Teaser Info and Mini Review - Empiretech B52IR-X3 Triple Lens Camera

[bigredfish]

Usually lower in daytime- 25 or so
Night depends on the camera and how much light is available (IR or White) but generally 40 ish

Its ALWAYS about how much light you have. Always

 

[jelf4352]

Usually lower in daytime- 25 or so
Night depends on the camera and how much light is available (IR or White) but generally 40 ish

Its ALWAYS about how much light you have. Always

Check it out....Can it can better from here or tune my camera differently? Or do you think its too dark and am I too far away?


Test 2 - Night

 

[bigredfish]

I think those trees are sucking up a lot of your IR.

I would defer to @wittaj only becasue he has this cam and I dont.

At full screen I'm getting a lot of artifacts on you. But I have to remember it is 2MP

I would play with Sharpness (down), Gain (down), and try back to a 0-9 exposure. Try each separately so you can see what effect. We're trying to get rid of some of those artifacts.
I'm not really seeing blur, gets better as you get closer. You could increase NR up to but not more than 40. But again play with each separate. go in small 3-5 increments.

 

[jelf4352]

I think those trees are sucking up a lot of your IR.

I would defer to @wittaj only becasue he has this cam and I dont.

At full screen I'm getting a lot of artifacts on you. But I have to remember it is 2MP

I would play with Sharpness (down), Gain (down), and try back to a 0-9 exposure. Try each separately so you can see what effect. We're trying to get rid of some of those artifacts.
I'm not really seeing blur, gets better as you get closer. You could increase NR up to but not more than 40. But again play with each separate. go in small 3-5 increments.

I ended up just setting it to “auto” and it actually turned out a lot better than me trying to mess with it. Once I’ll get more patience, I’ll try to do this manually and tune it in all the way….check it out

 

[wittaj]

Several people have asked me if it is possible to use this camera as LPR.

Yes you can. The wide, middle, and zoom, while you cannot change the aim independent of one another, each one has its own settings like an individual camera.

So you can set the wide with a slower shutter to create a nice overview and catch the color of the car, etc. Say a 1/30 will probably stay in color for most. Motion will be a blur, but the objective is to get the car color.

Use the middle one with a faster shutter to get the details of the vehicle. Say a 1/150 shutter and infrared.

And use the zoom camera with 1/1000 shutter to get the plate.

Ideally to capture the most plates, the camera should be within 60ish feet of the camera with a decent angle.

Obviously the types of plates you typically see dictate that. Raised plates with good contrast between the plate and the letters or plates the size of bumpers can get a longer distance, while the printed plates need a shorter distance.

With that said, and by no means would I suggest this distance because this is a perfect raised plate with reflective white background and black raised lettering, but this is from 110 feet. The printed plates at that distance were basically non-readable - you could digital zoom in and make a decent guess for some of them, but I would not recommend this distance if your area is primarily printed plates.

This thing is an infrared light cannon and that certainly helps.

1/1000 shutter
0-45 gain

Brightness 35
Contrast 55
Saturation 48
Sharpness 10
Gamma 45

NR - 28

 

[bigredfish]

Interesting. I didnt realize each lens had its own image controls

 

[bigredfish]

I ended up just setting it to “auto” and it actually turned out a lot better than me trying to mess with it. Once I’ll get more patience, I’ll try to do this manually and tune it in all the way….check it out

A bit of a trade off. Problem is dealing with 2MP at distance at night. Not bad though.

No offense but is that second clip of you or your brother from a different mother?

 

[jelf4352]

A bit of a trade off. Problem is dealing with 2MP at distance at night. Not bad though.

No offense but is that second clip of you or your brother from a different mother?

Hahaha that’s not me….someone strange walked around my property at night holding a bible and eventually walked off into a canyon that goes no where. The whole reason I setup the camera in that location is weird people come through that “hole” in the fence

 

[David L]

Hahaha that’s not me….someone strange walked around my property at night holding a bible and eventually walked off into a canyon that goes no where. The whole reason I setup the camera in that location is weird people come through that “hole” in the fence

Need to put up a sign, This Way to Church >>>

 

[jelf4352]

Does anyone know why i can't view the mainstream for the Panorama camera? It always look blurry like a substream. Whenever i click on a camera in blue iris, i notice the screen sharpen as it adjusts from substream to mainstream....but not for this one camera. The medium and distant views work fine, but not panorama view. I even turned off the substream for the panorama, and it results in the camera having a "lost signal". Really strange and i cant figure it out. I just updated the firmware too with no luck.

 

[wittaj]

Does anyone know why i can't view the mainstream for the Panorama camera? It always look blurry like a substream. Whenever i click on a camera in blue iris, i notice the screen sharpen as it adjusts from substream to mainstream....but not for this one camera. The medium and distant views work fine, but not panorama view. I even turned off the substream for the panorama, and it results in the camera having a "lost signal". Really strange and i cant figure it out. I just updated the firmware too with no luck.



View attachment 218768
View attachment 218769

Everything looks right.

