Pixelated motion on IPC-HFW4431R-Z

[rinmak]

Thanks Chris, glad to know I am not alone with this model being a problem. I'm going to throw a few more firmware's at it and hope for the best. Will post here if I ever come up with a solution.

 

[Ryan00]

So is this camera the same as this one here. Dahua IP Camera IPC-HDW4431C Amazon.com : Dahua IP Camera IPC-HDW4431C-A 3.6mm 4MP Full HD IR Mini Dome PoE Network Camera IP67 Built-in Mic : Camera & Photo


I'm guessing the r-z must be somewhat different is it?

 

[rinmak]

Yeah totally different body, and at a glance missing the varifocal lens. Assume thats what the Z in the model code is for.

This is the camera Chris and I have Dahua H2.65 IPC HFW4431R Z 2.8mm ~12mm varifocal motorized lens network camera 4MP IR 80M ip camera POE cctv camera-in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

[Ryan00]

Yeah totally different body, and at a glance missing the varifocal lens. Assume thats what the Z in the model code is for.

This is the camera Chris and I have Dahua H2.65 IPC HFW4431R Z 2.8mm ~12mm varifocal motorized lens network camera 4MP IR 80M ip camera POE cctv camera-in Surveillance Cameras from Security & Protection on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

lol I should Of searched the model of your camera before posting . It was the 4431 in the model number that made it look the same .

 

[rinmak]

Hi Guys, I have one of these and it has been a nightmare, figures it was for my personal use but the good thing it IS going back to the seller. Everything from crappy choppy video to suppose it "SMART" Ir features it has been a BIG disappointment in comparison to my other DAHUA cameras. It could be firmware but after spending over 6 hours of jerking off with this camera IM DONE. This is a Chinese camera with English firmware so who knows WTF is cooked into this but it does not work like I thought it would. I have installed so many the vari focal cameras with NO issues. The smart IR does NOT work and I have had crappy video like others have had. I have tried EVERY different setting and to be honest..Had Enough. I got mine from Amazon so the return should not be a issue.

Chris527, interested to know what firmware you are running?

 

[c hris527]

I will check

What Drew me in to this camera was its IR distance specs. I posted on another thread about some issues I was having. Dahua Bullet (IPC-HFW4431R-Z) First Thoughts
The camera was advertised as a long range IR and boy is it ever. It has a IR smart feature but it will not cut down or dim the Ir as some cameras I have worked with. The smart feature is not too smart.


I have to use the manual mode and set it all the way down to 4 to be able to recognize a face. It is useless to me as is. The daytime video is just ok but not stellar and I had to jump through hoops to make it half way decent. I do get some skipping and ghosting and lockups especially when it is recording large objects like my truck. As is I would not recommend this camera the way is is stock. I will not be updating the firmware because I will be sending it back. When it get above 30 degrees here I will dismount it.

 

[rinmak]

Bugger same firmware as mine. I've got no hope of getting an exchange from the seller (alibaba, bloke wants remote access to my network to "troubleshoot") even after seeing this thread. Heres hoping Dahua release a new firmware that addresses these issues :/

 

[c hris527]

Bugger same firmware as mine. I've got no hope of getting an exchange from the seller (alibaba, bloke wants remote access to my network to "troubleshoot") even after seeing this thread. Heres hoping Dahua release a new firmware that addresses these issues :/

Good luck on that, Dahua is NOT supporting any cameras sold on ali or from unauthorized re-sellers. I have felt these cameras have had issues from the get go and that is why they are not on the American market. I have a inquiry with Amazon right now and trying to get help third party through amazon is painful. We will see what they say, they keep skirting my IR issue and sending me a drawing of the firmware setting with numbers on how to turn the IR features off and on. I have til Jan 30th to send mine back. Its most likely going back unless I'm missing something obvious. That is always a possibility.

 

[rinmak]

Bugger didn't know about them not supporting Ali purchased cams. I submitted a support request through their site earlier, linking to this page (hahaha). Oh well see what comes of it, I'm no worse off for trying haha

 

[nayr]

as an OEM they dont offer much end user support regardless of where you purchase from; models that only appear on the Chinese Site and cant be found on either the international or north american dahua sites have a few inherent problems..

