Review-Dahua IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS Starlight Camera-Varifocal

[looney2ns]

exactly. how do i set a faster max shutter for night time without going all white-out during the day? thanx.

Set the shutter in the night profile to 1/30 or 1/60, then adjust other parameters around that.
Set the noise reduction back to 50, leave it there until you set other parameters, then set the noise reduction as low as you can stand it, after you have adjusted everything else.

 

[looney2ns]

I just bought both a 2231 and a 5231 and got them mounted last week. I'm using the default set up on both except turning the IR off. The low light images from the 2231 are great but I get little more than a black screen from the 5231. The last week has been nearly a full moon and I was getting unbelievable shots off the 2231 but nothing from the 5231. The firmware on the 5231 is from March of this year the 2231 is a few months newer. Could upgrading that prove helpful?

I didn't see that problem in my testing at all. Reset the cam's to factory defaults and retest.

 

[looney2ns]

back to the 2231: I've fiddled with all the 'exposure' settings, i think, and i can't seem to get blur-free (or even blur-reduced) images on motion in less than full daylight ('auto' works OK daytime)
I've got the cam zoomed out as far as it will go (13mm). Maybe that's part of the problem? Focus is fine on static objects, but moving is generally blurry onc ethe sun dips. Trying to get clear enough shots of faces as people walk by ~30ft out. I'm more used to configuring Hik's, so perhaps there's some aspect of the Dahua's settings I'm not grokking...

dusk example: fe_detail.20180829_160352_2
night example: fe_detail.20180829_160352_1
current exposure config: 2231 config

aside: how the heck does one add INLINE images here?

thanx.

When you make a post, look along the bottom of the screen for "Upload a File"
Video's, upload to Youtube then insert the link.

 

[pozzello]

ok, set up separate day & night profiles and have BI switching between them following sunset/sunrise.

still no good at 1/120 exposure. could i have too much IR? hmm....

 

[pozzello]

and not any better at 1/250 or even 1/500... WTF? This thing just ain't workin' for me...

 

[bigredfish]

I wonder if you simply dont have enough light at the subject? At some point you run out of light going away from the camera without help from and external light source...... that plus I think you're at the far reaches of your 12-13mm lens

 

[pozzello]

pretty sure lighting is not the issue. In addition to this cam's IR, there's another one (hik turret) contributiong IR AND a 20w external IR adjusted to about 30' FOV.
I may try a newer firmware, if available. Cam came with 2.640.0000002.0.R, Build Date: 2018-05-23

 

[looney2ns]

pretty sure lighting is not the issue. In addition to this cam's IR, there's another one (hik turret) contributiong IR AND a 20w external IR adjusted to about 30' FOV.
I may try a newer firmware, if available. Cam came with 2.640.0000002.0.R, Build Date: 2018-05-23

Have you tried setting the cam back to factory default with a hard reset and starting fresh? Looks like very little if any change is made when you change the shutter speed, which isn't normal. Heck, leaving at auto should do a better job than that.

 

[patterrr]

Is there a dome version of this camera for indoor use? This camera looks like the perfect balance of cost and features for outdoors, but don't really want to mount the turret style inside of the house.

<EDIT> - I think I figured it out - is it the IPC-HDBW2231R-ZS/VFS? Any notable differences that I'm missing other than the fact that this is a dome? Also, I see the value of using 2MP outdoors to get the low light sensitivity, but do most people go to 4MP for indoors for more detail since there's generally more ambient light indoors?

 

[pozzello]

reset to factory. no change in night-time clarity of moving people... i also tried focusing a bit closer than the parked car, in case the cam's auto was too far out for my walking subjects...

 

[Declan]

Got two of these

One has spots all around it at night time

Any ideas what may cause this?

Thanks

 

[redfive]

Did you try without the car ? The rear car window seems reflecting the IR light ...

 

[Declan]

Yip. No change

 

[fenderman]

Yip. No change

View attachment 32881

either the lens is dirty or its ir glare reflecting off something near the camera.

