People and Cars leaving artifacts? Why is this happening

[ghostrider2142 0]

When people or cars go by the cameras they are leaving what I'm going to call trails or ghosts as they go that follow them. This is a brand new Avermedia EH5216 and it happens both live and recorded. Tech support tried to tell me that it was my video card, I have tried it on several systems now with both on board video and Nvidia 1gig cards and the same thing happens. Anybody know why this may be happening?

Thanks

Edited December 10, 2009 by Guest

[cglaeser 0]

Anybody know why this may be happening?

 

Can you post an image? Is this at night? If so, there may be too little light for a sufficiently fast shutter speed.

 

Best,

Christopher

[3RDIGLBL 0]

When people or cars go by the cameras they are leaving what I'm going to call trails or ghosts as they go that follow them. This is a brand new Avermedia EH5216 and it happens both live and recorded. Tech support tried to tell me that it was my video card, I have tried it on several systems now with both on board video and Nvidia 1gig cards and the same thing happens. Anybody know why this may be happening?

Thanks

 

I'm confused. Isn't the EH5216 an embedded system? Just where are you seeing the "trails or ghosts"? You seeing this when you remote into the EH5216 or when you are local? Obviously the video card comment is confusing me so I have to ask. Are the cameras analog or are you using IP cameras (megapixel or standard res)?

[Soundy 1]

It's impossible to say exactly what's going on without seeing a picture of what you call "ghosts and trails", although I suspect cglaeser is on the right track and your problem is simply a too-low shutter speed on the cameras.

[ghostrider2142 0]

This is the 3rd system I have had with these cameras and it never happened before. I uploaded a clip to youtube, watch the people and cars that go by. The cameras are 540TLV Varifocal [edit by mod-store link removed]

 

Video

 

So far I am very disappointed with this system.

Edited December 11, 2009 by Guest

[Soundy 1]

okay, those are definitely artifacts from either the analog-to-digital conversion process, or the compression codec. either way, it's the DVR's problem. the fact that it shows up on YouTube pretty much eliminates your computer's video card.

[survtech 0]

I've seen that happen when the DVR/NVR has issues with the storage. Notice that the artifacts appear to happen right after the video "stutters"? When it happened on our system, it wound up being either a degraded SCSI connection or a RAID losing part of its online storage. It's also possible the hard disk can not handle the "data throughput" you are feeding it. I would suggest checking the hard disk / storage subsystem.

[ghostrider2142 0]

The HD is a brand new 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm, the stutter and artifacts happen during live viewing as well, not just on playback.

 

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/desktops/barracuda_hard_drives/barracuda_7200.11/#tTabContentSpecifications

[hardwired 0]

Looks like you're running at full frame rate, try turning it down a little and see what happens.

 

That might answer some questions about throughput problems.

 

If you are using IP cams also, that will add to the processing overhead, possibly causing problems.

 

Also, those Seagates (especially the early ones) had a few firmware issues that could be contributing to problems, do you have any other drives you can test in it?

[ghostrider2142 0]

I have 4 cameras set at 15fps at 720x480, 1 at 720x480 at 10fps, 3 at 352x240 at 12fps, and 2 set at 352x240 at 8fps. The other channels are off. I've tried turning the frame rates down, lowering the resolution on all cameras and the artifact issue still remains. I bought this system because the image quality was better than my previous setups. I can't believe I can only get 10fps total via the web. If I have it split into 9 channels the frame rates per channel drop to 0-1fps. It's terrible.

 

As far as the HD, I heard about the issues with the firmware but I thought that it only affected people using RAID configs. The artifacts still are present when not recording so I don't think it is a writing issue.

 

I don't have another drive to test it with right now, I was going to put a WD in it but the manufacturer said the Seagate's were tested and worked well during R&D.

[Soundy 1]

If memory serves, the Seagate firmware issue was with the 1TB drives when they first came out, and caused the drives to sometimes not spin up, which would cause them to disappear from a system.

 

What codec are you using? MJPEG, MPEG4, H.264? Try a different codec?

[ghostrider2142 0]

MPEG4, and they are all analog cameras.

 

I appreciate everyone's help so far.

[vin2install 0]

Try using an ATI card. Those usually work better for computer based DVR systems

[3RDIGLBL 0]

Try using an ATI card. Those usually work better for computer based DVR systems

 

The EH5216 is an embedded system.

 

I'll be interested to see if this is happening on mine. I have two installs and they are strictly using MP cameras. I don't recall seeing anything like this during playback except once but it didn't happen consistantly like this. I've seen artifacts before on other DVR's so I didn't think anything of it but what you have is unique. It is very continuous and impossible to deny.

 

Have you contacted Avermedia tech support and sent them the link to review. They have been great a help for me and I have not had any issues with there support at all.

 

An install I'm working on right now will have 12 analog cameras all hooked to this EH5216. I REALLY hope this does not happen because this is not too good. I'll know more next week when I can get a few of the cameras hooked up.

[ghostrider2142 0]

I talked to Avermedia Tech support and they have been pretty helpful and have agreed to take the system back if I'm not satisfied which I really appreciate. I'm trying to work with them to see if there is any way to improve my system before I make that decision though. The thing that bothers me the most is the viewing online. The frame rates are just terrible compared to the other systems I have and had at the same location. There is also a constant pause in viewing live, 2 sec, then pause, 2 sec, then pause, and so on.

