Motion Detection Sensitivity Slider Bar - Arlo Q

[ABudd4]

I'm trying to adjust the camera setting on my Arlo Q to make it pick up more sensitive or smaller movements.  I'm using the app on my iPhone (iOS).  On the left side of the slider bar, there is a man standing still (marked 1), and on the right side, there is a man running (marked 9).  In which direction do I slide it to pick up smaller movements, or more movements?  Also, I noticed there's no place to do a 'motion detection test.'  Is this something only available on the Arlo Wire-Free?  Thanks!

[jguerdat]

Slide to the right. The higher the number, the more sensitive.

You're right, there's only a motion test for the wireless cameras. Guess it's due to the outdoor, wireless nature.

[Max8088]

I find this slider confusing as well. It suffers from poor icon design. A standing still figure would imply very little movement, which would mean a MORE sensitivity to motion. Whereas a figure running would imply extreme movement which would require less sensitivity. The icons are backwards from how the slider appears to function.

[jiggersplat]

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Max8088 wrote:
I find this slider confusing as well. It suffers from poor icon design. A standing still figure would imply very little movement, which would mean a MORE sensitivity to motion. Whereas a figure running would imply extreme movement which would require less sensitivity. The icons are backwards from how the slider appears to function.

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Concur. I will add the On/Off toggles in a lot of widget frameworks are confusing and the 0 to 10 dial on my refrigerator tells me nothing.

[jasonx101]

I agree the slider and Icons are confusing.

They should just have added 'Less sensitive" and 'More Sensitive" to the slider.

Plus you do not get the number using the windows web page.

[h1029]

I believe their intent was that their motion sensing is sooooo sensitive that a non-moving figure would trigger the device Therefore a motionless individual for the most senstive setting.  Unfortunately this is not true.  I find the range of motion detection very poor.

[Swingingwake]

That can't be their intent, and you're making the same mistake that so many of us have made. Putting the slider all the way to the left under the standing icon, is the LEAST sensitive setting.

As others have pointed out, more sensitivity is needed for smaller motions, so the icons are intuitively backwards. Not that the icons are useful anyway. Even a plus and minus would be better than the current solution.

[Ggkk]

I'm a UI designer and concur this is poorly designed. If it was me I would illustrate with a mouse silhouette on the right and an elephant on the left.

[Seonbag]

Maybe, as someone else pointed out, just write out the function. Less sensitive (slide toggle left) and More sensitive (slide toggle right). Why make it more difficult with numbers and icons that aren’t clear or universal when you have language that is. I found this setting confusing too, obviously.

[soliander2010]

Drove me nuts that's the reason why I'm on here looking it up. What's wrong with plus or minus. Or a little icon of a small eye and then an icon of a large eye.

[Goatnapper]

This flaw is equal parts maddening and hillarious. Fast guy icon is transposed with slow guy icon.

If you want your camera to catch slow guys, move the slider toward the fast guy icon. If you want your camera to catch faster guys, move the slider toward the slow guy icon.

[Enforthomes]

So this is all about sensitivity of what kind of stuff it picks up but the motion detection bar does not include how to shorten your range? I'm catching cars in the background and trying to get rid of that while still capturing small things and standing people on our property. Or do they go hand in hand?

[bryannq]

Same.  I live on a busy street and have hundreds of videos every day from every car passing by.  but really I just care about the people walking up to my porch.

[PUR51]

Well thank you for all the replies on the figures but it has now has become more confusing.

 1) If I want it to pick up less motion do I slide to the standing person or 2) slide to the running person ?

2) By slidding to the less motion will this also eliminate all the annoying alerts ?

Thank you 

[Fulliautomatix]

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@PUR51 wrote:

Well thank you for all the replies on the figures but it has now has become more confusing.

 1) If I want it to pick up less motion do I slide to the standing person or 2) slide to the running person ?

2) By slidding to the less motion will this also eliminate all the annoying alerts ?

