DS-2CD2132-I Night settings?

[JoshCCTV]

What should I do to impove the night settings of getting facial shots. it just doesn't look good. If this camera won't work what should I be running. Thanks Josh

 

[fenderman]

@JoshCCTV Welcome to the forum! Is the smart IR on? if so disable it...turn up the noise reduction...that area seams very dark..you will need to add more lighting or more IR...
The new hikvision 4mp cameras are much better in the dark...You might also try a 1.3mp camera as they are better in low light.

 

[Dreamboat]

It seems for me the IRC filter does not work properly. Do a simple test - during a day come close to the camera then cover it entirely with a hand. If you hear the "clicking" noise of moving the IRC filter when going to night mode it should be OK. If you don't hear anything, better return the camera for repair.

 

[wxman]

It seems for me the IRC filter does not work properly. Do a simple test - during a day come close to the camera then cover it entirely with a hand. If you hear the "clicking" noise of moving the IRC filter when going to night mode it should be OK. If you don't hear anything, better return the camera for repair.

I don't know, looks like the IRC is working to me, unless the brighter area in the middle of the porch over to the side of the car is due to an external visual light (ie. porch light or light coming out of a house window). If there's no ambient light enhancement in that area, then it would have to be the IR light that's being seen.

Granted, this is the 2132 Dome version, which has much less IR light than the other designs.

If you confirm that the camera is seeing the IR light, then you've got several options to make it better.


1. Make sure your "gain" setting is at 100. Lower values will significantly darken the image at night.

2. Make sure the Smart IR is off

3. Keep the exposure shutter speed as slow as possible. At least 1/30...Preferably slower than that (1/12, 1/6 or 1/3). While the slower it is, the brighter the image will be, the slower values also cause more motion blur, so you'd have to find a good balance between improved light and worsened blur of a moving person. You may have to stick between 1/12 and 1/30 to keep the blur from getting too severe that you can't recognize the person.

4. You can try lowering the contrast in the image settings. The lower the contrast, the brighter the dark areas tend to be.

5. Try increasing WDR (wide dynamic range). This will brighten the image, but will also cause more noise, so you probably won't be able to increase it by much.

6. Add more light (either a standard porch light or an external IR light)

 

[JoshCCTV]

Such great information I'm sure others will benefit from this. Yes the center of the image is brighter and I'm assuming that is the IR's. The reason I like the dome where I'm at is we have a lot of spiders. They dent to love the bullet cameras, spinning webs and such all in front of the camera. It can tend to be a pain in the you know what having to clean them ever so frequently.

It is a really big challenge trying to capture facial shots at night time even with these HD cameras. I would have to say that usually the time when you need to record is at night!

I don't know, looks like the IRC is working to me, unless the brighter area in the middle of the porch over to the side of the car is due to an external visual light (ie. porch light or light coming out of a house window). If there's no ambient light enhancement in that area, then it would have to be the IR light that's being seen.

Granted, this is the 2132 Dome version, which has much less IR light than the other designs.

If you confirm that the camera is seeing the IR light, then you've got several options to make it better.


1. Make sure your "gain" setting is at 100. Lower values will significantly darken the image at night.

2. Make sure the Smart IR is off

3. Keep the exposure shutter speed as slow as possible. At least 1/30...Preferably slower than that (1/12, 1/6 or 1/3). While the slower it is, the brighter the image will be, the slower values also cause more motion blur, so you'd have to find a good balance between improved light and worsened blur of a moving person. You may have to stick between 1/12 and 1/30 to keep the blur from getting too severe that you can't recognize the person.

4. You can try lowering the contrast in the image settings. The lower the contrast, the brighter the dark areas tend to be.

5. Try increasing WDR (wide dynamic range). This will brighten the image, but will also cause more noise, so you probably won't be able to increase it by much.

6. Add more light (either a standard porch light or an external IR light)

 

[wxman]

Oh yeah, I'm all too aware of the spider problems. Got some webs covering some of my cams now. They're the most aggravating things!

