Review-SD4A425DB-HNY 1/2.8" CMOS 4MP 25x Starlight Auto-tracking MiniPTZ

Mike A.

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No harm in trying it but don't expect it to be good. Maybe if you had something like a brightly lighted parking lot you could get away with it.
 

marklyn

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My SD4A425DB-HNY is proving to be very challenging in two areas. 1) unacceptable lag between menu selections and choppy or blank video playback from SD card.
Not at all like my SD49225T-HN and 42212TNI, which are both responsive, snappy and no choppy video playback from slower SD cards.
I've been reading, testing, and trying as many things I can think of over the past 2 days, much of my waking hours so any thoughts from anyone would be appreciated.
Regardless, I'm sure someone will be happy to point out something I 'missed' in the forum or a wiki somewhere :)

Camera setup: Cat 6 POE wired to SODOLA managed switch, verified the power to the camera is working as expected.

Lag issue on GUI using SD card:
Initial launch of GUI screen takes around 14 seconds to see the login on Chrome, about 20 seconds on Edge.
After logging in, about 15 seconds on Chrome, up to 55 seconds on Edge to see initial GUI menu screen.
Smart PSS takes about 15 seconds for live video to appear when camera is clicked.
Searching for videos, 6-20 seconds on Chrome (48 clips),
Start of play usually takes 12-15 seconds and always is choppy and some videos are blank (with choppy sound)
PTZ takes 7 seconds typical to change; up to 30 seconds sometimes.
Things tried:
Replaced my U3 256gb SD card with a 256g Samsung Pro Plus, U3, V30, 4K (read 180mbs/write 130mbs)
Tried another chrome browser on two other computers (laptop and another desktop); includes rebooting computers and just running browsers only
Tried Edge; takes much much longer on initial login.

Choppy or blank videos from SD card recordings:
All video playback directly from the SD card is always choppy and occasionally a blank video with choppy sound
One notable exception: If I start a playback and immediately pause it for the duration of the recorded file, it will play back with no choppy video! Some kind of buffering?
Things tried:
SmartPSS, Edge, Chrome on other computers, all same result. Again, pausing the video for the duration of the video and playing it will result in a good playback.
Turned off IVS (tripwire and intrusion) and turned on regular motion detect to see if that makes any difference on recorded videos. It didn't.
Downloading the video clip in mp4 and playing it always plays the video fine including good sound from an occasional blank video.

My thoughts are to reset back to factory and start over but would be interested in hearing from anyone with ideas.
Maybe I should temporarily set the recordings to my QNAP file server to see if they aren't choppy there on playback.
I thought I'd ask the community here for help/ideas before bugging Andy @EmpireTech

I've attached a video (screen recording) of the choppy issue; takes about 12 second of lag for the video to start playing.
 

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marklyn

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did you download a file from sd card and played it locally on your computer ? is it choppy ?

did you tried internet explorer with plugin ?
Yes, I forgot to add that important distinction. Any video I download as mp4 plays as expected; no choppy video. I don't have IE, can't get it, only edge and there is no prompt for plugin since I appear to have the latest firmware which appears to run in the native Edge or Chrome. Although in chrome I did try the IE Tab plugin, with same results above.
 

marklyn

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did you download a file from sd card and played it locally on your computer ? is it choppy ?

did you tried internet explorer with plugin ?
Oh, wait, I actually did mention the downloaded clip in my original post!
 

duplo

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lol
why do you think that changing the sd card would help when all files recorded are OK on the sd card?

this is a browser problem or streaming problem with your network.

you can easily use IE

just open a file with an editor and safe it as something.vbs

put this in:
CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application").Visible=true

for some reason win11 detects webplugin.exe from mini ptz as virus, win10 is fine

some people think their network is fine because the repeater of the repeater daisy chain shows full signal
 
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Mike A.

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Initial launch of GUI screen takes around 14 seconds to see the login on Chrome, about 20 seconds on Edge.
After logging in, about 15 seconds on Chrome, up to 55 seconds on Edge to see initial GUI menu screen.
Smart PSS takes about 15 seconds for live video to appear when camera is clicked.
So sounds like it's not just related to the SD card? You have the same when accessing the cam and with live view?
 

marklyn

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Because I speculated that playing directly from the SD card in the camera might have a lower 'read' capability. So copying the file down to my PC and running it made me think it has something to do with the SD card being slow. I upgraded to the fastest I could find and based on what I've read about video streaming the card I bought should more than suffice with playback directly from the card.
I really don't think it's a browser issue; otherwise other people would be complaining if IE was needed to navigate the menus, view playback, etc. Besides out of 3 computers with Chrome, Edge and trying this with SmartPSS app, I don't feel it's a browser issue.
 

marklyn

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So sounds like it's not just related to the SD card? You have the same when accessing the cam and with live view?
No, live view takes a few seconds to appear (10-12?) but no issues with live view (choppy or blank video).
 

wittaj

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Is the camera going thru your router?

