App warning and Night Vision quality

[djdannis]

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

[kencam]

Sitting on the order button ready to order a Pro 2 system with 12 cameras but I want to know the night vision issues have been resolved first.  Any updates?

[MrTonyToca]

@kencam Nightvision issues have NOT been resolved, nor has any of the other issues plaguing the Arlo Pro 2

[Haireneck]

I just read all 77 posts lol. I am glad I did. I was thinking about buying 8 of these....not now. Not until I see this fixed anyway! If it takes too long I will have to go to the competition, but I really like some of the tings Arlo offers. Would rather they fix the problem so i can just buy them.

[kencam]

@Haireneck Me too.  Everything is sitting in my cart ready to purchase.  I'm just waiting from a response from @JamesC with an update.  Unfortunately he seems to have gone dark (no pun intended).  I keep trying to resist going over to Nest, but I at least need to hear that they are working on a quick solution or I'm going to have to move on.

[jguerdat]

JamesC has been on vacation, hence the silence. You can always use your case (or open a case) and keep pulsing it rather than waiting for a response.

[JamesC]

For the best experience with the Night Vision feature make sure that no walls, tables, or other objects are too close to your camera. If any objects is within 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) of the sides or front of your camera, it can reflect IR back into the camera lens and cause glare or hazy video, especially at night. Be sure to reference the following article for best positioning tips: How do I position my Arlo Pro 2 camera?

The engineering team is still actively investigating other night vision issues being reported. We will provide updates on these as soon as more information is available.

JamesC

[JamesC]

For the best experience with the Night Vision feature make sure that no walls, tables, or other objects are too close to your camera. If any objects is within 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) of the sides or front of your camera, it can reflect IR back into the camera lens and cause glare or hazy video, especially at night. Be sure to reference the following article for best positioning tips: How do I position my Arlo Pro 2 camera?

The engineering team is still actively investigating other night vision issues being reported. We will provide updates on these as soon as more information is available.

JamesC

[Paul_FCCL]

Usual waste of time.......very typical response adding insult to injury. Always a setup problem, never mind all the detailed reports of poor night vision with AP2, compared to the original Pro as stated over and over by many users. It gives users the impression that all those messages aren’t even read and ignored altogether.

How offensive this feels, experienced users who have been using Arlo Pro for a while, are now told to go back and check your setup.....avoid this, watch for that etc. Guess messages aren’t coming through clearly and loudly enough. It’s a @#$&* faulty product. Enough already.

[Paul_FCCL]

Actually that was most certainly not addressed to JamesC, it’s directed to Netgear and its Arlo crew who makes use of messengers stalling for solutions and completely denying existence of well known product faults.

[MrTonyToca]

@Paul_FCCL   Couldn't have said it better myself. Enough is enough already. They should be working day and night to try and fix all these problems for a product that has so many problems and they have the nerve to even sell. Thousands of people fell into the hype of the "new" Arlo and got smacked in the face and back tracked with many of us wishing we kept our Arlo Pro 1. My camera is still suffering from the 5 minute recording for little movement and I've turned my sensitivity down. I NEVER had that problem not even once on my Arlo Pro 1. This problem eats away at the battery so much that it literally has provided me with 50% less battery than the Arlo Pro 1 did. From months of battery to now weeks.  And night vision is straight horrendous unless you have a super bright flood light shining near the camera at all times. And I've tested 2 Arlo Pro 2 (4 packs) and same results, so it is not an isolated problem.....

[Paul_FCCL]

Meanwhile on Twitter, Netgear is advertising its new AP2, showing off all the proclaimed features, including Arlo skins along of course some very clear night vision pics (likely taken with AP1). Strange as it is when they’re blaming skins for causing some of the night vision problems.

[Burrows]

I am also looking to buy AP2 but see no reason to rush given then technical issues with night vision. Waiting for an update on this thread...

[Haireneck]

Soooo....any word yet on anything with this problem?

[Burrows]

Was also waiting for a reply. I decided to go with a deal I saw on Amazon instead, Arlo Pro with 5 cameras and base station for around the $550 mark which I thought was a pretty good deal, normally around $800.

Maybe next year I will buy AP2 if they've sorted out these problems.

[steve_t]

Here's something from my Pro 2. To me, it's better during the day and the night than my Pro is, though day is more noticeably better than night. If the Pro was better, I'd have it in this position

https://arlo.netgear.com/hmsweb/users/library/share/link/45B7D625443D97E4_201711

[Johnny290]

No change for night vision, still very dark

[dfwald]

After reading about these unresolved Pro 2 night vision problems and realizing I wouldn't be able to take advantage of the added features that required being plugged in, I decided to get the Arlo Pro package from Costco (3 Arlo Pros and Pro base) for only $374 (Black Friday $125 off deal) to add to my existing single Arlo Pro using the 1st gen Arlo base.  Wanted to replace my other three 1st gen Arlo cameras and this deal was much cheaper than Arlo Pro 2 until it drops a year from now when Arlo Pro 3 comes along.  Very happy so far with the Arlo Pro's performance compared to the original Arlo.

[pounce403]

Lucky you, I passed that Costco deal up, I already had Arlo Pro 2. Until I read this post did not realize the night vision was so much better with Arlo Pro. The Pro 2 night vision is basically useless as is. The captures of the older Pro version in this thread clearly much better.
Now that it appears as though there is no FW fix for Pro 2 night vision I will be returning my Pro 2 4 camera system.
For sure want to avoid getting stuck with $800 flawed HW. Sure they must improve the current performance with either HW or FW fix, but can’t take the chance it will be HW.
I will monitor this thread another few days before return just in case, but not holding my breath.

[Vin_025]

I’m hoping it’s a simple firmware update vs hardware. I already have 2 arlo q and looking to expand for my new home. I’ll hold out for a bit and see what fixes will be announced, hopefully they don’t take too long to find a solution.

[Johnny290]

I hope Night vision can be improved also. Know word from netgear

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

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