Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

[essjay]

Hi guys,

Any suggestion on how to get better image quality as if I'm honest I'm not blown away so far. On the video below it looks OK as it's small but expand it to a higher resolution and it's not very sharp. Have to admit my cheap Hikvision 2335 3MP was sharper.

I have two LED floods also lighting the area.

FPS: 20
iFrame Interval: 40
Bit Rate 8192

Max zoom and auto focused.

Picture
Brightness: 45
Contrast: 60
Saturation: 50
Sharpness: 60
Gamma: 50

Exposure
Anti-flicker: Outdoor
Mode: Manual
Shutter: 1/120
Gain: 50 - 100
Auto Iris and 3DNR both on
Grade: 40

Backlight
OFF

WB
Auto


IR Light
SmartIR

 

[aristobrat]

Have to admit my cheap Hikvision 2335 3MP was sharper.

With a 12mm lens on it? (that's what this 5231 is zoomed in at, right?)

 

[essjay]

The 2335 was a 6mm lens. I have the 5231 zoomed all the way so about 12mm. The Hik looked sharper but obviously had a wider field of view from the same location.

 

[fenderman]

Leave shutter on auto

 

[ndstate]

I thought I remember reading that there are non-varifocal versions of this camera? Is that true? What are the model numbers? Thanks.

Edit: found it Dahua Starlight Fixed Lens Turret (IPC-HDW4231EM-AS)

 

[aristobrat]

The 2335 was a 6mm lens. I have the 5231 zoomed all the way so about 12mm. The Hik looked sharper but obviously had a wider field of view from the same location.

I'm not sure if you've seen this, but triump202 has done some 5231 tuning in the post below. Hopefully clicking on the little arrow to the right of his name will take you to the post...

I've been doing some more comparisons with the 2335FWD-I 6mm to the Dahua 5231R-Z Varifocal Starlight 2MP.

 

[triumph202]

Hi guys,

Any suggestion on how to get better image quality as if I'm honest I'm not blown away so far. On the video below it looks OK as it's small but expand it to a higher resolution and it's not very sharp. Have to admit my cheap Hikvision 2335 3MP was sharper.

I have two LED floods also lighting the area.

FPS: 20
iFrame Interval: 40
Bit Rate 8192

Max zoom and auto focused.

Picture
Brightness: 45
Contrast: 60
Saturation: 50
Sharpness: 60
Gamma: 50

Exposure
Anti-flicker: Outdoor
Mode: Manual
Shutter: 1/120
Gain: 50 - 100
Auto Iris and 3DNR both on
Grade: 40

Backlight
OFF

WB
Auto


IR Light
SmartIR

Did you have them both set on the same exposure times- 1/120 is really going to limit your night vision.

I've found the 5231 better optically because it has the electronic focus. My 2335 6mm I had to pull apart and refocus. It appeared to be set up for close up focus,starting to go out of focus after about 6m distance. I refocused it but it does now have softer focus at close distances (eg. up to 3m roughly.) With the 5231 you point it at the desired area and it will auto focus, so you don't have that problem.

The 2335 has better contrast and saturation at night and possibly is a bit better in low light. The 5231 lacks contrast and trying to adjust the contrast up results in noise in the shadows. I think the 5231's aperture varies with the focal length, so you'll be putting it at a disadvantage by having it zoomed right in. I can leave my 2335 with the same settings for day and night; the 5231 adjusted for best results at night gives dark shadows during the day. (I use visible flood light at night- they both will generally stay in colour mode.)

The 5231's inbuilt IR sucks at wider angles as the light is concentrated in the centre of the image. A lesser camera (eg. one of my Hik DS-2CD2342WD-I 4MP 4mm cameras) will give better results in total darkness comparing them both using their inbuilt IR and looking towards the edges of the image.

(That's what I've found anyway.)

 

[bigredfish]

The 2335 was a 6mm lens. I have the 5231 zoomed all the way so about 12mm. The Hik looked sharper but obviously had a wider field of view from the same location.

Agree with setting shutter to auto.

Also have you tried leaving it in forced color mode?

 

[mordak]

I got my cameras installed today. 2 of them are working great. 1 camera is flashing white to normal every 1 second.

Any ideas what the problem is? I tried factory resetting them all, and they all have the same setting. Is it defective?

It looks like this:

 

[aristobrat]

I would try taking down the flashing camera, bring it inside, and hook it up to the switch with a short, pre-made cable ... see if it flashes then. May be a cable issue?

 

[SquareEyes]

The .gif is a great way of demonstrating the issue. Very cool.

 

[cainrand]

I got my cameras installed today. 2 of them are working great. 1 camera is flashing white to normal every 1 second.

