Is 5231 and equivalent still better than 5442 due to IR washout

[bigredfish]

Is there maybe a tutorial for what settings to adjust and how much to try to eliminate IR washout? My 5231s like others do not have that issue but a couple of other cameras, including a not so cheap 180A 4x2mp pano camera washes out my face on IR auto just as I get into close enough range to where I should be able to ID which is so frustrating. I'm just not familiar enough with the other settings to know how to mess with them to correct it.

Not really as its very scene dependent. Mostly you can use Gain and HLC to minimize the hot spotting effect. Ive not tried the latest firmware so cant say what if any improvements it shows. HLC will help with close in objets reflecting a lot of IR along with playing with gain.
Of course start with exposure, try 1/120 or 1/60if too dark. Then you can also get some improvement by using Manual IR and dialing it back. After you have that baseline then play with reducing Gain and adding HLC