Review: Dahua SD5A425XA-HNR 4MP 25x Starlight IR PTZ

@zape the lens, sensor and SOC do make up a chunk of change when comparing the models for sure, remember you are going from 2MP to 4MP. This along with upgraded internals such as motor used etc. As I mentioned above in post #36, both of these cams (49225 & 5A425) are my current recommendations for 2MP & 4MP PTZ's respectively therefore perform their functions similarly while understanding they are 2 very different cameras as I've mentioned in this thread.

In summary, depending again on your install location, lighting, needs etc you won't go wrong with either of these cams.


zape said:
Do you know if 5A425XA-HNR and 49225XA-HNR are the same in terms of performance/AI/autotracking capabilities?
5A425XA-HNR is much more expensive so I wonder if there is more than just the sensor/lens
Click to expand...
 
What kind of firmware do you use to upgrade ?

System version and PTZ version or only system ?

Thanks
BICK
 
Hey Wildcat,

Thank you for the review! I purchased this camera from Andy because of it. Unfortunately, I've been having problems with a few things. Maybe you or someone else can tell me where I'm going wrong.

1) I can't get the camera to track a subject for longer than a second or two (If it does at all) Then goes to it's last preset.
2) The camera overshoots subjects beyond being in frame and can't recover.
3) Under "Deep IVS" I can't change the "Track TIme" setting away from 15 seconds.
4) I'm not able to change tour presets duration away from 15 seconds.
5) I'm not able to add a "Video Metadata" Rule because it says "Please add a smart plan first" Even though I have one.
6) I haven't been able to get Face Detection working. (Maybe I need to install an SD Card for these last two features?)

I know this is a lot to ask for but I'm about 4 days into the forum and the web with no real answers.

Thanks for anything you can help with in advance!
Chris

The videos below are just a taste of what is happening.
(BTW, I have the camera in tour mode with 3 preset positions and the video is not that choppy in real life, it's only my synology that can't keep up.)

 
My take on your questions below.

1) I can't get the camera to track a subject for longer than a second or two (If it does at all) Then goes to it's last preset.
Tracking size and MIn/Max size not set right and time to track not set right including Target Filter

2) The camera overshoots subjects beyond being in frame and can't recover.
Tracking size and MIn/Max size not set right Including Target Filter

3) Under "Deep IVS" I can't change the "Track TIme" setting away from 15 seconds.
You tried it in IE ? in the camera's Web GUI

4) I'm not able to change tour presets duration away from 15 seconds.
15 seconds is the Min and must also be set if any more is needed in IE

5) I'm not able to add a "Video Metadata" Rule because it says "Please add a smart plan first" Even though I have one.
Correct Uncheck smart plan and tick metadata

6) I haven't been able to get Face Detection working. (Maybe I need to install an SD Card for these last two features?)
Maybe the camera does not have Face detection?


I'm happy to have a look at this if you want to send me a login via PM
 
Thanks ljw2k,

(For question 1) Has anyone created a video or tutorial on tracking size and MIn/Max size, that would be similar to my situation?

(For question 3 and 4) Using Internet Explorer fixed those issues! Thank you!

(For question 5) I'm not sure if you understood, I do have smart plans enabled but it still says to add them first.

(For question 6) It does have the function but it's not saving pictures or attributes of the person.

Thanks Again!,
Chris
 
Hi Chris , lots of time tracking size and filter size has been mentioned on this forum but if you set the filter size max to max and the filter size Min to around 75x75 that should work. also start with a tracking time of around 30 seconds. Make sure you tick the Appears&Cross boxes.

Quick screenshot of my settings and they work very well.
2020-06-17 02_13_35-Films & TV.jpg



Not sure on how to advise you on face recognition as my camera does not support this SD49225-XA
I know sometimes functions in the GUI do not always work even though they are there like in my camera I have Face detection next to the smart tab but the camera does not support face detection.

After you have set these setting click the Live tab in the camera's Web GUI and you will see where it is trying to track and how it tracks and from this you can fine tweak it down to your own environment and settings.
 
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I didn't have "Cross" checked, so I'll try that for a bit. I did have the "Max Size" set to the screen size but upped the box size of the "Min Size" from zero.

To be honest, my camera doesn't lock onto anything like how Wildcat_1 got his. Mine seems to be lagging, if that makes sense, then tries to compensate and then can't recover. It also won't track a human unless it's walking somewhere.

My experience seems to be closer to Sorka's videos.

