PTZ Camera setup nightmare...

observant1

observant1

Getting comfortable
Dec 2, 2018
350
379
alabama
sys version - V2 800.001W000.0.R.P9.2522.UN.UR
PTZ Version - V2.401.0000000.64.RHNZ_200219_34642
ptz camera S/N - 6k059f0paj5xxxx

Dahua 4mp ptz camera. Hard as hell to set up autotracking at night. ....like most cameras work great in daylight but suk balls at night. Plent of options to play with, but i've played ith a few and havent been satisfied with any at night. You set up a good smartplan with ivs rules and it works very well in daylight. Suks at night. And I've tried some diferent things.

Also nothing is clear in the settings. OK Im tired of bitching..... started this thread to update occasionally.

I'll try to show some settings and tracking views...but it will not be tomorrow.

---I Love the good quality view of stationarry cameras with quality sensor to pixil size for night vision. Many can be set up at default and work well. This piece of shit ptz can work great during the daylight tracking objects.

Not asking for help. ... Just venting. There is a reason some cameras with large sensors cost more than others. I'm not a PTZ autotracking expert.

Thanks for letting me vent for a moment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Flintstone61
observant1 said:
sys version - V2 800.001W000.0.R.P9.2522.UN.UR
PTZ Version - V2.401.0000000.64.RHNZ_200219_34642
ptz camera S/N - 6k059f0paj5xxxx

Dahua 4mp ptz camera. Hard as hell to set up autotracking at night. ....like most cameras work great in daylight but suk balls at night. Plent of options to play with, but i've played ith a few and havent been satisfied with any at night. You set up a good smartplan with ivs rules and it works very well in daylight. Suks at night. And I've tried some diferent things.

Also nothing is clear in the settings. OK Im tired of bitching..... started this thread to update occasionally.

I'll try to show some settings and tracking views...but it will not be tomorrow.

---I Love the good quality view of stationarry cameras with quality sensor to pixil size for night vision. Many can be set up at default and work well. This piece of shit ptz can work great during the daylight tracking objects.

Not asking for help. ... Just venting. There is a reason some cameras with large sensors cost more than others. I'm not a PTZ autotracking expert.

Thanks for letting me vent for a moment.
Click to expand...
Waiting to hear what camera model you are having problems setting up.
 
I can appreciate the frustration. @wittaj tried to help me set up my Piece o crap Jidetech PTZ ( amazon... chinese translated to engrish poorly in firmware menus)
to react to Spotter cams but it wasn't cooperating.
Being the maint man, I didn't have time to muck around with it....It's still living 4 years on. but as an over view camera to a parking lot.
 
weigle2 said:
Waiting to hear what camera model you are having problems setting up.
Click to expand...
  • PDN49I425H-XR 4 Megapixel Starlight + IR PTZ AI Network Camera, 25X Lens
  • 1/2.8" 4Megapixel CMOS
  • Powerful 25x optical zoom
  • Starlight technology
  • Max.25/30fps@4M
  • Deep-learning-based auto-tracking and perimeter protection
  • Support PoE+
  • SMD Plus
  • IR distance up to 100m
  • IP66
  • Auto Tracking
Lot's of good info on this site about best settings at night. It just takes so much time at night when I'd rather be grilling a steak and drinking beer watching TV, reading a book...... Or even sleeping. :(

So it's just gonna take trial and error. I made this post when i was aggravated, which seems to be more often the older I get.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming and bigredfish
You have my sympathy.
We here at this forum, have most likely been in the same situation as yourself.
It indeed does take time to correctly setup and optimise a camera for both daylight and nighttime
Your PTZ seems a reasonable camera. Others on this forum will hopefully guide you to resolve the issues.
 
I'm done for the night. I need to look up the definitions for some of these settings I'm not too familiar with.


and each of those screenshots have dropdown settings so .....
 
