topic Re: Brightness Control Problem in Arlo

Brightness Control Problem

jun3280 — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 18:28:57 GMT

Hi there, I recently purchased the 4 camera Arlo system. I'm using the camera to monitor outside activity, but have the installations from the inside behind windows. This eliminates the possibility of using the nightvision LED. That said, it appears I should be able to adust the light sensitivity of the camera at night using the Brightness setting of the camera. I've tested the values from -2 to +2 using both the Android app and web interface, but it does not appear to have any impact on the picture. I confirmed that the settings SAVED, and start/stopped the LIVE Stream. That said, if you goto the Camera Settings and view the Pan/Scan image, the image is super bright (perfect in fact). Any idea why I'm unable to achieve the same level of brightness using the manual live settings? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've attached images below. Thanks!

-2 Brightness

+2 Brightness

Pan/Scan Image

Re: Brightness Control Problem

jun3280 — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 12:57:56 GMT

As an update, I can confirm the brightness control works when more light is available. I've posted morning images for comparison. Can anyone else confirm camera behavior with their night time settings? Conversely, would the Netgear developers know what "brightness" setting the Pan/Zoom is on as compared to the +2 Brightness Setting? Thanks.

-2 Brightness Morning

+2 Brightness Morning

Pan/Zoom Morning

Re: Brightness Control Problem

TomMac — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 14:26:46 GMT

Interesting...

Well did some testing in the garage which has only a 60w bulb.... and I can verify what you see...took a clip of pan-zoom and 2 snapshots with changed iris ( not much diff in this light, small change tho can see in car reg sticker, other writing on milk crate, etc )

The only answer I can give is some form of lower compression/higher rez in pan-zoom mode

But I think this needs a higher pay grade for a real answer.

Snapshot off pan-zoom screen ( watch print logo on front of MC cover )

snapshot -2 iris

iris +2

Re: Brightness Control Problem

jun3280 — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 07:25:12 GMT

Aside from one great post to corroborate my findings, I'm surprised others are not more interested in improved picture quality in low light. A little searching - it would appear another user Ky identified the same thing a month earlier.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Wire-Free-camera/Pan-amp-Zoom-brightness-better-than-Live-night-brightness/m-p/1066338/highlight/true#M9717

Perhaps the two threads should be merged, and hopefully someone from Netgear can provide us with some insight.

Thks

Re: Brightness Control Problem

Schorschi — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 11:59:37 GMT

TomMac wrote:
Interesting...

Indeed.

TomMac wrote:
The only answer I can give is some form of lower compression/higher rez in pan-zoom mode

I don't think it's compression or resolution.

It's simply that the Pan/Zoom mode has a higher EV (exposure value) adjustment setting than the slider on the Live View controls provides.

I wonder if the Pan/Zoom mode uses a different metering mode too, like spot metering, for instance.

Note that the metering mode determines the exposure value (EV) for the given lighting conditions. The manual brightness controls in Live View allow you to offset that value by up to ±2 EV.

In photography/videography there are different metering modes used. Spot metering only looks at the light in a very small spot in the center of the frame to determine exposure, whereas other modes, like Central-weighted average metering looks at more of the whole frame, though still putting higher bias on the center of the image, but a much larger area than used in spot metering.

This clearly needs improvement. Expanding on the brightness adjustment range available in Live View may do the trick, something like ±5 EV.

Someone should perhaps submit a support ticket to get it on Netgear's radar.

Re: Brightness Control Problem

jun3280 — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 16:03:33 GMT

Great insights. Much appreciated regarding your thoughts on the matter. That said, I raised the issue with the chat support (Graceshine) and she reviewed the details and logged it (Case #: 26746446). She indicated this item can be resolved through a software update. Let's hope this can addressed soon.

Thanks