Dahua IPC-HFW8630E-Z 6MP Ultra Smart Bullet

essjay

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@aristobrat suggested that I should start a thread on the HFW8630E-Z and post some videos so you guys can see what the Starvis sensor is like on a 6MP camera.

So first up I had some difficulty getting this camera working and tbh I still haven't figured out what the issue is/was. Essentially I was only getting 2fps, max 2500 bit rate most of the time and when I did occasionally get better "bandwidth" the video was breaking up. I was running it from the same CAT6 cables that my 5231's were using so I don't think it was a network issue on my side but I'm not ruling anything out. A ping test only showed 1% dropped packets in 400+ pings. All that said, the camera seems to be stable for me now a couple of weeks. I'm not sure what fixed it but it did seem to right itself at the exact time of a power cut so make of that what you will..... I can't explain it.

As a camera/form factor it looks identical to my HFW5231E-Z5. It's 6MP and unless you have a 4K monitor I think this camera is a waste of time. I've been looking at it for a while and not being able to figure out why (to me) the picture from my HDW5231E-Z was better. Then it dawned that I was viewing a native 1080p camera on a 1080p monitor against a 6MP camera scaled down to fit on a 1080p monitor. Essentially if you don't have the monitor to view the videos in their native resolution then the camera is not of much use over say a 5231. If you are viewing the videos below on a 4K monitor, make sure to go full screen and that 4K quality is selected.

In the videos below I have some external lighting. Two x 30w LED floods on a dusk to dawn sensor. Each light claims to put out 2400lm and they are mounted around 18ft (ish) off the ground, just under the eves of a two story house. (The lights - Solla® 30W LED Flood Lights Outdoor Security Lights, Waterproof IP65, 2400lm, Warm White, Floodlight,Wall Washer Light: Amazon.co.uk: Lighting). As a note, I think might lights are too high. In the videos with no IR (2 & 3) you can see shadows being cast. I think a lower level light would help with that.

Some videos. 6MP, 30fps, 10240 bitrate. I think any slowness or stutter in the videos might be due to the PC struggling a little (only a suspicion). It's an i7 4790.

IR - Manual (near 10, far 33). Brightness 45, contrast 65, saturation 50, sharpness 60, gamma 50. Exposure Shutter Priority 1/30

IR Off. Brightness 45, contrast 65, saturation 50, sharpness 60, gamma 50. Exposure auto

Colour. Brightness 45, contrast 65, saturation 50, sharpness 60, gamma 50. Exposure Shutter Priority 1/30
 

mat200

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..
Then it dawned that I was viewing a native 1080p camera on a 1080p monitor against a 6MP camera scaled down to fit on a 1080p monitor. Essentially if you don't have the monitor to view the videos in their native resolution then the camera is not of much use over say a 5231..
Remember to zoom into the details you may need if you only have 1080p monitor ;)

Also, even if you have a 1080p monitor you can still provide better images to the police if needed.
 

mastarpaster

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Can it capture moving cars license plates in the night?

Inviato dal mio SM-G930F utilizzando Tapatalk
 

MacFun

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@aristobrat suggested that I should start a thread on the HFW8630E-Z and post some videos so you guys can see what the Starvis sensor is like on a 6MP camera.

So first up I had some difficulty getting this camera working and tbh I still haven't figured out what the issue is/was. Essentially I was only getting 2fps, max 2500 bit rate most of the time and when I did occasionally get better "bandwidth" the video was breaking up. I was running it from the same CAT6 cables that my 5231's were using so I don't think it was a network issue on my side but I'm not ruling anything out. A ping test only showed 1% dropped packets in 400+ pings. All that said, the camera seems to be stable for me now a couple of weeks. I'm not sure what fixed it but it did seem to right itself at the exact time of a power cut so make of that what you will..... I can't explain it.