Thank you 

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To pick up less motion and receive less nuisance alerts you will want to slide the sensitivity bar to the left (towards the standing person).  Until Arlo updates the imagery to be more intuitive, we should ignore the icons and simply follow the general guideline that to the right is "more" and to the left is "less".  Same applies for the microphone sensitivity.

[Fulliautomatix]

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@@Enforthomes wrote:

So this is all about sensitivity of what kind of stuff it picks up but the motion detection bar does not include how to shorten your range? I'm catching cars in the background and trying to get rid of that while still capturing small things and standing people on our property. Or do they go hand in hand?

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Two different things, that are still related.  The sensitivity settings are used to determine the level of motion or sound needed to trigger the camera to start recording.  There is a feature that Arlo offers called "Activity Zones" that allows you to decide where the camera watches for activity. This is handy exactly for the situation you are describing, excluding cars passing by your house, and just focusing on your property or porch.

However, for that feature to be used, the camera must be plugged into an AC power source (ie: not relying solely on battery power). I assume that is because the camera uses more power while in this mode of operations and it would drain the battery more quickly.

To enable "Activity Zones" you would follow these steps:

1. Log into your account at https://arlo.netgear.com/#/cameras. You should see the last saved view from each of your camera(s) on the screen.

2. Select the settings (gear icon) on camera where you want to set up Activity Zone(s).

3. Scroll down to "Video Settings" and select that.

4. You should see a view from that camera. (Depending on your internet connect speed, the view may take a moment (or three) to load on your screen), and a button labeled "Create New Zone", select that button.

5. You should now see a green box on the camera view, you can re-position the green box as well as re-size it on the screen by clicking and dragging on it, or the edges.  Move the green box to the area you want the camera to watch for activity. Everything outside the box will be ignored for the purpose of triggering the recording mode. Once you're satisfied with the area being watched, click "Save" near the top right of the screen. That's it. You've set up an activity zone on that camera.

6. Currently, you can create up to 3 zones to watch in 1 camera. First zone will be designated green, second zone is designated blue, and the third zone is designated light grey.

Alternately, you can also use the "Zoom" feature to focus your camera on a specific area, excluding other areas. This method has the benefit of not requiring the camera to be plugged in to an AC power source. However, the shape of the viewing area is locked into a fixed ratio that is proportional to the original viewing area.  Also, while this camera is zoomed, you will only be able to view and record what the camera sees. For example with action zones, only a small area will be watched, but the whole area can be viewed and recorded. With the zoom, you are watching a smaller area, but also only able to view/record that same smaller area.

[Fulliautomatix]

To use the zoom feature, follow steps 1-4 above, and instead of clicking on "Create New Zone", select the zoom/magnifying icon under the camera view.  An orange colored box will outline the current camera view, you can resize/move the zoom window by clicking on the edges of the orange box similar to how you'd do it with the "Activity Zones" described above.

[Fulliautomatix]

Sorry, I just noticed that this thread is addressing the Arlo Q system. My information above was based on the Arlo Pro 2 system.

[Ray_78]

Hi,

 I'm using a Arlo PRO not the the Arlo Q, am I assuming the two devices are using the same algorithm ?

If yes, then I'm facing the exact same problem describe by @Enforthomes : "I'm catching cars in the background and trying to get rid of that while still capturing small things and standing people on our property. "

Should I go Left or Right ?

[goo2no]

Poor icon design is an understatement. They completly threw logic out the window. On the left of the slider is a person standing still. To the  the right is a person in motion. Logic would dictate that with the slider all the way to the left, that little motion is needed to trigger the camera and to the right, a person woudl need to move a lot to trigger it. The arlo website furthers the problem by not giving any instuctions on this botched design. Such basic mistakes. 

[Alonze]

Agreed on the icons.

It took me many google searches to finally find this thread and confirm what I thought.

It is 2019-July. This should be fixed by now.