Night vision problems

[kimster]

Hi,
I have two outdoors IP cameras with IR leds for night vision, viewed on my phone through V380 Pro software
Recently the city upgraded the streetlights and so the night isn't very dark. Possibly because of this, akthough the IR leds are on (i can see them as dots in my ellphone camera) the picture itself is very dark - practically useless.
I tried to find controls for setting night vision sensitivity etc but couuldn't find any.
1. Any idea how I can fix this? (Possibly viewing through another software with more controls, if thecamera supports it at all?)
2. Maybe it isn't the streetlight... ay idea what can cause the camera not to see at night well? (2 cameras, happened days from each other)
Thanks

 

[Dan]

Hi @kimster

Can you share screenshots of the issue you are seeing please?

 

[kimster]

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.
Enclosed are pics from the two cameras. I don't really have a problem with Camera A, only Camera B - but enclosing both because it explains the situation better.
Camera A points up the lane and towards the road, so gets much more light from the streetlamps than Camera B which points down the sloping lane, away from the street.

Picture A1 shows camera A at daytime.

Picture A2 is an older pic, before the change - night, but IR pic is clear.

Picture A3 is new - things can be seen clearly, but chances are that's from new streetlight flooding the scene rather than from IR (see clear shade on wall and how lit-up the street seems).

Similarly for camera B (points down the sloping lane, away from the street, so less streetlight reaches the scene):
Picture B1 shows camera B during daytime.

Picture B2 is an older pic, before the change - it's night, but IR pic is clear.

Picture B3 is new - shadows seen on wall but nothing seen from lane. Not enough street light reached it, but IR image not shown. My feeling is as if it thinks there's enough light while in fact there isn't - or that the IR is somehow drowned.

Picture B3b is similar but with camera rotated so it doesn't see any of the brighter wall. I'm standing there - barely noticeable in the pic.

Pictures A4 and B4 show the cameras as shot from my cellphone, trying to determine whether IR is actually on. Note that in both cases there is some reflection from the streetlight on the cameras' domes - but shielding the cameras from direct streetlight did not improve the results.

Changing the ip cameras to HD didn't improve anything. I tried to find a way to control the IR so it will create an IR pic in the bad lighting situation of camera B (not get camera B to think there's enough light, and make it rely on IR leds with increased sensitivity etc) - i have no idea whether the camera itself enables this thing, but the software it works with (V380 pro) does not.

Thanks!

 

[Dan]

Hi @kimster

Thank you for the pictures.

When users report issues with night/IR performance our initial thoughts are that it is likely caused by one of the following:

1) Failed IR cut filter stopping IR light reaching the camera's sensor
2) Camera's IR LEDs have weakened or failed entirely

To check if it is the IR filter you will need to get your ear close to the camera (e.g. either up on a ladder or bring the camera down) and then cycle the camera's power and listen to whether or not you hear an audible click from the camera. The IR cut filter is a physical filter that during the day sits in front of the sensor to filter out the Infrared (IR) light found in sunlight so you get a normal colour image, but at night it moves out of the way to allow the IR light emitted by the camera to be seen by the sensor. If the filter is functioning correctly you should hear a clear click when the camera boots up, if it does not click then the cut filter has likely failed or got stuck and you will have to replace the cameras.

If it does click then the issue is likely that the IR LEDs have weakened, from your images of the camera I can see the pink glow of the IR LEDs so they have not failed but they have likely weakened to a point where they are no longer reaching the areas they use to illuminate.

The one thing you could try is disabling the IR switch entirely by setting the cameras to day-mode all the time and if the scene is not that dark because of the new street lighting you may get a reasonable image at night, but if it is too dark in day mode at night then I think your only option is going to be to replace the cameras.

 

[kimster]

Wow thanks!

I checked and Camera A is fine (actually, this can be seen in the pic - low nearby plants are lit by IR) but Camera B doesn't click, meaning the IR cut filter doesn't move.

Very logical, as the camera is a couple months old (so IRs shouldn't be weak) but lighting conditions had the camera constantly switching between daytime and IR (when the camera was ok, at certain hours it would go back and forth, and yes - the clicking was heard) so it probably failed.

Is there a "usual" way such cams fail which is fixable? If just stuck or an easily fixed, I'd like that - else, will try to use warranty but low chance of actually seeing it fixed.

Thank you! This really helps.

 

[Dan]

Hi @kimster

If the cut filter is stuck there is little you can do to fix it yourself as the filter is very small and built-in to the cameras lens/sensor unit. Sometimes it is possible to dislodge a stuck filter by physically banging the camera on a hard surface, but even if this does knock it lose the filter is likely to still get stuck again at a future date. (Also the knock tactic usually only works if the filter is stuck halfway, but yours would appear to be stuck fully in front of the lens)

I think your best option to get reliable future performance is to try and get a warranty replacement.