Review - Dahua SD49225XA-HNR 2MP 25x Starlight + IR PTZ AI Camera with Deep IVS & SMD Plus

@rcirz you may find the new 59232XA I listed above works better. I know for me personally having used many PTZ's at differing price points (some extremely expensive) that the AT on this new 49225 is very very good in conjunction with the AI. As I've spoken about in my review, I find it way better than my SD6C. WRT the Aluminum you mentioned, assume your cam is tracking then potentially hits IR splash back from siding etc and loses itself ? If so then yes bright lights or splash back can always impact AT BUT with AI and Deep IVS it does help for sure in my experience.
Trouble is,can't find one.
 
Just did the return for my Amcrest that I replaced with this. Happy to say the dahua is working great!! I was a little worried with how large these PTZs are but no one I've had over even noticed it. Even when they walk right under it and Im following them!


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I ordered an SD49225XA-HNR specifically for auto tracking, and received it on 7 Jan. In the camera web interface, it doesn't show the "alarm track" option under Deep IVS. My NVR5216-16P-I shows that option under IVS, but it doesn't work. Has anyone tried to flash earlier firmware to attempt to enable the auto tracking feature of this camera yet?
 
I ordered an SD49225XA-HNR specifically for auto tracking, and received it on 7 Jan. In the camera web interface, it doesn't show the "alarm track" option under Deep IVS. My NVR5216-16P-I shows that option under IVS, but it doesn't work. Has anyone tried to flash earlier firmware to attempt to enable the auto tracking feature of this camera yet?
Where did you order from?
 
Flashing the newer (auto tracking disabled version) back to old firmware does NOT re-enable Auto Tracking. Dahua is disabling this at the hardware (serial / build range) level.



I ordered an SD49225XA-HNR specifically for auto tracking, and received it on 7 Jan. In the camera web interface, it doesn't show the "alarm track" option under Deep IVS. My NVR5216-16P-I shows that option under IVS, but it doesn't work. Has anyone tried to flash earlier firmware to attempt to enable the auto tracking feature of this camera yet?
 
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Where did you order from?
I ordered it from Andy through email and Paypal.
Flashing the newer (auto tracking disabled version) back to old firmware does NOT re-enable Auto Tracking. Dahua is disabling this at the hardware (serial / build range) level.
Thank you for your reply.
This makes me sad, and a little angry. When I ordered it said "auto tracking" in the description.
I think I should be able to get a product and maybe be upset if it doesn't work as advertised or quite as intended. Let me make my own decision perhaps. I don't think I should have to deal with a product that was intentionally limited, but not have that limit conveyed to me before purchase. Although, I've never seen any warnings or updates like that sent out by Dahua. Maybe I just don't know where to look?
I'm not upset with Andy though. I don't think he knew, or if he did then he forgot our conversation about wanting the auto tracking feature. He's busy and gets a lot of email traffic, so I understand. I know Andy is enjoying the Chinese New Year and I'm sure he'll address my concern when he returns.
 
Unfortunately this was a surprise to us all including Andy. Just remember as I’ve shared above, @GuitarKin too that using IVS triggers and presets or even PTZ activation allows you to accomplish similar (albeit no ‘tracking’) and impressive results from this remarkably powerful camera For the money. In some installs and locations can even work better than Auto Tracking. If you are willing to put the time in to set it up this way (or reach out to me via DM and will assist) I think you’ll be impressed with the image quality and performance this camera offers.

HTH


I ordered it from Andy through email and Paypal.

Thank you for your reply.
This makes me sad, and a little angry. When I ordered it said "auto tracking" in the description.
I think I should be able to get a product and maybe be upset if it doesn't work as advertised or quite as intended. Let me make my own decision perhaps. I don't think I should have to deal with a product that was intentionally limited, but not have that limit conveyed to me before purchase. Although, I've never seen any warnings or updates like that sent out by Dahua. Maybe I just don't know where to look?
I'm not upset with Andy though. I don't think he knew, or if he did then he forgot our conversation about wanting the auto tracking feature. He's busy and gets a lot of email traffic, so I understand. I know Andy is enjoying the Chinese New Year and I'm sure he'll address my concern when he returns.
 
Unfortunately this was a surprise to us all including Andy. Just remember as I’ve shared above, @GuitarKin too that using IVS triggers and presets or even PTZ activation allows you to accomplish similar (albeit no ‘tracking’) and impressive results from this remarkably powerful camera For the money. In some installs and locations can even work better than Auto Tracking. If you are willing to put the time in to set it up this way (or reach out to me via DM and will assist) I think you’ll be impressed with the image quality and performance this camera offers.

HTH
Yes that does help, thank you. In its current location there is only one other camera that could trigger the movements. Still better than nothing.
I'll see what Andy replies with and then get back to you.
Thank you again for your time and assistance.
 
