IPC-HFW5231E-Z12 LPR from 137 feet
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lulu5kamz
Known around here
- Sep 14, 2015
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Distance to the plate is around 136 Ft (41 meters) according to Google Maps estimate. There is another camera that might be helping with IR, it is Dahua IPC-HFW5231E-Z installed just behind the left front of the house and it is pointed directly at our mailbox (you can see it at the start of the video clip in the upper right of the screen). Also, there is a streetlight at that corner so it may be helping too. I don't have an ideal angle for the capture, but it seems to be working out okay the way it is installed.
lulu5kamz
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Yes, camera is run in color most of the day. I force it to the night profile about 45 minutes to an hour before sunset. It stays in that profile even after sunrise. I generally switch it to the day profile about 30 minutes to an hour after sunrise. Seems to be working okay by following this procedure. I like running the day mode in color as I can also get a closeup of anyone walking up or down that street. Here is a frame capture from a little while ago. You can see I zoom out slightly for the daytime capture. You can also see it was raining during this capture.
bigredfish
Known around here
Thanks lulu, But when you say "I zoom out slightly for the daytime capture" does that mean you manually or otherwise change the zoom each day?
If so, thats correcting for the inherent switch focus problem no?... I mean if I manually adjust the focus each day yeah I can counteract the focus issue...
Sorry just trying to understand as I love the camera but as an LPR the only way Ive found to keep it from losing focus is to force it to stay B&W 24/7 with different exposure settings obviously.
If so, thats correcting for the inherent switch focus problem no?... I mean if I manually adjust the focus each day yeah I can counteract the focus issue...
Sorry just trying to understand as I love the camera but as an LPR the only way Ive found to keep it from losing focus is to force it to stay B&W 24/7 with different exposure settings obviously.
lulu5kamz
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Yes, as I stated I change the zoom setting manually each day and let the camera auto focus. By following this process the camera seems to stay in focus even during the transition from daytime to complete darkness and vice versa. This is how I get around IR switch focus issue.
lulu5kamz
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Here is another daytime video frame capture from my LPR camera. The first image shows where the camera is located. You can see the shadow of the camera in the lower right of the screen. It is installed on top of a trellis right above the camera taking this first image. On the second picture, the distance from the camera to the bike rider turning the corner (he was moving at a very fast clip) is about 116 feet (35.4 meters) according to Google Maps.
Camera Location
LPR Camera Video Frame Capture
Camera Location
LPR Camera Video Frame Capture
Looks good! I've got an ambitious project, but I think it can be done... to get the angle to the road as narrow as possible, I'm looking at about 225ft distance. All the way zoomed in, that's still almost 100ppf, so in theory that should be enough. See attached screenshot from IPVM calculator (there is or there will be a clear path through the trees, we keep them limbed up). Will keep you posted, although it might take a few weeks before I'm able to get working on this.
Attachments
Well, I now have 4 of these pulling LPR duty. 3 of them are "ok" and the newest one is having serious focus issues. As in sitting in daylight watching stone driveway and bam, focus goes completley to garbage. Same firmware as my others. I know these cams arent ment to be LPRs but I gotta say I'm getting sick of all the nuances. Even my plate captures arent that spectacular. I think higher resolution would help and maybe off center IR but im not sure. My states plates are incredibly difficult to capture at night.
Right now my biggest issue is the focus issue. The other cams work fine with just the Dahua profile sunrise service running, but this 4th one just goes focus crazy on its own. A simple "disable autofocus" would solve so many problems.
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Right now my biggest issue is the focus issue. The other cams work fine with just the Dahua profile sunrise service running, but this 4th one just goes focus crazy on its own. A simple "disable autofocus" would solve so many problems.
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- Apr 18, 2016
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- Apr 18, 2016
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I wasted 2 hours playing with that firmware version with my Z12. I couldn't get the plugin to work with Safari and ended up reverting back to the original (IPC-HX5X3X-Rhea_Eng_P_Stream3_V2.460.0000.15.R.20170907.bin).
I forgot to screenshot the exposure settings but it's full manual. I can get it tomorrow or Sunday. Take special notice to the car in pictures ending in 11, 12, and 13. That is an example of a plate that is simply dirty from what I can tell. That car and plate looks fine in person and in daylight.
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Similar issue here, bench testing one I just got (Z12E), outside during bright daylight. Focus seems to work fine, except when zoomed in 80% or more the autofocus consistently fails to properly focus. Adapting the focus manually a few clicks gets a supersharp image, but changing the zoom triggers autofocus and messes it up again. When zoomed only a moderate amount there seems no issue.
This may be my issue. This one is zoomed nearly all the way out. The other 3 are not.
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I have a similar day/night focus issue with my IPC-HDW5231R-Z that only goes to 35mm. My workaround is that my script does a zoom partway out, then zoom in again each morning and evening. If it stays zoomed in, it will sometimes not focus, depending on conditions. I think that Dahua has not tuned their firmware to work reliably with the longer lenses. Here's an example script on a Linux box:
#!/bin/bash
# Set Dahua HDW5231 camera zoom out and back in:
wget 'http://user:password@192.168.1.26/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.4&zoom=0.5' -q -O -
sleep 10
wget 'http://user:password@192.168.1.26/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.658&zoom=0.8' -q -O -
Re: another post, there is no place people won't park including sometimes partly across my driveway, but the driveway view is usually the best bet. However, after much wandering around in the yard I also discovered a tiny sweet spot at the corner of the house that had a decent view of the road between some trees. It can still be blocked by taller vehicles parked in the wrong place, but without using a dedicated pole mount right at the street, you get what you get.
#!/bin/bash
# Set Dahua HDW5231 camera zoom out and back in:
wget 'http://user:password@192.168.1.26/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.4&zoom=0.5' -q -O -
sleep 10
wget 'http://user:password@192.168.1.26/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.658&zoom=0.8' -q -O -
Re: another post, there is no place people won't park including sometimes partly across my driveway, but the driveway view is usually the best bet. However, after much wandering around in the yard I also discovered a tiny sweet spot at the corner of the house that had a decent view of the road between some trees. It can still be blocked by taller vehicles parked in the wrong place, but without using a dedicated pole mount right at the street, you get what you get.
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But does it only run once, or does it send focus commands repetitivley 24/7? I already have the dahua sunset utility off this forum running and it corrects the focus. But it will shift its focus again throughout the day and night
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My camera only shifts focus when I tell it to; twice each day, once at sunrise & sunset. I gather yours is in continual autofocus mode (?) What does the focus control screen look like? If you hover your mouse over the focus slider control at different times, do you ever see the number change? In my case the number is "420" which stays fixed through the day.
Yes mine will shift on its own. If I stop and restart my sunrise / sunset utility the focus will return where it should be (sends out focus command again). These cameras are always in autofocus mode from what I know. Your just isnt zoomed in tight enough to have the shift issue I guess. My other 3 do not have the problem
If Dahua would add a checkbox "Dissable Autofocus" we could fix all these problems.
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