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djdannis
Apprentice
Apprentice

Netgear,

 

I'm running 12 Arlo Pro 2 cameras and have some input that I'll send to your support directly as well but want to share here in case you're reading... The Arlo Pro was a great system and I was hoping the Arlo Pro 2 would be even better, but I'm noticing some shortcomings...

 

Please remove the not plugged in warning for every camera in the Arlo app. Comes up every time I launch the app and I have to click "Ok, I got it" on every camera, just annoying when you want to see the thumbnail preview. Put the info message elsewhere like when a user tries to enable the CVR or video zones.

 

Nightvision - On battery, the nightvision on the Arlo Pro 2 vs. the Arlo Pro is not good... Haven't tried on power, but don't plan to use power. I'm really disappointed in the quality of the nightvision overall. There are a lot of dark black areas and the picture just isn't lit up as crisp with the Pro 2 vs. the Pro. Also, when motion is detected, some cameras record pitch black for a second or so and then as the IRs illuminate the picture the nightvision starts to show up. Never had this with the Pro version, worked like a champ. I hope this can be resolved in a firmware release so that I don't have to buy all new cameras...

 

Thanks

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions
JamesC
Community Manager
Community Manager

Arlo Pro 2 ups the game by introducing 1080p resolution, a wider field of view compared to previous generation cameras, along with a host of new features that include versatile power options, 2-way audio, and advanced motion detection with activity zones.  All of the above is done while maintaining the things our users love and have become synonymous with Arlo:  Simple wire-free setup, Weather-resistant ruggedness, Optional 24/7 continuous video monitoring, local backup storage, and up to 7 days of free cloud storage.  Not to mention, Pro2 is backwards compatible with all previous generation accessories and base stations. 
 
The same applies at night time, where in each frame, a user can literally see more in every shot.  By upgrading our image technology, we also upgraded our motion and night vision capabilities.
 
Some users have requested that we increase the overall “brightness” of our cameras.  While seeing brighter, albeit subjective, is a valid request - simply making images brighter may not always apply to the scene that is being recorded.  Every user’s setup is different, as well as the type of scene and image being captured.  One fix for all situations can often result in tradeoffs in other aspects of the image quality.  As an example, simply going brighter can result in oversaturated images dependent on the user’s scene.
 
What we did focus on addressing however, was overall image quality during high motion.  Especially in security driven use cases where the action being captured could be a vandal at your front door trying to run away, we wanted to enhance the overall quality in those situations.  Over the weekend, we released a FW update that reduces the amount of compression when fast motion is detected.  This results in better quality videos, with minimal change in overall file size being allocated to capture that motion event. 
 
Arlo aims to up the game in image quality with each new generation of product, and we know our users will enjoy literally seeing more in every shot, seeing more details, as well as crisper video even in fast motion scenes. 
 

-Arlo Development Team

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95 REPLIES 95
djdannis
Apprentice
Apprentice

Nightvision - The nightvision on the Arlo Pro 2 vs. the Arlo Pro is not very good... I'm really disappointed in the quality of the nightvision. There are a lot of dark black areas and the picture just isn't lit up as crisp with the Pro 2 vs. the Pro. Also, when motion is detected, some cameras record pitch black for a second or so and then as the IRs illuminate the picture the nightvision starts to show up. Never had this with the Pro version, worked like a champ. I hope this can be resolved in a firmware release so that I don't have to buy all new cameras... Thanks for listening.

JamesC
Community Manager
Community Manager

djdannis,

 

Can you post screenshots of the Night Vision issue you are describing? Also, if you have a Pro (non-Pro 2) that you can place next to the Pro and take a screenshot as well for reference that may help us better understand the issue.

 

JamesC

djdannis
Apprentice
Apprentice

James,

 

Appreciate the attention and reply. Here is a video of the slow night vision issue. I don't have my Arlo Pro first gen anymore, but will try to pull some recorded video to see if I can get a comparison. Thanks.

 

djdannis
Apprentice
Apprentice

James,

 

And here are two pictures of the Arlo Pro vs. Arlo Pro 2 nightvision quality difference. The brighter more illuminated picture on the top is from the Arlo Pro and the bottom dimmer illuminated picture is from the new Arlo Pro 2. Almost like the IR LEDs are not as powerful. I'll try to get another example this evening to post. A difference that I hope can be resolved in this new hardware version. Thanks.

 

Screenshot_20171016-171552.pngScreenshot_20171016-171633.png

armsil1234
Apprentice
Apprentice

Now that I read these threads, I do infact notice a lot of reduced night vision versus the Pro1.  Something has changed on the Pro2.  I never noticed until now because I always leave my outdoor lights on, and they are quite bright.  When I turn off all outdoor lighting, the video get pretty close to pitch black in all the near distance areas, similar to what the others here are describing. Hope Arlo pushes out a firmware update.

djdannis
Apprentice
Apprentice

James,

Here's another example of the nightvision difference between Arlo Pro and Arlo Pro 2. The brighter top image is the Arlo Pro and the bottom darker image is the Arlo Pro 2. Please advise on these issues and let me know how I can help. I and a few others really hope there is a simple solution. Thanks.

