IP4M-1051 repeatedly flip-flops between day and night profile.

[gravy664]

TL,DR: How can I configure my camera to switch between day and night profile based on light level, but prevent it from continually switching between profiles at the day/night interface?

IP4M-1051; V2.620.00AC000.3.R, Build Date: 2019-09-19

I've currently set my camera to automatically switch from day to night and vice-versa like so :

curl --globoff -u admin:password --digest ^"http://192.168.1.36/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=setConfig^
&VideoInOptions[0].NightOptions.SwitchMode=1^
&VideoInOptions[0].NightOptions.Profile=3^
&VideoInDayNight[0][0].Type=Mechanism^
&VideoInDayNight[0][0].Mode=Photoresistor^
&VideoInDayNight[0][0].Sensitivity=0^
&VideoInDayNight[0][0].Delay=10^
&VideoInDayNight[0][1].Type=Mechanism^
&VideoInDayNight[0][1].Mode=Photoresistor^
&VideoInDayNight[0][1].Sensitivity=0^
&VideoInDayNight[0][1].Delay=10^
&VideoInDayNight[0][2].Type=Mechanism^
&VideoInDayNight[0][2].Mode=Photoresistor^
&VideoInDayNight[0][2].Sensitivity=0^
&VideoInDayNight[0][2].Delay=10"

But this means that every dawn and dusk, it will continually switch from one profile to the other and then back again before settling on the 'correct' one. On overcast days, this can go on for 15 minutes, and every couple of switches, a motion-detection alert is sent. I have tried varying sensitivity from 0 to 7, but I've noticed no major difference.

How would I configure it to stay in day profile for as long as possible in the evening; and switch to day profile as soon as possible in the morning? (Note, I cannot update the firmware, since I'm relying on a quirk in this version).

Bonus question : What is the difference between 'mechanism' and 'electron'? The API offers no information.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[CarlosBarletta]

Hello There, please feel free to email us back at escalation@amcrest.com. Here you will be assigned to an Escalation Team Member to help troubleshoot the camera. Amcrest Team

 

[wittaj]

That is the biggest problem we see with Dahua OEM cameras is this doesn't work like it should. Maybe it does for Amcrest (which are Dahua OEM unless Amcrest changed the firmware to fix this), but on many Dahua cams using the sensor only switches from color to B/W and doesn't actually switch the profiles. And then you have the problem like you experience where at dusk and dawn it can fluctuate between the two for a period of time.

Most of us use this utility to force it to the day or night profile based on sunrise and sunset:

Dahua day/night switch utility - DahuaSunriseSunset

I wanted to use stronger noise reduction at night and weaker during the day, but Dahua seems to have made a mess of the profile management. On most cameras, there doesn't seem to be a way to have the camera switch automatically between Day and Night profiles when the camera changes between...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[gravy664]

Hello There, please feel free to email us back at escalation@amcrest.com. Here you will be assigned to an Escalation Team Member to help troubleshoot the camera. Amcrest Team

I think the camera is working perfectly. The problem lies in that the API document (I'm working from v2.13) is quite... terse. I was just wondering if anyone else had encountered, and solved, this (minor) issue. I'll have a fiddle, and if that fails, I'll email you.

Thanks!

 

[gravy664]

That is the biggest problem we see with Dahua OEM cameras is this doesn't work like it should. Maybe it does for Amcrest (which are Dahua OEM unless Amcrest changed the firmware to fix this), but on many Dahua cams using the sensor only switches from color to B/W and doesn't actually switch the profiles. And then you have the problem like you experience where at dusk and dawn it can fluctuate between the two for a period of time.

Most of us use this utility to force it to the day or night profile based on sunrise and sunset:

Dahua day/night switch utility - DahuaSunriseSunset

I wanted to use stronger noise reduction at night and weaker during the day, but Dahua seems to have made a mess of the profile management. On most cameras, there doesn't seem to be a way to have the camera switch automatically between Day and Night profiles when the camera changes between...

ipcamtalk.com

Weeeeeellll humbug. I had just (literally, 2 minutes ago) finished my own bash script. With comments and everything.

It looks like this might be the accepted direction...

Thanks for the pointer.

PS fluctuates! That's the word I was looking for!