I got lucky - and need to get lucky - here's why . . .

MarvinK's Cameras:
  1. 1 ea. EmpireTech IPC-T5442T-ZEB varifocal 4MP Black
  2. 1 ea. EmpireTech IPC-T2231T-ZS varifocal 2MP White
  3. 2 ea. Amcrest IP Camera Model IP5M-T1179EB-2MM Black
I'm in IPCAMTALK Wiki right now. How 'bout THAT. I learn quickly - if I've had enough sleep. :clap:
  1. Is the Dahua section where I get software for the EmpireTech cameras?
  2. The little sticker that came with the cameras says - for software and downloads go to https;/hub7 .cn/RNYD. However, that returns a very minor notice written in Chinese.
  3. So where actually do I get software and downloads?
  4. Are there actually any downloads I will need?
  5. What do I look for on Google Play Store for the 2 MP and 4 MP Android app while my Blue Iris server build is finishing up?
  6. Does 1 through 5 above also apply for the Amcrest cameras?
MarvinK
 
MarvinK said:
MarvinK's Cameras:
  1. 1 ea. EmpireTech IPC-T5442T-ZEB varifocal 4MP Black
  2. 1 ea. EmpireTech IPC-T2231T-ZS varifocal 2MP White
  3. 2 ea. Amcrest IP Camera Model IP5M-T1179EB-2MM Black
I'm in IPCAMTALK Wiki right now. How 'bout THAT. I learn quickly - if I've had enough sleep. :clap:
  1. Is the Dahua section where I get software for the EmpireTech cameras?
  2. The little sticker that came with the cameras says - for software and downloads go to https;/hub7 .cn/RNYD. However, that returns a very minor notice written in Chinese.
  3. So where actually do I get software and downloads?
  4. Are there actually any downloads I will need?
  5. What do I look for on Google Play Store for the 2 MP and 4 MP Android app while my Blue Iris server build is finishing up?
  6. Does 1 through 5 above also apply for the Amcrest cameras?
MarvinK
Click to expand...


Good choices. Answers in bold:

  1. Is the Dahua section where I get software for the EmpireTech cameras? The firmware is in the EmpireTech Andy subforum
  2. The little sticker that came with the cameras says - for software and downloads go to https;/hub7 .cn/RNYD. However, that returns a very minor notice written in Chinese. We never use those. Read the forum for how to set-up
  3. So where actually do I get software and downloads? From the EmpireTech Andy Subforum.
  4. Are there actually any downloads I will need? Most here do not update, especially once you hang the cameras up. Don't fix what ain't broke. Many times an update breaks something that worked for you. Ask many of us how we know, or search the forum for update disasters LOL.
  5. What do I look for on Google Play Store for the 2 MP and 4 MP Android app while my Blue Iris server build is finishing up? The DMSS app will run Andy's cams and the Amcrest Cams.
  6. Does 1 through 5 above also apply for the Amcrest cameras? Since Amcrest is Dahua OEM, basically the same apply. You would get firmware from Amcrest, but again why LOL.
 
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To save you some time, the cameras come with an IP address of 192.168.1.108

Most of us don't use the config tool cause it seems to cause more problems than it is worth.


Here is how most of us get the cameras to the IP address of our system:

The default IP address of the camera is 192.168.1.108, which may or may not be the IP address range of your system.

Unhook a computer or laptop from the internet and go into ethernet settings and using the IPv4 settings manually change the IP address to 192.168.1.100

1669932046040.png


Then power up your camera and wait a few minutes.

Then go to INTERNET EXPLORER (needs to be Explorer and not Edge or Chrome with IE tab) and type in 192.168.1.108 (default IP address of Dahua cameras) and you will then access the camera.

Tell it your country and give it a user and password.

Then go to the camera Network settings and change the camera IP address to the range of your system and hit save.

You will then lose the camera connection.

Then reverse the process to put your computer back on your network IP address range.