 

[MrFixit]

I don't know, looks like the IRC is working to me, unless the brighter area in the middle of the porch over to the side of the car is due to an external visual light (ie. porch light or light coming out of a house window). If there's no ambient light enhancement in that area, then it would have to be the IR light that's being seen.

Granted, this is the 2132 Dome version, which has much less IR light than the other designs.

If you confirm that the camera is seeing the IR light, then you've got several options to make it better.


1. Make sure your "gain" setting is at 100. Lower values will significantly darken the image at night.

2. Make sure the Smart IR is off

3. Keep the exposure shutter speed as slow as possible. At least 1/30...Preferably slower than that (1/12, 1/6 or 1/3). While the slower it is, the brighter the image will be, the slower values also cause more motion blur, so you'd have to find a good balance between improved light and worsened blur of a moving person. You may have to stick between 1/12 and 1/30 to keep the blur from getting too severe that you can't recognize the person.

4. You can try lowering the contrast in the image settings. The lower the contrast, the brighter the dark areas tend to be.

5. Try increasing WDR (wide dynamic range). This will brighten the image, but will also cause more noise, so you probably won't be able to increase it by much.

6. Add more light (either a standard porch light or an external IR light)

Camera setting are very subjective, What works for one may not work for another. Every environment is different that said here are the settings that work best for me without any additional lighting I mean complete darkness---

Brightness=52
Contrast=52
Saturation=52
Hue=50
Sharpness=42
WDR=15
Noise Reduction Level=60
Exposure Time=1/30
Smart IR=ON

Try these settings and see what happens, Like I said every environment is different so there is no golden egg when it comes to this stuff. I been tweaking my cameras for some time now in order to dial them in. This takes lots of time to get right. You just have to do the painful trial and error to get them dialed in & I know this will seem impossible after a while but its the only way to get the setting right for you environment.

Hope this helps

 

[JoshCCTV]

I'm going to give this a shot in a couple of min and upload the pic


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JoshCCTV]

So here is the result of the camera setting changed. These camera's are actually not useful at all capturing night images in total darkness. I really want to figure out a setup that I can actually "identify people on the property!

- - - Updated - - -

any suggestions?

 

[MrFixit]

Can you post screen shots of all your camera setting? There still seems to be to much noise. Have you tried turning off WDR at night to see if that helps?? I can tell you one thing that's not helping you is the reflection from the car license plates with the IR hitting them. There are so many variables, We need to see your settings in order to try and help any further. How are the day shots???

 

[fenderman]

Have you disabled smart IR? You need to add more IR light or more natural light..Install some exterior lighting, or move to a lower resolution 1.3mp camera or to the new hikvision 4mp cameras

 

[JoshCCTV]

Yes I'm going to send some screen shot of settings and also day time pictures.

I want to probably ad some more ipcams to the setup. Do you think I should try different brand?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tradertim]

Hi guys can you please help me.

1. First problem with my nighttime photo for an 2132 with 2,8mm lens.

Fenderman thanks for the technical report for the IR bled. I surgically cleaned both the inside and outside of the dome, and cleaned the lens and it got rid of most of the IR bled.

I suspect you guys are going to say
- change camera - not an option unless the hole pattern is the same as i drilled into my new soffets.
- IR illuminator (not the prettiest looking things are they guys?)

2. I suspect I might have been better off with a 4mm lens but I was needing to cover the plastered concrete nib walls as they get mysteriously damaged.
I made a newbie mistake never thinking that you wouldnt be able to pan the field of view. I can tilt the lens up and down vertically, and tilt the horizontal plane for slope soffets but i cant on these chinese 2 axis cameras pan to the left.

I have a 4mm lens coming for the front door and landing so I could swap out the driveway to a 4mm from the current 2.8mm.

I currently get car number plates from 15m away so its not bad.

Comments welcomed 4mm or stay 2.8mm.