Any ideas what the problem is? I tried factory resetting them all, and they all have the same setting. Is it defective?

It looks like this:

I would guess at a sensor issue first and try turning off Auto white balance or exposure if you have that option. I don't have these cameras though and I have never seen one do this so as I said, just taking a guess.

 

[mordak]

I unplugged it to let it reboot, and it acts normal for 1-2 minutes, then the white flashing starts every 1 second.

 

[essjay]

Did you have them both set on the same exposure times- 1/120 is really going to limit your night vision.

I've found the 5231 better optically because it has the electronic focus. My 2335 6mm I had to pull apart and refocus. It appeared to be set up for close up focus,starting to go out of focus after about 6m distance. I refocused it but it does now have softer focus at close distances (eg. up to 3m roughly.) With the 5231 you point it at the desired area and it will auto focus, so you don't have that problem.

The 2335 has better contrast and saturation at night and possibly is a bit better in low light. The 5231 lacks contrast and trying to adjust the contrast up results in noise in the shadows. I think the 5231's aperture varies with the focal length, so you'll be putting it at a disadvantage by having it zoomed right in. I can leave my 2335 with the same settings for day and night; the 5231 adjusted for best results at night gives dark shadows during the day. (I use visible flood light at night- they both will generally stay in colour mode.)

The 5231's inbuilt IR sucks at wider angles as the light is concentrated in the centre of the image. A lesser camera (eg. one of my Hik DS-2CD2342WD-I 4MP 4mm cameras) will give better results in total darkness comparing them both using their inbuilt IR and looking towards the edges of the image.

(That's what I've found anyway.)

Thanks for the info. I'll try leaving it on color tonight. The 5231 looks completely washed out with additional LED floods as and I can't seem to darken/contrast it enough for my satisfaction.

In fairness though I don't need to force it to stay in color mode. With the LED floods it'll stay in color by default.

 

[triumph202]

Thanks for the info. I'll try leaving it on color tonight. The 5231 looks completely washed out with additional LED floods as and I can't seem to darken/contrast it enough for my satisfaction.

In fairness though I don't need to force it to stay in color mode. With the LED floods it'll stay in color by default.

Try turning the saturation up a bit on the 5231 - that helps a bit with the washed out look (without affecting night noise levels or daytime vision.) It just seems to be a characteristic of the firmware in the Dahua, the 2335 Hik has the more natural looking night scenes.

To give you an idea of how much difference there is in the firmware, below are typical settings for my 5231 vs 2335. The 5231 seems very sensitive to anything but small contrast changes from the 50% mark.

I turn the contrast down on the Hik to improve the vision in the shadows (day and night) and the saturation up on the Dahua to help with the washed out look.

 

[essjay]

Yeah so color mode is not so bad at night. I did enable WDR @ 50% to "see through" some of the shadows being cast by the LED's when are shining directly downwards.

WDR looks awful during the day at that setting though.

 

[bigredfish]

Yep, looks like you have enough white light there to do the trick.

You may have to trim back the WDR at night to allow for a better daytime image- unless you have separate Day/Night profiles which would allow you you to specify different values for WDR for the two different conditions...

I typically want WDR off at night as it tends to create motion blur, but your scene doesnt look too bad.

 

[triumph202]

Yeah so color mode is not so bad at night. I did enable WDR @ 50% to "see through" some of the shadows being cast by the LED's when are shining directly downwards.

WDR looks awful during the day at that setting though.

You've got a lot of light there and it's evenly spread. Any idea what the exposure time was in that clip?

Whenever I've tried WDR at night it doesn't seem to have improved things- I'd be interested to know what settings you're using?

 

[omegatek]

So I bought a pair of these cameras back in January of this year. 1 of my cameras has stopped working. I swapped it with my other just to make sure it wasn't a wiring issue or power. Nope, even after swapping locations, it still doesn't work and the other one in the new location does. I know it gets power too cause the IR is working, meaning I see them when I'm outside my house. What are my options here? Should I contact the seller Empire Tech. on Aliexpress?

 

[fenderman]

So I bought a pair of these cameras back in January of this year. 1 of my cameras has stopped working. I swapped it with my other just to make sure it wasn't a wiring issue or power. Nope, even after swapping locations, it still doesn't work and the other one in the new location does. I know it gets power too cause the IR is working, meaning I see them when I'm outside my house. What are my options here? Should I contact the seller Empire Tech. on Aliexpress?

have you tested the non working one using a short cable...sometimes when you install a replacement you move the cable and connector so the fact that that the new one is working does not evidence a defective camera...if it is defect contact empire...he is a member here.. did you properly seal the connections when mounting?