What is causing this pulsating video (DH-SD59225U-HNI)

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erkme73

BIT Beta Team
Nov 9, 2014
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1,486
I'm pretty certain this is a camera issue and not my BI configuration, but I've been proven wrong on so many other things, I'm just gonna toss this out there...

The pulsing every 1/2 second or so of clarity and blockiness seems to be intermittent based on how much movement there is in the frame. I recall seeing it when watching it on the camera's GUI - not just on BI.

Here are my settings:

upload_2018-8-31_20-18-50.png

I've tried higher bit rates, CBR, and even set the i-frame to be equal to the frame rate. Still, I get this:



That's extreme and frequent (presumably due to the rain) but even on less dynamic scenes, I still see the pulsing:




It's almost like a focus issue. It builds up to razor sharp, then bumps back to down to blocks. Is there no setting to keep the clarity all the time?
 
I was going to suggest going with the factory defaults for this camera and see what happens. It's not clear if you had tried this or not.
 
Look if ROI (Region Of Interest) is enabled in the settings. If so, disable it or click on remove all to remove the region. Then save.
 
I had a similar problem using UI3 in earlier versions of Fire Fox, so it could also be browser related. You don't mention how you're viewing the video so just tossing this at you as food for thought.
 
Nothing to worry about. You just messed up codec settings. Your image is loaded with ton of detail (ruble on the road, grass, pouring rain) and you use ridiculously low bitrate. So the codec freaks out. First turn on smart codec. Secondly, always use constant bitrate and set I frames to 20 (every second). And lastly, use maximum bitrate or at least above 6Mb/s. This will surely help.
 
Wobi82: I disagree.

Always use VRB it improves the quality. Also the smart codex causes problems do to each vendor doing it differently, so keep it off.

What is the difference between CBR & VBR encoding? - Encoding.com

I would also increase the max bit rate.

In the pictures above what is the camera zoom set to ? At a high zoom it may be trying to focus. Is the lens and lens cover super clean?

Where is the camera mounted ? Is there any glare or movement in the light source need the camera.
 
I had this issue with mine after playing with the image settings a bunch. Did a factory reset and all went back to normal. The lower the bit rate the more pulsing. also bump up the quality setting on VBR.
 
SouthernYankee said:
Always use VRB it improves the quality.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but this is not true. VBR is meant to keep your file smaller, while trying to keep motion parts of the image in better quality than static scenes. In case of Dahua this is only 1-pass VBR so coding is based on average quality setting, and not analysis of footage like in case of 2-pass VBR. Also remember, that VBR in this case will only use bitrate from fixed range and never exceed it. So for 2Mbit/s average bitrate it might use 3Mbit/s for motion part, while CBR would be 2MBit/s all the time. From my experience I can tell you, 1-Pass VBR is always more willing to lower your bitrate, rather than rise it. It will NOT give you better quality if you use higher bitrates, and you will more likely see degradation of the image in static parts.
 
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I have seen this to a lesser extent and believe it is when an I frame comes along and as @wopi82 stated , bit rate is too low and codec freaks out. Indulge me here and set the I frame interval to 100 and see what happens. I am curious. Also would increase bit rate and cbr, but would be very interested in I frame test at 100.
 
When the video suddenly becomes low quality and recovers in a regular pulsing pattern like this, it is because the i-frames (keyframes) are too low of quality. If it happens during live view in the camera's web interface, VLC media player, or Blue Iris's local console, then it is the camera's fault. Increase the bit rate, consider reducing the frame rate, and increase the i-frame interval.

If it happens in recordings but not in live view, then Blue Iris might be configured to re-encode video -- change it to "direct to disc" instead to prevent the quality loss.

If it happens during Blue Iris remote viewing via browser or mobile apps, then you need to increase the streaming bit rate in Blue Iris or in UI3, and increase the keyframe interval to max. Only set keyframe interval to max in Blue Iris or UI3's streaming configuration; don't do this in the camera's web interface.
 
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I agree with others that your bitrate is too low. The codec simply can't squeeze in enough detail for the i-frames. I would at least double your bit rate to bring things into reasonable range for good quality encoding. This is security camera encoding and that can mean the codec sacrifices quality first before dropping frames (when available bitrate is insufficient)
 
I just played around with my i frame and it does have this pulsing effect. Reset your codec to default, increase your bit rate and it should go away.

I have mine set at 30fps I frame = 60 VBR 6 and 4096 bit rate. Nice smooth video.
 
The SD6CE245U-HNI has the same problem. The highest value that can be set at the bit rate is 5000 kbit. The SD49225T-HNI is not affected. It is frustrating that the Pro camera that costs twice as much as the Lite is not able to deliver the same image quality.
 
Fred2000 said:
The SD6CE245U-HNI has the same problem. The highest value that can be set at the bit rate is 5000 kbit. The SD49225T-HNI is not affected. It is frustrating that the Pro camera that costs twice as much as the Lite is not able to deliver the same image quality.
Click to expand...

This is the Bit Rate I'm running on my SD6CE245U-HNI

DH-SD6CE245U-HNI Bit Rate.JPG
 
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Have you tried Smart Codec? I tried it briefly yesterday on one camera and it did appear to improve quality somewhat, but it takes away the I Frame Interval setting. Looking closely at the video it kind of looks like it might not be doing full/complete iframes so I don't know what implications this may have for seeking or direct-to-disc recording in Blue Iris. It did seem to decode just fine in Blue Iris though! This might eliminate the pulsing problem.

I also noticed yesterday that enabling a region of interest (ROI) over the entire video frame at maximum quality appears to completely un-cap the bit rate. At one point last night when I turned off noise reduction, I saw my 2MP@15 FPS stream exceed 50 Mbps bit rate. But I was streaming it to two places at the time which no doubt saturated the 100 Mbps network port because it started dropping frames. LOL
 
The original poster has not posted any additional information. Ask for help, then do nothing.
 
Hopefully ,will report back. I find this a common issue on many forums.
Newbie asks for advice. People spend time and put effort into giving good information only to be rewarded with the OP never appearing again.
After a few rounds, the experienced members quit responding after being burned out.
 
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