 

[awsum140]

I've got a 5231 on the back corner of my house looking out towards the street. I get headlight reflections from cars on the street, some really noticeable depending on how badly mis-aligned the headlights are. The street is about 200 feet away and 10 feet lower than the house, say 17 feet lower than the camera. Angle and optic can drive you nuts sometimes.

 

[pozzello]

doing a bit better with this cam (2231) at getting clearer face shots as people walk by at night. running @ 1/250th exposure, gain limited to 50 or less.
remember, i have a ton of IR and am am full zoomed in. basically, i adjusted things until i could read the license plate of parked car somewhat beyond
where people walk and those settings seem to help get more detail (less blurryness) in faces as people go by... Still not exactly what i had hoped for with this cam, but
usable for now, i guess...

 

[Burton_Flooring]

doing a bit better with this cam (2231) at getting clearer face shots as people walk by at night. running @ 1/250th exposure, gain limited to 50 or less.
remember, i have a ton of IR and am am full zoomed in. basically, i adjusted things until i could read the license plate of parked car somewhat beyond
where people walk and those settings seem to help get more detail (less blurryness) in faces as people go by... Still not exactly what i had hoped for with this cam, but
usable for now, i guess...
View attachment 32921

You need a higher shutter speed.

Remember this; the more you zoom in, the more the exposure darkens and becomes susceptible to motion blur. (Object's speed, relative to the frame, increases exponentially)

I advise using the "Customized Range" option instead of a fixed shutter speed, because then the camera can use higher shutter speeds when possible without negatively impacting the exposure. Set it to 0-4ms (1/250 would be the SLOWEST ALLOWED shutter speed).

You can try setting it to 0-2ms if it's still not "freezing" the motion as needed. (aka smaller numbers means faster shutter).

Also; Crank up the Gain to 100, then move on to cranking up the Gamma. This camera can handle a lot of enhancement w/ out producing very much grain.

WDR is your friend as well if you have subjects that appear dark in the edges of the IR or Street lights. Best of luck.

 

[pozzello]

hm, i had LOWERED the gain to get better clarity, as that seemed to reduce noise at the shorter exposures (I am using customized range).
I DO have WDR enabled for the night profile, as that seems to help given the differences in IR brightness across the scene.
will try even shorter exposure (1/500 == 2ms or less) and higher gain. gamma i have not played with...

thanx for the tips.

 

[Burton_Flooring]

hm, i had LOWERED the gain to get better clarity, as that seemed to reduce noise at the shorter exposures (I am using customized range).
I DO have WDR enabled for the night profile, as that seems to help given the differences in IR brightness across the scene.
will try even shorter exposure (1/500 == 2ms or less) and higher gain. gamma i have not played with...

thanx for the tips.

Yeah, it takes some fiddling, hopefully some of that helps

The only time you need to lower the gain is if you are seeing graininess. A fuzzy image can be due to focus not being locked into the right spot and/or shutter speed not high enough (also if 3D NR is on it can cause ghosting, which is a separate issue) lots to play with.

 

[awsum140]

I took the plunge and am trying a 2231. Ordered Monday and it arrived today, halfway around the world. Great service as usual from Andy.

I did have a heck of a time getting it configured though. I set the password, logged in and set the IP to match my LAN. When I went to log in from the LAN, nada, nothing, not even an error message. So, I took it apart and did a hard reset. That got me back in and everything went smoothly from that point.

I bought a PFA130-E to mount it with, it's going on a tree. The PFA130, itself, is really nice and has 3/4" hubs which is perfect for me since I used 3/4" liquid tight up the tree trunk. It also comes with screws to mount the camera with. The mounting holes do not go through the cover plate to maintain weatherproofing. Unfortunately the nice stainless wire on the cover plate that will hold things for you while you work is kind of pointless, other than holding the box cover itself. The 2231, or any of the turret cameras that fit, covers the mounting screws for the box cover so there is no way to pre-mount the camera and take advantage of that nice feature.