Dahua poor auto tracking - What am I doing wrong?

Can't get my new SD59225U-HNI to track reliably. It's about 25% successful. Dahua example: Hikvision example: IVS rule: Is it just the Dahua is not very good at tracking vs the Hikvision? Yes about 25% of the time it tracks perfectly fine but most of the time it's like this.
ipcamtalk.com ipcamtalk.com
 
If you want to make me a login or via TeamViewer I would be more than happy to look over your settings for you.
 
Hey all, back and online. Been on the road for a couple of projects but if there are any questions or I can assist remotely then let me know. Catching up with a couple of users systems to assist there at this time where I can. Will be replying to those I haven't been able to get back to. Hope all are doing well
 
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Hey Wildcat,

ljw2k helped me out a great deal yesterday by using teamviewer and checking my settings. We were wondering if you could try the same for me if you have time, since you have (or had) the same camera. We are seeing a lag in performance compared to his.

Thank you for any help you can give!,
Chris
 
Another Update, This Time Regarding New Firmware. Will Cross Post In 49225 Thread As It Applies There Too

Well, this is interesting ! I’ve been testing the latest Prometheus FW for 49225 & 5A425 and on the standard stuff (bitrate etc) all remains the same….GOOD ! Also AI Live is working a lot better now.

However, there are 2 new features added in menu that I hadn't noticed and are super cool so wanted to share them with you all as soon as I discovered them.
Specifically these are 2 additions to the Event, Smart Plan menu…Global & Tour Plan. Lets jump into those:


Global
​
This is now at the top of the Smart Plan menu and as its name suggests allows you to choose an IVS rule that is enabled globally (not to be confused with previous Global calibration menu) regardless of other rule type you choose for a preset. This is a fantastic addition as it means you can now have Face Detection or Video Metadata rules applied at the Global level while lets say in Preset 1 you are running Deep IVS. I’ve tested this out and it works as designed so regardless of each of your presets being set for different rules, you can now have an overarching Face Detection or Video Metadata applied. You no longer have to disable Deep IVS to use Video Metadata they can co-exist. This up's the value of IVS rules to a new level IMO as now there isn’t a trade off that has to be made for some installs / projects etc.​
​
​
New Global Plan Setting in Smart Plan Showing Video Metadata Option.jpg Global Video Metada IVS Setting.jpg Global Face Detection IVS Setting.jpg​


Tour Plan

This introduces a new way to setup PTZ tours and their schedules. Works well and I like the new UI element for this where you can clearly see your preset names (an issue before) adjust the schedule and then very simply (with 1 click) adjust the priority order of presets in the tour. You are also able to set time in which the tour will sit at a preset and idle time for the tour too. Now with that said, an IMPORTANT NOTE: the old Tour menu (Under PTZ, Function, Tour) still exists and that does not see the new Tour Plan in other words it is possible to setup in 2 places (but I strongly advise against that). Similarly Idle Time & Time Task options do NOT see the new Tour Plan. Therefore you are either all in with the new Tour Plan or use existing, personally I like the new Tour Plan​
​
New Tour Plan Setting Under Smart Plan.jpg New Tour Plan Configuration Screen.jpg​


HTH
 
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Hey IPcam Newb, I didn't want to not provide an update to the thread here, since last post was asking for my help :) As you know I've been working with your cam over the past few weeks focused on improving tracking accuracy and performance as well as highlighting some concerns I saw in the environment and have shared the progress updates with you. A lot of config related issues seen that I've corrected and optimized along with other findings I've shared with you too. I'm glad to report here that as you kindly stated to me directly, the work I've completed has made a night/day improvement with the cam tracking much better now than it was. As I discussed with you there are some other issues going on in the local network environment that have also caused problems for this cam so I will be keeping an eye on these for you as we move forward too since actions have been taken there now as well. Again, glad I was able to help improve the performance of this cam in your environment to this point and we'll continue this convo directly.

IPcam Newb said:
Hey Wildcat,

ljw2k helped me out a great deal yesterday by using teamviewer and checking my settings. We were wondering if you could try the same for me if you have time, since you have (or had) the same camera. We are seeing a lag in performance compared to his.

Thank you for any help you can give!,
Chris
Click to expand...
 
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Wildcat_1 I thank you too for your help. Though, I'm not happy with that camera(59225). I have ordered this one as well. I'm not sure what can I do with the 59225. I'm wondering about the differences in the internals of these two cameras, the 59225 couldn't take this cameras firmware?
 