I would delete the camera and add again.

Without knowing your field of view, the pano may not show much improvement between the two at a distance. My +100 feet looks about the same, it is the brick up close I can tell it is switching.

 

[jelf4352]

Everything looks right.

I would delete the camera and add again.

Without knowing your field of view, the pano may not show much improvement between the two at a distance. My +100 feet looks about the same, it is the brick up close I can tell it is switching.

its the same camera you are replying to in the other thread right now about the PTZ preset and IVS rules



I cant even see a difference when i walk by up close. ill try deleting and re-adding.

 

[Ri22o]

Ultimately the goal is to have one of these on either side of the gate, covering the approach from both directions of the path. I went ahead and ordered the second one, even though the first one isn't fantastic at night for me. I am attributing the performance to maybe a less than ideal install height of just under 6', so I am testing around with the second one to see if I can get better night captures.

I designed and printed up a pole mount bracket for testing. If the taller install height works, I plan to make one that is similar to the PFB junction boxes, but will clamp around the pole. I also printed a pole clamp to hold the pole to the fence; it works, but to save print time, and check fitment, I cut the height in half. The finished piece will have 2 clamping bolts and some more fillets/reinforcements to take out some flex. The fence does move a little in high wind, so hopefully it's not an issue.

The test height is about 9'. To me it seems more obvious than I want it to be, but then I look at where the current one is mounted and this looks better. Outside of the winter, I think the trees will do a reasonable job of hiding it a but when you're on the path. The only concern I have with the new height is I will need to cut some of the tree branches in the gap I am shooting through. It's not the end of the world, but something I will need to pay attention to.

 

[JPmedia]

Just curious, where did you source the pole from?

 

[Ri22o]

Just curious, where did you source the pole from?

The side of the road. Someone backed into a No Parking sign pole and it laid there for months. I decided to be a good neighbor and do some neighborhood clean up.

 

[JPmedia]

The side of the road. Someone backed into a No Parking sign pole and it laid there for months. I decided to be a good neighbor and do some neighborhood clean up.

I couldn't be that lucky. I'm looking for metal poles for cameras, I thought you knew of a place to source them as they would be perfect

 

[Ri22o]

I couldn't be that lucky. I'm looking for metal poles for cameras, I thought you knew of a place to source them as they would be perfect

It's about 9.5 feet, so it was likely 12' to start with. I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap since it's powdercoated and has a finial, but they have to be available somewhere as companies buy them all of the time to install them.

A quick search shows this place. I would be surprised if you didn't have a local supply house you could get them from.

3" Diameter Smooth Aluminum Sign Post

3" diameter solid aluminum post with a smooth, rust free finish. Use as a sign post or a light pole.

signaturestreetscapes.com

 

[Ri22o]

I hate waiting so long for it to get dark, but not much I can do about it other than complain.

Here is what I have so far and I don't know what to do. I trimmed the trees back, but not sure how much more I want to trim them. I know they're a problem, but I also don't want to completely strip them of lower branches. I moved the camera down a little bit from 9', I don't think it's quite to 8' yet, but not sure where it ended up. I want this to work, but I am close to giving up. It doesn't help that the path in this direction is 25" higher than the ground below the camera. So if I am at 6' install height, I am 4' at the path...

Another option I am considering is mounting it low, with an upward tilt. This would get the IR under the branches and maybe help? I noticed seems to do better at height, but the upward tilt could make a difference? Thoughts?

All IRs are set to 100%. The only IR that is on is from the higher camera. The lower camera had all IR turned off. New camera is on the left, current is on the right. Settings for both cameras are the same.

Mid View:




Far View:

 

[JPmedia]

I hate waiting so long for it to get dark, but not much I can do about it other than complain.

Here is what I have so far and I don't know what to do. I trimmed the trees back, but not sure how much more I want to trim them. I know they're a problem, but I also don't want to completely strip them of lower branches. I moved the camera down a little bit from 9', I don't think it's quite to 8' yet, but not sure where it ended up. I want this to work, but I am close to giving up. It doesn't help that the path in this direction is 25" higher than the ground below the camera. So if I am at 6' install height, I am 4' at the path...

Another option I am considering is mounting it low, with an upward tilt. This would get the IR under the branches and maybe help? I noticed seems to do better at height, but the upward tilt could make a difference? Thoughts?

All IRs are set to 100%. The only IR that is on is from the higher camera. The lower camera had all IR turned off. New camera is on the left, current is on the right. Settings for both cameras are the same.

Mid View:
View attachment 222793 View attachment 222795

View attachment 222796 View attachment 222799

Far View:
View attachment 222792 View attachment 222794

View attachment 222801View attachment 222798

I am certainly no expert with nighttime settings, but you may want to try a slower shutter speed. I would see what 0 - 5 or even 0 - 6 looks like for night combined with a slightly higher exposure comp setting (like 55 - 60). If that doesn't work, my guess is you may need additional IR light.

 

[JPmedia]

Also, are you sure smart IR isn't enabled?