 

Screenshot_20171016-171537.pngScreenshot_20171016-230202.png

 

Hula_Rock
Prodigy Prodigy
Prodigy

Im having the opposite problem, Night vision is "white-washed"

 

night vision.PNG

 

 

djdannis
Apprentice
Apprentice

Hula_Rock wrote:

Im having the opposite problem, Night vision is "white-washed"

 

night vision.PNG

 

 


 

 

 

Strange hula... Hope Netgear provides some feedback with solutions on this thread soon...

sillyboi215
Guide
Guide
I agree, the night vision is worse than the Arlo Pro 1. Also, the arlo pro 2 is turning on the night vision much earlier than the Arlo Pro 1 when there is enough light out. I really hope they fix the night vision soon cause the new model is supposed to be better and not worse, thanks.
djdannis
Apprentice
Apprentice
Yes, I'm also seeing the night vision come on too early as well when there is still sufficient daylight...
djdannis
Apprentice
Apprentice

djdannis wrote:

Netgear,

 

I'm running 12 Arlo Pro 2 cameras and have some input that I'll send to your support directly as well but want to share here in case you're reading... The Arlo Pro was a great system and I was hoping the Arlo Pro 2 would be even better, but I'm noticing some shortcomings...

 

Please remove the not plugged in warning for every camera in the Arlo app. Comes up every time I launch the app and I have to click "Ok, I got it" on every camera, just annoying when you want to see the thumbnail preview. Put the info message elsewhere like when a user tries to enable the CVR or video zones.

 

Nightvision - On battery, the nightvision on the Arlo Pro 2 vs. the Arlo Pro is not good... Haven't tried on power, but don't plan to use power. I'm really disappointed in the quality of the nightvision overall. There are a lot of dark black areas and the picture just isn't lit up as crisp with the Pro 2 vs. the Pro. Also, when motion is detected, some cameras record pitch black for a second or so and then as the IRs illuminate the picture the nightvision starts to show up. Never had this with the Pro version, worked like a champ. I hope this can be resolved in a firmware release so that I don't have to buy all new cameras...

 

Thanks


Update for the community: Netgear removed the Pro 2 app warning as requested in the latest Arlo App Update - THANK YOU James and team for the prompt response on that.

 

James, any feedback on the nightvision issues? Thanks

djdannis
Apprentice
Apprentice

Hello? James? Haven't heard from you for a few days now...

 

I'm going to send you a PM as well. If there is no hope, I'm going to return the 12 Arlo Pro 2s I have. Another annoyance of the Pro2 over the Pro is that I keep getting false alerts. I've spent the past week now tweaking and tweaking and tweaking... Literally all night and all day tweaking with false events still occuring. Many of my cameras are well below the sensitivity thresholds my Arlo Pros were set at. Evidently to the point now I just missed a motion event of a package drop off that was 4-5 feet in front of the camera. Not cool.

 

Please give me some indication.

JamesC
Community Manager
Community Manager

djdannis,

 

I've escalated this topic seeking clarity on Night Vision behavior and the expectation vs the original Arlo Pro. I do not currently have any updates at this time. I will provide more information as soon as I can.

 

JamesC

K-one
Tutor
Tutor

Is anyone else having low light and visibility issues at night with Arlo 2 ? Sound is lower than the Arlo pro 1 also. Arlo do you do any RND before you launch new products?

addertay
Apprentice
Apprentice

Yes, recording audio is certainly at a lower level and I find the night vision to be almost washed out a little. 

addertay
Apprentice
Apprentice

I also am having the washed out issue. Here are my shots from the same location of the Arlo Pro the morning before and the Arlo Pro2 the next morning. ProProPro2Pro2

Toy4RickS
Apprentice
Apprentice

Yup, same degraded night quality here

 

I also have a couple videos that recorded pitch black and NEVER recorded properly

 

Not to mention, yesterday beinig 10/20, videos from 10/1 showed up in my library (on the free plan)

 

General wonkiness

Rick

Toy4RickS
Apprentice
Apprentice

My night vision is on the other spectrum, much darker in general, yet the top of a painted fence is washed out

 

Rick

jtsharp
Guide
Guide

 Just recently added several outdoor Arlo Pro 2 cameras for better resolution. These replace Arlo Pro cameras which worked fine. These new cameras produce grayed out, grainly night vision images that essentially obscuire visibility, The sticky plastic piece that covers the lens and outer wall of the camera during shipping has been removed. These cameras are connected to the existing arlo pro base station as opposed to adding the arlo pro 2 base station. Thoughts on resolution appreciated.

jguerdat
Guru Guru
Guru

Not sure if it's a hardware or firmware issue.  If firmware, hopefully a fix could be made available soon.  We'll see.

Toy4RickS
Apprentice
Apprentice

So I called support tonight, finally got my Grant Access issue fixed so I then asked about progress on the poor night quality and she told me they aren't aware of any issues.  Put me on hold, came back and said the same thing.  I told her to go back to her supervisor and tell them to stop misleading their customers.  After another 10 mins of telling her about all the comments on their own community board, she finally said they were aware of it but just a few cases.

 

She then encouraged me to post my concerns on the community so they can get more visibility, this way they will start working on the case

 

I highly suggest everyone call support and report it, apparently they need to hear from more of us

 

NOT impressed Netgear

Rick

Toy4RickS
Apprentice
Apprentice

I just talked to support

 

1. She claimed they are not aware of any night quality issues

2. I provided a sample, she confirmed it was bad

3. Told me to remove it from my system, remove and replace the battery then re-add it

 

Stellar... NOT

 

Rick

Marquise23
Star
Star

I just purchased the new Arlo Pro 2 system this morning and installed it this afternoon. My old Arlo Pro cameras worked flawlessly before the change. Now, I'm kicking myself in the butt for spending $500!! If it ain't broke, don't fix it...should've listened to myself.

 

I am also getting the hazy, cloudy night videos/images. These new cameras are at the same location as my old ones were and I did remove the protective film in front of the cameras. Hope this gets resolved ASAP, or I will be returning it.

mattsrs
Apprentice
Apprentice

For the folks who have both Pro and Pro2, do you see any improvement in quality whatsoever in Pro2? It is supposed to be 1080p but quality is nothing near 1080p and is more 720p.