4KT - Illumination Anyone tried Daylight and was it sucessful?

[CCTVCam]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has tried having the illuminator set to auto in daylight on the 4kt.

I'm having a bit of an issue with the 4kt on my drive. It's under a carport which reduces the available light a little.

The other week, someone came delivering to my door, but when I checked the camera, their face was really difficult to identify as it was dark, lacking features. So I've been on a quest to tweak the camera. So far everything has failed.

I tried switching to WDR instead of BLC. Worked at 1st then I found situations where the picture elsewhere was degraded worse than the result from BLC. I tried changing BLC to incorporate some darker areas to boost the light under the carport. It worked apart from then the areas not under the carport were washed out and less sharp. I tried boosting gain in the day setting 0-20. But even at 20, I found the faces in low light (overcast weather) becoming see through a little and dark tshirts were full of noise. I tried raising the gamma, but this had the same effect as gain (i suspect it's using gain as a part of the adjustment).

I was using H265 sucessfully for ages. All of a sudden, pixellation in some lower light movement pictures so had to revert to h264H.

So out of options. I'm going back to my original best settings but was wondering if anyone has tried out the LED Spots on Auto in the day? If these come on when it's bright, it's a no-no. Can't afford the electricity to have them coming on all the time. However, I was wondering if in the day they would only come on in very dark and overcast conditions and then would it be the conditions alone or would it also require a trip trigger.

 

[fenderman]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has tried having the illuminator set to auto in daylight on the 4kt.

I'm having a bit of an issue with the 4kt on my drive. It's under a carport which reduces the available light a little.

The other week, someone came delivering to my door, but when I checked the camera, their face was really difficult to identify as it was dark, lacking features. So I've been on a quest to tweak the camera. So far everything has failed.

I tried switching to WDR instead of BLC. Worked at 1st then I found situations where the picture elsewhere was degraded worse than the result from BLC. I tried changing BLC to incorporate some darker areas to boost the light under the carport. It worked apart from then the areas not under the carport were washed out and less sharp. I tried boosting gain in the day setting 0-20. But even at 20, I found the faces in low light (overcast weather) becoming see through a little and dark tshirts were full of noise. I tried raising the gamma, but this had the same effect as gain (i suspect it's using gain as a part of the adjustment).

I was using H265 sucessfully for ages. All of a sudden, pixellation in some lower light movement pictures so had to revert to h264H.

So out of options. I'm going back to my original best settings but was wondering if anyone has tried out the LED Spots on Auto in the day? If these come on when it's bright, it's a no-no. Can't afford the electricity to have them coming on all the time. However, I was wondering if in the day they would only come on in very dark and overcast conditions and then would it be the conditions alone or would it also require a trip trigger.

Have you measured the power draw off the LEDs? Would cost you virtually nothing to keep them on.

 

[CCTVCam]

Fair point, but UK electricity is stupid atm. Three times the cost of US electricity (44 cents a unit) and our wages are much lower. eg UK Policeman - £23,566. US Policeman - $50615.

So taking into account wages our electricity is around 6 times the price of the US.

Another reason I don't want them permanently on is it' will burn them out much more quickly plus I don't want to draw attention to the camera until it's too late. I really don't want people to mask up. Far better to let them get onto the property then spot the cameras.

 

[CanCuba]

Can you put up a couple pics and/or videos from the camera? If the contrast is too much between the brightest and lightest parts of your frame, the camera will have a lot of difficulty.

On my Colour4K/X, I have to set the WDR at 20 to be able to deal with shadows and sunlight. If your dark area is a covered area and the camera is also picking up the sunlight from outside said covered area, you may try repositioning the camera.

 

[CCTVCam]

It's a seemingly good position and can't really be altered. The problem is theres shading from the house as it's on the South Side of the camera plus some light reduction from the carport roof. Not a lot, but enough to cause issues on dull days. Add to that the camera points West, and in an afternoon the background outside of the car port is very bright in bright sun whilst the area underneath is shaded.

