Problems setting up a brand new SD4A425DB-HNY

[yyzian]

Hello

I am a newbie here so pls take it easy on me. I purchased a brand new SD4A425DB-HNY from Andy, who has been great with communication so far. I have connected the camera through an NVR also purchased from Andy. (Model no. NVR8CH-8P-2AI 8 Channels 1U 8PoE) i went through the installs just like the list of videos shared by Andy and have run into the following issues. Hope I am able to work them out with the expertise on the forum as I am willing to try anything at this point.

1. The images from camera is not sharp when zoomed even to 25 ft during daytime.
2. I am unable to set Auto PTZ while the camera is still on my test bench. I am told that Auto PTZ setting should be attempted only after the camera has been installed.
Note: I am able to create presets including tripwire, intrusion etc. and able to see them through the NVR as well as GUI but I am not able to see the Auto PTZ option to enable it anywhere.

Also I am not seeing the web 5.0 GUI (presume blue one) when logging into NVR, previous one with grey (attached pic). I am just about willing to try anything at this time to get this working! Thanks so much in advance to all for help.

 

[wittaj]

By default the codec and bitrate is usually low. And make sure you are not viewing the substream.

Try the following:

H264
CBR
8192 bitrate (mainstream) and 1024 bitrate substream
15FPS
15 iframes

You need to make the changes in the camera GUI, not the NVR GUI. It will pull what the camera has. Make sure you are using Internet Explorer (yea we know) and not Edge or Chrome with IE tab. Or Pale Moon. Anything else and it can be a crapshoot.

To get into the camera GUI from the NVR, you need to first access the NVR GUI by going to a computer and opening up a browser (preferably Internet Explorer but Pale Moon will work as well) and type in the IP address of the NVR and login that way. Next go into the camera settings page on the NVR and look for the Microsoft e Web Browser and select it and it will go to the camera GUI (photo credit bigredfish from his PSA thread). Your screen may look a little different to get into the camera gui and see if doing it this way gets you access to some other features the NVR is blocking - do not worry about the Port number and circle as that was from another issue someone posted.

Simply select the blue IE icon and it will go to the camera GUI and from there you can set the camera parameters.

 

[yyzian]

Awesome and sincere thanks for your help @wittaj . I finally managed to get to the camera page from the browser. I am able to see the IE icon on my camera. Since its POE, it just states "Port 2". I applied the settings and the image is of much better quality now!. It also forced a restart on the camera. One observation however, the camera showed everything in color initially and once I zoomed closer to an object, it flipped the view in black/white. The zoom is also not that clear at this time (i am on the east coast). Will try during the daytime tomm.

BTW, any thoughts on the Auto PTZ?

 

[JDreaming]

Awesome and sincere thanks for your help @wittaj . I finally managed to get to the camera page from the browser. I am able to see the IE icon on my camera. Since its POE, it just states "Port 2". I applied the settings and the image is of much better quality now!. It also forced a restart on the camera. One observation however, the camera showed everything in color initially and once I zoomed closer to an object, it flipped the view in black/white. The zoom is also not that clear at this time (i am on the east coast). Will try during the daytime tomm.

BTW, any thoughts on the Auto PTZ?

You probably have Day/Night setting set to auto, the camera probably can run in color when you are not zoom in, but once zoom in the IR will auto turn on because not enough light for color video. If you don't want that to happen set it to color.

And you will not get clear videos with 25X zoom at night, day time should be much better.

 

[yyzian]

Thanks @JDreaming I had it set to auto. I have now set to color. When reading up on the camera specs and speaking to Andy i understood that it could cover 25x75 driveway adequately. Not sure what to expect in terms of clarity if I need to zoom within that space.

 

[wittaj]

Thanks @JDreaming I had it set to auto. I have now set to color. When reading up on the camera specs and speaking to Andy i understood that it could cover 25x75 driveway adequately. Not sure what to expect in terms of clarity if I need to zoom within that space.

