help focusing / fine-tuning LPR cam

[Andrew F]

I could use some help fine-tuning one of my LPR cams. We have two, one facing each direction on the road. The one that's closet to traffic (East) is very clear day and night. The one that's aimed farther down the road (West) is hazy, for lack of a better term. I've attached some pics to compare the two views, along with the settings for the East camera.

The cameras are both IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E

Any ideas for how I can improve the clarity? Is the difference just due to the West camera being aimed at subjects farther away?

Thanks for any thoughts!

 

[wittaj]

Take it off of vivid.

Crank down the saturation to 45-50

Take NR down to 15 to 25 - 90 is way too high, especially zoomed in that tight.

Did you have a vehicle stop in the center of the image and focus it at that point?

 

[Flintstone61]

Try what another LPR tweaker did. He got the camera to focus on small piece of reflective tape. I see that mailbox in the distance. Any chance you could get permission to put a reflector on the 4x4 wood? It might force the focus on the camera to hold better. Worth a try.

 

[samplenhold]

Put the IR at 100 for both near and far.

Are you using the Dahua day/night utility to set the focus for night?

It can be difficult to get things just right as each night the lighting can change, rain or fog, dirty lenses, etc. Plus front plates are a bitch to begin with since they do not have a light on it and they are usually dirtier that the rear. Make small adjustments to one thing at a time. This will allow you to get an understanding of what variable makes what kind of change to the pic.

While I have the newer version (5241 Z12E), my settings are below. Like you I have more trouble with my LPR West cam as it is a little longer reach. I am considering installing additional IR.

 

[samplenhold]

Also, what are your video settings in the cam? Frame rate, I frame, bit rate type and rate?

 

[wittaj]

I do not believe he is talking about night trouble?

Maybe he is, but all the images are during the day and his camera settings are the day settings and IR isn't working in the day LOL

 

[Flintstone61]

his day image doesn't look that bad.....for a 5231......and the distance. I have a 5231 sitting here. I can't wait for warmer weather to get it deployed outside in a fake garden hose reel.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I think if I used a garden hose reel like that it would grow legs and walk away, complete with the camera.

 

[Flintstone61]

I think if I used a garden hose reel like that it would grow legs and walk away, complete with the camera.

I thought about that. Mine is ugly sunfaded with mold embedded, brown paint spilled across the top. It sat there for 2 years now. nobody wants it apparently. LOL I will be driving Spikes deep into terrafirma and lag bolting that mutha to the spikes. otherwise my roomate will comeout and try to pull the hose out and fuck my position up.

 

[eeeeesh]

When I was trying to get the right focus (mainly at night) I found what I thought looked good and using the web browser found the Dahua focus number and then what it translated to using the command in a web browser

That will get you the zoom and focus (substitute your user and password)

http://User:Password@192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=getFocusStatus

Then I found all the variations in 5 increments. So in the example below you can see the line with the ------ in it. That is what I thought was a good looking focus (1220) and then I made up four or five before and after that to see which actually looked better. So in my examples below, that very first htttp line would keep the zoom the same (1080) but would change the focus to 1200 versus 1220.

        Focus 1200 (0.666667)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.666667&zoom=0.898502       
                
        Focus 1205 (0.669444)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.669444&zoom=0.898502       
                
        Focus 1210 (0.672222)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.672222&zoom=0.898502       
                    
        Focus 1215 (0.675000)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.675000&zoom=0.898502       
                    
--------Focus 1220 (0.677778)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.677778&zoom=0.898502
                
        Focus 1225 (0.680556)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.680556&zoom=0.898502
        
        Focus 1230 (0.683333)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.683333&zoom=0.898502
                
        Focus 1235 (0.686111)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.686111&zoom=0.898502
        
        Focus 1240 (0.688889)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.688889&zoom=0.898502
        
        Focus 1245 (0.691667)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.691667&zoom=0.898502
        
        Focus 1250 (0.694444)  zoom -> 1080 (0.898502)
        http://192.168.3.184/cgi-bin/devVideoInput.cgi?action=adjustFocus&focus=0.694444&zoom=0.898502

 

[Andrew F]

Thanks to everyone for the tips! I've tried adjusting the focus up and down by units of 1 click, and I think this is the clearest the focus will get.

I played around more with some of the Picture settings, and I think it's a tad crisper.

I've attached my Video settings.

To clarify, the main improvement I was trying to make is during the daytime. I'll check the night shots when it gets dark shortly, but I think those are probably as tuned as I can personally get them. I'm using the Sunrise / Sunset tool to shift the Day / Night Profiles. And I also have a batch script that runs every 10 minutes to make sure the focus stays locked where I want it.

The mailboxes in the right of the frame are really past the point where I want to focus. License plates come through probably 15 feet closer than the mailboxes.

Thanks again! I would never be able to do this without this awesome forum!

 

[samplenhold]

Well you have a good bit rate. Most here will set the I Frame equal to the frame rate.