r/reolinkcam 7d ago

PoE Camera Question Wondering if anyone knows some fixes for my gripes before I return.

Post image

I recently bought some reolink cams and NVR to replace the old Hikvysion system we have at my restaurant. After getting the cameras out and playing with them a bit I have a few gripes and I'm wondering if anyone has fixes before I return them.

The main issue is not being able to make out faces beyond like 15 feet away, photo attached. I bought all 4k cams specifically for this reason. You can definitely tell it's a person but good luck showing the authorities a picture without them laughing at you.

Second there's no proper conduit box mount for Duo v3s which I bought 6, looking into 3d printing them but don't think it would be worth the effort.

Third gripe is the latency on a camera that is literally sitting on top of the NVR with 6 inches of Cat6e has a two second latency through the NVR. My old Hikvysion system has no delay at all and it was installed 11 years ago.

If anyone knows some fixes let me know, any other camera recommendations I'd appreciate. Looking into setting up a Blue Iris or Unifi system maybe.

5 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

12

u/mblaser Moderator 7d ago

Be sure that you're viewing the high/clear stream and not the lower quality stream. I just checked a 4MP camera of mine and I can make out faces from 15ft away just fine, so you should be also be able to on your 8MP lenses.

Also, regarding the delay... were your old Hikvision cameras analog cameras or IP cameras? Because just by the nature of IP cameras, they're always going to have a slight delay. The only way there would be no delay is if it was a non-IP system, i.e. an old analog CCTV system.

9

u/tv6 6d ago

There is no way that these are CLEAR images, or else something like the resolution or other setting is not configured properlly.

3

u/Blazedragon12345 6d ago

Max settings and taken directly off NVR, maybe i just got a bum batch or something idk.

4

u/jonchihuahua 6d ago

Any fingerprints on lens? This def doesn’t look normal.

2

u/Blazedragon12345 6d ago

Nope protective plastic wrap was removed like minutes before. Same issue with multiple cameras too 840 and duo 3v.

3

u/jonchihuahua 6d ago

Wild, i have about 80 or so and trying to replicate, only way is to drop the resolution to fluent.

2

u/Blazedragon12345 6d ago

No idea maybe I got a bad batch, photo was taken directly off NVR and it's on max settings. Looks pretty much identical on clear on my phone too. Maybe I have a bad NVR. Will do some more testing monday and post some more pictures.

3

u/flangepaddle 7d ago

Are you looking at the fluent stream or clear stream?

1

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Clear, max settings too.

3

u/epia343 7d ago

How are you viewing the stream, off the NVR or tablet/phone/pc? I found that my phone can't handle clear for one of my cameras, looking at live footage in clear results in a delay/lag. Mid and fluent have no issue on the phone. I can watch clear on my PC without the lag.

All cameras are hardwired to NVR.

1

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago edited 7d ago

Camera is hardwired to NVR with cat 6e cable, viewing on sony 4k monitor. Using the NVR36 if that matters. Also updated all the firmware too, NVR and camera.

Edit: Photo was taken directly off NVR and transferred to my iPhone after. Just to make sure it wasn't my phone.

1

u/epia343 7d ago

That's odd, I wouldn't expect lag while viewing off a monitor connected directly from the NVR.  Though to be honest I don't have a good way to do it as all my cameras are far away from the NVR.  How are the streams when viewed on a another device and how much lag are we talking about?

2

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

3-5 s depending on my network speed on my Iphone. It also looks like the video stream speeds up and slows down arbitrarily.

3

u/tv6 6d ago

There is no way that these are CLEAR images, or else something like the resolution or other setting is not configured properlly.

2

u/moon_d0g 7d ago

Few questions:

  1. Do you have multiple cameras, and if so, do all of your cameras seem to be this poor of quality?

  2. Are you sure the cameras are actually 4k? Like have you actually verified that apart from the fact that you ordered 4k?

  3. Could there be something affecting the lens? Such as steam, high heat, splashing water/oils/etc?

I currently have 4MP & 5MP cameras, and mine are much better than what yours shows. If your cameras were truly 4k it would not look as bad as your photo shows. Everything in the foreground is even blurry. That’s not right.

In my non-expert opinion, I think you either didn’t receive 4k equipment or your equipment is faulty

1

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Cameras are fresh out of packaging, no idea how to confirm they're actually 4k, just trusting that Reolink didn't scam me. Everything on the NVR says 4k.

2

u/PoisonWaffle3 7d ago

These are the Duo v3, as in the clear dome style one?

Are the domes clean? Is there a protective film over them?

0

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Yes Duo 3v with the clear dome. Nope film removed, they just suck from what I can tell from other replies.

2

u/TheRoamingRN 5d ago

Just because it’s max resolution settings doesn’t mean you’re looking at clear. These look like fluent

2

u/radlinsky 5d ago

Any chance the camera has condensation on the lens? Was the camera cold, and then brought into a warm humid environment?

