swann 1 cam grainy

[law 0]

I know bits and bobs but this one is confusing....

I have a swann dvr 4780 and four 3mp cameras also attached to the net via ethernet on the NVR. all works 100% fine but

 

Its been perfect for 3 years and was installed by a pro,,,,just one issue that confuses me, one camera all of a sudden is grainy at night only. its not major but I can notice as it never used to be like that yet nothing has changed in the set up at all as no one touches my stuff.

 

I have tried other ports on the NVR and tried swapping the four splitter to another socket but it will go perfect night picture when turned off then on again, then goes back to grainy at night only after a while. Rest of the system is perfect.  Whats odd is the camera which is grainy at night, when its viewed on the app through the internet is 100% perfect... its only grainy when watchinng it via hdmi to the tv....

Yes i have solar lights in the garden but it was doing this before, does anyone think It may be the new conservatory glass roof reflecting the IRs?

Any ideas?

[tomcctv 190]

Hi. That just looks like a camera settings problem

try adjusting settings like WDR and denoise 

you will need to do these setting when it’s dark

[law 0]

HI

 

There are no WDR settings on this unit that I can see at all

When you say de noise how exactly am I meant to do this without that setting, it has usual Hue saturation brightness and colour settings on each cam.

This is exactly what I have and they have used Cat5e external cables in between the dvr and the cameras....

https://www.swann.com/uk/swdvk-847804

 

Thanks

[tomcctv 190]

Hi. Yes your right … I did not look up your model… I just seen NVR in your first post

 

you are best moving that camera location 

[law 0]

Hi

 

I moved it upwards slightly and cleaned the whole unit properly in the daytime....all looks solid, no connection issues at all.

 

I can only move it up this much or I wil be looking at trees!

 

seems a little bit better but still grainy, it was smooth before though on the same settings.

 

Do you think it is the glass off the conservatory roof thats doing this, also the lights at the bottom of the garden, these should be fine Id imagine as it makes it easy to see the cctv or am I wrong

 

 

thanks

 

[tomcctv 190]

Hi lights in background and in IR mode can give your problems. 
if lights are on all night try setting that camera to daylight only instead of auto

 

you will have to play with the camera settings 

like BLC and WDR

 

i know your camera is not a ptz but this is how you get command of each of your cameras (data over coax)

 

click on that camera then click centre of picture…. A tool bar will show ….. click the icon for PTZ 

window will appear on the left ….. now click the centre button of the ptz control…… then use the up down buttons to go through camera settings 

[law 0]

I just cleaned the lens again, and the white marks went away as that was odd as cleaned it properly before...but grainy picture still there...

it does look a lot better when I reduce the contrast setting on the camera and increase the brightness a bit but wondering how was it 100% perfect before, Im sure its not the glass roof doing this as its far from the camera...

I followed what you said and get this menu but seems to have no effect on the picture, or am I meant to do this is the daytime?

thanks

[tomcctv 190]

Hi. Top right of your ptz picture …..channel number .. CH2.  Is that the channel your camera is on ?

[law 0]

yes,

I even tried to change that and it goes to the other cameras , but when i adjust the settings, it does nothing at all on all of them...any ideas?

 

also why does the camera go back to perfect night vision if I take the power out of the camera and put it back in, then after a few minutes it goes grainy again?

 

is it possible the actual camera has gone faulty.. i even tried to swap the power supply over as cameras are on a 2amp psu with 4 splitters and the dvr unit psu is 2amp as well but still grainy.

 

 

[tomcctv 190]

4 hours ago, law said:

2amp psu with 4 splitters and the dvr unit psu is 2amp as well but still grainy.

Can also be a problem along with using cat5 with wrong baluns

swann Costco kits are put together cheap 

[law 0]

the same baluns have been used for over 3 years working fine , same with the other 3 cameras , this camera thats grainy was ok until recently...

 

do you think the actual camera could be faulty as I noticed today as the sun started to rise but was not up and the IR were on, the grainy image went 100% perfect again with  a little more light?

[tomcctv 190]

Hi. No it’s power problem  first then see if fixes your problem 

a camera uses nearly twice as much power at night than day time 

switching filters ……. Turning on IR (which is a spike)…… running IR ….. and you have thermal detection on camera also using power

you also have another power issue…. If installer did not use the right amount of twisted pairs then you also have a current issue 

 

standard cameras run at around 1 to 1.5amp your on a 2amp power supply for 4 cameras

the least you should be on is 5amp

i would change to 5amp for 2 cameras 

the dead give away for power supply failure is at night when dark …. Hold your power supply …. It will be hot

 

also baluns can also fail resulting in bad image

[law 0]

The installer said he will use cat5e and not the supplied bnc cable but he did it with correct pairs on all of them tbf

The psu I am using is the supplied one from Swann so is the supplied one wrong?   Well I can try this ...tonight I can only power one camera from that 2am supply and see if it works ok on its own?

