Review-SD4A425DB-HNY 1/2.8" CMOS 4MP 25x Starlight Auto-tracking MiniPTZ

After tracking a subject, my two SD4A425DB-HNY cameras make a very audible sound when returning to the default position. It is loud enough to draw the subjects attention.

That's normal with most ptz when they move back to the deafult position at high speed. The SD5A825GA-HNR ptz I have doesn't make any audible sound while auto tracking, but the ptz motor would make this Woooooozzzz sound that's loud enough to hear even inside the house with the windows close if you stand near the area. It's even more noticeable at night when it's quiet around the area with no other distracting sound.
 
That's normal with most ptz when they move back to the deafult position at high speed. The SD5A825GA-HNR ptz I have doesn't make any audible sound while auto tracking, but the ptz motor would make this Woooooozzzz sound that's loud enough to hear even inside the house with the windows close if you stand near the area. It's even more noticeable at night when it's quiet around the area with no other distracting sound.
I hear mine every time I am outside, but I know what it is and to expect it. I am not sure if my neighbors hear it.

It is also mounted on the soffit right outside my office and serves as a good alarm when I hear it swing to a preset, haha.
 
So I’ve been trying to get this PTZ camera going… really not impressed with the image quality versus my 5442’s, but it is what it is.

Latest firmware. I’ve been finding VBR encoding utterly useless - even with image quality set to 6, it keeps dropping the bitrate to insanely low levels in h264 or h265 that makes the picture break up and pulse badly, even at max bitrate, and regardless of framerate or Iframes (oddly, higher fps at the slightly higher bitrate it allows looks better). So far the best compromise I’ve found is AI Encoding, which seems to help keep the image more stable.

The WDR implementation seems problematic. When it kicks on, it seems like there’s a whole second set of sharping / contrast boost being applied that way overcooks the image. Like if I dial in the image sharpness when off, then turn on WDR and adjust the level until it kicks on, the sharpness like doubles, and the whole image moves slightly to the right.

Anyone got any tips on image/encoding setting for this?
 
Guess I’ve got it about as good as I can get it. Daytime is a LOT better with the sharpness turned waaay down.

However, I’m noting that the NVR16CH-16P-2AI does not seem to be correctly detecting this camera’s AI functions. It keeps telling me to set a preset, but none are shown. I know it’s supposed to have SMD, but I couldn’t get it working until I manually enabled it through the camera interface, and now I seem to be able to configure it through the NVR.
 
Guess I’ve got it about as good as I can get it. Daytime is a LOT better with the sharpness turned waaay down.

However, I’m noting that the NVR16CH-16P-2AI does not seem to be correctly detecting this camera’s AI functions. It keeps telling me to set a preset, but none are shown. I know it’s supposed to have SMD, but I couldn’t get it working until I manually enabled it through the camera interface, and now I seem to be able to configure it through the NVR.

It is best practice to set camera parameters in the camera GUI and not the NVR.
 
It is best practice to set camera parameters in the camera GUI and not the NVR.

And this is where I have confusion: I assumed the NVR needs to configure and be aware of what the camera’s doing for things like AI, schedules, alerts, push messages and so forth to function properly. And if these things were configured solely in the camera, that would be like a local (SD-card based) instance independent of the NVR, which would just dumbly record video feeds as per its setup.

But the more I get things working (SMD, trip wires, heat maps) it seems like the cameras are responsible for everything and push all necessary data for the NVR to react to?
 
Two things

1- on pretty much All Dahua NVRs, settings made on the camera are “pushed” back to the NVR. This is the best method by design as NVRs can’t possibly and don’t have All of the settings for any given camera. Too many camera specific variables. Not all camera settings are available to you on the NVR.

2- on newer AI capable NVRs, the NVR itself can process the video stream for detection of certain event types without the camera being involved. This is primarily useful for older cameras lacking AI functions

The new AI capable NVRs can be more complex to make various detection settings, you need to be aware of whether you are attempting “AI by recorder” (usually a toggle switch) or relying on the camera AI function to be pushed back to the NVR.
 
This sensor is smaller and will never compete with the 5442.

Most here do not use VBR.

Try CBR, H264H, 8192 bit rate.

I have both and can attest to this. The 5442 is an awesome cam but once you go tracking there's no turning back. I replaced the 5442 with the 425db as my driveway cam and repurposed the 5442.
 
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Has anyone installed the new firmware for this yet?
Version: V3.200.0000008.0.R.240312
It came out on 3/30/24.

Any issues with this new firmware? Did they remove or improve any important features?

@EMPIRETECANDY
 
Last edited:
Has anyone installed the new firmware for this yet?
Version: V3.200.0000008.0.R.240312
It came out on 3/30/24.

Any issues with this new firmware? Did they remove or improve any important features?

I put it on earlier this week. Seems to be working at the moment. Alas I had no time with the original firmware to know what might not be working. SMD is functional but that’s about all I’m using.
 
Just updated mine. Gonna go thru it and see if I spot any differences/upgrades.

One problem I've had is I can't install the webplugin, I get a cannot open file error. Need to troubleshoot this also.
 
Just updated mine. Gonna go thru it and see if I spot any differences/upgrades.

One problem I've had is I can't install the webplugin, I get a cannot open file error. Need to troubleshoot this also.

Windows security / antivirus doesn’t like the plug-in, be sure to manually approve the file or it’ll just keep deleting / blocking it.
 
Just updated mine. Gonna go thru it and see if I spot any differences/upgrades.

One problem I've had is I can't install the webplugin, I get a cannot open file error. Need to troubleshoot this also.

Auto-tracking still working? If so I'll update and help check for changes too. Just don't want to update to a version that breaks auto-tracking!
 
Just checked mine. It had one tracking event this morning, it locked on to a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck so yea, tracking seems to be working. There are usually people taking morning walks but not this morning for some reason, maybe too hot.
 
Just checked mine. It had one tracking event this morning, it locked on to a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck so yea, tracking seems to be working. There are usually people taking morning walks but not this morning for some reason, maybe too hot.
Thanks will update later today.
 
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I have SD4A216DB-HNY. I think that camera also have auto tracking cars, but in settings i see only humans "only support tracking humans".
System Version:3.200.0000008.0.RBuild Date:2024-03-12
PTZ Version:V2.401.0000001.80.RHNDG_231020_47826

I also noticed that the communication speed between the camera is limited. When I download files from it, I see a speed of no more than 15 Mbit. Is it possible to see the network connection speed somewhere in the Dahua settings?
 

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What IVS type are you using? I set up auto tracking as a lark last night, using just “Intrusion” mode, and it definitely does both people and cars. And quite successfully.

However I was expecting to get alarms when this happens from “Intrusion” mode, however I’m not getting anything. SMD alarms are disabled.
 
Tripwire. I also checked "Intrusion", but "Only supports tracking humans."
 

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