My settings and a photo is below.
cheers guys.

video type = video & audio
resolution 1920*1080p
bitrate type variable
video quality highest
frame rate 15
max bit rate 4096
video encoding h264
profile main profile
frame interval 15
svc off
switch day and night - auto switch
image adjustment all 50
iris mode manual
exposure time 1/12
gain 20
day night switch auto
sensitivity 0
filtering time 30
smart IR off
backlight settings WDR on
wide dynamic level 20
white balence awb1
digital noise reduction on
noise reduction level 100
video adjustment
mirror off
rotate off
video standard 50hz
capture mode off

 

[tradertim]

Hi guys can you please help me. <br>
<br>
1. First problem with my nighttime photo for an 2132 with 2,8mm lens.<br>
<br>
Fenderman thanks for the technical report for the IR bled. I surgically cleaned both the inside and outside of the dome, and cleaned the lens and it got rid of most of the IR bled.<br>
<br>
I suspect you guys are going to say <br>
- change camera - not an option unless the hole pattern is the same as i drilled into my new soffets. <br>
- IR illuminator (not the prettiest looking things are they guys?) <br>
<br>
2. I suspect I might have been better off with a 4mm lens but I was needing to cover the plastered concrete nib walls as they get mysteriously damaged. <br>
I made a newbie mistake never thinking that you wouldnt be able to pan the field of view. I can tilt the lens up and down vertically, and tilt the horizontal plane for slope soffets but i cant on these chinese 2 axis cameras pan to the left. <br>
<br>
I have a 4mm lens coming for the front door and landing so I could swap out the driveway to a 4mm from the current 2.8mm. <br>
<br>
I currently get car number plates from 15m away so its not bad. <br>
<br>
Comments welcomed 4mm or stay 2.8mm. <br>
<br>
My settings and a photo is below. <br>
cheers guys. <br>
<br>
video type = video &amp; audio <br>
resolution 1920*1080p<br>
bitrate type variable <br>
video quality highest <br>
frame rate 15 <br>
max bit rate 4096 <br>
video encoding h264 <br>
profile main profile <br>
frame interval 15 <br>
svc off <br>
switch day and night - auto switch <br>
image adjustment all 50 <br>
iris mode manual <br>
exposure time 1/12<br>
gain 20 <br>
day night switch auto <br>
sensitivity 0 <br>
filtering time 30 <br>
smart IR off <br>
backlight settings WDR on <br>
wide dynamic level 20 <br>
white balence awb1 <br>
digital noise reduction on <br>
noise reduction level 100 <br>
video adjustment <br>
mirror off <br>
rotate off <br>
video standard 50hz <br>
capture mode off <br>
<br>
<br>
<br><strong>
</strong><img class="previewthumb" id="vbattach_4397" alt="" src="attachment.php?attachmentid=4397&amp;stc=1" attachmentid="4397"><br><br type="_moz">

 

[fenderman]

Aim the camera further down so that no ir reflects off the soffit...
Lower wdr to 10, increase the gain to at least 50, put the exposure back to 1/30 (1/12 may be good for a still shot, but once something is moving not so much)...

 

[tradertim]

Aim the camera further down so that no ir reflects off the soffit...
Lower wdr to 10, increase the gain to at least 50, put the exposure back to 1/30 (1/12 may be good for a still shot, but once something is moving not so much)...

Hi fender thanks.

Clearly you think some IR reflection is affecting the clarity?

:-( I will lower the cam and miss out on the view of the water.

Sure I'll try those other suggestions. Hope my black spots isnt a lens issue.
Re the axis adjustment there's a few traps for players eh.

Do you think i'd be better off with a 4mm for that application or 2.8mm okay?

Wish i'd known about the 4mp lux improvements before buying another 2132, and for the drive as it would have been worth it I think. As you can see I dont get much street light as its a long drive from the street.

Do you happen to know if the hole pattern of the 4mp matches the 3Mp, I'd guess too much to hope for?