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Unfortunately this was a surprise to us all including Andy. Just remember as I’ve shared above, @GuitarKin too that using IVS triggers and presets or even PTZ activation allows you to accomplish similar (albeit no ‘tracking’) and impressive results from this remarkably powerful camera For the money. In some installs and locations can even work better than Auto Tracking. If you are willing to put the time in to set it up this way (or reach out to me via DM and will assist) I think you’ll be impressed with the image quality and performance this camera offers.

HTH

Dahua should tell us how many IVS-rules you can do for each camera model. My SD49425XB-HNR can handle 31 rules then I cant do more. I like to have more than that :). When you building homemade autotracking based on IVS-rules to control PTZ-camera it's not enought for me. My other older thermal camera TPC-BF2120 can only handle 10 IVS-rules. You cant find that information on Dahua website how many rules each camera models can handle or support.
 
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Unfortunately this was a surprise to us all including Andy. Just remember as I’ve shared above, @GuitarKin too that using IVS triggers and presets or even PTZ activation allows you to accomplish similar (albeit no ‘tracking’) and impressive results from this remarkably powerful camera For the money. In some installs and locations can even work better than Auto Tracking. If you are willing to put the time in to set it up this way (or reach out to me via DM and will assist) I think you’ll be impressed with the image quality and performance this camera offers.

HTH
What is the difference between Auto Tracking and IVS rule application? I just returned my 59230 and it had Auto Tracking but it was jumpy. Is Auto tracking when the camera smoothly pans and follows a subject? I am not sure because my camera would notice a subject, start to zoom in, blackout on writing, and come back zoomed in. Jumpy and super UNsmooth. Just want to understand things clearly because my next camera needs to work right.
 
Welp.. Preset slip is back with a vengeance. It slips any time I manually control the camera or select presets that are far apart from each other. When it does slip you can hear a grinding noise as though the gears are slipping or something similar is physically going wrong inside the camera. See the attached videos of it happening. In the video of the camera itself you can hear the normal PTZ "whine" and then hear the very distinct grinding/clicking noise when it slips. I've also included the video from the camera itself where you can see when I call the FrontDoor preset the first few times it points at the door but when it slips it points out into the yard instead. I can manually drive the camera far right beyond the "zero" position then when I go back left you can see it zero itself again.

In the video I was quickly jumping between presets to try to get it to do it several times for the video. Even if I am slowly jumping around or on a preset cycle it will slip anytime it goes between presets that are more than about 90 degrees apart from each other. Whats odd is that I was manually controlling the camera throughout the week with no issues. Then when I went to do it this morning I encountered the slip and it seems to be sticking around this time.


Video of the camera. First slip around the 00:41 mark.


Video from the camera itself. First slip at the 00:39 mark.


I plan to spin the camera 90 degrees so that "zero" is straight out into the yard, that way whenever it pans around it will pass that point. It will also be better with the Home preset being called because it will actually look at something worthwhile when it is called instead of just my pillar. My concern with this workaround is it doesn't seem to actually reset until it goes right beyond the zero position and then comes back left across it. So if I am jumping right quick to look at something all the presets will be goofed up until I pan far enough left again for it to correct itself. I'm also concerned that the slipping could cause more permanent damage over time. If it is in fact a gear or belt slipping I gotta imagine that will cause wear on the parts that are slipping against each other.
 
This was exactly the problem I had with my Dahua SD49225XA-HNR I must admit yours sound worse than mine although I only ever recorded the sound inside my house as I could hear it from my living room making these grinding noises just when it lost Preset.

I tried all the firmware's Old and New and 3D PTZ files to date and non worked still lost Preset and made the horrendous sound you have shown here which has been well captured ( Well Done ) and thanks for sharing.

I will be waiting for the new SD5A425XA-HNR to arrive at my suppliers in the UK which will be around 4 -6 weeks time and in the meantime my Enhanced Training Course with Dahua would be complete hopefully.

It is a shame the camera has these known problems as it could have been the 2019 PTZ to beat.

Anyway Sorry to see you also having these problems and hope you get it resolved one way or another and no doubt you won't.
 
You asked for it @rcirz so I'm going to provide a lot of detail on this :)

First, Auto Tracking exists in generally 2 ways within PTZ’s that support it, Alarm Tracking as part of an IVS rule (and generally part of most cams) and Auto Tracking (under the Intelligence menu of PTZ function). The latter was always part of the Pro and above line of PTZ’s but recently with the advent of newer AI cams has been dropped in a number of models in favor of Alarm Tracking. These forms of Auto Tracking are where the camera has full autonomy on what it tracks within a given scene based on a triggered rule (intrusion or tripwire). In older models, things like lights, shadows, leaves etc could throw the camera off, newer models don't suffer from this as much.

