Maybe at least provide an off-switch to allow customers to override the processing?So, for the love of all that is holy, Dahua, stop with this auto processing garbage, there appears to be some great image quality waiting to be unleashed here. If this is happening during the day then it is no wonder the night images are so poor. There is hope yet though I feel
Dahua WizColor 5x59-PRO and SmartLight 5x59-IL new series
- Thread starter steve1225
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Indeed, I would take that along with many others no doubt. It might be OK once they 'perfect' it but until that time, best to leave it as an option. Ship them out with best settings for capturing the bad guys.
Genuine question, highlighted by these newer cameras (maybe), is there really any advantage from having NR turned on. Other than it looking 'nicer' on the live feed, is it potentially better to set it off or very low, then tune the gain and shutter to suit. If you have it on then motion and processing suffer, if you leave it off then detail remains but you get the grain/noise. Just got me thinking...which is dangerous!
I suppose my thinking is this, if the image is a noisy mess, NR is probably not the real answer. That would be to either drop the gain/increase the shutter, or add more light. I feel like NR causes more problems than it fixes, certainly on these Pro's.
I suppose my thinking is this, if the image is a noisy mess, NR is probably not the real answer. That would be to either drop the gain/increase the shutter, or add more light. I feel like NR causes more problems than it fixes, certainly on these Pro's.
On practically every other camera that question has always been doable and a matter of balance.
On this one I’m not sure there is an acceptable balance. Or there is and it’s just a very fine dance with multiple controls.
The processing contrary to initial reports appears wayyy over sharp out of the box, when in reality it’s not a sharpness issue but a noise issue. So the first thing we’re all doing is reducing sharpness, then add any measurable DNR and things get soft and blurry fast.
Then we’re playing trying to eliminate the noise with adjustments to gain, DNR, and shutter.
I understand this issue has been around forever in color at night. But we’re even fighting it in B&W/IR with more powerful IR, it’s the artificially created digital noise at the root and I’m not sure there is a great way to cure it without gobs of light.
On this one I’m not sure there is an acceptable balance. Or there is and it’s just a very fine dance with multiple controls.
The processing contrary to initial reports appears wayyy over sharp out of the box, when in reality it’s not a sharpness issue but a noise issue. So the first thing we’re all doing is reducing sharpness, then add any measurable DNR and things get soft and blurry fast.
Then we’re playing trying to eliminate the noise with adjustments to gain, DNR, and shutter.
I understand this issue has been around forever in color at night. But we’re even fighting it in B&W/IR with more powerful IR, it’s the artificially created digital noise at the root and I’m not sure there is a great way to cure it without gobs of light.
A reminder that if you move the 3D & 2D NR levels to ZERO ... but still leave "3D NR" toggle on, NR is still being applied ... which took me by surprise - it's easily "seen" in a low-light scene by toggling it.
Well said no doubt. I have certainly never experienced another like this, lets face it, if we can't tune this thing then what chance does a 'normal' consumer have! Frankly if they don't do something drastic with the firmware to pull this thing around, then it won't end very well. My frustration levels are pretty high with this one, as I am sure are yours and some others who have hours testing into it!
Your point about B&W really sums it up, more powerful IR and still struggling to match cameras from 2-3 years ago. Let us hope they are putting in the hours back at Dahua HQ!
Yes indeed, worth mentioning again, very easy to see the difference this makes. The oddities continue...
Yes it’s observable.
But with it completely turned off I don’t want an image that’s so dark and so noisy that I might as well have bought Reolink.
To be positive, I’m having some success with the AS on my back porch, it’s image is acceptable and the white lights helped as I hoped.
And while I’m still arm wrestling with the Z4 as I think there’s enough light there, and it’s getting closer. I think it will work out, it’s not perfect but gives me color and reasonable ID at the street.
The plain VF ZE I’m really struggling with as it doesn’t add anything to the equation in the more wide open scene I have it in over the 5442H-ZHE
We can only hope for some good things to come from the firmware, otherwise mine will be relegated to non critical areas that are short range. Disappointed with these (ZE variant) at the moment as you can probably tell, especially having poured hours into testing and setup. I have two installed and one in the box!
