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The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => IP Cameras => DCS-2330L => Topic started by: Island on April 18, 2016, 11:19:35 AM

Title: Poor night vision
Post by: Island on April 18, 2016, 11:19:35 AM
Greetings fellas- Well, I have about 8 D-link cameras inside and outside my home. All work great for the most part. I have 2 D-link 2332L cameras, one in the back yard and one at the front door. I've read so many bad reviews about this camera but honestly both cameras have been working great for the last 2 years. So, I decided to buy another one for my driveway, but I could not find any online, so I opted to go with the 2330L. I really got a good deal on a brand new one online, so I purchased it and got it set up. It's basically the exact same as the 2332L, except that the night vision is pretty terrible.

 I have found this to be a verified issue now, as I have scoured the internet and have read all of the issues with the 2330L and night time mode. My 2332L cameras have very good night mode. I have verified that the camera is actually functioning correctly and if I set the day/night mode manually, I do hear a click and it does change on screen. My firmware is up to date as well. The issue is that I can barely see 5 feet in front of the camera when night mode is active. I left the settings all on default in the camera software. Could there be a setting that I need to change to get better IR illumination? I appreciate any replies. Thanks!
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: RYAT3 on April 18, 2016, 11:47:34 AM
 try the denoise option.
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: echandler on April 18, 2016, 07:30:15 PM
Try firmware v1 or 1.01, I reverted back to those because the shutter can go down to 1/8th (which causes a lot of ghosting but works pretty well). V1 has a lot of ghosting even during the day, here it is at night (sharpness set at 1, max gain at 12db ). The gate is barely visible with some of the newer firmware versions.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3Ga--jxDFBDOENpYkpzRU5fWVE/view (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3Ga--jxDFBDOENpYkpzRU5fWVE/view)

edit: Here is an example of the "ghosting" during the day, it appears to be fixed in 1.01 (starts near the middle of the clip):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3Ga--jxDFBDcl8zblUxMjZodEU/view (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3Ga--jxDFBDcl8zblUxMjZodEU/view)
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: RYAT3 on April 18, 2016, 08:32:06 PM
Try firmware v1 or 1.01, I reverted back to those because the shutter can go down to 1/8th (which causes a lot of ghosting but works pretty well). V1 has a lot of ghosting even during the day, here it is at night (sharpness set at 1, max gain at 12db ). The gate is barely visible with some of the newer firmware versions.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3Ga--jxDFBDOENpYkpzRU5fWVE/view (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3Ga--jxDFBDOENpYkpzRU5fWVE/view)

Have you tried the "low noise" option for night time?
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: echandler on April 18, 2016, 09:05:48 PM
Just tried it, the picture isn't brighter, just more smudged looking.

edit: Turning up the denoise setting does help when the max gain is set to 24 (which does make it a lot brighter), but the current settings work "good" for both day and night.
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: cmontyburns on April 23, 2016, 07:32:51 PM
These cameras have only one LED illuminator and as such are not designed for good might vision outside a few feet.  Yes, you can dial in various picture settings to help, but mostly they will introduce noise or remove detail -- good enough to trigger a motion alert, perhaps, if that's what you're after, but not good enough to see the source of the motion with any fidelity.

If you really want your camera to be effective in the dark, you'll need to pair it with an external IR illuminator.  That's what I did.  They are quite inexpensive, and my 2330 now sees 25-50 feet in the dark with good detail and no fiddling with the picture settings.
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: FurryNutz on April 25, 2016, 07:09:47 AM
If you can suggest a external illuminator for users to check out, would be helpful.

Thank you.

These cameras have only one LED illuminator and as such are not designed for good might vision outside a few feet.  Yes, you can dial in various picture settings to help, but mostly they will introduce noise or remove detail -- good enough to trigger a motion alert, perhaps, if that's what you're after, but not good enough to see the source of the motion with any fidelity.

If you really want your camera to be effective in the dark, you'll need to pair it with an external IR illuminator.  That's what I did.  They are quite inexpensive, and my 2330 now sees 25-50 feet in the dark with good detail and no fiddling with the picture settings.
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: RYAT3 on April 25, 2016, 06:20:51 PM
If you can suggest a external illuminator for users to check out, would be helpful.

Thank you.



I bought this and the smaller wisecom from tigerdirect a few years ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Clover-Electronics-IR030-Vision-45-Feet/dp/B0002J1JEK

They do run REALLY HOT.  The window is glass, and looks/feels like aluminum housing.

Now that I have a temp sensor I should see what it really is.

The used on one Amazon is definitely over priced.

This order was 8/2013:

Clover IR-010 20 LED IR Super Illuminator (YYI1-T48614)  $34.99
Clover IR-045 IR Super Illuminator - 68 IR LEDs With 45' Range (YYI1-T48615) $42.47
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: cmontyburns on April 27, 2016, 08:12:54 PM
If you can suggest a external illuminator for users to check out, would be helpful.

Thank you.

Sure thing.  I even started a thread on it when I bought the thing.  :)

http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=60669.0 (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=60669.0)

Currently only USD $15, although you do have to add a power supply.
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: FurryNutz on April 28, 2016, 07:41:06 AM
Hope it helps users out.  ;) Thank you.
Title: Re: Poor night vision
Post by: BAMoh on August 23, 2016, 11:53:45 PM
Greetings fellas- Well, I have about 8 D-link cameras inside and outside my home. All work great for the most part. I have 2 D-link 2332L cameras, one in the back yard and one at the front door. I've read so many bad reviews about this camera but honestly both cameras have been working great for the last 2 years. So, I decided to buy another one for my driveway, but I could not find any online, so I opted to go with the 2330L. I really got a good deal on a brand new one online, so I purchased it and got it set up. It's basically the exact same as the 2332L, except that the night vision is pretty terrible.

 I have found this to be a verified issue now, as I have scoured the internet and have read all of the issues with the 2330L and night time mode. My 2332L cameras have very good night mode. I have verified that the camera is actually functioning correctly and if I set the day/night mode manually, I do hear a click and it does change on screen. My firmware is up to date as well. The issue is that I can barely see 5 feet in front of the camera when night mode is active. I left the settings all on default in the camera software. Could there be a setting that I need to change to get better IR illumination? I appreciate any replies. Thanks!

Get a security light for your driveway. If something happens the security light goes on and your cam will pick it up good as day. Picture quality wise, this would be a big improvement even over a better night vision cam IMO.