Ultra2 Motion Detection Capabilities (PIR vs Video Based)

[Bill_CT]

Having been a Ring Stickup Cam user for a while now, I came to find out that a Ring Stickup Cam motion detection functions differently under battery power vs plugged in. When I learned this I was told that when under wired power the process of comparing video (presumably pixel based) was more intensive and used more power. So, when an event that occured here demonstrated I needed higher resolution I purchased (4) Ultra2s and assumed that the same was true with motion detection. It appears I am wrong and want to ask the community. 

To be honest, I am not impressed with the motion detection capabilities thus far even when I have an activity zone defined. It does not start recording until the motion is way within the area. When speaking to tech support I was told that the camera had no other capabilities when on battery vs plugged in. It would be TREMENDOUSLY valuable to me if Arlo implemented a video comparison motion detection capability for these cameras like Ring did for theirs. Even if it requires the camera to be plugged in, I would be fine with that.

Anyone have any thoughts or information on this subject?

Bill

[Bill_CT]

As an example... I wanted to share a picture of the first frame of a video clip that was captured with motion sensitivity set at 100%..  

And then this is the screen capture of the defined "Activity Zone"

So my question to Arlo (or anyone listening I guess) is what is the purpose of an activity zone if it does not detect activity until picked up with PIR. You guys might have great cameras and great video but I did not pay $800 for (4) cameras that don't record until motion is right next to them.. You need to implement what Ring has implemented with Video comparison motion detection..

[JamesC]

Bill_CT,

In addition to the defined activity zone, you must also take into account the range of the camera. The effective maximum range is 25 feet, beyond that, motion may be detected but it will be less reliable.

For tips on positioning your camera for best performance, take a look here: How do I position my Arlo Ultra camera to detect motion in specific areas?

JamesC

[Bill_CT]

Hey there James.. Thanks for weighing in... Yeah.. You are correct.. The effective range of the PIR (Passive Infra Red) is probably a stretch at 25 feet but you can see in the picture I provided that it is no more than MAYBE 15 feet. So I get that and PIR has its limitations. My point was that Ring cameras managed to improve on this by using video based motion detection instead of PIR.. Granted, their cameras only use that when plugged in (due to the increased power drain) but it actually compares the frames of the video to determine motion and that drastically improved the motion detection of the Ring cameras. I love the video capabilities of these cameras but if I can not detect motion more than 15 feet away, a set of $800 cameras is useless to me.. 

Unless Arlos is exploring this capability for a future firmware release, I am afraid that these cameras will have to go back to the store.

[Linuss]

I agree completely with Bill!
If the motion detection isn’t working as supposed to, the cameras are worthless. Even my professional system in my shops use pixel changes as a trigger for motion. Furthermore the pre recording time of 3 seconds and only on continuous power supply is way too short, it should be adjustable as a lot of Arlos competitors have.
Last I would say that using a solar panel to charge the camera should be sufficient to get these options!

I bought the system today and will also return it to the shop if this isn’t resolved! (No I don’t accept that this is a “suggestion for future functionality” since it’s imperative for the product to work as a $1000 product should.)
If I want a toy camera I’ll visit Target or Walmart...
Regards
Linus

[Bill_CT]

Glad you see my point Linus.. Thanks so much for weighing in.. What's even more frustrating right now is trying to speak to customer support.. I called twice today and had to have the system "hold my place in line" and call me back and they have not yet and it is literally 6 hours later.. Insane.. 

[Bill_CT]

So after calling tech support twice (an absolute nightmare) I did tons of troubleshooting with them.. Walked towards the camera, walked across the field of visolion, removed the activity zone, added it back in, removed the camera from the house, removed the camera from the account and added it back..

Here's what it came down to.. Arlo hardcoded the no action zone (top 3rd of the frame of vision) and it can not be undone. That is great if you are perpendicular to a road and don't want to detect every car going by. But what if you want to watch your whole front yard and that zone then cuts diagonally across the activity zone..? It was an insane and frustrating situation which resulted in me taking it back to the store. For a $899 system it was surprisingly immature with the options I saw. Day time video was off the charts which regards to quality but night time video was less then a $100 ring stick up camera and motion detection was horrible.

Hoped that I had found my solution with arlo but it was just an over priced solution that didn't work the way it should.. I would really have your engineering work on all of this.. It has potential.

[TomMac]

FYI, for pixel based detection, the only cameras that use it are the Q cameras ( Q, Q plus ).

That's the reason why the Q cameras can be used thru glass windows ( with ir lighting off ) for great getection to over 50 ft.

[Bill_CT]

See.. Here is why this whole thing is frustrating.. I was told two different things by two different people at their tech support... I was told that it only uses PIR and then another person told me that it ABSOLUELY used video based motion detection... BUT all of that aside... The absolute lunacy of having a hard coded no record zone that is the upper 1/3 of the frame that can not be disabled is so insane to me... Only will work as intended if I am perpendicular to a road and IF the area I want to monitor is on this side of the "no record zone"... If anything the only way that might be a LITTLE better is have the activity zone supercede the no record zone.. Its all so stupid and I wasted so much time...  Maybe when they figure out what they are doing it might be good... Here is all I want...

- A decent quality camera (with ideally 4k video)

- A decent and intuitive user interface..

- Video based motion detection (even if only available when camera is plugged in)

- Ability to cross link events (one camera detects motion which triggers recording on the other one). 

- Decent low light video footage

Sorry Arol.. I thought you had your game together but you do not. Not even any Arlo representatives out here monitoring any of this community..

[JamesC]

Bill_CT,

I'm sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with your Arlo Ultra 2 kit. Arlo Ultra 2 fits the needs you've listed with the exception of video based motion detection. For more information on how motion detection works on Arlo cameras, take a look here: How does the motion detection feature work on my Arlo cameras?

Arlo Ultra 2 cameras have a very large field of view, this limits the area that the PIR can cover. This large field of view results in the PIR not reaching the top 1/3 of the image as indicated in the UI. This isn't something that can be enabled or disabled as it is a hardware limitation.

JamesC

[Momo2368]

it was a mistake to upgrade to ultra 2 from pro2. The range remained the same as pro 2. Battery life is very poor on true 4k resolution (3days max).  I have same complaints about motion detection that is stated above by other Arlo ultra 2 users. This is not worth the money. I will return it and go back to my pro2.