 

is that a good idea do you think as Im wondering why swann provide it with a 2am supply and four way splitters?

[tomcctv 190]

24 minutes ago, law said:

is that a good idea do you think as Im wondering why swann provide it with a 2am supply and four way splitters?

Hi. We know this as a Costco kit and the returns were high.  You see them all over eBay as refurbished but it’s nothing to do with the recorder

people just thought the video quality was bad  but the problem was power 

2amp with 4 way pig tails is only good for 15m and 2 cameras 

if people used 2amp with pig tails and ran cable 30m cameras would start to show faults 

but even if you look up your cam spec 

1.2 amp x 4 = 4.8

[law 0]

Oh ok...when you say costco what does that mean? budget items?

I dont know much so .....no problem....What shall I try then....a new PSU?

 

If so 5amp you think as I will buy it today and use the same 4 way splitter?

 

this one?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263407983337?hash=item3d5456dae9:g:mEUAAOSwZltb-5f5

 

also I unplugged 3 cameras and left the 1 grainy camera plugged into the splitter with the 2amp supply and it was still grainy...?is this the good method to test it?

[tomcctv 190]

Hi yes that’s a good power supply …. Connect 3 to the 5 amp and 1 to your 2amp

if you have a camera at front of your house plug that into the 2amp ….. using two power supplies will give you a little protection if one fails 

can you post a picture of the camera connections to the cat5

[law 0]

20 hours ago, law said:

also I unplugged 3 cameras and left the 1 grainy camera plugged into the splitter with the 2amp supply and it was still grainy...?is this the good method to test it?

Hello...what about this..... Plugged the grainy cam into one 2 amp plug and its still grainy...doesnt that mean its not the psu?

 

I cant get to the camera but the connections are same as to the dvr.

[law 0]

[tomcctv 190]

Hi   3 pair for power 1 pair for video ….. so it’s not a cable power issue 

 

41 minutes ago, law said:

Hello...what about this..... Plugged the grainy cam into one 2 amp plug and its still grainy...doesnt that mean its not the psu?

But you still have a power problem ….. is this the furthest camera away from dvr ?

this is still a problem ….. your on a plug top 12v 2amp power supply but you have already exceeded your power consumption with running 4 cameras  ….. yes it will run but over time it will start to break down as it’s running past it’s limits …… like I said yours is running hot 

 

we still need to get into your camera menu

 

[law 0]

Yes , 3 wires into one and 2 into the other, they are solid screwed in and taped.. This grainy camera is the closest to the DVR, about 10m cable max....

 

I will get the new power supply and try it out,, 100%

But I meant .. with the 2amp supply, when I plug one of the four splitters into the grainy cam and disconnect other 3 cameras its still grainy...doesnt this mean grainy cam is getting 2amp if all other cams are disconnected on the splitter?

[tomcctv 190]

Hi are you in the uk ?

[law 0]

yes

[tomcctv 190]

Ok. 
your extension lead has plugs plugged in …… take off your plug top and you will find a fuse ….. that is the case with everything plugged in in the uk

you black plug top 2amp Swann power supply does not have a fuse (no protection) so even when faulty it just gets hot

uk installers don’t fit under rated equipment they would not use the plug type power supply

power supply might not be your problem but your cameras are under powered even if you say 1amp each that’s 4 amp

 

what channel number is your camera on 

we still need to get into the dvr cam menu

what part of uk

[law 0]

Nottingham

I checked the power supply, its 12v 2amp and has no fuse and is hot 

I have grainy cam plugged in with no splitter, so directly from the plug and same thing ,it starts clear night vision then after few minutes, goes to grainy.

Its in socket cam 2 but ive moved it around to different inputs on dvr, same issue.

 

 

the dvr cam menu has limited options...

[tomcctv 190]

I have a lot of systems around you about 18 customers 

 

this is your manual ….. page 42 on access to your camera menu

the only time that these instructions will not work is if your installer used none HD analog cameras 

the only time you can use this menu is if your cameras are ….. cvi …. Tvi … ahd …. Which all get commands from ptz settings on dvr 

if standard analog cameras were used then you have no control at all

 

https://www.swann.com/us/downloads/dl/file/id/2269/product/1511/dvr_instruction_manual_english_rev3.pdf