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The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => IP Cameras => DCS-942L => Topic started by: bcruz on October 27, 2011, 06:58:53 AM

Title: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: bcruz on October 27, 2011, 06:58:53 AM
I just purchased this camera and I have been having issues with the motion settings.  I am probably misreading the manual but here is what I have found so far.  I am hoping that I can get confirmation/clarification on the following points:

1. If you enable use PIR for motion detection it essentially ignores the video motion area that you configure.
2.  If you choose 20% - 100% on sensitivity does this mean it is more sensitive to motion or is 90% - 100% a more sensitive setting?

Thank you.
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: JavaLawyer on October 27, 2011, 07:26:31 AM
Selecting a low sensitivity (i.e. lower percentage)) will cause the DCS-942L to ignore subtle movements (i.e. less motion triggers), while higher percentages will cause more motion triggers. I'm not sure, but the sensitivity may only apply to the "Video Motion" option. If you read the manual, the sensitivity setting refers to "difference between two sequential images".

Not sure if enabling PIR and Video Motion causes both to work at the same time. I would think if D-Link intended only one method to work at a time there would be a three choice radio button: No Motion Detection, PIR, or Video Motion. ???
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: bcruz on October 27, 2011, 07:55:16 AM
Thanks, that helps.  At least now i know what equals "more sensitive".  I'll keep playing around with the settings.
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: JavaLawyer on October 27, 2011, 08:02:02 AM
Please post what you discover about how the settings relate to one another.

Does the "Sensitivity" setting impact Video Motion and PIR or just Video Motion?
Also, please post how well the motion detection works. There were numerous issues reported  by DCS-930L and DCS-932L owners who indicated that the motion detection triggered way too many events despite changing the sensitivity settings. Sounds like PIR will fix that.
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: Tom Peterson on November 09, 2011, 04:00:44 PM
This is what I noticed (if others noticed things different please correct me):

The higher the % the more sensitive.
My cameras work reliable in the 65%-80% range.
If lower then 65% they willl miss some movement
If over 80% they will overreact and flood my inbox with email notifications.

There is significant difference on defiining the "movement area" on 942l vs 932l and 930l
On 932l and 930l the blue shaded squares are for areas NOT to be monitored for movement.
On 942L the red shaded squares are for areas TO BE monitored for movement
The text on both is not very clear since it says "select your movement area" and not being clear if the shaded areas are the ones to be vs. not to be monitored. Thru experimentation I found out the above.
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: JavaLawyer on November 10, 2011, 05:26:50 AM
@Tom Peterson - Thanks for posting your findings. Can you determine whether the sensitivity settings impact Video Motion and PIR or jest Video Motion? Do you find that PIR alone works better/same/worse than Video Motion?

Thanks for your feedback!  ;)
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: Doctor Doom on November 16, 2011, 05:53:50 AM
The best way to test is to create a motion area and use a reasonable percentage 60-80%, save it and then go to the live view. Then simulate motion infront of the camera and check to see if the motion trigger icon flashes. If so then it is setup correctly. If it does not flash it is not sensitive enough or not working correctly. If it continues to flash all the time it is too sensitive.

If you check the PIR then the motion area feature doesn't appear to work. If you use PIR then the whole view of the camera will be the motion area.

Best bet is to try it with and without PIR to see what works better. PIR has the advantage of behaving better in an area where the lighting increases and decreases throughout the day.
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: JavaLawyer on February 20, 2012, 07:35:21 AM
Where is the motion trigger icon?
What is PIR?

What "icon" are you referring to?

PIR stands for "Passive Infrared Sensor". The sensor detects motion through subtle changes in temperature (implied by changes in high wavelength radiation) which is more accurate than the legacy software approach (calculating differences between sequential images captured by the camera).
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: JavaLawyer on February 20, 2012, 11:19:23 AM
I don't know about the 942L, but on my DCS-2230 there is a "Motion Trigger Indicator" in the upper left corner of the Live Video screen. It is a "running person" icon that lights up when there is video motion. It does not trigger from the PIR sensor alone. I imagine that the DCS-42L has something similar.

Are you referring to the LIVE video page on the DCS-XXX web interface?
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: JavaLawyer on February 21, 2012, 11:38:36 AM
Try using only the PIR only and disable the software based motion and see if the results are adequate for your purposes.
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: Bijoo on April 10, 2012, 10:08:28 AM
When I check the PIR sensor, the camera triggers motion all the time without any actual motion, regardless of the sensitivity percentage I specify in the box.  It looks like the PIR sensor is too sensitive or not working properly.  Have anyone run into the same problem?? it is really frustrating...
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings - this is not a camera it is a spamera
Post by: gxw on April 12, 2012, 08:07:28 PM
I am really disgusted with this product.