CCTVCam said:
Some use other overview cameras as spotter cams to send alerts to the ptz whihc then gets the close ups. Not sure how it's done though. I'm, sure someone will chirp up.
Click to expand...
I've got some pretty good overview cameras and could set 1 up as a spotter, but I'm trying to get the best nighttime picture on the ptz before i do much else. My 5442 that overlooks the same area has enough ambiant lighting to keep in full color and I'm very happy with it and a few other stationary cams.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CCTVCam, JDreaming and bigredfish
Ri22o said:
Same. I saw that spec and immediately knew it was the issue.

If only the Mini PTZ was a 4MP 1/1.8.
Click to expand...

I wish i had one of these -​

EmpireTech Ultra Smart Starlight+ 4MP 1/1.8" CMOS 25x Optical Zoom POE+ IP PTZ Camera PTZ5A4M-25X​



  • 1/1.8" 4Megapixel CMOS . Powerful 25x optical zoom. Technology.
  • Max. 25/30fps @ 4MP.
  • IR distance up to 150 m.
  • Deep-learning-based perimeter protection.
  • Auto Tracking 3.0 ; SMD 4.0. ; Quick Pick.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JDreaming and bigredfish
I -Frame -

Most network surveillance camera streams are made up of I-frames and P-frames, I-frames are full image captures that record everything the camera is seeing and P-frames are the frames between the I-frames where only the elements of the image that are changing are refreshed.

To explain this with an example, if you had an empty corridor and someone walked down it the I-frame would capture the entire image and then the following P-frames would only capture the elements of the image that are changing, which in this case would be the person walking.

The idea behind this is that it is another way to compress the bitrate of the camera stream because instead of capturing 25 full-resolution images every second you are capturing one full image every 50 frames (e.g. 2 seconds) and then all the frames in between only capture what changes in the image and thus are much smaller files/use less bitrate.

Reducing the I-frame interval (25 frames, 10 frames, etc...) will obviously increase the bitrate/bandwidth used by the camera and is only really recommended if you are installing the camera in a very busy scene where having the full image refresh more regularly can improve image detail. Increasing the I-frame interval (75 frames, 100 frames, etc...) will decrease the bandwidth used and is only really recommended when covering scenes with little to no activity as you will see a drop in image quality and maybe even distortion to any movement that happens between the I-frames.

Not my description - pulled from the web
------------------------
Also - SVC setting - SVC is a scalable video coding technology that can be used for coding storage (frame extraction transmission) when bandwidth is insufficient.
 
Last edited:
There are a few things to think about....

First is the PTZ itself. If using the PTZ by itself then it will also miss other areas that it is not looking at.

Second is using PTZ with spotter cameras. Spotter cameras need to have the detection set up. Under the detection is PTZ trigger where you will select the PTZ along with the preset for the camera to spin around and look in that direction.

Third is the autotracking. The PTZ will not track until the camera is stopped and the detection triggers it to follow the object. Cannot expect the PTZ to be doing a patrol or pattern while using tracking at the same time while in motion. Camera spins and stops.... If detection is triggered then it will follow until either the object is out of the PTZ's field of view so it returns to the "park" position or another spotter cam triggers the PTZ to spin in that direction.

PTZ "seeing" in IR or color doesn't matter when tracking. It could do it in both but once again the PTZ needs to be stopped when detecting. It doesn't know the difference between PTZ itself is moving or an object is moving. So tracking only works when PTZ is NOT moving and gets triggered.
 
  • Like
Reactions: observant1
  • Like
Reactions: spencnor, Flintstone61 and JDreaming
looney2ns said:
If you don't get the settings off of defaults/auto settings, you will have problems with tracking.

Start HERE
Click to expand...
I've read that thread once before.....thanks for the link because i couldn't find it again. It's working better. It may take a few nights to get it just right.

I changed it to color late last night. I may upload a few clips if I like it.
 
Yep, I was gonna comment that the PTZ is too close. They work better from a distance.

If you were to have the preset angled further down the road it would do a good job tracking up to that point, but when an object is close to the PTZ, it will struggle as it gets close to the camera.

I would have the preset down by that white car and utility pole and just accept that most vehicles it will probably fail once it gets in front of your driveway. Or consider angling the other way, whichever is more important for you to capture.

1734800959800.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: observant1 and JDreaming
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom