Goat Cam
- Thread starter bigredfish
- Start date
They love climbing up on stuff, kind of like playing 'king of the hill', I guess.
J Sigmo
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- Feb 5, 2018
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Is it just me, or does that room remind anyone else of their college dorm/apartment, and maybe the roommates as well? Those are some sweet wire spools, man!
WDR is what you’re seeing. Have to set it up around 45-50 due to the sun coming through the door vs the very dark stall
Can someone tell me why I've watched @bigredfish 's Goat Cam video over a dozen times now? For some reason, I'm finding the goat's behavior fascinating 
It's got to be my most watched video of 2019, thus far ---Not kidding
It's got to be my most watched video of 2019, thus far ---Not kidding
J Sigmo
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The domain "goatcams.com" is not taken at this time, according to Go Daddy! 
CCTVCam
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It looks nothing like WDR to me. WDR should result in increased contrast with a wide dynamic range between the darkest blacks and whitest whites. Instead the picture here looks pastel in colour and flat (no contrast at all). If that's WDR then there's a serious firmware bug for the WDR setting.
Well when I get up there again I'll snap a shot for ya with and without WDR on, but pretty sure that's what you're seeing. Part of that may also be the mesh fence you're looking at through the stall door..
Its not exactly an expensive camera, and I have seen similar image changes on other Dahua cameras when you juice up WDR to 45-50 or higher. In fact the ittle PTZ I have on the porch currently (SD29204UE-GN) shows some of the same, but not nearly as pronounced as its only set to WDR20. And at various times of the day and position of the sun, it changes obviously.
Trust that I'm not a fan of the changes to the image I see with Dahua WDR in general, but in these two cases, (the barn and my back porch) its essential.
No WDR on first one obviously, the other two are different times of the day. last one shows a hint of the issue you're seeing with the Goat cam
Its not exactly an expensive camera, and I have seen similar image changes on other Dahua cameras when you juice up WDR to 45-50 or higher. In fact the ittle PTZ I have on the porch currently (SD29204UE-GN) shows some of the same, but not nearly as pronounced as its only set to WDR20. And at various times of the day and position of the sun, it changes obviously.
Trust that I'm not a fan of the changes to the image I see with Dahua WDR in general, but in these two cases, (the barn and my back porch) its essential.
No WDR on first one obviously, the other two are different times of the day. last one shows a hint of the issue you're seeing with the Goat cam
CCTVCam
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The last 2 are what I'd expect from WDR. You can see the extra contrast and dynamic range. As you said maybe a slight issue with the plant next to the palm outside in the bottom one (looks a bit like an Acanthus - beware they spread like sh*t and are near impossible to kill, although I do have a way). Now compare that to the goat cam, specifically outside area where it's a lot more extreme:
I think I can see what's happening here now. The algorithm or camera metering, or both, are failing to deal with / meter the highlights properly. If it's the algorithm it's over blowing the lightening of the inside of the pen, causing the contrast to be lost, and it's applying the same setting globally to the whole picture rather than regions which is causing the already correctly lit outside area to go completely flat and lose all contrast. The level of lightening is also then causing the artefacts which give it the painted appearance.
You get a similar blown out effect without the artefacts (no HDR being applied) on an ordinary non WDR stills camera if the metering fails to deal with a window adequately. Point the camera outside and the room is too dark. Point the metering point inside, and the room is great but the outside becomes overexposed and a white out. The answer is, to meter a mid point so you get a compromise that lights both areas. More advanced SLRS can manage this better thanks to Matrix metering. The issue here though appears to be either the original camera isn't dealing with the original lighting dilemma in it's metering well, with the result that the WDR overblows the highlights beyond what is acceptable through applying a boost, or it's metering ok but the WDR algorithm is being globally applied to the picture and failing to take into account differing lighting regions. It could of course be a combo of both. Either way, I'd put it down to a firmware failing.
I think I can see what's happening here now. The algorithm or camera metering, or both, are failing to deal with / meter the highlights properly. If it's the algorithm it's over blowing the lightening of the inside of the pen, causing the contrast to be lost, and it's applying the same setting globally to the whole picture rather than regions which is causing the already correctly lit outside area to go completely flat and lose all contrast. The level of lightening is also then causing the artefacts which give it the painted appearance.
You get a similar blown out effect without the artefacts (no HDR being applied) on an ordinary non WDR stills camera if the metering fails to deal with a window adequately. Point the camera outside and the room is too dark. Point the metering point inside, and the room is great but the outside becomes overexposed and a white out. The answer is, to meter a mid point so you get a compromise that lights both areas. More advanced SLRS can manage this better thanks to Matrix metering. The issue here though appears to be either the original camera isn't dealing with the original lighting dilemma in it's metering well, with the result that the WDR overblows the highlights beyond what is acceptable through applying a boost, or it's metering ok but the WDR algorithm is being globally applied to the picture and failing to take into account differing lighting regions. It could of course be a combo of both. Either way, I'd put it down to a firmware failing.
CCTVCam
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Hard one to call. The pictures from the patio above, seem to suggest that despite the 1st picture being blown out to white, most of the detail is actually being recorded, which raises into question the HDR non HDR balance. If it was badly metered and simply over-exposed, I can't imagine the areas of white being recorded by the sensor and retrievable at all, not when they're that white. Maybe with RAW but CCTV doesn't record in RAW. That suggests firmware implementation of the lighting balance, at least in my mind. I'm not an expert though.