Cannot tune the motion detect at all on this POS.
Turned on PIR and the 'Running Man' motion detector flashes constantly.
Turned off PIR and the camera is better but only during the day. (59% for sensitivity).
During the day it it triggers when the light level changes but I cannot get the darn thing to trigger when there is motion. When the camera switches to IR mode it turns into a spam sending monster.

Have to wonder if dlink bothered to test this product before sending it out the door.

Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: acellier on April 23, 2012, 11:06:58 AM
This is what I noticed (if others noticed things different please correct me):
...
There is significant difference on defining the "movement area" on 942L vs 932L and 930L
On 932L and 930L the blue shaded squares are for areas NOT to be monitored for movement.
...
I beg to differ!! - my experience with the 930L and 932L is, the blue grid blocks are where detection IS enabled.
I agree that the documentation is absymally ambivalent.
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: JavaLawyer on April 23, 2012, 11:28:50 AM
Given the repeat posts, this is something I'll need to add this to the FAQ library.  :o
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: JavaLawyer on April 23, 2012, 12:24:40 PM
Hopefully the following FAQ post will clarify the motion detection settings: DCS-9XX - Motion Detection Settings (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=48186.msg177377#msg177377). Please let me know if these instructions require clarification or are inaccurate. Thanks.
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: acellier on April 23, 2012, 02:33:47 PM
Should that be in mydlink faq?
Logically, belongs in the camera faq ...
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: JavaLawyer on April 23, 2012, 02:47:36 PM
Should that be in mydlink faq?
Logically, belongs in the camera faq ...


We only have one FAQ board dedicated to IP Cameras, D-ViewCam, and mydlink.com.  "myDlink" is the new branding for the IP Camera series: myDlink FAQ (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?board=300.0)
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: mrMagoo on May 06, 2012, 06:44:08 AM
I've been tinkering with the motion-trigger-settings on my newly purchased 942L to the
point where I was ready to bring it back to the store, but finally I think I found a pattern.

Maybe it's just me, in which case I need to dig deeper, but I've set up the camera in my driveway
and with pretty much the whole FoV selected as a sensing area and it was virtually impossible to
get the camera to detect motion.
However, with a single line along the driveway it detect the slightest motion that moves in/across that
line, all other settings being the same, so to me it seems that somehow the surface area of the
"detection zone" messes with the overall sensitivity.

//M
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: winny72 on March 23, 2017, 02:48:00 AM
I've been tinkering with the motion-trigger-settings on my newly purchased 942L to the
point where I was ready to bring it back to the store, but finally I think I found a pattern.

Maybe it's just me, in which case I need to dig deeper, but I've set up the camera in my driveway
and with pretty much the whole FoV selected as a sensing area and it was virtually impossible to
get the camera to detect motion.
However, with a single line along the driveway it detect the slightest motion that moves in/across that
line, all other settings being the same, so to me it seems that somehow the surface area of the
"detection zone" messes with the overall sensitivity.

//M

Now they are months that I try to change settings, but I believe that the combination of PIR sensor with that of movement creates problems to the management software. Besides having many false movements at times, but often changing settings I continued interceptions. I think bring it on back.
Sorry for my english.
My camera is 942lB
Title: Re: DCS-942L Motion settings
Post by: FurryNutz on March 23, 2017, 09:30:42 AM
Kind of out dated for this thread. Hope it helps future users.

I've been tinkering with the motion-trigger-settings on my newly purchased 942L to the
point where I was ready to bring it back to the store, but finally I think I found a pattern.

Maybe it's just me, in which case I need to dig deeper, but I've set up the camera in my driveway
and with pretty much the whole FoV selected as a sensing area and it was virtually impossible to
get the camera to detect motion.
However, with a single line along the driveway it detect the slightest motion that moves in/across that
line, all other settings being the same, so to me it seems that somehow the surface area of the
"detection zone" messes with the overall sensitivity.

//M

Now they are months that I try to change settings, but I believe that the combination of PIR sensor with that of movement creates problems to the management software. Besides having many false movements at times, but often changing settings I continued interceptions. I think bring it on back.
Sorry for my english.
My camera is 942lB