MV22 camera fading to dark snow/black frequently

[Jinseng]

We have an MV22 camera that keeps fading to dark snow/black frequently.  It'll be fine for a while (sometimes hours, sometime minutes.  Then suddenly it'll get all staticky/fuzzy go really dark, and then it'll re-aquire the image, refocus and adjust for lighting and then thinks look good again for a while.  We repointed the camera so it isn't facing a bright window, but that didn't help.

HDR is on, but turning it off doesn't help.  We have no privacy windows and we're not using Sensor crop.  Aperture is about half, we're using Auto-Focus, optical zoom is all the way left (zoomed out). Video resolution is 1080P, and Enhanced quality.  Night mode is auto, Infrared illuminators are on during night mode, and Night is set to .5 lux & day is set to 3 lux.

Meraki has already replaced our camera, but it keeps happening.  The firmware is up to date at MV 4.1.

Anyone else having any similar issues, or have any thoughts?

Thanks.

[BlakeRichardson]

@Jinseng  I would say there is a hardware fault with the camera itself. 

[Jinseng]

Thanks.  Seems odd that we'd have this issue with two cameras, but we'll talk to support about that option. FYI, it's powered by a Meraki switch and we're using Meraki firewalls, so it should all integrate well together.

[BlakeRichardson]

@Jinseng If you have two its likely a bad batch. Meraki support are the ones to speak to, there are no config settings that would casue the issue you are seeing. 

[PhilipDAth]

I'm with @BlakeRichardson  thinking it is a hardware fault.

Is there anything that might he causing an intense change in brightness, like car headlights shining through a window, or bright sun reflecting off something?

[MerakiDave]

None of your settings sound out of the ordinary and you have tried re-aiming the camera and have toggled HDR for example.  I would tend to agree this sounds like a hardware issue and to RMA the camera, but it sounds like you already did that and the same issue is still occurring?  If so, I'd re-open the support case (use the option to grant Meraki Support temporary video access when opening it) and have them examine this issue first hand.  If needed they can get the product or Eng team involved to look at this live and access any internal logs to analyze what the camera is doing.  

[Jinseng]

Yes, we did RMA this once, and the issue is still happening.  They even had us update the firmware once thinking it may be a bug with the older firmware.  I'll have my team at this location re-open the case and keep working with them on it.  Thanks for the insights everyone.  I'm glad you're not also experiencing issues.

[BlakeRichardson]

At @Jinseng  if the camera view isn;t confidential could you share a screenshot and maybe we can help work out what might be causing the issue. 

[Jinseng]

Unable to play video. Please try again later.

Here's a video of the issue happening.  Let me know your thoughts.  We've also re-opened our case with Meraki, but I haven't heard any info yet.  Thanks.

[Jinseng]

FYI, we're still fighting with this.  Meraki has provided multiple firmware updates, we've move the camera to a different port in our Meraki switch, and we've repointed the camera so the window isn't in its view.  I feel like it's a 3rd bad camera, but I can't confirm that yet.

[schasegleason]

I have also experienced this issue on several cameras. 

My understanding it is an issue with HDR itself and that it will be fixed shortly. (I have been waiting some time for this) 

I would look the minimize the use of HDR until then. 

HDR is enabled when light levels right a certain point and during that transition, something goes wrong (obviously) and you'll see a weird effect. 

A temporary workaround would be to reboot the camera, I have seen cameras go months without seeing this issue so I just periodically check in on cameras and reboot when necessary