 

 

The EH5216 is an embedded system.

 

I'll be interested to see if this is happening on mine. I have two installs and they are strictly using MP cameras. I don't recall seeing anything like this during playback except once but it didn't happen consistantly like this. I've seen artifacts before on other DVR's so I didn't think anything of it but what you have is unique. It is very continuous and impossible to deny.

 

Have you contacted Avermedia tech support and sent them the link to review. They have been great a help for me and I have not had any issues with there support at all.

 

An install I'm working on right now will have 12 analog cameras all hooked to this EH5216. I REALLY hope this does not happen because this is not too good. I'll know more next week when I can get a few of the cameras hooked up.

[tomcctv 190]

The HD is a brand new 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm, the stutter and artifacts happen during live viewing as well, not just on playback.

 

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/desktops/barracuda_hard_drives/barracuda_7200.11/#tTabContentSpecifications

 

that will be your hard drive. the seagate you have installed is not recomended for avermedia. we have 8 of these units out and never had that problem. in all are systems from aver we use hitachi 1tb

 

http://www.avermedia.com/AVerDiGi/Product/Detail.aspx?Id=253&Tab=SystemRequirement

[ghostrider2142 0]

I talked to tech support before I bought the hard drive and he told me that they had tested 1.5TB hard drives from Seagate in the system and they were recommended over the other HD's. He also said that list was old.

 

The HD is a brand new 1.5TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm, the stutter and artifacts happen during live viewing as well, not just on playback.

 

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/desktops/barracuda_hard_drives/barracuda_7200.11/#tTabContentSpecifications

 

that will be your hard drive. the seagate you have installed is not recomended for avermedia. we have 8 of these units out and never had that problem. in all are systems from aver we use hitachi 1tb

 

http://www.avermedia.com/AVerDiGi/Product/Detail.aspx?Id=253&Tab=SystemRequirement

[ghostrider2142 0]

Hey tomcctv, what frame rates are you getting when remote viewing over the net? Total when viewing 9 channels at once?

thanks

[cglaeser 0]

I talked to tech support before I bought the hard drive and he told me that they had tested 1.5TB hard drives from Seagate in the system and they were recommended over the other HD's.

 

My office is a few minutes from Avermedia, so Friday I arranged for a hands-on demonstration of the 5216 series. They were using a 1.5 Seagate, and recommended that drive. FWIW, they said the 2TB should also work fine, but have not done extensive testing.

 

That said, you should be aware there is a relatively high failure rate of these new larger drives. I use them in ReadyNAS RAID storage. I've had several fail, and there are many reports of failures on the ReadyNAS forums. So, just because the drive is recommended for a box does not mean the drive is not the problem. Just something to keep in mind.

 

Best,

Christopher

[ghostrider2142 0]

Update: Just changed the drive out for a new WD 1TB and nothing has changed.

[WRS_Mark 0]

You're probably just better off exchanging the unit for a new one being that AverMedia has already offered to do this. Seems as though you are having a couple of problems with the unit including remote viewing. If your upload rates on your internet connection are acceptable then I would say in combination with the screwy playback, the DVR is probably a "Monday Morning Hangover" product.

[ghostrider2142 0]

I am trying to figure out if the unit is bad or if this is the best the unit can do? I wish I could find someone else who has this unit that would let me take a look at their feed to see if it is better.

 

You're probably just better off exchanging the unit for a new one being that AverMedia has already offered to do this. Seems as though you are having a couple of problems with the unit including remote viewing. If your upload rates on your internet connection are acceptable then I would say in combination with the screwy playback, the DVR is probably a "Monday Morning Hangover" product.

[3RDIGLBL 0]

I am trying to figure out if the unit is bad or if this is the best the unit can do? I wish I could find someone else who has this unit that would let me take a look at their feed to see if it is better.

 

 

I just installed my third one of these today. I find the live video to be good but I find the recorded video is full of artifacts. If anything moves it is horrible to review. Anything moving is a blur but the funny thing is I find that on full screen playback it is not as bad. Really strange, they hopefully will have a fix for this because it could use some tweaking.

 

As far as remote viewing yes it is slower than some but faster than others. If it had H.264 streaming it would help or if you could adjust the streaming quality of the video.

[cglaeser 0]

I just installed my third one of these today. ... If anything moves it is horrible to review.

 

So, that's four units with artifacts. Does anyone have one of these EH5216 DVRs that does not exhibit these artifacts?

 

Best,

Christopher

[3RDIGLBL 0]

This is a snapshot of what is common. Anything that moves looks hairy

 

Check out the legs and such. This is from a recent install where they didn't remove the temporary heater from the ceiling yet. Now imagine when the person is walking by.....think there is a chance to pause on the picture NO WAY unless the person happens to stop for a second so it is clear enough. I do have the major ghosting as well but I just rewind and replay and that clears up. The drives I have are 2TB WD's. This is nothing to do with drives. The picture is the same at the DVR and also on the backed up video playing if back from a separate PC all together.

 

I'm afraid this may be my last EH5216 I install unless there is some fix for this. It is obvious and recreatable each and every time you play back you can't deny it's there. I have it set on 720x480 and 15FPS currently. This is a pharmacy and the state mandates 15FPS.

 

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!!!