Night vision picture quality and performance

Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Location
USA
Hi all,

I just installed an LTS CMIP3342W-M, and I wanted some feedback on the night vision picture quality. I realize this isn't a Starlight camera, but many non-Starlight B&W night pictures on this forum look better than what I believe this camera is producing.

I have played with the exposure/IR settings, but I can't seem to get it a any better. Should I expect a better picture? I was considering trying out the LTS Starlight-enabled turret [1], but I think it may be dis-continued. My reasoning for sticking with LTS over something like Dahua is because I like their NVR's better (they at least are rack-mountable - the mid level Dahua's I don't believe are). However, this is the first camera that I have purchased, so I could be convinced to change. Would a 2MP camera look better than a 4MP camera in this scenario?

I have attached two pics - one of the morning, and one at night for your comparison.

Thanks!
 

Attachments

fullboogie

Getting the hang of it
Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Messages
156
Reaction score
85
Location
Texas
That looks normal to me. That's a big area for the IR to cover.
 

alastairstevenson

Staff member
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
15,930
Reaction score
6,778
Location
Scotland
I can't seem to get it a any better. Should I expect a better picture?
What do you consider to be wrong with the image?
There is wide coverage - which is going to limit the detail a lot, unless the purpose is just an overview.
And there are no 'objects of interest' eg a person that could be reviewed for usefulness.
 
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Location
USA
What do you consider to be wrong with the image?
There is wide coverage - which is going to limit the detail a lot, unless the purpose is just an overview.
And there are no 'objects of interest' eg a person that could be reviewed for usefulness.
I'm an amateur, and don't really have an idea of what it *should* look like, other than various example snapshots I have seen on this forum which seem to look much clearer. What I didn't take into account though was the wide view. I went with a 4mm lens on this camera because I wanted to get all of the driveway and a portion of the yard. Would a 6mm lens (which would be a more narrow view) produce a better night image?

I actually haven't looked at a person or object yet during the night for this camera, so I'll do that tonight. So, based on what I'm reading, a similar Starlight-enabled 4mm camera in this same position wouldn't produce a significantly better image at night?
 

bigredfish

Known around here
Joined
Sep 5, 2016
Messages
17,019
Reaction score
47,483
Location
Floriduh
Those 2MP Dahua Starlights simply provide a better nighttime image than that one. So would HiK's Darkfighter series.

The Starlights and Darkfighters have a better, bigger sensor. That camera shows to have an older 1/3 cmos sensor. It simply cant let in enough light.

Platinum Turret Network IP Camera 4MP - 4mm
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Location
USA
Ok - so I just swapped out the LTS for a Dahua IPC-HDW5231R-ZE. The night-vision is not great right now.. I'm sure I"m doing something incorrectly, but the images are grainy (in color) and very dark in B&W - not clear like others I have seen on this forum. Here are a couple of snapshots; one in color, one in B&W. What am I doing wrong here?
 

Attachments

bigredfish

Known around here
Joined
Sep 5, 2016
Messages
17,019
Reaction score
47,483
Location
Floriduh
The first image isnt bad, yes some grainyness but thats simply a function of not quite enough light. It takes a LOT of white light to run forced color at night.

The middle image in IR with you standing there is about as good as it gets for B&W/IR, its very good

if you want to expand the IR coverage, recommend adding external IR to extend the coverage out the driveway further.
 

bigredfish

Known around here
Joined
Sep 5, 2016
Messages
17,019
Reaction score
47,483
Location
Floriduh
Look at the height of your camera compared to those. The camera, and it’s onboard IR, is looking down instead of out.

The IR image is crystal clear from here. Just a small hotspot due to the angle.

What are your exposure settings?
 

aristobrat

IPCT Contributor
Joined
Dec 5, 2016
Messages
2,982
Reaction score
3,180
The other images in that thread also look to have more “helper light” (ie the driveway across the street) than you have.

Just to play around, try setting the IR to manual and reducing it and see how it does. With less of a hotspot in the middle, it may brighten the rest of the scene.

Also if your driveway lights were in the image when you tested them, their direct brightness may cause the camera to darken other parts of the image. You could try to zoom the image in a bit (while they’re on) to remove the lights from the shot and see how that does.
 

IAmATeaf

Known around here
Joined
Jan 13, 2019
Messages
3,287
Reaction score
3,252
Location
United Kingdom
How high is the cam? The area is quite large.

Here’s 3 of mine, 2 are around 8ft the other 10ft. The first 2 have street lighting which helps improve the picture.

With the last image you can see that I also get a similar IR circle as you as there is nothing to reflect off or light up.

 
Last edited:

bickford

Getting comfortable
Joined
Mar 12, 2016
Messages
468
Reaction score
432
On HIK try to reduce the contrast 25 or 30% for example.
You can use WDR at night and adjust it

BICK
 

bigredfish

Known around here
Joined
Sep 5, 2016
Messages
17,019
Reaction score
47,483
Location
Floriduh
I just noticed Im seeing soffit on the IR image, which you dont see on your original image. The IR reflecting off that soffit may well be causing you problems.
 
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Location
USA
Look at the height of your camera compared to those. The camera, and it’s onboard IR, is looking down instead of out.

The IR image is crystal clear from here. Just a small hotspot due to the angle.

What are your exposure settings?
This cam is about 9 ft high. Exposure settings for night are default:

Profile: Night
Anti-flicker: outdoor
Mode: auto
Auto Iris: on
3d NR: on
Grade: 50

Would you mind sharing your settings?
 
Joined
Aug 5, 2019
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Location
USA
I just noticed Im seeing soffit on the IR image, which you dont see on your original image. The IR reflecting off that soffit may well be causing you problems.
Good catch. Yeah - the LTS was positioned slightly differently. I'll reposition and try to get the soffit completely out of the image for tonight's test. Overall, I was actually surprised on how much better the LTS was able to light up the entire scene with such minimal light. I can't seem to reproduce this on the Dahua camera.
 

bigredfish

Known around here
Joined
Sep 5, 2016
Messages
17,019
Reaction score
47,483
Location
Floriduh
Yeah try moving it so you don’t get any IR reflection from the soffit, then aim more out than down. Then we can tweak settings
 

aristobrat

IPCT Contributor
Joined
Dec 5, 2016
Messages
2,982
Reaction score
3,180
Overall, I was actually surprised on how much better the LTS was able to light up the entire scene with such minimal light. I can't seem to reproduce this on the Dahua camera.
Hmmm. Just about any camera can brighten up a scene by slowing down the shutter speed. The reason most folks don't do that is because a slower shutter speed (in low light) will almost always cause objects in motion to blur details.

What LTS model do you have?
 
Top