Picture here:

This is on a dull day but if you look carefully you can see the difference in light between out the back and side and by the door. Now imagine that contrast on a bright sunny day and there's a huge contrast between the two. On a very dull stormy winter or winter type day, you can probably imagine how dark it can become by the door. Not pitch dark, but enough to cause noise and lose facial detail.

Click image once to go mid sized then again for full size.

 

[CanCuba]

I was expecting a more drastic contrast but you say it's an overcast day.

Maybe try moving it to the right and up a bit to make sure you can still get a face with the car in place. And maybe a sunshield of some kind to reduce the glare as much as possible.

I've played with the Illuminator settings during daytime. Try it at 25% to start and see if it's on when you want it to be and off when it's bright. If you're home when it is bring, try adjusting it then so it's off and see if it comes on when it's a bit darker. Too much illumination will wash out detail and you need to deal with any reflection off the windshield of the car.

 

[CCTVCam]

I was expecting a more drastic contrast but you say it's an overcast day.

Maybe try moving it to the right and up a bit to make sure you can still get a face with the car in place. And maybe a sunshield of some kind to reduce the glare as much as possible.

I've played with the Illuminator settings during daytime. Try it at 25% to start and see if it's on when you want it to be and off when it's bright. If you're home when it is bring, try adjusting it then so it's off and see if it comes on when it's a bit darker. Too much illumination will wash out detail and you need to deal with any reflection off the windshield of the car.

I can't go to the right, without going up in height - there's a garage door.

Glare isn't really the issue, it's more the brightness difference because I need to be able to capture a good picture of anyone on the footpath (behind the wall to the right) as a crime is just as likely to be committed there. If I adjust for the footpath, but by the door becomes too dark. If I adjust for by the door, faces become blown out on the footpath. My current settings seem to offer the closest mix, but if the conditions are very very bright or very very dark but daylight, by the door can become an issue.

Maybe this is a better daylight issue example:



This is on a bright day, but if you can expand, you can see the amount of noise and pixellation if I zoom in (click twice for largest picture again):

Even the car only a couple of feet to the right looks way better.



Now imagination that if it's a really dark dull day to start with that's almost like the middle of winter.

 

[CanCuba]

I'm out of suggestions. It's tough for the cameras to balance to the image when there's so much contrast. Without installing another camera for the footpath, you may just have to live with it. But others who know far more than I do may be able to help.

 

[bigredfish]

Its a classic WDR scene.

 

[bigredfish]

You can force the LED's in manual but not in Auto. Its got a light sensor.

I dont think you'll find the LEDS are powerful enough to make any difference during daylight hours

I would try SSA. Just note that if you do use SSA, and it DOES work, you.ll need to set WB to manual and adjust otherwise it will do weird shit trying to Auto-adjust

 

[fenderman]

Fair point, but UK electricity is stupid atm. Three times the cost of US electricity (44 cents a unit) and our wages are much lower. eg UK Policeman - £23,566. US Policeman - $50615.

So taking into account wages our electricity is around 6 times the price of the US.

Another reason I don't want them permanently on is it' will burn them out much more quickly plus I don't want to draw attention to the camera until it's too late. I really don't want people to mask up. Far better to let them get onto the property then spot the cameras.

You are talking about 2-3W...even running 24/7 is a few bux a year. FYI many parts of the US we pay 20 cents a kwh or more.
The leds will probably outlast the useful life of the cam.

 

[Perimeter]

Three times the cost of US electricity (44 cents a unit)

It will be about 1$ per month if on max.

Another reason I don't want them permanently on is it' will burn them out much more quickly

I thought you bought the camera to use it? Worst case is you spend like +200$ on the camera but don't get the service you require because you are saving 1$ per month. If you turn it off completely, you save another two...

I don't want to draw attention to the camera until it's too late. I really don't want people to mask up.

This is the part that actually makes sense to me. So why not just mount some small permanent decorative light outside? It looks unsuspicious, adds deterence without giving the cam away, draws insects elsewhere...

BUT have you tried IF the LED spots will do the trick in your case in the first place? You got the camera and the LED spots already in place, all it takes are a few clicks. Because if they won't do the job, you are done and have your answer.