1. Firmware is modified by seller (they lay down english translation file), sometimes hardreset can remove this and revert to Chinese and a firmware update requires re-hacking english back onto it.
2. Suspiciously Cheap, indicating quality of electronic components is likely reduced along with basic robustness. none use high quality image sensors from Sony for example, just cheap Chinese market ones.
3. Come w/Broken Features, DST Almost never works since it dont exist in China and Ive seen warnings like using SmartCodec w/h265 can brick a china model.. They seem to do testing in the Chinese market of many features so they may be incomplete or barely functional.. then the international version will appear with all kinks worked out.
4. Specs are suspicious, sometimes I think they just copy/paste english specs w/out actually translating/reviewing or doing any proper testing.

For these reasons alone I would suggest avoiding china only models.. they lack some of the quality and refinements; thus reliability of the international and domestic market models. As they say: you get what you pay for and its not like the international cameras cant be imported for a reasonable cost.

I do have a few Chinese only market models, they are okay for the cost if you understand the reason they are so cheap.. alot better than most other Chinese market cameras ive seen but the bar is pretty low for what the Chinese can afford to buy for them selves.

If you bother to look they offer alot of shit in china that we never see; here's a bomb proof PTZ made of stainless steel: - 防爆网络一体化云台摄像仪 - 浙江大华技术股份有限公司

 

[MakoMillenium]

Ryan have you tried increasing packet buffer size in GV - Video - RTSP Advanced ? I use GV almost exclusively (for the instant playback / speed) and this has solved similar problems.

 

[alastairstevenson]

I have viewed the camera via VLC using its RTSP stream and I can observe the behaviour there, so this is happening pre-NVR.

 

[rinmak]

Ryan have you tried increasing packet buffer size in GV - Video - RTSP Advanced ? I use GV almost exclusively (for the instant playback / speed) and this has solved similar problems.

Thanks mate, yeah I have upped all the packet buffers in GV. Not the cause unfortunately!

PRETTY SURE I FOUND A "SOLUTION"

After mucking around with settings a bit more yesterday it seems I have a winning combo.

1. Set the main stream to 720P resolution, 15fps, 15 i frame, CBR and max bit rate (4096). Encoding H.264H
- This is the combo that fixed the video from "stalling" at regular intervals. I can only put this down to the CPU in this camera being no more powerful than a pocket calculator and simply not being able to keep up?
2. Disable features under Video->Conditions->Backlight. I had this set to use WDR during the day.
- Turns out with this enabled this is what causes the pixelation on the RTSP stream. Doesn't happen in Dahua's web viewer, go figure.
3. Reboot the camera with the new settings.
- Probably why I didn't notice it sooner. I've found simply turning off WDR from an on state will still give the pixelated video. A full reboot seems to start it fresh and solve the problem

So yay, not real solutions as much as bug workarounds....but at least now the camera is borderline useful to my system!

 

[Ryan00]

Thanks mate, yeah I have upped all the packet buffers in GV. Not the cause unfortunately!

PRETTY SURE I FOUND A "SOLUTION"

After mucking around with settings a bit more yesterday it seems I have a winning combo.

1. Set the main stream to 720P resolution, 15fps, 15 i frame, CBR and max bit rate (4096). Encoding H.264H
- This is the combo that fixed the video from "stalling" at regular intervals. I can only put this down to the CPU in this camera being no more powerful than a pocket calculator and simply not being able to keep up?
2. Disable features under Video->Conditions->Backlight. I had this set to use WDR during the day.
- Turns out with this enabled this is what causes the pixelation on the RTSP stream. Doesn't happen in Dahua's web viewer, go figure.
3. Reboot the camera with the new settings.
- Probably why I didn't notice it sooner. I've found simply turning off WDR from an on state will still give the pixelated video. A full reboot seems to start it fresh and solve the problem

So yay, not real solutions as much as bug workarounds....but at least now the camera is borderline useful to my system!

Would you mind posting some pictures of the new settings?

 

[rinmak]

Would you mind posting some pictures of the new settings?

... and to stop the pixelation =

 

[c hris527]

720 p ouch.. This affirms to me the hardware and firmware are bagok in this camera. So much for a 4mp camera.

 

[mat200]

as an OEM they dont offer much end user support regardless of where you purchase from; models that only appear on the Chinese Site and cant be found on either the international or north american dahua sites have a few inherent problems..

