how can I get my doorbell camera to record people on the sidewalk, a car parking in front … anything. I do have a subscription and it does record when someone is 10 feet from the camera or so, but other than that a Yeti could be on the walk way and I wouldn’t know until it got right to the door. any clues, checklists, required settings?
thank you very much,
hoping I can get some use out of this
I have one. I’m using it on battery. Mine triggers too easily. I have to turn down the sensitivity to 2 out of 5 because I don’t want it picking up people walking past my house or driving by, only people who come up to my house.
Have you tried checking the sensitivity settings? Go to Settings, select detection settings, Change the motion detection sensitivity to 5.
Maybe check event recording settings and make sure it is set to record motion evens and maybe tell it to record all motion (not just smart detections).
Go into Advanced settings and make sure power saving mode is turned off.
You could consider toggling Wide dynamic range on or off.
Also, on the liveview, make sure it is toggled on to HD so it can see farther.
It also helps if you have it plugged into power instead of on battery (mine is on battery though).
I hope that helps. Some of it may depend a little on how far away the sidewalk/road is from your doorbell. Most Wyze cams detections are standardized for detections around 30 feet away. If your sidewalk and street are farther than that, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t/won’t get detections that far or farther away…it partially depends on other factors like the lighting conditions, how big the object is (how many pixels it uses), etc. But it is general consideration.
Thank you very much for your response. I had everything set the way you’d suggested except for the Wide Dynamic range. I set that to off and will try that for a while. I also am running on battery, but there’s no option there without an electrician. I am pretty sure that when I initially installed the camera it had no problems recording the school bus that passes by each day. now it only seems to record some vehicles that go by, but only at night.
are you aware of any PDF/manual/reference material that tells what all the settings do? e.g. what does Wide Dynamic Range mean or do?
thanks very much again.
The wide dynamic range is probably not a major factor it improves a camera’s image quality under high-contrast lighting conditions where both dimly and brightly lit areas are present in the field of view. It might help the detection and the AI a little bit in those situations, especially when Detection zone is used, but it won’t affect the PIR sensor sensitivity which seems to be the main issue here.
Incidentally, are you using a detection zone?
Lastly, maybe consider wiping down the front of the doorbell to ensure there isn’t dirt partially reducing the sensitivity.
hello, and thanks again.
no detection zone. i will clean the front of the camera and see, but it’s a pretty new unit.
last night my neighbor drove up and parked next door in his driveway, and that was captured and the recording saved. This morning, he got in his car and drove back the way he came last night - absolutely no recognition by the camera this morning. So, I’m convinced that it should work, and I’m convinced there’s some setting that is preventing daytime sensitivity
thanks again, I’ll go clean the lens.
Hey @whip
Going back to near the beginning when Wyze had just basic cams, plugs, bulbs and sensors, I suggested that the best strategy with this… stuff… was to take advantage of Wyze’s 30-day return/refund policy on new purchases if you find yourself sucked into a troubleshooting vortex you want no part of.
VDB Pro and supporting software is no longer ‘basic.’ With advanced features comes increased complexity and greater possibility for imperfect/erratic performance.
Some folks slap the thing up with double-sided tape and everything just works - and continues to work - flawlessly.
Others will feel the pull of the troubleshooting vortex from the get-go.
I can see you’re making a good faith effort (and are willing to do more, like study an in-depth pdf manual) to adapt the device to your particular ‘use case.’
Your efforts, performed in good faith, may or may not be rewarded. No sure way to predict.
So, it’s good to know from the outset how much troubleshooting hell you’re willing to endure.
Think of it as a provisional purchase that must demonstrate its worthiness. A good faith effort still requires some time, but having predetermined how much, you avoid the sinkhole it can sometimes become.
More perspective from a bonafide expert (which I am not.) 