New Revo install - night vision issues

[jdjeff58 0]

My first post here. I just set up a 16 channel Revo system with 5 outdoor bullets and 3 indoor domes. All cams have an advertised 66' night vision capabilities (or 24 LEDS). The DVR is the latest generation I believe, DVR4 with 2 TB storage. I got the system up and running so far with the 5 bullet cams and everything is working to my satisfaction accept for some flaky issues capturing motion at night. There are seperate day/night sensitivity settings, and min block settings. I found out pretty quickly that the default settings for night were too sensitive and all 5 cams were recording constantly. So I tweaked everything back until there was no recording taking place and now I'm finding that it won't detect (or intermittently detects) a human being walking in the field of view. I had tech support on the phone a few times trying to resolve the problem which included a firmware upgrade and some starting points they recommended for motion settings. They have graciously offered to replace the DVR if necessary, but I'm just curious as to what to expect from a consumer grade system like this one. I chose this system due to some decent reviews and paid a little more I suppose for a higher quality camera than some of the other lower priced brands.

 

I guess I wanted to post in here to get a feel for what I should really be expecting from a system of this caliber. And I was also wondering what I should be expecting from night vision motion detection in general. It's pretty obvious that some of these false positives are due to noise and sensitivity must be dialed back. Seems like on my monitor, the contrast is low compared to day view during the night....especially on some of the shots with no structure in the image....like down the sidewalk on the side of my house. So when I try to compensate, then the system struggles with human sized objects walking right through the center of the frame....much larger than the min block settings. Doesn't seem to have any issues with moths or cars driving by in the distance though.

 

Should I go through the hassle of exchanging the DVR? Or will I just have the same experience. Should I not fret over hard drive space and just let it run all night? Or could there be a real problem here. It's not really camera specific since it's doing it on all 5 cameras....internittently picking up humans that is. I don't know if I gave enough info to solve the problem. But I guess a start would be to find out something like, "Yeah, setting up night vision motion detection could be a real bear." That type of thing.

 

I aprreciate any insight on this. Thanks

[shockwave199 0]

For exterior motion sensing, that's the best you can hope for. All kinds of false triggers during the day, all kinds at night. Set the channels strong enough to catch humans where you need that to happen. Carve out your motion detection areas as best you can. Keep it on motion recording because after all, it will save hard drive space. Keep the cameras clean and clear of webs and other debirs along the way. If the day or night is super stormy with heavy rain, stop recording for a stretch. Put the fps of each channel to 5-7fps, which will save hard drive space too and still do well for you. But really, that's the best you'll do with motion detection per channel in the dvr for cameras outside seeing all kinds of things.

[tomcctv 190]

Should I go through the hassle of exchanging the DVR? Or will I just have the same experience. Should I not fret over hard drive space and just let it run all night?

 

 

Hi. jdjeff58 you have 2tb of storage. so you have space to record. motion only recording is always a problem. i have not looked at your dvr manual but you may also have a setting for smart record (records in cif 24/7 and motion will be recorded in D1) this works well with pre and post recording.

 

sending DVR back will just give you the same problem ....cameras are the first thing to look at and if your using built in IR cameras you will always have problems with motion.

[jdjeff58 0]

To Tom and shockwave....I sort of suspected what each of you are saying. I must say that daytime motion sensing on this equipment works very well....I should really say 'excellent' But at night, I'm having a hard time finding the window where it will stop recording noise and still pick up a human. Seems like the only way I can be 100% sure of capturing nighttime activity, is if it's recording non-stop.

 

I don't know why I get so anal about saving hard drive space. This DVR will do a wrap around and over write...which I guess when you think about it, is a good feature to have in a case like this. But then again, I spent more than I can really afford right now on this system and wanted to be certain as to what I should really expect. And with the stellar daytime performance, it had me really guessing whether there was an issue with the DVR. But I think you guys cleared up my suspicions about night vision in general.

 

Thanks for the quick responses!

[shockwave199 0]

I hear you on the hard drive thing. I think it's just the way we think about hard drives in general. But helping a hard drive work efficiently helps the longevity of it for sure. And even though it will double back and start to re-record, the goal is to maximize the recording time in case you find you need older files. Settings such as constant+motion with fps adjustments can be really good, but constant recording even at cif and low fps will keep the hard drive in action all the time, which can reduce the life of the hard drive. Sometimes it's necessary to record 24/7. Arguably you should always do so. But I prefer only motion. Some dvr's will bump up fps to max overall for every motion event, which is good too.

 

You mention night noise. That spells less than good IR cameras, where the IR is too weak. What kind of cameras are they? Cameras with good IR will help to clean up weak IR noise. Also exterior light will help any camera see much better as well. Once you take care of this problem you'll be able to set motion sensitivity much better, and get triggers from actual motions. It may be bugs and animals and people too of course, but it will no longer be weak IR noise. And you won't have to compromise by trying to dial out that noise either.

[jdjeff58 0]

What kind of cameras are they?

 

It's an all in one Revo Sytem. Here's a link to the bullets http://www.revoamerica.com/Products/ProductCatalog/tabid/210/a/View/p/40/RCBY24-1.aspx The domes are identical electronics just housed for indoor use. The specs are linked on that page.

 

And I also hear what you are saying about running a hard drive non-stop.

[tomcctv 190]

And I also hear what you are saying about running a hard drive non-stop.

 

 

 

hi. motion or always record does not effect your HD that runs 24/7 all the time.

[jdjeff58 0]

And I also hear what you are saying about running a hard drive non-stop.

 

 

 

hi. motion or always record does not effect your HD that runs 24/7 all the time.

 

That's good to know.