 

[Razer]

Nothing you do will make a camera give amazing wonderful images in complete total darkness, at least without some external IR illumination or something. Cameras with IR will help give you some light in the middle but overall the shot will be dark and not good enough to capture faces well. The cheapest and easiest thing to do is to get external lights. If you do not want a light burning all the time then get a motion activated security light or two. Then the light will kick on, people look around at the light and you'll be getting great images of them on the camera.

I have over 1,100 cameras and roughly 900 of those are outdoor cameras so I have daily experience with shots outside and lighting is the number one improvement you can make. My default camera setup is noise reduction between 90 and 100 and gain at 90. Shutter speed at 1/30th and at times in really dark areas I have to get it down to 1/12th. I normally have some external light so I actually fully disable the internal IR light so as to avoid spiders, I have no time to keep 900 cameras clean lol!

Asphalt sucks up light, and IR over a dark asphalt image is close to useless. I am very, very happy with the night images of the Hikvision cameras and I have tried many brands and cameras. My old license plate cameras were a "best" option at night and cost $850-$1000 or so a piece and I replaced them with Hiks. Vastly superior images over many other cameras regardless of price, but you have to have realistic expectations for your area of coverage. If there is not enough light then there is not enough light and it will have to be added, or you'll have to be content with darker images than is ideal sadly.

Remember the entire camera only pulls 5w of power, there is no way for the 1-2 watts going to the cameras IR to fully illuminate an outdoor area completely. Now indoors with white walls it can do a lot, but outdoors not so much.

 

[tradertim]

Hey Razer thanks a lot for your 2c. I will definitely invest in some PIR + auto lights on.

 

[fenderman]

Hey Razer thanks a lot for your 2c. I will definitely invest in some PIR + auto lights on.

I would leave the lights on all the time..that way you dont lose the image when the camera transitions between day and night mode...you will get an overall better capture. Use led bulbs and a timer like this or a dusk to dawn sensor. http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-Eco...pebp=1438129930245&perid=1ZMREPFYHRAV7HX546AK it uses your coordinates to compute sunrise sunset.

 

[MrFixit]

Nothing you do will make a camera give amazing wonderful images in complete total darkness, at least without some external IR illumination or something. Cameras with IR will help give you some light in the middle but overall the shot will be dark and not good enough to capture faces well. The cheapest and easiest thing to do is to get external lights. If you do not want a light burning all the time then get a motion activated security light or two. Then the light will kick on, people look around at the light and you'll be getting great images of them on the camera.

I have over 1,100 cameras and roughly 900 of those are outdoor cameras so I have daily experience with shots outside and lighting is the number one improvement you can make. My default camera setup is noise reduction between 90 and 100 and gain at 90. Shutter speed at 1/30th and at times in really dark areas I have to get it down to 1/12th. I normally have some external light so I actually fully disable the internal IR light so as to avoid spiders, I have no time to keep 900 cameras clean lol!

Asphalt sucks up light, and IR over a dark asphalt image is close to useless. I am very, very happy with the night images of the Hikvision cameras and I have tried many brands and cameras. My old license plate cameras were a "best" option at night and cost $850-$1000 or so a piece and I replaced them with Hiks. Vastly superior images over many other cameras regardless of price, but you have to have realistic expectations for your area of coverage. If there is not enough light then there is not enough light and it will have to be added, or you'll have to be content with darker images than is ideal sadly.

Remember the entire camera only pulls 5w of power, there is no way for the 1-2 watts going to the cameras IR to fully illuminate an outdoor area completely. Now indoors with white walls it can do a lot, but outdoors not so much.

Great info, Thanks for sharing. I totaly agree with you on "Asphalt sucks up light" and it also seems to create more noise as a result. I have 6 cameras and all the settings are the same but for some reason this camera in my driveway looks like garbage with night footage, Lots of noise and I have tried everything short of adding external lights and turning off IR. Could you post your other camera settings like brightness, saturation, sharpness, Ect. Also do you use WDR and if yes whats your settings for both day & night?

Thanks for taking the time...