Review: IPC-LPR237B-IR / Equivalent of Dahua ITC237-PW6M-IRLZF1050-B - ANPR, Traffic & Access Control Camera

dimammx

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For folks on this thread with a LPR237B-IR, the link to the 210922 firmware that Andy posted above, is that the same firmware that I have below? I purchased my camera in Oct. 2021 and the upgrade for the 210922 fails when I try to install it. I'm wondering if the 210922 is the same as what I have installed already and that's why the upgrade is failing.

Device Type: IPC-LPR237B-IR
Hardware Version: 1.00
Algorithm Version: libits v1.0.349337:Jul 1 2021 321903 0.0.0
Algorithm is authorized
System Version: 2.625.10BE000.0.R, Build Date: 2021-07-19
Software Version: 2.625.10BE000.0.R, build : 2021-07-19
Soft Build Time: 2021-07-19 14:53:26
I think @Wildcat_1 had issue with it too. I just remember they went with 210719 update. Which is newer than what i have. Is there update after 210922? If not Andy can you upload 210719 please?
 

Billyjack5

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I think @Wildcat_1 had issue with it too. I just remember they went with 210719 update. Which is newer than what i have. Is there update after 210922? If not Andy can you upload 210719 please?
Assuming the last 5 digits of the bin filename represents the date, then I'm using the 210719 firmware and the 210922 would be newer (Sept. 22, 2021). Andy indicated to me offline that the sole firmware change in the newer version is "Fix 2.6.1.08.07719 red line problem."

For what it's worth, the soft focus problems I was experiencing as mentioned in my earlier post, I believe, I've gotten a handle on. I'm at max zoom and the focus issue would occur when the camera went into BW mode at night and there wasn't enough detail for the camera to focus. I set the "Brightness Prevalue" setting from 10 up to 35, which, for me, turns on the BW mode about an hour before it gets totally dark. This seems to have helped significantly as the camera can gradually focus in BW mode while there is enough detail for it to do so.
 

dimammx

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@Billyjack5 Thanks for the info, I always assumed it had manual focus and did some sort of offset when turning BW. I am running on October 2020 firmware so 210719 is a big update for me.
However if something newer comes out soon, perhaps to fix issue with firmware not installing i can wait a bit. But if not, Andy can you please share 210719?
 

Billyjack5

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@Billyjack5 Thanks for the info, I always assumed it had manual focus and did some sort of offset when turning BW. I am running on October 2020 firmware so 210719 is a big update for me.
However if something newer comes out soon, perhaps to fix issue with firmware not installing i can wait a bit. But if not, Andy can you please share 210719?
If I had a bin file for it I'd post, but the 210719 came preinstalled. Overall, I'm very happy with this camera. Occasionally cars will drive by that the AI misses entirely, but those are infrequent and I record to a 4 series NVR and motion events to Blue Iris, so I have backup if I need it. I'd like for the firmware to improve the car branding AI as this would be a useful NVR search feature if that detection were reliable. I get a lot of "Tatamotors" and "Daihatsu" results, which obviously aren't on the road here in the U.S.
 

dimammx

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Yea i find brand/type/color to be pretty unreliable, so contemplating turning them off, might help unloading cam CPU to handle ANPR even better :)
 

Billyjack5

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Yea i find brand/type/color to be pretty unreliable, so contemplating turning them off, might help unloading cam CPU to handle ANPR even better :)
Do you get cars that the AI misses from time to time? Just curious.
 

dimammx

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It does miss some cars entirely, but i do not have perfect field of view. On the outer lane ident area is pretty short and that is the direction it misses the most. But overall with this imperfect setup, i would say it captures 94-95%
 

Wildcat_1

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@Billyjack5 just working on another cam review to upload and will be replying to your DM in the next few days. Just letting you know I haven't forgotten about you :)
 

dimammx

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Also one interesting observation: snap images it takes most likely is not an image it used to OCR the plate.
Case and point it got the plate right, car not even in the frame :rofl:
Inkedopen_tmp36_LI.jpg
 

Billyjack5

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I spoke too soon on the soft issues being resolves by putting the camera in BW before sundown. It works sometimes and other times doesn't. What I need is to be able to have the focus set to a specific number when the camera goes into night mode. I've not play around with scripts before, but for more experience folks on this thread than me, is this something that the Dahua sunrise/sunset utility could address?
 

wittaj

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I spoke too soon on the soft issues being resolves by putting the camera in BW before sundown. It works sometimes and other times doesn't. What I need is to be able to have the focus set to a specific number when the camera goes into night mode. I've not play around with scripts before, but for more experience folks on this thread than me, is this something that the Dahua sunrise/sunset utility could address?
Yes, this is exactly what that utility is for.
 

Billyjack5

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Yes, this is exactly what that utility is for.
Nice. Looks like I have a new project.
Yes, this is exactly what that utility is for.
Installed the Sunrise/Sunset utility today and configured it, though when I click "Simulate Sunset" to see if the settings work, nothing happens. Just curious if anyone has successfully used it with this camera before.
 

wittaj

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Look at the utility log file and see what it says - in all likelihood a password is typed wrong or you didn't set the schedule on the camera to Full Time day.
 

Billyjack5

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Nothing in the log shows an error, but unlike other Dahua cams (and as Wildcat noted in his initial review), there's no "Profile Management" tab or ability to schedule when day and night profiles kick in. There is a "Day&Night Mode" setting where you can choose "Color," "Auto Switch by Brightness," or "B/W" and I have this set to "Color." I haven't tested on my other Dahua cams so I'm assuming the absence of this setting on the this model is the problem, but I'm hoping that I'm wrong.
 

Billyjack5

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oh - yeah that might be a problem.
Wittaj, assuming using the sunrise/sunset utility isn't possible with this cam because of the absence of a profile tab, what would another option be to have this camera manually focus to a particular setting in night mode or at a particular time? Would it be to push API commands through Blue Iris like in bp2008's post? Or is there some easier option?
 

dimammx

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Sad that even in this price range dahua struggles with day/night focus switch. Having zoom maxed out doesn't help either :(
What worked for me is finding perfect night focus and day focus, Noting the values, and finally setting the focus to night value with maybe 1-2 steps towards day focus value. Day time is more forgiving on the focus values.
Also have you played with WDR setting, on this cam it makes a lot of difference (on cheap z12 bullet changing wdr does nothing for me)
 

wittaj

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Wittaj, assuming using the sunrise/sunset utility isn't possible with this cam because of the absence of a profile tab, what would another option be to have this camera manually focus to a particular setting in night mode or at a particular time? Would it be to push API commands through Blue Iris like in bp2008's post? Or is there some easier option?
Yeah, I I would think push out the API command in Blue Iris or thru Task Scheduler would be the next step.
 
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