Possible causes and solution(s)

The camera may be out of focus during a rapid zoom change if:

• There is a large amount of reflection with full sunlight.
• Or, there are headlights or bright lights present at night. This problem occurs most often when used in traffic applications.

• Causes

The camera tries to focus on the bright lights and fails to find the correct focus position (example snapshot of headlights below).

• Solution
  
  

• The camera block FW version 1.05 and higher has a new feature called “Spotlight Avoidance” for cameras made in November 2018 and later (table below). This improves the cameras ability to ignore the “bright lights” while focusing.
  It will base the focus on the rest of the FOV. This is useful in challenging conditions such as traffic flow, airports, and areas with a large amount of bright lights at night. Refer to the table below for the models that support this feature.
  • Please see also the following article: MIC 7000i/9000i - Camera Block Firmware Upgrade for Firmware 7.60.0118 and higher
• This is OFF by default, since in most applications it is better to use the entire FOV to obtain the focus.
• There isn’t a Config Manager or Web GUI setting available to activate this. The command to activate this is listed below.

Additional Options:

If there are still problems with focus in these conditions after Spotlight Avoidance is activated, then the following settings can be adjusted.

• Reduce the Iris Level from 8 down to 6
• Daytime video will be improved by setting the Day Near Focus Limit to 3.
• The nighttime video will be improved by setting the Night Near Focus Limit to equal the mounting height of the camera.
• Set Spotlight avoidance ON
  http://<IPAddress>/rcp.xml?command=0x09a5&type=P_OCTET&direction=WRITE&num=1&payload=0x81000405300381010424200001ff
• GET Spotlight Avoidance Status
  http://<IPAddress>/rcp.xml?command=0x09a5&type=P_OCTET&direction=WRITE&num=1&payload=0x8100040530038109042420ff
  
  • Look at the last 2 digits prior to FF. It should be 01:

Additional Applications -Recommended Settings:

Highway Settings:

To maintain color mode as long as possible

• CONFIGURATION/CAMERA/INSTALLER MENU: Change Sensor mode: 30 FPS
• CONFIGURATION/CAMERA/PICTURE SETTINGS:

o Change Maximum Automatic Exposure to: 1/15
o Change Night Mode Threshold to: 20
o Leave the default setting of NIGHT MODE PRIORITY as COLOR.

NOTE: The headlight “blooming effect” is less in Color mode since the stray IR light from the headlights is blocked.

This is why it is an advantage to operate in color mode longer.

Miscellaneous
If more Contrast is preferable:

• CONFIGURATION/CAMERA/ENHANCE:
  o Change Intelligent Defog Intensity to ON

 Select Low, Medium, or High.

Other useful article related to focus of the MIC camera:

• Improve the MIC IP starlight 7000i image: does not focus properly on long distances