1. Firmware is modified by seller (they lay down english translation file), sometimes hardreset can remove this and revert to Chinese and a firmware update requires re-hacking english back onto it.
2. Suspiciously Cheap, indicating quality of electronic components is likely reduced along with basic robustness. none use high quality image sensors from Sony for example, just cheap Chinese market ones.
3. Come w/Broken Features, DST Almost never works since it dont exist in China and Ive seen warnings like using SmartCodec w/h265 can brick a china model.. They seem to do testing in the Chinese market of many features so they may be incomplete or barely functional.. then the international version will appear with all kinks worked out.
4. Specs are suspicious, sometimes I think they just copy/paste english specs w/out actually translating/reviewing or doing any proper testing.

For these reasons alone I would suggest avoiding china only models.. they lack some of the quality and refinements; thus reliability of the international and domestic market models. As they say: you get what you pay for and its not like the international cameras cant be imported for a reasonable cost.

I do have a few Chinese only market models, they are okay for the cost if you understand the reason they are so cheap.. alot better than most other Chinese market cameras ive seen but the bar is pretty low for what the Chinese can afford to buy for them selves.

If you bother to look they offer alot of shit in china that we never see; here's a bomb proof PTZ made of stainless steel: - 防爆网络一体化云台摄像仪 - 浙江大华技术股份有限公司

Thanks, very helpful.

Question - how can someone new to this determine what models should be avoided?? Do we have a section with reviews ( like on Amazon, Newegg, .. )

I've been reading a lot here and everyone has been very helpful with good posts, but with so many models available determining what to avoid and stay within budget is a big challenge.

I've seen the one you've recommended from the starlight series, but do to budget limits will have to limit the number of those I would purchase and install.

So far:
Avoid: IPC-HFW4431R-Z 4MP varifocal bullet
Recommend: IPC-HDW5231R-Z 2MP WDR IR Eyeball Network Camera

Thanks

 

[nayr]

If you cant find the model # on an english language Dahua site ( Dahua International and Dahua Technology USA) then you should probably avoid it.

Inside china they compete with cameras being sold for nothing, so they sacrifice everything and whip out crap that the poor Chinese folks can actually afford without a strong middle class.

 

[TVT73]

...
3. Come w/Broken Features, DST Almost never works since it dont exist in China and Ive seen warnings like using SmartCodec w/h265 can brick a china model.. They seem to do testing in the Chinese market of many features so they may be incomplete or barely functional.. then the international version will appear with all kinks worked out.

DST also not works for selling DACH market. Sadly but true. But if you choose a model from aliexpress which has a free global firmware you can update it by yourself with other similar models. I did this several times. The cz ftp is our first place for searching compatible firmwares. But i agree to you, many aliexpress versions never leave the chinese market. It a good way for cheep selling out b-class warehouse.

 

[TVT73]

Thanks mate, yeah I have upped all the packet buffers in GV. Not the cause unfortunately!

PRETTY SURE I FOUND A "SOLUTION"

After mucking around with settings a bit more yesterday it seems I have a winning combo.

1. Set the main stream to 720P resolution, 15fps, 15 i frame, CBR and max bit rate (4096). Encoding H.264H
- This is the combo that fixed the video from "stalling" at regular intervals. I can only put this down to the CPU in this camera being no more powerful than a pocket calculator and simply not being able to keep up?
2. Disable features under Video->Conditions->Backlight. I had this set to use WDR during the day.
- Turns out with this enabled this is what causes the pixelation on the RTSP stream. Doesn't happen in Dahua's web viewer, go figure.
3. Reboot the camera with the new settings.
- Probably why I didn't notice it sooner. I've found simply turning off WDR from an on state will still give the pixelated video. A full reboot seems to start it fresh and solve the problem

So yay, not real solutions as much as bug workarounds....but at least now the camera is borderline useful to my system!

Oh my goodness, this really sounds like having big cpu power/speed problems. it could be interesting to see what has been build in? I have from DACH a hdw-4431E-AS and from China a HFW-4431

which has no zoom, but is running very fine. But i agree, smart-ir could be better, but i uses external ir, so the internal ir is off.

If you use telnet, you can look for the build in cpu and details. Maybe we can compare together. Because the cpu specs. should be the same.