To be honest Auto Tracking under the Intelligence menu was never that great which is why for Auto Tracking enabled cams you will hear myself and others talk about using Alarm Tracking through IVS triggers as the favored approach. This approach allows for much more configuration tweaking and really allows you to dial in the Auto Tracking, within reason. The caveat here is that any form of Auto Tracking will never be 100% just by nature of what it is trying to do within its FOV BUT using Alarm Track (for cams that support Auto Tracking) gives you a much better chance to get a usable end result.

Now with all that said when I mention MD, IVS triggers and Presets or PTZ activation that is different again and is available on ‘all’ PTZ’s and associated NVRs / NVR platforms. Using this method you don’t need Auto Tracking (neither of the two options above in first paragraph). Instead you setup an equivalent, I would argue better (as its more configurable) experience.

Below are just a couple of quick examples, can go into more IVS related detail later if needed


1st example - below is all achievable on cam

  • Set 4 presets (#1 front door, #2 driveway wide, #3 side street, #4 vehicle in driveway)
  • Set tour, scan, pattern to move between the above or scan your property in general at set durations of your choosing
  • IVS in each preset (based on camera features) can be set for object filtering for human vs vehicle etc
  • Then can use Motion detection on cam to enable PTZ activation to a specific preset when motion detected on current scene that the tour is facing
  • IVS rule gets tripped, and scene is captured

So what could this look like in a scenario. Cam is on tour, as it gets to the driveway it detects motion in that scene and calls/moves to preset 4 which is a closeup of the vehicle and then the IVS rule for that preset kicks in and you capture an individual by your car.


2nd example - Using NVR - Multi cam ‘spotter & overwatch’ approach

  • Cam 1 = LPR cam covering approach to property
  • Cam 2 = Static driveway
  • Cam 3 = Sidewalk shot
  • Cam 4 = Front door
  • Cam 5 = PTZ at front of property

Preset configuration on PTZ
  • Preset 1 = Close up of approach to property
  • Preset 2 = Vehicle shots on driveway
  • Preset 3 = Close up of sidewalk to property
  • Preset 4 = Close up of pathway to front door

In this scenario your 4 static spotter cams are setup with their regular IVS rules to capture intrusion or tripwire. However 1 IVS rule (or more if you choose) per static cam is set for PTZ activation of a set preset. In this example Cam 1 detects a vehicle approaching, captures its plate, the vehicle triggers the IVS tripwire on the LPR cam which through the NVR then activates the PTZ and calls it to Preset 1 which is just in time to get a nice image of the car driving towards your property. Then the occupant exits the vehicle and starts up the sidewalk towards your driveway, Cam 3 kicks in, tripwire triggered, calls PTZ to Preset 3, body shot of individual. Then they walk up to your vehicle on the driveway which triggers Cam 2’s tripwire and calls the PTZ to Preset 2 now you have a nice closeup of face and anything the individual is trying to do on the vehicle (intent).

I think by now you get the idea and this is just a few examples of things I’ve set for some. This approach is WAY more accurate and gives you a lot more control and flexibility than Auto Tracking will ever give you, regardless of budget. This still is very much an art so if interested in these kind of setups you can always reach out. I've configured these on multi point sites and even building to building with shared infrastructure and 360 surveillance etc.

Now don’t get me wrong, Auto Tracking (through Alarm Track in IVS), when implemented well (as on the 49225 for example) is an AMAZING step up from where the feature started and with Deep IVS, SMD and AI (on some cams) help keep cams honest and dialed in with some phenomenal results. The Hunter series is another perfect example of innovation in this area where you have a panoramic cam feeding the PTZ location details to move to which in effect is PTZ activation on cam but with spotter (static) and overwatch (PTZ) built into 1.

Hope that gives you an idea of the types of Auto Tracking and the options everyone has in this area regardless of whether your PTZ supports it or not.

Lastly, lets not forget that Pan Tilt Zoom cams were originally built NOT to auto track but to be controlled (and still are in most installations) by manned security with control panel / joystick in real-time. Auto Tracking was to cover when they were off for a break ;)

BTW Spotter and Overwatch are my names for these types of cam, taking T-shirt orders now ;)

HTH





What is the difference between Auto Tracking and IVS rule application? I just returned my 59230 and it had Auto Tracking but it was jumpy. Is Auto tracking when the camera smoothly pans and follows a subject? I am not sure because my camera would notice a subject, start to zoom in, blackout on writing, and come back zoomed in. Jumpy and super UNsmooth. Just want to understand things clearly because my next camera needs to work right.
 
I am amazed by how calmly people are responding to removal of a specified feature by a firmware update. The spec sheet listed "Deep-learning-based auto tracking and perimeter protection"

In most other forums, the pitchforks would be out in droves if that happened after people paid more to get that ability.
Indeed. It was astonishing Dahua did that. It's even more astonishing some appear to be going along with it as if such behaviour on the part of a manufacturer was perfectly acceptable.

And it's too bad. This camera was looking pretty interesting for a bit, there. Over twice as expensive as any camera I've bought, so far, but, still: I was thinking about it.