a little delay, we can ship out this model later this week, Friday or Saturday.
Shipping speed has badly slow again, due to the HONGKONG bad infection cases increasing. Lots of airline cancel again.
For the US orders we use FEDEX World wide Priority now, looks speed is great.

 

[bigredfish]

The 5442 is head and shoulders better in low light than the 5231 series. Times have changed

 

[Zimberto]

The 5442 is head and shoulders better in low light than the 5231 series. Times have changed

it should be better at viewing heads and shoulders. Honestly though, b&w performance using inbuilt IR emitters is similar to the 5231. Color with supplementary light is where it really shines.

 

[im327]

I have three 5442 cameras and all of them are way better in low light with just ir than my 5231.

 

[RevJoe]

I have been playing some with mine it looks pretty good. Currently running the end of may firmware.

 

[Zimberto]

I have three 5442 cameras and all of them are way better in low light with just ir than my 5231.

in what ways? For instance I still see the same degree of motion smear. Running top resolution, 25fps, 8000kbps CBR.

 

[im327]

I took Wildcat_1's advice and set hlc at 90 and manually turned down ir somewhere between 21 and 40 for me.
I think it depends on the scene. It looks kind of dark but when a person shows up I can now really see the face.
i also set shutter speed to 1/60 th.

 

[Wildcat_1]

Glad that helped and as I mentioned in my latest update above I also give a few tips on adjusting just with IR strength too.

I took Wildcat_1's advice and set hlc at 90 and manually turned down ir somewhere between 21 and 40 for me.
I think it depends on the scene. It looks kind of dark but when a person shows up I can now really see the face.
i also set shutter speed to 1/60 th.

 

[im327]

Your videos were the only thing that helped me to finally get a good face shot.
It's really what is most important to me.

 

[David L]

in what ways? For instance I still see the same degree of motion smear. Running top resolution, 25fps, 8000kbps CBR.

Just curious, do you have the new Vari-focal or a fixed 5442? Wildcat_1 has some manual IR adjustment suggestions that may help you on the Vari-focal until firmware fixes.

 

[EMPIRETECANDY]

Yes, we work with @looney2ns and @Wildcat_1 on this firmware, the 2nd one has some improvemnt, but still need some further updating, dahua RD center is working on it.
Here is what we working for.
At night in low light you have to set an exposure to get a decent image. Leaving to Auto will have the camera attempt to adjust BUT when you leave to auto the camera will drop the exposure and shutter speed to such a low level you introduce too much motion blur. Therefore the miminum you want to run is 1/60 (for slow moving targets like people) and 1/100 for slow moving vehicles and slightly faster moving people.
No we need Auto IR / Smart IR mode BUT as I mentioned ot you the other day need 1/60 and 1/100 working
They need around 1 week can finish this, maybe this Friday we can get this firmware. Will post here for downloading soon when everything is going good.

 

[mech]

Thanks for all the work that went into your video and the tuning tips. If you have time, can you post a daytime photo with a person at long distance? I have an upcoming project where I want to do general monitoring of a large outdoor area. The objective is to verify, for example, did someone assault a kid at the basketball court 150ft away, and if so, approximately what did they look like (clothing, height, ethnicity) and did they have a vehicle (if so, what color/type). Or is the kid making up a story? That was one of the questions posed to me this summer by the police, and I'm arranging to bridge to a neighbor's house with a pair of Ubiquiti NanoBeams to get coverage of that area.

So I'm curious what a person looks like at 50 meters and beyond. Another candidate camera would be the 8MP Hik turrets Andy sells, but the varifocal aspect of this one is attractive.

 

[Zimberto]

Just curious, do you have the new Vari-focal or a fixed 5442? Wildcat_1 has some manual IR adjustment suggestions that may help you on the Vari-focal until firmware fixes.

I have the vari-focal. As I mentioned, I have now installed a floodlight and have stopped using IR. I'm very happy with the camera's night color performance and won't be going back to IR. My point is that anyone doing a direct replacement of a 5321 will not be wowed by the new camera out-of-the-box today. I appreciate that work is progress to improve the default settings.

 

[aristobrat]

Thanks for all the work that went into your video and the tuning tips. If you have time, can you post a daytime photo with a person at long distance? I have an upcoming project where I want to do general monitoring of a large outdoor area. The objective is to verify, for example, did someone assault a kid at the basketball court 150ft away, and if so, approximately what did they look like (clothing, height, ethnicity) and did they have a vehicle (if so, what color/type). Or is the kid making up a story? That was one of the questions posed to me this summer by the police, and I'm arranging to bridge to a neighbor's house with a pair of Ubiquiti NanoBeams to get coverage of that area.

So I'm curious what a person looks like at 50 meters and beyond. Another candidate camera would be the 8MP Hik turrets Andy sells, but the varifocal aspect of this one is attractive.

Would be interesting to see what you think of Dahua's DORI specs vs. how you personally find the snapshot to be.

Zoomed in all the way, Dahua's DORI values have the Recognize distance at 52 m/85.3 ft and the Identify distance at 13m/42.7 ft.

 

[looney2ns]

Thanks for all the work that went into your video and the tuning tips. If you have time, can you post a daytime photo with a person at long distance? I have an upcoming project where I want to do general monitoring of a large outdoor area. The objective is to verify, for example, did someone assault a kid at the basketball court 150ft away, and if so, approximately what did they look like (clothing, height, ethnicity) and did they have a vehicle (if so, what color/type). Or is the kid making up a story? That was one of the questions posed to me this summer by the police, and I'm arranging to bridge to a neighbor's house with a pair of Ubiquiti NanoBeams to get coverage of that area.

So I'm curious what a person looks like at 50 meters and beyond. Another candidate camera would be the 8MP Hik turrets Andy sells, but the varifocal aspect of this one is attractive.

Doubt this camera has the lense to do that. If you end up in court with said video, you need to be able to get face ID.
Take a look at this: IPVM Camera Calculator V3
You will need something with more zoom ability. You dont need 8mp.