Next open up INTERNET EXPLORER and type in the new IP address that you just gave the camera to access it.

OR use the IPconfig Tool, but most of us prefer the above as it is one less program needed and one less chance for the cameras to phone home or for something to get screwed up.
 
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MarvinK said:
In researching the Western Digital (which I am partial to WD) I noticed it utilizes SMR technology vs IVS. That, I don't like. Is there another brand you might suggest looney2ns or anyone else? I realize WD was not suggested but I used that terminology in my question anyway.

MarvinK
Click to expand...

The WD purple uses CMR The WD blue uses SMR
The WD for NAS use SMR below 8TB
 
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nascompares.com

List of WD CMR and SMR hard drives (HDD)

List of WD CMR and SMR hard drives (HDD) If you know an SMR type of drive, share it with others in a table below! PMR, also known as conventional magnetic recording (CMR), works by aligning the poles of the magnetic elements, which represent bits of data, perpendicularly to
nascompares.com nascompares.com
 
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wittaj said:
To save you some time . . . most of us prefer the above as it is one less program needed and one less chance for the cameras to phone home or for something to get screwed up.
Click to expand...

Wow. This will take some brain work. Ouch. I thought I could just push a button, a little man would pop out with a new green hat, go to work, and when done trot on back to Ireland. I have no idea why I think everything in this world should be easy. I guess its part of my paralysis through analysis.

Flintstone61 said:
Avoid WD red and Blue for surveillance in small sized drives 4TB and under ( roughly)
Click to expand...

That I felt I knew because I have a blue in my OpenMediaVault server and recognized it to not be a good choice for Blue Iris. Purple 4TB it is as directed by the forum to upgrade to versus a 2TB. Thanks everyone.
 
Since you said in a previous post that you are ok with some ribbing LOL, here goes LOL....You really need to be asking yourself do you want quality cameras to capture quality video at night with motion OR do you want the simplicity scan a QR code and be tricked into thinking you have a good system (that is actually a security risk and crappy video with motion at night)?

The consumer grade Ring and Arlos and Reolink and Blink and whatever you can buy at a big box store sells just that - simplicity plug-n-play devices with very little ability to tweak settings. But that simplicity comes at the expense of usable video with motion, especially at night.

You are going down this and the Blue Iris path, so I think you are capable of using a browser and setting up the cameras, but if not, then you need to stick to the consumer grade quality and deal with the motion blur LOL and stay away from anything that is made by Dahua or Hikvision...

Any camera worth anything will allow you to set the camera parameters to get quality captures and that is going to be done thru a web browser into the camera GUI.
 
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Learning lesson number 3,423 LOL - you do not want to run these cameras on auto/default settings. When the perp comes by in the middle of the night, auto settings will fail you.

Here is my "standard" post that many use as a start for dialing in day and night that helps get the clean captures. These are done within the camera GUI thru a web browser.

Every field of view is different, but I have found you need contrast to usually be 6-8 higher than the brightness number at night.

We want the ability to freeze frame capture a clean image from the video at night, and that is only done with a shutter of 1/60 or faster. At night, default/auto may be on 1/12s shutter or worse to make the image bright.

In my opinion, shutter (exposure) and gain are the two most important parameters and then base the others off of it. Shutter is more important than FPS. It is the shutter speed that prevents motion blur, not FPS. 15 FPS is more than enough for surveillance cameras as we are not producing Hollywood movies. Match iframes to FPS. 15FPS is all that is usually needed.

Many people do not realize there is manual shutter that lets you adjust shutter and gain and a shutter priority that only lets you adjust shutter speed but not gain. The higher the gain, the bigger the noise and see-through ghosting start to appear because the noise is amplified. Most people select shutter priority and run a faster shutter than they should because it is likely being done at 100 gain, so it is actually defeating their purpose of a faster shutter.