As a camera/form factor it looks identical to my HFW5231E-Z5. It's 6MP and unless you have a 4K monitor I think this camera is a waste of time. I've been looking at it for a while and not being able to figure out why (to me) the picture from my HDW5231E-Z was better. Then it dawned that I was viewing a native 1080p camera on a 1080p monitor against a 6MP camera scaled down to fit on a 1080p monitor. Essentially if you don't have the monitor to view the videos in their native resolution then the camera is not of much use over say a 5231. If you are viewing the videos below on a 4K monitor, make sure to go full screen and that 4K quality is selected.

In the videos below I have some external lighting. Two x 30w LED floods on a dusk to dawn sensor. Each light claims to put out 2400lm and they are mounted around 18ft (ish) off the ground, just under the eves of a two story house. (The lights - Solla® 30W LED Flood Lights Outdoor Security Lights, Waterproof IP65, 2400lm, Warm White, Floodlight,Wall Washer Light: Amazon.co.uk: Lighting). As a note, I think might lights are too high. In the videos with no IR (2 & 3) you can see shadows being cast. I think a lower level light would help with that.

Some videos. 6MP, 30fps, 10240 bitrate. I think any slowness or stutter in the videos might be due to the PC struggling a little (only a suspicion). It's an i7 4790.

IR - Manual (near 10, far 33). Brightness 45, contrast 65, saturation 50, sharpness 60, gamma 50. Exposure Shutter Priority 1/30

IR Off. Brightness 45, contrast 65, saturation 50, sharpness 60, gamma 50. Exposure auto

Colour. Brightness 45, contrast 65, saturation 50, sharpness 60, gamma 50. Exposure Shutter Priority 1/30
A 1% packet loss is not normal.

R
 

essjay

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So the camera has ceased working again. Blue Iris only receiving 0.1 fps and bitrate at around 2000 - 2500 even though it's set to 8000 or 10000. It's not a BI issue as it's the very same form the cameras web UI.

I'm decommissioning this camera. Too unreliable.
 

j4co

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A 1% packet loss is not normal.

R
Well, a camera should not give priority to answering icmp packets.
I work in IT and seen very expensive cisco Nexus switches drop icmp packets if you do that against the control plane. When you test through it, they never drop one packet. (Speaking of 10GE links there)

I do not want to say the cable or camera could not be bad here, just that you cannot expect all devices to always respond to an icmp ping.
 

MacFun

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I work in IT as well, developing software primarily. I'm not a networking expert but I've had to troubleshoot thousands of network issues during my career. When pinging a network device (typically a Mac desktop client or router or server computer) it's extremely rare to see packet loss of any kind on our gig or 10gig networks. Perhaps ip cameras are less reliable in this regard but I would expect zero packet loss if the device is configured to respond to such requests.

Regards,

Robert
 

j4co

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I work in IT as well, developing software primarily. I'm not a networking expert but I've had to troubleshoot thousands of network issues during my career. When pinging a network device (typically a Mac desktop client or router or server computer) it's extremely rare to see packet loss of any kind on our gig or 10gig networks. Perhaps ip cameras are less reliable in this regard but I would expect zero packet loss if the device is configured to respond to such requests.
Yes, you normally can ping most things that are IP connected. And most of the time they should rspond for 100% of the requests. But if you miss 1 out of 400 you should not simply conclude it it the cable for example.

For this case it seems indeed the camera has issues. Not much reason why the rest of the chain would work for some time normal and than stop to behave normal.

I would take down the camera, use other cable and hook it up to other POE port and than test.
This seems the most easys way to rule out cable, switch/nvr port etc.
 

essjay

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This issue has appeared using multiple cables and PoE ports. I'm pretty sure it's not the cable. I have placed the camera in positions where I have other cameras running fault free for months, using their PoE cables etc and the issue has appeared. Granted this is the first camera with a 1GBs port.
 

j4co

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Perpaps ask for replacement camera ? Seems to be broken. Or does it overheat or somerhing ?
 
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