IMX291 camera oscillation. What is is? How can I stop it?

[Chris Novy]

I purchased the following Hi3516C+IMX291 camera.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1-2-8-IMX291-Sensor-2MP-Outdoor-IP-Camera-With-POE-1080P-Onvif-P2P-Cloud-B/32562157691.html

I am very impressed with its performance both day and night. I'm having an issue, however, under certain lighting conditions where the camera goes into some form of oscillation --going from bright to dark to bright to dark.

There is a setting in the software called "AE Reference". When set to zero I never have the problem but the picture is darker than I would prefer and really hurts low light performance. I find a value of 40 works best and gives excellent results both day and night but at certain light levels I get this annoying oscillation. The seller has no idea what I'm talking about and suspects a defect. I, however, suspect there is some sort of operational conflict where shutter and exposure are somehow competing with each other.

Has anyone ever seen this? Are their firmware updates which might fix the problem or some kind of command string I can send the SoC to keep it from fighting? I'm attaching an animated .gif so folks can see what I'm seeing.

 

[bp2008]

I've seen this on other cams too, but never one of my own so I am not sure what a good fix would be.

 

[riceandbeans]

I've had this issue on an OV9712 sensor cam and was able to resolve the issue by removing objects from the foreground. The camera appears to have an algorithm that makes it want to oscillate exposure for overexposed objects in the foreground and then switch to adjust for underexposed objects in the background.

 

[Del Boy]

This is the problem with no-brand cheap cameras from China on Aliexpress.

Have you tried turning WDR completely off?

 

[Chris Novy]

Riceandbeans and Del Boy, thank you for your replies. I have tried turning off WDR and adjusting just about ever other setting I think of. I'll try it one more time just in case I missed it.

The only thing which works 100% of the time is to set "AE Reference" to zero. This works great during the day but as it gets dark or very cloudy outside the video looks very dark since the camera no longer gains up to compensate.

As far as Aliexpress goes, yes there is some cheap junk and counterfeit gear out there. However, when I find a good vendor I stick with them.

So far this vendor has been of no help solving my problem but at least they do respond to every email I send them.

 

[EyePeeKamz]

Any updates?

 

[Chris Novy]

So far nothing. I updated the SoC firmware and it had no affect on the problem.

The vendor suggests I have a defective camera. I suppose the only way to know for sure would be to purchase a 2nd IMX-291 camera from them or someone else and see if it has the same problem.

I had really bad luck with another vendor lately. I purchased a 1.3MP IP camera as a demo. After only one day outdoors there was severe burn-in where the sun had tracked across the sky. You could see it at night in gain-up as a dark black arc. Since I purchased the camera specifically for starlight photography this was totally unacceptable. The vendor told me I likely had a defective camera and convinced me to buy another. When my 2nd camera arrived it was perfect the first night but after only one day in the back yard it had severe burn-in too. The vendor had me disassemble both cameras and ship the lens/chip block back to them for eval/replacement. My package was lost by US Customs who had no tracking on it after it left Chicago. The vendor said they would not ship me any new parts until they received my defective parts. In all I was out about $250 and now have two empty camera shells.

Although the IMX-291 folks are different than the folks that sold me my burned-in 1.3MP cameras I'm worried about throwing good money after bad since they've been totally unhelpful in trying to resolve my current problem.

 

[nayr]

yeah never bother shipping anything back, there is no return tracking.. and the'll never receive it.

vendor thinks you have a defective camera === all vendor's cameras are defective, just run.

 

[ENiGMA]

time to place a 4 star feedback it seems. Why 4 star? https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/7170-SMTSEC-5MP-Low-LIght-1-2-quot-Sony-IMX178-Dome?p=104464&viewfull=1#post104464

 

[Chris Novy]

time to place a 4 star feedback it seems. Why 4 star? https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/7170-SMTSEC-5MP-Low-LIght-1-2-quot-Sony-IMX178-Dome?p=104464&viewfull=1#post104464

Most feedback, whether it be on AliExpress ore eBay, is worthless. I understand that when you've ordered a $2 BNC->RCA adapter there's not much to say other than you received the right part and it arrived on time. However, when we are talking about specialized items like "starlight" cameras or "next-generation LED headlights" I want to see more than "great seller" or "good packaging". Was the camera truly "starlight" or was there a catch such as to achieve low light images you need a painfully-long exposure? Did the control software work with your browser and OS or were there issues? In the case of LED headlights (a particular interest of mine) does "works great" mean were they actually bright enough to safely drive on a dark highway or simply that they look cool when you see them on a parked car? Descriptive feedback is often the only way to spot serious problems before making a purchase. Vendors often lie, exaggerate, or simply don't know their products. For example I've seen folks selling IMX-225 cameras and referring to them as 1MP, 2MP, and even 5MP. Good feedback can help others spot misleading or downright incorrect product claims. eBay has no time limit on when you can leave feedback, however, AliExpress only gives you a limited window before you can no longer comment. As a rule I generally wait until the end of the window to leave my feedback so that I can accurately report any issues. There's nothing worse than people whom leave glowing feedback like "I haven't taken it out of the box yet but it looks great". Why not actually try it and THEN leave feedback?! I like companies which allow you to leave multiple feedback posts. For example you can give initial feedback (did it arrive on time and in working order?), add comments later (did you discover hidden issues or did it prematurely break?), and some even have a way to indicate whether the comments came from someone whom actually purchased the product --a point that is important to me. For example, on AliExperess the feedback at the bottom of any item's page isn't necessarily related to that particular item but rather it applies to all transactions from that vendor. So when looking to purchase a new PTZ camera you need to be careful all those five star comments actually pertain to the camera in question and aren't from customers satisfied with the "Little Mermaid musical nightlight" also being sold by this same vendor. It pays to do your homework but your informed decisions are only as good as the information you've been informed with.