Go into shutter settings and change to manual shutter and start with custom shutter as ms and change to 0-8.3ms and gain 0-50 (night) and 0-4ms exposure and 0-30 gain (day)for starters. Auto could have a shutter speed of 100ms or more with a gain at 100 and shutter priority could result in gain up at 100 which will contribute to significant ghosting and that blinding white you will get from the infrared or white light.

Now what you will notice immediately at night is that your image gets A LOT darker. That faster the shutter, the more light that is needed. But it is a balance. The nice bright night static image results in Casper blur and ghost during motion LOL. What do we want, a nice static image or a clean image when there is motion introduced to the scene?

In the daytime, if it is still too bright, then drop the 4ms down to 3ms then 2ms, etc. You have to play with it for your field of view.

Then at night, if it is too dark, then start adding ms to the time. Go to 10ms, 12ms, etc. until you find what you feel is acceptable as an image. Then have someone walk around and see if you can get a clean shot. Try not to go above 16.67ms (but certainly not above 30ms) as that tends to be the point where blur starts to occur. Conversely, if it is still bright, then drop down in time to get a faster shutter.

You can also adjust brightness and contrast to improve the image.

You can also add some gain to brighten the image - but the higher the gain, the more ghosting you get. Some cameras can go to 70 or so before it is an issue and some can't go over 50.

But adjusting those two settings will have the biggest impact. The next one is noise reduction. Want to keep that as low as possible. Depending on the amount of light you have, you might be able to get down to 40 or so at night (again camera dependent) and 20-30 during the day, but take it as low as you can before it gets too noisy. Again this one is a balance as well. Too smooth and no noise can result in soft images and contribute to blur.

Do not use backlight features until you have exhausted every other parameter setting. And if you do have to use backlight, take it down as low as possible.

After every setting adjustment, have someone walk around outside and see if you can freeze-frame to get a clean image. If not, keep changing until you do. Clean motion pictures are what we are after, not a clean static image.
 
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Since you're building a new system, might be worthwhile checking out the dual lens panorama cameras, I can't talk to their quality just yet though as I haven't received some I have on order yet, there are some deals posted around the recent threads, they give amazing visual coverage and might reduce the cameras needed overall if placed well, I think they are worth a look,
 
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wittaj said:
Since you said in a previous post that you are ok with some ribbing LOL, here goes LOL...
Any camera worth anything will allow you to set the camera parameters to get quality captures and that is going to be done thru a web browser into the camera GUI.
Click to expand...
Justified preface. NO I DO NOT WANT to do with SimpliSafe, Reolink, etc, etc. I enjoy tweaking and I believe since starting this project that Blue Iris, this forum, and quality cameras will not make my learning such a battle. I enjoy making the right choices. That is why I had to really evaluate taking the advice of people I have never met to trust, and, feel good about going way way way (and way one more time) over my budget so far. True, I am battling all the excellent expertise of this forum. So much to learn in order to make correct decisions. Could you more accurately drill down and point out the areas where I am burning the candle at both ends? I didn't think I was but evidently I am going two directions and didn't realize it. I am very serious about following this forum's advice to do whats right. I don't want to have years of battle with my system . . . I only want years of tweaking enjoyment and real life protection. My pleasure in life comes from everything DIY. Certainly not some joker coming in and poking around my house to see what items they'll come back and get later as an ulterior motive to installing a system for me. :mad:

P.S. - My reason for asking about Android app is so that I can go sit and have a restaurant hamburger, pull up my cameras, watch my dog, and watch my property while I am choking on too many french fries at one time and trying to wash it all down by drinking a diluted soft drink.
 
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wittaj said:
Learning lesson number 3,423 LOL - . . . After every setting adjustment, have someone walk around outside and see if you can freeze-frame to get a clean image. If not, keep changing until you do. Clean motion pictures are what we are after, not a clean static image.
Click to expand...
Good, good, good stuff. Between me, myself, and I, I should be able to pick one to stay inside and 1 to go out side and walk around. If not, then i'll resort to someone else, somebody else, or even ask a strange favor of a stranger, for the outside job, that is. I know my posts may get irritating but believe it or not it really helps me to unload some stress as long as others feel no offense. I can stop it, if it's too annoying. Man am I easy to get along with. Dang, there I go again.
 
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You have come to the right place, especially since you can take some ribbing LOL.

Most of us here enjoy the tinkering/tweaking aspect. Especially if you call an authorized Dahua Installer and get a quote for your system - then you start to feel real good!

This thread is full of great information and great links to get you back on track when you start burning on both ends.

Sure this system isn't as easy as an Arlo, but it is way more powerful and you will have great pride in what you have set up.

You can get the basics set up pretty quickly, especially if you just follow what we have said. Many have gone with that and then don't touch their system again.

But most of us like to tinker. I am always tweaking things around. I don't have to and my system would be just fine if I left it alone, but it is as much a hobby and trying to optimize performance than it is anything. You always learn something when you tinker as well.

A stranger is a great test, as long as they aren't the actual perp testing your system out real time LOL.

It is easy to get lured in to thinking the wide angle "see the whole neighborhood" is great because you are watching it and you see a neighbor go by and you are like "Look at that I can tell that is Heather out walking." and "Yeah I can tell our neighbor 4 down just passed by". Or you watch back the video of you walking around and are like "yeah I can tell that is me".

Little do we realize how much WE can identify a known person just by hair style, clothing, walking pace, gait, etc.

Then one day the door checker comes by. Total stranger. Totally useless video other than what time the door checking happened.

So if your test subject ends up having to be someone in the house or someone you know, always playback and pause the video and see if you get a clean image that someone could use to IDENTIFY that person with. Post the pictures here and see what we think. Last thing you want is to put all this money in and it not get the clean picture.

And yes with this system, you will be able to prop your phone/tablet up while stuffing fries in your face and watch your dogs!
 
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MarvinK said:
Justified preface. NO I DO NOT WANT to do with SimpliSafe, Reolink, etc, etc. I enjoy tweaking and I believe since starting this project that Blue Iris, this forum, and quality cameras will not make my learning such a battle. I enjoy making the right choices. That is why I had to really evaluate taking the advice of people I have never met to trust, and, feel good about going way way way (and way one more time) over my budget so far. True, I am battling all the excellent expertise of this forum. So much to learn in order to make correct decisions. Could you more accurately drill down and point out the areas where I am burning the candle at both ends? I didn't think I was but evidently I am going two directions and didn't realize it. I am very serious about following this forum's advice to do whats right. I don't want to have years of battle with my system . . . I only want years of tweaking enjoyment and real life protection. My pleasure in life comes from everything DIY. Certainly not some joker coming in and poking around my house to see what items they'll come back and get later as an ulterior motive to installing a system for me. :mad:

P.S. - My reason for asking about Android app is so that I can go sit and have a restaurant hamburger, pull up my cameras, watch my dog, and watch my property while I am choking on too many french fries at one time and trying to wash it all down by drinking a diluted soft drink.
Click to expand...
An unsolicited testimony. Not bad for a bunch of "strangers".

Been here a while. Probably should say hello

Hey there, I work for a non-profit that manages a couple of Business Improvement Districts in Oakland. We handle basic maintenance, safety, beautification, street festivals etc... We also act as liaisons between the merchants and local police and unfortunately crime is an issue in this city...
ipcamtalk.com ipcamtalk.com
 
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ptzman said:
This may be some good reading, 4K versus 1080p: License Plate Capture 4K Test (ipvm.com)
Click to expand...

I wouldn't put much stock in something written in 2016, plus the article is saying they used default settings. None of us running LPR would use default settings. Plus I question in some of the night settings at 1/1000 shutter if gain was at 100 because those images should have been a lot darker. Plus they were doing digital zoom not optical zoom.
 
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I changed contrast from 74 to 90 and this is what I got. It is the Sunshine State. I will play around with brightness to make it a shade lighter.
1670641879422.png
 
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