Tun on LEDs based on motion

[Thanamite]

Hi,

I have 9 dahua-ipc-color4k-x-dh-ipc-hfw5849t1 and they are amazing in many ways.

The LEDs are bright too. Only problem is, it does not seem to be possible to turn/them on based on a motion. The Auto choice turns them on all night. I would rather not keep them on all night and I think it would be more of a deterrent if people see the LEDs turn on whenever they are around.

Is there a workaround? I use Blue Iris for recording. Could BI maybe send a camera a signal to turn on the LED when it detects motion? I don't mind if I turn on the camera motion detection just to control the LED. It does not matter if the BI motion detection and the camera motion detection are not in sync.

Thank you, Thanasis

 

[wittaj]

These cameras are designed for performance, not active deterrence, so it doesn't offer that feature. You need their active deterrence line that favors deterrence over performance.

Further, the camera needs to be able to see in order to detect motion. So if the scene is too dark, it won't see anything and the camera cannot see infrared, so you can't go that route.

In addition, most here find that cameras with built-in white LEDs that can go off and on ends up causing problems with image exposure and are bad for surveillance cameras.. What happens is then the camera is momentarily blinded and you lose the ideal capture when the lights kick on and the camera adjusts from basically no light to a lot of light.


Motion activated lights are not a deterrent. There are enough videos here showing that perps do not flinch when a floodlight turns on. They avoid homes all lit up, so go with floodlights on all night.

Watch this video someone posted and how the floodlight comes on and they don't even flinch. But then the audio comes on and they don't know which way to run LOL.

https://ipcamtalk.com/attachments/whatsapp-video-2020-07-28-at-7-23-08-pm-mp4.73970/

Either keep the lights on all night or not at all to ensure the best chance of capture.

Here is usually what happens when a motion activated floodlight comes on - it just about completely blinds the camera right at the moment of optimal opportunity to get the picture. There are 3 deer in this picture and two of them are lost in the blinded white while the camera's exposure adjusts to the rapid change in available light:

Or this example that completely missed the perp:

The Typical picture of a Perp on Nextdoor-type Apps with Consumer Grade Cameras like Ring, Nest, Arlo, Canary, Wyze, etc.


Now with that said, if you have enough light and want to try it, you can mimic it in BI using APIs to turn it on and off.

You can use the APIs here and run the camera 24/7 on the day profile, and upon motion, switch it to the night profile with the lights on, and then have it go back to day profile when the event is over.

Worlds First Review - Dahua DH-IPC-HDW5849H-ASE-LED / IPC-Color4K-T - 2.8mm Turret

Interesting. Let me try those. Did the two cameras that this API worked for using the new GUI or the old GUI? IPC-Color4K-B180 (PFW-5849-A180-E2-ASTE) also use web5.0

ipcamtalk.com

 

[actran]

Hi,

I have 9 dahua-ipc-color4k-x-dh-ipc-hfw5849t1 and they are amazing in many ways.

The LEDs are bright too. Only problem is, it does not seem to be possible to turn/them on based on a motion. The Auto choice turns them on all night. I would rather not keep them on all night and I think it would be more of a deterrent if people see the LEDs turn on whenever they are around.

Is there a workaround? I use Blue Iris for recording. Could BI maybe send a camera a signal to turn on the LED when it detects motion? I don't mind if I turn on the camera motion detection just to control the LED. It does not matter if the BI motion detection and the camera motion detection are not in sync.

Thank you, Thanasis

@Thanamite Yes, you can manually turn on/off color4k LEDs via API calls. Check other threads where these API calls were shared. BI5 should be able to execute this API call upon a triggered event.

Personally, I use Home Assistant to run an automation based a number of events (camera person detection, other sensors, etc..). The automation will do a number of things including turning on a number of lights and camera LEDs for a given area like the front exterior for a controlled time period.

 

[Thanamite]

Hi @actran. BI5 has the ability to run a number of actions on Alert:


None specific to LEDs though. I will check other threads.

 

[wittaj]

You have to do it as I mentioned and I gave you the API calls, along with the thread it is mentioned in.

You have to do it with the Do command feature.

 

[Thanamite]

In case anyone comes across this thread, this is what curl commands worked for me:

• curl --anyauth -u "admin:<password>" "http://<ipaddress>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=setConfig&Lighting\[0\]\[1\].Mode=Auto"
• curl --anyauth -u "admin:<password>" "http://<ipaddress>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=setConfig&Lighting\[0\]\[1\].Mode=Off"

These gave me direct control on the LEDs without having to switch Profiles.