Arlo Pro IR Night Vision light goes on/off sometimes without any motion sensed or disarmed?

[Paul_FCCL]

Has anyone noticed Arlo Pro camera’s IR Night Vision light intermittently going ON-OFF without any motion sensed and even while disarmed? IR comes on for a few seconds then turns off, no activity reported by camera.

I found that out while using a different brand camera (for comparison purpose) located in same room with two Arlo Pros. Other camera is getting many motion triggers due to the IR lights coming on, obviously noticeable in videos.

In each triggered video, either one of the Pros IR illuminates.

A quick visual check (without other camera) confirmed this.

Very, very strange.

[TomMac]

Is it plugged into ac??

this is an old bug that was/should have been fixed a while back ( last yr )

Software up to date?

Try and lower the sense a little.

[brh]

@Paul_FCCL 

I suddenly am having the same problem on all of my Pro cameras. The IR LEDs flash very dimly fo a second or two then nothing. I think a firmware update bricked this function.

Brian

[Paul_FCCL]

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@TomMac wrote:

Is it plugged into ac??

this is an old bug that was/should have been fixed a while back ( last yr )

Software up to date?

Try and lower the sense a little.

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Tom:

They’re doing that both, plugged in and/or running on batteries. Was able to test four of my five Pros (didn’t bother climbing up the ladder for the fifth one, too cold out there) and they all do same thing.

Latest firmware.

Lowering sensitivity makes no difference (happens even while disarmed).

It feels as if someone is remotely controlling them for a brief live viewing. Very weird.

Not sure when it all started and like I mentioned I found out a few days ago by chance, when they began setting off the other (non Arlo) camera.

They’re not recording anything and not even sending notifications, however something is definitely messed up with them.

[Paul_FCCL]

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@brh wrote:

@Paul_FCCL 

I suddenly am having the same problem on all of my Pro cameras. The IR LEDs flash very dimly fo a second or two then nothing. I think a firmware update bricked this function.

Brian

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Was wondering whether others were seeing that, probably hard to find out. You’d only see it whether you happen to be staring at the camera or (as in my case) the IR light coming on triggers an armed, non Arlo camera. Strangely it does not set off the other Pros.

Don’t know what’s causing it, but they should look into it. I certainly am not going through support for this as they’re all past warranty time.

[jguerdat]

I've seen this in the past when it triggered my Q. It was random at the time (not the same time of night but always in the wee hours) and would flash a couple of times, as I recall. No recording from the camera. I ass-u-me-d it was a function of firmware checks. This new one seems different but maybe the same thing?

[Paul_FCCL]

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@jguerdat wrote:

I've seen this in the past when it triggered my Q. It was random at the time (not the same time of night but always in the wee hours) and would flash a couple of times, as I recall. No recording from the camera. I ass-u-me-d it was a function of firmware checks. This new one seems different but maybe the same thing?

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Maybe........who knows, it does seem like it’s a test or something like that. Strange thing is that it’s a recurring event, every hour or two. Also it seems to activate each time any of the other Pros is either triggered or live viewing, as long as night vision is ON. Activating live view on any one camera will make all others turn ON-OFF.

It won’t happen with night vision turned OFF.

All the repetitive (although short) ON-OFF must affect battery life, not a lot but over time it would make a small difference.

With a camera located outside, in cold temperatures, it might be a noticeable difference.

[Paul_FCCL]

This is worse than first thought, it’s not just affecting Pros, original wire-free cams are also included even when connected to a separate original base station.

Live viewing (or motion triggered) activity from an early Arlo wire-free camera, from a separate base station, will cause ALL my cameras to flash IR ON-OFF for a few seconds. So if you have a lot of motion triggers or live viewing, all your cameras will briefly blink each time.

Wonder how many other flukes are there, causing strange cameras behaviour, like false triggers or fast battery discharge.

[Paul_FCCL]

No possible solution???

[brh]

@Paul_FCCL 

Do you see this at the beginning of a frame? I am thinking that the cameras are doing this to try to determine the correct setting for the white balance and brightness level. If you use a flash on a camera, some cameras will send out a quick flash before taking the photograph and that is why many people blink and their eyes are closed in the photo.

Just Guessing here.

[Paul_FCCL]

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@brh wrote:

@Paul_FCCL 

Do you see this at the beginning of a frame? I am thinking that the cameras are doing this to try to determine the correct setting for the white balance and brightness level. If you use a flash on a camera, some cameras will send out a quick flash before taking the photograph and that is why many people blink and their eyes are closed in the photo.

Just Guessing here.

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The Arlo cams don’t actually activate or record anything. They all blink the IR light multiple times through the night (5-6 times at night) and each time I do a live view or even access the Arlo app.

I only found out they behave that way by recorded videos from a non Arlo camera installed in same area. The blinking IR’s are causing the other camera triggered recordings, since they can see each other’s IR come on.

I can understand how it’s normal behaviour while live viewing (with night vision on), but can’t explain why all Arlo cams have to blink their IR so frequently through the night (or day as well without enough light around). Even stranger, when accessing app.