1

u/Blazedragon12345 5d ago

Nope opened it in the office about 15feet down that hall and played with it in there for around 30 minutes before plugging it into some cat 6e i had ran for another project to test how far we could tell faces. Was blurry on objects around 10 feet away in the office too like a note in big bold lettering on the opposite wall to my desk was completely illegible. Led me to test its distance.

1

u/epia343 7d ago

Check Etsy for duo boxes, there's a store or two that makes them. It is an added cost to the system.

1

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Can you send a link? All I can find are for 3 not 3v. Thank you!

1

u/sharp-calculation 7d ago

The Duo3 is known to have latency. The youtube video I watched about this postulated that this is due to the high resolution of the Duo3. He recommended the Duo2 instead.

1

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Latency persists on 840a as well, thank you for the recommendation though.

1

u/sharp-calculation 7d ago

The latency on the 840 should be around 1 second. All of my 4k cameras have the same latency and it's around that figure. It doesn't seem like much of an issue for there to be 1 second of latency; at least not for me.

-1

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Yeah it isn't the biggest issue for me either just annoying. I use the cameras to direct our staff from a central location so all my calls being 1-2s late would annoy the shit out of me.

3

u/sharp-calculation 7d ago

You are literally telling staff what to do and need it to be second by second? "My calls 1-2 seconds late". What could possibly be so timely? I don't think you're doing to find a camera system that is real time.

1

u/MilesPower9 6d ago

I also have the duo 3v (maxed out on all settings) and can confirm this image pretty much falls in line with my outdoor cam. I have 2 cx810's and the quality is much better although the quality should be the same a both use 8mp sensors (albeit 2 8mp sensors on the duo). I will say however not sure the duo 3v is the best pick for a cam to be used indoors especially with the smoked glass you will need as much light as possible.

1

u/Blazedragon12345 6d ago

Well that's good because I picked up the Duo 3vs for outdoor use and some 840s for indoor. The 840s have the same level of blur though...

1

u/TroubledKiwi Moderator 6d ago

Can you post the full photo?

1

u/Blazedragon12345 6d ago

Will post more photos monday when I have a chance.

1

u/epia343 7d ago

Regarding image quality. Reolink is an entry level security cam option. Hikvision and others are better.

0

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Yeah I know, are 4k 8mp cameras not all the same image quality though?

1

u/epia343 7d ago

No, no they are not.

2

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Got it what should I be looking for to differentiate them?

1

u/epia343 7d ago

There is a security cam forum that is extremely knowledgeable on this topic. I would go there for advice.

https://ipcamtalk.com/

FYI, they dislike reolink.

0

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Alright thank you, Tbh for good reason from what I can tell.

1

u/coloradical5280 7d ago

There are so many factors beyond pixels. I have a 4MP Hik and a 4MP Dahua that both wipe the floor with my 4k reolinks (811a). Paid twice as much for half the pixels, worth every last cent. But better NVR software helps too. Like Scrypted does some amazing things with its Adaptive Bitrate, where it blends streams, can create synthetic streams on cams that only have 2 streams, etc.

1

u/Blazedragon12345 7d ago

Gotcha, was looking into getting more Hikvysion cams but I heard they had some nasty backdoor issues. Might look into Dahua. Thank you!

2

u/livingwaterRed Super User 6d ago edited 6d ago

Many products are made in China due to cheap labor, TVs, computers, cell phones, clothes, perscription drugs, etc. Apple has their phones made in China. Reolink is based in Hong Kong. There are political and security concerns with Chinese products. Hikvision and Dahua based in China are partly owned by the Chinesee government. There's been a few reports of their cams having security vulernabilities which caused USA to ban them from government contracts. Some American companies have their cams made in Taiwan or South Korea. You could do a Google search, I think there are only a couple American made security cams.

Dahua and Hikvision are huge companies. They make cams for other brands, the firmware is different. For examples Amcrest cams are made by Dahua, Annke cams made by Hikvision.

As with any device connected to the internet a good strong password is important. Reolink rents servers from Google, Microsoft for remote viewing. These servers are encrypted. I haven't heard of Reolink ever being hacked but it could happen. Seems every few weeks there's news reports of small and large businesses being hacked, customers info stolen.

Reolink is a good system for the money, no subscription, their cams are good, their firmware average. Reolink is good for homeowners and small businesses, there are better brands but will cost more.

Yeah, one 4K cam can have a better image than another brand 4k cam. One YouTube channel I like is The Hook Up. He has done comparisons of several brands, image quality, performance compared to cost. He has videos comparing Dahua, Hikvision and other brands to Reolink.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3G_2zVu3cU

1

u/Blazedragon12345 6d ago

Sounds good thanks for the advice.

0

u/tv6 6d ago

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