All, I’ve been testing the latest VOLT firmware (11/23) over the past week and wanted to share my tests (and video).
Let me get to the punchline that most people want up front.
This is the best version of the FW for the VOLT chip (5442 in this specific test) yet. Now onto the details.
So, is this FW perfect,
NO. There is still a little too much IR strength especially with off angle targets near center of lens and those that approach the camera in line of the IR beam. You’ll notice it on the face and jacket here. Whether it be in passing or relatively still movement, the IR strength is still not being adjusted enough. The good news is that the adjustments that have been made in 11/23 are happening a lot quicker thanks to notable code changes and certainly adjusting down more than they have in any previous version
however there is still some room for improvement that I saw in my testing.
In terms of speed of adjustment seen in code + testing, here are the exposures that have had the most notable changes and react the quickest
IR Only
The 2 following exposures offer the greatest level of noticeable IR adjustment in this section
- Fixed exposure 1/100 best tweak (quickest to adjust and with the highest level of adjustment)
- Exposure Ranges = 1/60 to 1/100 (just slightly behind the fixed exposure adjustments expected)
IR + Bulb (1x 60w)
The 2 following exposures offer the greatest level of noticeable IR adjustment in this section
- 0 to 1/60 (quickest to adjust in this section)
- 1/60 to 1/100
So how would I recommend fixing the final small adjustments ? Well the adjustments are primarily being made based on size of target in view, portion of FOV it covers and distance to as well as coverage of the sensor. While this is one way to adjust, focusing now on compensating for highlights caused by the IR itself (in much the same manner as HLC helps mitigate inbound target / visible light) would be my recommendation. Therefore a few more tweaks specifically focused on highlights blown out by IR I think will help.
With all of that said, its been great to see the iterative changes Dahua has made to this FW based on the feedback of real world testing and code level I’ve shared along with other testers sharing their experiences with these releases too. I am going to ask that Dahua continue to tweak this a little further based on my findings BUT my advice to the 5442 users (and 5241-Z12, don’t forget that manual focus addition I mentioned
HERE !) along with Andy is to upgrade to this FW and I think you’ll be pleased now overall. This is the best version of the FW yet.
Before I forget, SMD is still working well in this release as well, no noticeable regression there.
HTH and as always, reach out with any questions
Now for The Video