I finally got around to installing this camera and am not having the best luck with it. Thanks to Andy for getting it to me quickly.

First, regarding not being able to change the tracking time to anything other than 15 seconds, it seems to display it correctly in IE but not Chrome. So just a browser issue there.

But the big issue I'm having with this camera at the moment is I've had to program the PTZ presets several times now because it keeps shifting to the right. Sometimes I switch to the PTZ preset and it will make an extra incremental movement a few seconds later. Then my Deep IVS areas need to be redrawn.

The other issue is that the camera is not as responsive to BI PTZ controls. With my 49425 PTZ, if I tap the left arrow it will move a notch as I expect. But with this PTZ, I can't just tap it, I have to hold the arrow key which is a bit annoying and difficult.

One other piece of information I forgot to provide. The camera is on a POE switch with 1 other device and it's an 8 port switch. Could this be a power related issue? I have my 49225 running on an 8 port POE injector that isn't POE+ with 2 other devices and it seems to be running fine. I can't plug this camera into that to test, though.
 
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Couple of things:

1) Yes use IE not Chrome
2) Yes your POE switch (assume this is POE+) may be a problem as it depends on the overall POE budget you have on that switch vs what being used. Let me know what you have and can assist there. Also could always use a midspan to test if you pickup one
3) With regards to preset movement what are you checking that in, webGUI of cam or BI ?

Can get back to me here or via DM (usually better to get hold of me that way) and will try to assist when back online tomorrow. For the BI related questions suggest you post in that sub forum.

HTH

therealdeal74 said:
I finally got around to installing this camera and am not having the best luck with it. Thanks to Andy for getting it to me quickly.

First, regarding not being able to change the tracking time to anything other than 15 seconds, it seems to display it correctly in IE but not Chrome. So just a browser issue there.

But the big issue I'm having with this camera at the moment is I've had to program the PTZ presets several times now because it keeps shifting to the right. Sometimes I switch to the PTZ preset and it will make an extra incremental movement a few seconds later. Then my Deep IVS areas need to be redrawn.

The other issue is that the camera is not as responsive to BI PTZ controls. With my 49425 PTZ, if I tap the left arrow it will move a notch as I expect. But with this PTZ, I can't just tap it, I have to hold the arrow key which is a bit annoying and difficult.

One other piece of information I forgot to provide. The camera is on a POE switch with 1 other device and it's an 8 port switch. Could this be a power related issue? I have my 49225 running on an 8 port POE injector that isn't POE+ with 2 other devices and it seems to be running fine. I can't plug this camera into that to test, though.
Click to expand...
 
Wildcat_1 said:
Couple of things:

1) Yes use IE not Chrome
2) Yes your POE switch (assume this is POE+) may be a problem as it depends on the overall POE budget you have on that switch vs what being used. Let me know what you have and can assist there. Also could always use a midspan to test if you pickup one
3) With regards to preset movement what are you checking that in, webGUI of cam or BI ?

Can get back to me here or via DM (usually better to get hold of me that way) and will try to assist when back online tomorrow. For the BI related questions suggest you post in that sub forum.

HTH
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for the offer to help, really appreciate it. The switch I have is a an 8 port with 120 watts, it is not a POE+ switch. I made the assumption that it just has an overall budget of 120 watts and being an inexpensive Chinese made switch there wasn't regulation on the power between ports. I got it free so I can't complain.

The presets are having problems in both BI and on the camera GUI. It just doesn't get back to the same spot all the time and the camera is mounted solid. Here is a link to the problem, you can see that when I move it and go back to the Sidewalk PTZ, the position isn't the same you can look at the bottom left corner and see stucco sometimes and sometimes not. I noticed that when it goes back to the wrong position, the camera will correct it's position moments later. So the camera is correcting itself but initially moving to the wrong spot. This was the shifting problem I was seeing. The camera is on the latest firmware.

Andy got back to me quickly and says BI is having problems with the Dahua 2.0 PTZ cameras. Andy suggests using a Dahua NVR and I have one of the newer ones but I just got too used to the speed of BI. I am not a fan of the Dahua GUI.

I'll submit a ticket in with BI to see if they have a solution or are aware after I test it with a 30 watt POE injector I have coming in tomorrow.
 
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As an Amazon Associate IPCamTalk earns from qualifying purchases.
Similar to other articles, could you add links in post #1 to Andy's Amazon and/or Aliexpress for easy reference? Thanks for your excellent reviews!
 
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