Review: EmpireTech IPC-T58IR-ZE-S3 / Dahua 5842T-ZE-S3 - 8MP / 4K Turret Camera

[Wildcat_1]

All

Quick update. I've been working on some of the bugs I've found with this camera and will be documenting all of these to Dahua and @EMPIRETECANDY this week. Specifically 5 I'm tracking right now, all with relatively easy fixes that I've identified.
Also I will be working on another S3 review soon and therefore will hold on overall conclusion post until I've completed the series. I'm also doing some testing with these cams for LPR for you and will report back on my findings on the cam performance in those situations. Stay tuned

 

[lukeeper]

Thank you so much for usefull videos. Few questions:
1: Did you set gain as gain priority mode or manual mode? If manual - shutter should be 0-40?

1.5: In a DAY profile you are using mode - auto for exposure?

2. Gamma 42, contrast 52 and sharpness 40-44 are applied to both day and night?

3. Camera is working on customized scene and you are setting up obly day and night profile?

 

[Wildcat_1]

Thanks for the kind comment @lukeeper
Great questions. Let me expand with some additional answers for you

Q1- ALWAYS Manual Mode and dial in the range for your situation. Personally I don't like to go lower than 1/250 (absolute lowest) during the day. At night I'll go between 1/120 to 1/250 depending on install location and target capture needs
Q1.5 - NOPE, again ALWAYS use Manual Mode
Q2 - This depends on install location and target capture for this series of cams. ALSO depends on which MP can you purchase. for the 4K version (featured in this review), I would 100% keep Sharpness around 42 (split the difference) for day + night and keep Contrast around 52 (maybe 54) for both as well. Gamma is good at 42 during day BUT I've dropped this as low as 32 (yep, that low and even dipped to 28 depending on lighting at location vs vehicle caps) when using this series of cams for other applications like LPR (using the Z4 version of this 4K cam, more on this one later )
Q3 - I use customized and set day and night schedules for month over month / year. This is a HUGE benefit of the v3.0 FW and 5.0 GUI

HTH

Thank you so much for usefull videos. Few questions:
1: Did you set gain as gain priority mode or manual mode? If manual - shutter should be 0-40?

1.5: In a DAY profile you are using mode - auto for exposure?

2. Gamma 42, contrast 52 and sharpness 40-44 are applied to both day and night?

3. Camera is working on customized scene and you are setting up obly day and night profile?

 

[Wildcat_1]

Wanted to provide some updates. Had some issues getting onto the site this week but wanted to post my Tips/Recommendations here (will also post in the initial Post number) here. I am also getting ready to to edit the test for the next S3 camera but have been focused on getting the bugs documented (will post here too) that I've found so far so I can get those (and my proposed fixes) to Dahua ASAP. Lastly I am also going to be posting a separate video (using the S3 cams) for a challenge a couple of people DM'd me about, so watch out for that too.

 

[Wildcat_1]

Tips / Recommendations When Using The S3 Cameras (Listed in My Video too):

• Reduce Gamma to 42.
• Reduce Sharpness to 40 - 44.
• Reduce Exposure Compensation to 20.
• For Night Settings Consider Dropping Gain to Range of 0 - 40 (from 50).
• Increase Contrast to 52.
• At Night, Don't Drop Noise Reduction (2D or 3D) below 36 on These Cameras.
• Turn Off Auto Iris.
• Even Though AcuPick Needs Work, Turn It On To Get IVS + Video Metadata Captures tagged.
• If You Disable AcuPick You Only Get 1 or The Other E.g. IVS, Video Metadata, Face Detect.

Be sure to stay tuned for the challenge Tips & Recommendations where I specifically dive into an area using settings that may surprise a lot of you.