This camera should be able to cover 75 feet adequately unless it is completely dark and the IR cannot reach that far. Just make sure you are doing OPTICAL zoom real time and not DIGITAL zoom after the fact.

 

[yyzian]

Thanks again. For the optical zoom setting, is it as simple as setting up auto ptz with appropriate pre-sets?

 

[wittaj]

By auto PTZ, do you mean auto tracking or auto pan around at a certain interval?

 

[yyzian]

sorry got busy at work. I mean auto tracking such as once a preset is created for tripwire, intrusion etc and the camera's ability to automatically track objects based on AI/IVS rules

 

[wittaj]

Yep. Follow this video on how to set it up. It tracks incredible.

 

[yyzian]

I have followed the instruction to a 'T' but dont see the auto tracking enabled like the moving rectangle around the person etc for auto tracking. Andy has suggested that it may not be obvious unless the camera has been installed. Right now I am still testing it by placing it temporarily on my bench on the porch as I wanted to get to a comfort level where I am able to program it effectively.

Has that been anyone of the your experiences as well?

 

[wittaj]

Certainly if the field of view is too small that will be the case. People try to test these waving their hand across the camera and that doesn't cut it.

It needs to be able to see a whole body. If not it is too close.

Further you need to turn on IVS rules to see the rectangles and stuff, which is one of the boxes at the bottom left. I think second from right. hover over and it will tell you what each box is.

 

[JDreaming]

Certainly if the field of view is too small that will be the case. People try to test these waving their hand across the camera and that doesn't cut it.

It needs to be able to see a whole body. If not it is too close.

Further you need to turn on IVS rules to see the rectangles and stuff, which is one of the boxes at the bottom left. I think second from right. hover over and it will tell you what each box is.

View attachment 171211

IVS rules are always on by default, I have to always click to turn it off because those rectangles is such a distraction. Try imagine whole street of parked cars with yellow brackets blinking at your screen.

But this option can not be set and save and be done one time. I have to keep turn it off every time I switch camera or log off the web gui. I wish we have the option to turn off the on screen IVS rules graphic and make it stay that way until we turn it back on again.

 

[yyzian]

I will be installing it this weekend and will let you all know. Appreciate the insights very much

 

[yyzian]

It’s been 3 weeks so a quick update on my experience.
1. Absolutely love the camera and the quality of vids and pics.
2. web interface is a bit sluggish to work with in pale moon browser. But auto tracking is working consistently once setup.
3. With backlight and settings suggested above, I am happy with night time pics. (Attached a sample)
4. Daytime video quality is stunning.
5. I use the DMSS app to view on my mobile. It seems to drain my iPhone 14 battery a fair bit.

Couple questions I have after the install…

1. Is there is a maximum zoom out option so more of my driveway can be covered? Unfortunately I can’t change the install position to corner of the house as a huge tree blocks the view.
2. Can the timing of alerts on the mobile be adjusted as there is a lag of about 8 - 10 secs since an event occurs.

 

[wittaj]

Good deal!

The initial focal length is a little high - if you have that zoomed out as far as it will go, then that is as wide as it gets. But that does look like it is zoomed in a bit.

Not sure why you have a lag in the alert - I am guessing a bandwidth issue and/or delays going thru P2P server?

 

[yyzian]

I searched around but couldn't find where I can adjust the focal length in the web interface. What I have done is zoom out fully from the icon.

 

[JDreaming]

This ptz camera's field of view is only H: 51.9°– and V: 39.7° fully zoom out. And the installed spot seem to be relatively low and close for the ptz to the car. There is probably not much you can do unless changing the installation spot to farther or higher.

I wish all the ptz cameras can have viewing angle of around 90° when fully zoom out too. It will be so much more flexible with just one camera. The PTZ5A4K-25X I have is a little better with 61.6° field of view when fully zoom out.

 

[yyzian]

Thanks for the confirmation. I will see how best to change the installation position to improve the field of view.