Stripy horizontal lines

[smlemmon]

Hi, I have just bought and installed a new essentials indoor camera and I am getting rainbow coloured horizontal lines across the screen that move up and down. Could it be interference from fluorescent tubes. I hope not, as it would seem a huge restriction if you can’t use them in a room with fluorescent lighting. If it is, is there a resolution at all. Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

[StephenB]

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@smlemmon wrote:
Hi, I have just bought and installed a new essentials indoor camera and I am getting rainbow coloured horizontal lines across the screen that move up and down.

Can you post a screenshot (or perhaps a link to a short video)?

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@smlemmon wrote:
Could it be interference from fluorescent tubes.

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Shouldn't be.  There is a flicker adjustment in the camera settings - it defaults to "auto".  You can try setting it to match your power frequency (for instance, 60 hz in the US), and see if that cures it.

If not, it could be a defective camera.  You could also try viewing the camera with the room lights off, and see if you see similar artifacts.

FWIW, if it is the camera, I suggest exchanging it with the seller if you can - that is usually simpler than getting an RMA from Arlo Support.

[smlemmon]

Hi @StephenB 

Thank you for the very quick reply and I have added the video below.

I did try changing from auto to both 50hz and 60hz but it didnt make any different unfortunately.

It does stop when the fluorescent lights are turned off which led me to this being the problem, but surely these

cameras should cope with this as I would expect they are installed in many locations that use these sorts of lights.

Many thanks again

[StephenB]

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@smlemmon wrote:

cameras should cope with this ...

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I agree.  @JamesC , @ShayneS - has anyone created support cases for something like this?

You could try exchanging the camera, as it might be defective.

[JamesC]

I don't believe i've seen this reported anywhere else...i've not seen this behavior with any Arlo cameras near fluorescent lights. If you setup the camera in a completely different location, do you still experience this behavior?

JamesC

[smlemmon]

Hi @JamesC 

Thank you - I havent tried it in a different location yet, but if I switch the lights off, the lines seem to disappear.

Simon

[StephenB]

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@smlemmon wrote:

Thank you - I havent tried it in a different location yet, but if I switch the lights off, the lines seem to disappear.

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@smlemmon:  How close is the camera to one of the light fixtures?  I'm wondering if there is some interference from the fixture.  This could be the root cause especially if the fixture isn't correctly grounded.

[smlemmon]

Hi @StephenB,

We actually switched the light off that was closest to it, and also moved it to different areas of the room, but it was no different.

[KremmenUK]

This does happen with fluorescent and LED strip lights. They can also introduce a situation where the horizontal lines float upwards or downwards.

In my case, in my garage, I have a similar situation with 2 x 5 foot LED batten lights. What makes it worse is when I cover the car with a white sheet. The horizontal lines float faster. My lines are a transparent black though not rainbow like yours.

[StephenB]

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@KremmenUK wrote:

This does happen with fluorescent and LED strip lights.

FWIW, I haven't seen it with my own LED fixtures.  I do have one fluorescent fixture left - if I have a chance I'll put a camera in that room and see if I can reproduce it.