Night vision picture quality and performance

[LollerAgent]

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!

 

[fullboogie]

That looks normal to me. That's a big area for the IR to cover.

 

[alastairstevenson]

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.

 

[LollerAgent]

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?

 

[LollerAgent]

Example of a thread that contains night snapshots that look way better:

Night Vision adjustments for starlight dahua cams.

.. but, to your point, those shots are covering a much smaller area, so I guess that is why?

 

[bigredfish]

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

 

[LollerAgent]

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?

 

[bigredfish]

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.

 

[LollerAgent]

I just thought these images look *so* much better:

Critique my night settings?

I turned on some 4000K cans over the garage at various levels and the image didn't ever really improve.

 

[bigredfish]

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]

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]

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.

 

[bickford]

On HIK try to reduce the contrast 25 or 30% for example.
You can use WDR at night and adjust it

BICK

 

[bigredfish]

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.

 

[LollerAgent]

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?

 

[LollerAgent]

On HIK try to reduce the contrast 25 or 30% for example.
You can use WDR at night and adjust it

BICK

I'm not seeing that WDR has any affect at all when Night mode is activated.

 

[LollerAgent]

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]

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

 

[bigredfish]

WDR won’t have any effect in B&W

 

[aristobrat]

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?