Common Video Feed Issues and Fixes

Pink or purplish hue image

The left image has a defective IR-cut filter, while the right image has a functioning IR-cut filter.

This is due to the IR cut-filter being out of place which can happen due to shipping. The mechanical IR cut-filter can move back and forth by a small metal hook and that hook can jump out of the eyelet during transportation. You can try enabling/disabling the IR cut-filter a few times under Camera Settings. Typically the only resolution would be to open an RMA for the camera. 

When the IR cut filter is in the wrong position it produces a pink hue image. This is the reason why we switch to Black & White when the filter in the off position.

Purple Fringing

The blue frames in the image are called purple fringing also known as a chromatic aberration which we can describe as "an out of focus purple ghost image around parts of a digital picture with high contrast". This is mainly due to the optics, but also due to the sensor and processing. 

You could try to set the minimum shutter to a higher value e.g. 1/100 (or try different values). This is done in Camera settings > Exposure priority > choose Motion or Low noise (it doesn't matter in this case) and change the Shutter min value. This should force the iris to step down. The use of P-iris reduces this phenomenon but it does not eliminate it.

Please note that the priority we give when choosing the appropriate lens is in:

• Minimizing the image artifacts that affect the video surveillance
• Sharpness
• Good light sensitivity
• Object detection and recognition

This purple fringing does not affect the scene in a way that makes it more difficult to identify persons or objects. 

Motion Blur (Ghosting)

IR light from the camera would reflect off the dome and into the lens. This causes a less than the desired image for our customers.

Firstly, don't choose the camera with the low-cost sensor. Even the low-cost sensor can perform pretty well during the day. The difference is the night vision capability. Pick a camera with at least a 1/3 inch sensor. The bigger the size is, the better the night vision will be. Like human eyes, one person can see clearly if he or she has better vision capability.

Disable the slow shutter. This can tell how well your camera performs at night.  Once the slow shutter setting has been disabled, the image will become darker at higher frames per second (fps). 

Add extra illuminators. It could be an Infrared or visible lamp. The infrared can project further distance than visible light, however, you have to scarify the image's color details, because the infrared always affects the color reproduction of the camera, making the image look purple. Most of the cameras will eliminate the color when it sees Infrared. The PIR lamp is another option especially when you have some existed street lights. It can pop up unexpectedly and generates deterrence when criminals approach. 

Blurry/Grainy Image

For IP cameras, the network speed and resources available on the appliance can affect the clarity of the image. If you're experiencing grainy or blurry images, try changing the camera resolution to something lower to reduce some of the draw on the appliance. This article discusses how to edit the resolution settings. If after you've changed the resolution you're still not seeing a clear image, try pulling the stream directly into VLC. If the stream is clear through VLC, but grainy or blurry through the Spot Dashboard, please open a ticket with support. 

We hope this article was useful to you, please leave us a comment or feedback as it will help us improve our customer support center.