Dahua WizColor 5x59-PRO and SmartLight 5x59-IL new series
- Thread starter steve1225
- Start date
Yes much
I may just hang it in the same spot to compare. By spec it won’t be as good at light pickup but given the scene it may not matter.
I may just hang it in the same spot to compare. By spec it won’t be as good at light pickup but given the scene it may not matter.
So here's the NIGHT comparison of Firmware 0827 & 1022 on the T54PRO-ZE at zoom level 550 - that scale goes from 0-2426.
First, this is NOT A "FAIR" SITUATION for the camera ... since the settings are 80msec shutter, 100 iris, 65 gain, 50 3D NR, and 50 2DNR. So clearly the light level is waayyy to low to use color (without adding some lights) to capture any motion. BTW, be very careful with the gain - this scene falls apart real fast when you go about 65 gain.
I don't see much difference - again, the the histogram shows the blue channel is reduced slightly (I compare using a 1920x1080 cutout from the middle, so the overhanging roof on the top camera doesn't show) but I don't have a clear preference ... LOL they are both BAD!
The 1022 seems to be doing a bit more "smearing" (see the road and driveway) ... but this is such a mushy image, I'd be careful judging it as such.
BTW, I was kinda surprised (in THIS low light situation looking at STATIC images) that changing the level of NR (both 2D and 3D) didn't make that much difference, although it did reduce the "dancing pixels" in the video. BTW, if you want to see what the NR TOGGLE does by itself, try a low light scene like this, set the LEVELS of NR to ZERO for both ... and then toggle the NR which causes a BIG difference.
To echo how dark this is, it looks like my neighbor across the street turned on their patio lights ... which come out really bright!
In summary, I don't see a big difference (in this situation!) between the 0827 & 1022 firmware - but I would not expect the Dahua engineers to test such an extreme case, but it perhaps gives some idea of the very outer limits of the current sensor/lens/processing.
BTW, in comparison to the 5442-S3 (took that down to put up the 2nd T54), that would have to run at least TWICE as much shutter exposure (160msec!) and it's a pretty dull image without the colors here. So I consider that good progress ... albeit this is static image testing. And I look forward to testing the next generation sensor (hopefully 1/1.2" ... or even 4/3") paired with an F/1.0 lens! ;-)
And before someone says it, sure, I could put up a junky Reolink with a 1/3" sensor & crappy lens and if it allowed me to do a long enough exposure, I would get a similar STATIC picture. But it would need to be much, much, much slower than what the T54 is doing here.
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Great write up, I would say very similar findings for mine. Once the darkness falls I have been running one which is also sharing space and LED onboard with a 4K-T, in colour I want it at 0-2ms for freeze frame but it is starting to get a bit dark. The 54Pro running solo with no ambient can still ID vehicles even at 0-2ms shutter. I have taken to turning sharpening to 0 and NR toggled off at night now on these, I will live with some noise for better motion and more natural look.
Where I have a 54Pro and 4K-T covering the same area from two different angles, it is tough to call at night, even with a 4000lumen LED flood for motion backup. The big benefit with the Pro series is having IR as fallback. I feel like overnight I have seen small gains with the new firmware, early days yet.
Very close call between the two images at night, maybe the 0827 looks a bit sharper on some of the trees and grass, so close though.
Would like to see those images with no NR and no sharpening, shutter at 0-8ms, just out of interest. Have you tried a 4K-T out of curiosity, sorry, that is for the other thread really.
Yes, the soft pics need some more work on HDR. This is the very important thing for the camera.
Here's some morning pictures comparing the 0827 and 1022 firmware.
Settings are identical at 5msc shutter, 100 iris, 0 gain, ZERO NR, Auto WB.
Note there is a little more "speckling/dimpling" in the street/driveway with the 1022 firmware (bit more smearing in the 0827) ... which is "good" because that exists ... and I recall the 5442-S3 picks this up even better ... but I'll put that back up in a couple of weeks.
In terms of sharpness, the 0827 seems a bit sharper on some of the grass/trees ... but this could be due to the slightly different slant angle, which seems to make more difference that you'd think - I actually thought my first T54PRO when it was mounted below the 5442 ... so I think I'm seeing the same thing with the lower-mounted 1022 firmware camera. It does appear that the 1022 has less jaggies on things such as the white mailbox and then sign to the left of it.