On the plus side the speaker is good, mic seems good also, dual illumination is nice to have, it can produce some nice daytime footage, does also have moments of greatness in low light but few and far between. Ah well, live and learn I guess. Very pleased with the 4K's and bullet S3's though, I bet on the wrong horse so far
For now I am done testing until next firmware comes out, like @bigredfish and some others I found the limits. See what Dahua/Andy can come up with going forward.
On the plus side the speaker is good, mic seems good also, dual illumination is nice to have, it can produce some nice daytime footage, does also have moments of greatness in low light but few and far between. Ah well, live and learn I guess. Very pleased with the 4K's and bullet S3's though, I bet on the wrong horse so far
For now I am done testing until next firmware comes out, like @bigredfish and some others I found the limits. See what Dahua/Andy can come up with going forward.
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This overlaps multiple threads:
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"President Donald J. Trump has issued a new executive order lowering tariffs on Chinese goods from 20 percent to 10 percent, effective November 10, 2025. The move comes as part of a broader agreement with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in which Beijing has pledged to take “significant measures” to curb the export of synthetic opioids, particularly fentanyl, into the United States."
Trump Cuts Tariffs on China in Exchange for Fentanyl Crackdown.
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I put the 5442-S3 back up ... so here's a comparison of it in the lower position versus the T54PRO-ZE which is on top.
Basically identical settings - shutter=5msec, iris=100, gain=0, and NR=0/OFF.
I do have HLC=1 on the T54PRO because otherwise it unnaturally pushes the blacks.
BTW, the T54PRO-ZE is at ZOOM=550 whereas I had to push the 5442-S3 to ZOOM=430 to semi-match the horizontal field-of-view.
I prefer the look of the T54PRO-ZE ... note it is running the 1028 Firmware.
Basically identical settings - shutter=5msec, iris=100, gain=0, and NR=0/OFF.
I do have HLC=1 on the T54PRO because otherwise it unnaturally pushes the blacks.
BTW, the T54PRO-ZE is at ZOOM=550 whereas I had to push the 5442-S3 to ZOOM=430 to semi-match the horizontal field-of-view.
I prefer the look of the T54PRO-ZE ... note it is running the 1028 Firmware.
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Well that is an easy win for the 54Pro side by side no doubt, does this give us some hope for the B&W and night colour?
Having spent waayyy too much time looking at stuff, the T54PRO-ZE can deliver a much better static nighttime color image than the 5442-S3 ... but both do poorly with motion [ADDED TO CLARIFY] IN THIS SCENE since it is so dark ... and I have to use ridiculous parameters to get a decent exposure.
ADDED: Others more knowledgeable than me have done testing in situations where it's "more possible" to capture motion. Again, hard for me to assess since my front yard is so dark.
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Join the club
My testing is now limited to new firmware releases, I have seen plenty of this camera to last me a very long time otherwise!
StevenFromTexas
Getting comfortable
I'm sure their marketing wizzes are hard at work coming out with more Artificial Stupidity points for their next brochure printouts.
flynreelow
Known around here
- Dec 12, 2016
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I'm sure their marketing wizzes are hard at work coming out with more Artificial Stupidity points for their next brochure printouts.
That's why I alluded earlier to someone showing pics of two different cameras with exact same settings
1- In order to really judge, they should be set at their individual "Best" realistic settings. Its a matter of what can the camera do not what the factory defaults are.
2- You said you did make an adjustment to the 54PRO... why not increase Contrast and Saturation on the 5442 like I have to do with every single one of them out of the box? I think you'll find them much closer.
With motion, in low light, there's a clear winner
I have both and will do that in the coming days, but I never set up a camera to run at 100 Iris and 0 NR
Oh, good. More new info While we wait for the next FW update. I was getting really itchy for what has become my daily fix!
@bigredfish - If you have some specific settings you want me to do on the T54PRO and 5442-S3 (and tell me day and/or night), I'm happy to do it for 'ya.
If you have a fairly wide-angle camera with most stuff at 50' (or more away) with everything being at least 20' away, why not run the iris wide-open (unless the lens really need to be closed down) if you are in a low-light situation?
If you have a fairly wide-angle camera with most stuff at 50' (or more away) with everything being at least 20' away, why not run the iris wide-open (unless the lens really need to be closed down) if you are in a low-light situation?