MIC-7000i, MIC-9000i, NDP-7000i, and MIC-7100i - Optimize Video Performance and update NCTIP Control

[#1]

Possible causes and solution(s)

Related Products

• MIC IP starlight 7000i (MIC-7502-Z30x), MIC IP fusion 9000i (MIC-9502-Z30xxx)
• MIC IP starlight 7100i (MIC-7522-Z30xx)
• AUTODOME IP starlight 7000i (NDP-7512-Z30xx)

Symptoms

• Complaints received about overall video performance in terms of sharpness, focus, low light, and color. Especially when compared to the previous VG5 cameras.

Diagnosis

Video Performance

• MIC IP 7000i, MIC-9000i: Focus failures caused by an unexpected range of tolerances in a small percentage of lenses.
• AUTODOME IP starlight 7000i : Incorrect default settings, camera block FW issues, and compatibility issue between the optical characteristics of the bubble and the camera block. Sharpness and color performance were not aligned with the previous model.
• MIC IP starlight 7100i : Sharpness and color performance were not aligned with the previous model.

Solution

• FW release 7.72.0008
  • Contains camera block FW for video improvements for the MIC IP starlight 7100i and the AUTODOME IP starlight 7000i.

• FW release 7.80.0128.
  
  • Contains new camera block FW with additional video improvements for the AUTODOME IP starlight 7000i and still contains the camera block FW for the MIC IP starlight 7100i.
  • Contains new camera block FW with focus improvements for the MIC IP starlight 7000i and MIC IP fusion 9000i.
• FW release 7.87.0029
  • Contains new camera block FW with additional video improvements for the AUTODOME IP starlight 7000i.
    • New Gamma settings were applied for the Gamma slider 0 to 3 and the new default is a Gamma of 2.
  • Specific changes as listed in the Release Letter are:
    • Improved Focus algorithm when moving to prepositions. This is most applicable to
      difficult scenes, such as low light/low contrast conditions.
    • The default AE response speed was changed from Medium to Fast. This improves the
      AE and focus response time when moving from dark to light and light to dark
      prepositions at night. This is most applicable when the camera is forced to remain in
      Color in low-light conditions.
    • A new camera block FW is integrated into the System Controller. This FW provides
      improvements in the image performance and focus reliability and response time.
    • Added the capability to set the Near Limit to "infinity". When the Near Limit slider is set
      exactly to the maximum of 20m, then the Near Limit is now saved as infinity.
    • A 5 second delay is automatically added at the end of the playback guard tour after
      the tour recording is stopped. This improved the focus response time when moving
      from a normal scene to a challenging scene, such as from good lighting to low lighting
      conditions.
    • The default day/night near focus limit was changed to 3m for the outdoor models. This
      improves the focus response time during, slow manual movements, Auto-Pan 360, and AutoPan between limits.
    • An issue is fixed where the iris default values were not correctly recovered when switching
      from manual iris to auto iris mode.

NOTES:

1. All of camera block FW updates require an additional step for the FW upgrade process, which is described in the documents attached.
2. The final step for the 7.87 FW release is a little different so at this time it is written as a separate document. These will be combined at a future date.
3. The MIC IP starlight 7000i and MIC IP fusion 9000i focus improvements are only applicable to a specific S/N range, so there is a separate FW upgrade for these models.