In the later shot (08:46), I like how the 1022 handles the highlights better - see leaves in trees to the left and top center. Sunrise was at 7:22AM ... so the more "golden" light from the 1022 firmware is more accurate. The driveway does have a minor tint, so the 1022 handled that better ... but we'll see if a very slight red cast emerges with full sunlight.
As noted earlier, I like the 1022 colors better and the histogram confirms that it is reducing the blue channel.
Today is trash day ... so we've got some "extra targets" to look at! ;-)
Overall, I'm liking the 1022 upgrade - thanks @EMPIRETECANDY for getting this to us.
Settings are identical at 5msc shutter, 100 iris, 0 gain, ZERO NR, Auto WB.
Note there is a little more "speckling/dimpling" in the street/driveway with the 1022 firmware (bit more smearing in the 0827) ... which is "good" because that exists ... and I recall the 5442-S3 picks this up even better ... but I'll put that back up in a couple of weeks.
In terms of sharpness, the 0827 seems a bit sharper on some of the grass/trees ... but this could be due to the slightly different slant angle, which seems to make more difference that you'd think - I actually thought my first T54PRO when it was mounted below the 5442 ... so I think I'm seeing the same thing with the lower-mounted 1022 firmware camera. It does appear that the 1022 has less jaggies on things such as the white mailbox and then sign to the left of it.
In the later shot (08:46), I like how the 1022 handles the highlights better - see leaves in trees to the left and top center. Sunrise was at 7:22AM ... so the more "golden" light from the 1022 firmware is more accurate. The driveway does have a minor tint, so the 1022 handled that better ... but we'll see if a very slight red cast emerges with full sunlight.
As noted earlier, I like the 1022 colors better and the histogram confirms that it is reducing the blue channel.
Today is trash day ... so we've got some "extra targets" to look at! ;-)
Overall, I'm liking the 1022 upgrade - thanks @EMPIRETECANDY for getting this to us.
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Here's a high Noon comparison of 0827 versus 1022 ... similar observations as before.
At this point, I would be comfortable (and WANT!) to push FW1022 ... but I'll hold off for a bit longer in case anyone has any specific comparisons they'd like me to do.
At this point, I would be comfortable (and WANT!) to push FW1022 ... but I'll hold off for a bit longer in case anyone has any specific comparisons they'd like me to do.
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I would still like to see your scene with NR disabled and similarly sharpness either off or below 10, maybe do this on one and leave NR and sharpness as they are on the other one. 
Just to second the comments re 1/1.2" sensors or better paired with fast aperture lens like f1.0, f1.2 or similar, which I would snap up all day long
Sixto
Getting the hang of it
- May 26, 2017
- 60
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The first T54PRO was a 5th camera in a new location in the front of the house, to have the front covered from the right (new) and the left. Been awesome so far, especially in low light.
These next four will be the best comparison since they're replacing the existing cameras, exact same locations (front, left side of house from back, right side of house from back, backyard), so will see how this goes, starting this week with #2 and #3, as I await #4 & #5.
All on Synology Surveillance Station with IVS enabled.
Understood, the real comparison will start this week, interested to hear feedback once you get chance to test.
CCTVCam
Known around here
- Sep 25, 2017
- 3,036
- 3,928
The lighting is handled beter on the new firmware esepcially at noon. However, I don't think the jaggies are a bad thing. I much prefer the fir trees on the right and the stones / plants in front of the house on the earlier firmware 0827. They're supposed to be jagged. That's the needle detail. The jaggies to be worried about are compression aretefacts. It looks to me like the sharpness has been dialed down and some detail is being lost because of it.
I think part of what you are seeing in sharpness in those two areas (especially the fir tree on the right) is the slight difference in angle. When I first got the T54PRO-ZE, I had it mounted in the lower spot below the 5442-S3 ... and saw difference like that. But when I moved it to the higher location (0827FW), it got a bit sharper ... whereas the 1022FW T54 that is in the lower location now looks a bit soft there. I agree that sounds like I'm stretching, but having looked a bazillion pictures, it seems like there is something about having a slightly more shallow angle.