That is incorrect about Explorer...

Explorer is still there and there are ways to get Explorer again.

The simple way is to change the BHO folder to another name like oldBHO and BAM Explorer is back...and this thread also shows other ways...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\110.0.1512.48\

Then change BHO to oldBHO or something else and Explorer will open

Looks Like Internet Explorer Died Today

Or this way:

Trouble with new DS-2CD3B86G2T-IZHSY -missing part of menu



"But I upgraded to Win11" .... yep still available:

Internet Explorer via W11
 

marklyn

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Is the camera going thru your router?

That is incorrect about Explorer...

Explorer is still there and there are ways to get Explorer again.

The simple way is to change the BHO folder to another name like oldBHO and BAM Explorer is back...and this thread also shows other ways...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\110.0.1512.48\

Then change BHO to oldBHO or something else and Explorer will open

Looks Like Internet Explorer Died Today

Or this way:

Trouble with new DS-2CD3B86G2T-IZHSY -missing part of menu



"But I upgraded to Win11" .... yep still available:

Internet Explorer via W11
I can try getting IE to work on my Windows 11 computers but I'm assuming I'd be doing this as a way to diagnose a Chrome/Edge browser issue, not as a permanent solution. I think it'd be reasonable if you only needed IE to run this GUI people would complain since the most average computers these days don't have IE anymore. But l'll try that and report back.
 

marklyn

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Is the camera going thru your router?

That is incorrect about Explorer...

Explorer is still there and there are ways to get Explorer again.

The simple way is to change the BHO folder to another name like oldBHO and BAM Explorer is back...and this thread also shows other ways...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\110.0.1512.48\

Then change BHO to oldBHO or something else and Explorer will open

Looks Like Internet Explorer Died Today

Or this way:

Trouble with new DS-2CD3B86G2T-IZHSY -missing part of menu



"But I upgraded to Win11" .... yep still available:

Internet Explorer via W11
Sorry forgot to answer the router question. No, it's going through a managed POE switch. I'd have to connect a separate power supply and connect it directly to my router. What are your thoughts on POE Managed switch vs router?
 

wittaj

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I can try getting IE to work on my Windows 11 computers but I'm assuming I'd be doing this as a way to diagnose a Chrome/Edge browser issue, not as a permanent solution. I think it'd be reasonable if you only needed IE to run this GUI people would complain since the most average computers these days don't have IE anymore. But l'll try that and report back.
But people that run these types of cameras basically accept that IE is the way of life if we want good quality cameras.

@TonyR says it best here LOL:

SD4A425DB-HNY Unable to connect to it for first time

And for any future readers of this issue (IE being needed to set up many cams, especially PTZ's) who want to throw fits, curse and moan......it won't change anything. We all agree its a PITA but until the cam manufacturers do something about it all we can do is bite our collective lips and deal with it, like it or not. :idk:
 

CaptainCrunch

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I can try getting IE to work on my Windows 11 computers but I'm assuming I'd be doing this as a way to diagnose a Chrome/Edge browser issue, not as a permanent solution. I think it'd be reasonable if you only needed IE to run this GUI people would complain since the most average computers these days don't have IE anymore. But l'll try that and report back.
People do complain about needing IE. That's why the solutions have been posted. I'm going to transition my blue iris from a win10 machine to a win11 machine. One of the solutions for win10 involve creating a shortcut on the desktop. I tried that solution on the win11 machine and it seems to work. Clicking an icon on the desktop is just about as easy as clicking an icon on the taskbar, making it a viable permanent solution.
 

wittaj

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Sorry forgot to answer the router question. No, it's going through a managed POE switch. I'd have to connect a separate power supply and connect it directly to my router. What are your thoughts on POE Managed switch vs router?
So is the computer you are using connected to the managed switch.

So the router is not part of the data chain from the camera to the computer you are using?

In other words, if you unplugged the router would you still be able to access the camera? Maybe try that and confirm the data is not passing thru the router.

My camera does not display the issues you are having, but I can access my camera with the router unplugged and I use plain old Internet Explorer.
 

marklyn

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So is the computer you are using connected to the managed switch.

So the router is not part of the data chain from the camera to the computer you are using?

In other words, if you unplugged the router would you still be able to access the camera? Maybe try that and confirm the data is not passing thru the router.

My camera does not display the issues you are having, but I can access my camera with the router unplugged and I use plain old Internet Explorer.
The computer I use, and the other two computers as well as the camera are on the switch and don't go through the router. I'm certain of that.
 
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