Here's an animated GIF from this morning. I did play with the sharpness (something I've done very little with) and these are at 75% sharpness with 5msec shutter, 100 iris, 0 gain, 0 NR.
BTW, this does increase the "dancing pixels" in the live feed ... set it to 100% to really see 'em go!
Also, the last image is with sharpness set to ZERO ... which really surprised me. I'm used to Photoshop where there are separate sharpness and blur tools ... but seems that maybe (?) those are combined(?) with the camera ... as I can't believe the raw image looks like this. I.e. is it possible that 50% sharpness is a "neutral" setting?
Here's an animated GIF from this morning. I did play with the sharpness (something I've done very little with) and these are at 75% sharpness with 5msec shutter, 100 iris, 0 gain, 0 NR.
BTW, this does increase the "dancing pixels" in the live feed ... set it to 100% to really see 'em go!
Also, the last image is with sharpness set to ZERO ... which really surprised me. I'm used to Photoshop where there are separate sharpness and blur tools ... but seems that maybe (?) those are combined(?) with the camera ... as I can't believe the raw image looks like this. I.e. is it possible that 50% sharpness is a "neutral" setting?
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Thanks for posting these, that 0 sharpening does indeed look soft, this is with NR disabled? as you noted and I confirmed setting to 0 NR and leaving it toggled on still processes the image. I now run NR disabled and sharpening 0 during the day on these new cameras, I prefer the raw data and it reduces artifacts and associated. My theory is the still image can be processed after the event if required. I feel like there is just way too much going on behind the scenes with these Pro cameras. Can't comment on the 50 sharpness being neutral, doubtful but who knows, I tend to not bother with it now, the new cameras have enough 'digital' look for me without that. Low light and night time is my priority and for this reason the less artifacts from processing the better, maybe in some cases (5442/S3) I might put sharpening to between 5-15 but these new cameras it is likely to be zero. Personally, I would never take sharpening above 35, this is a personal thing. Like yourself I come from a photography background, fair to say the lens quality in these cameras will be limited at best, expecting them to be super sharp will be a serious stretch, my 4K-T might disagree though
Might be worth reducing the iris downwards, possibly even setting gain to 30, I know that technically would reduce quality and increase ISO, but there is no telling with new kit how it responds until tested, maybe they don't like working at the extreme lows or highs with regard to gain and/or sharpening?!?
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Yea, the picture above with Sharpening=ZERO is with ZERO gain and ZERO NR.
If I pull that into Photoshop, "Smart Sharpen" cleans it up quite a bit ... but I was pretty surprised how blurry that looked ... so that's why I wonder if that's the "raw" image (as much as you can get an unprocessed image these days!) as delivered by the lens/sensor. Sure, I don't expect razor sharp ... but for an image that had plenty of exposure, I thought it would do better. BTW, I see the same thing with the 0827 firmware ... which you can see in the images below.
Good suggestion on closing up the iris. So I increased the shutter speed to 25msec (which should be PLENTY of light) and but I saw some slight metering differences between iris=50 and iris=100. So then I bumped the gain to 25 ... and still saw a slight difference. Still zero NR. Below is an animated gif with the JPEG's (from the PNG snapshots) attached. Maybe a little extra sharpness ... but not a lot.
The more I look into this, the more I realize I don't understand what the camera is doing! ;-)
If I pull that into Photoshop, "Smart Sharpen" cleans it up quite a bit ... but I was pretty surprised how blurry that looked ... so that's why I wonder if that's the "raw" image (as much as you can get an unprocessed image these days!) as delivered by the lens/sensor. Sure, I don't expect razor sharp ... but for an image that had plenty of exposure, I thought it would do better. BTW, I see the same thing with the 0827 firmware ... which you can see in the images below.
Good suggestion on closing up the iris. So I increased the shutter speed to 25msec (which should be PLENTY of light) and but I saw some slight metering differences between iris=50 and iris=100. So then I bumped the gain to 25 ... and still saw a slight difference. Still zero NR. Below is an animated gif with the JPEG's (from the PNG snapshots) attached. Maybe a little extra sharpness ... but not a lot.
The more I look into this, the more I realize I don't understand what the camera is doing! ;-)
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With your camera being more of an overview, I think what you are experiencing would be a completely different situation if the camera were 6 feet high with an object in the sweet spot of 10-15 feet away.