Video target turns transparent

[Ramblin]

The only thing I can think of is that the really small zone settings cause it to detect too many blobs, and just spend too much time doing motion detection, sucking up cpu.

Well, you were right (Do you ever get tired of hearing that? ... )

The Blobs was a (partial) red herrring

I have a total of 3 cameras in normal use:
2 x Tapo C320WS (fixed camera)
1 x Tapo C520Ws (PT camera)

The setup I have (for all 3 cameras, each with 2 streams : LoRes and HiRes) to minimize CPU load is
LoRes
Modect
640x360 8 bit grey scale
Jpeg and Video storage disabled
HiRes
NoDect - Triggered from LoRes Events
1920x1080 32 bit colour
jpeg disabled; Video Storage Pass-Through

It is the C520WS that is the one with which I am having issues.

I have been focussing on it and solutions within Zoneminder, including multiple setting changes.
I even rebuilt the entire system from Debian 12 up and used "--install-recommends" for both ffmpeg and zoneminder

Same issue with transparency from he C520WS with small Alarm/Filter/Blob settings

This was with the C520WS being the ONLY camera active, with the frame rate maintaining 15FPS throughout and the CPU load not gonig above 25%. So I don't think it was just a load issue.

So I used a mobile device and pointed the browser to the Zoneminder system - viewing the C520WS monitor - while I was walking in the field of view of the camera and the video came through clean, no transparency effect, so the video is getting to Zoneminder clean.

But then I tried activating the other 2 cameras (C320WS) and setting them each to small Alarm/Filter/Blob
They each worked fine.

So something about the storage of the C520WS video on the Zoneminder system is causing an issue.

I thought maybe it was the hard drive speed. I got a dedicated WD Purple drive and used it as the storage area for all videos.

No improvement.

Is there any kind of Troubleshooting or debugging you can recommend (please be specific) for me to try and further dianose?

[iconnor]

You need to turn on debug mode, restart c as mera and send me the log for the camera. Issac@zoneminder.com. to turn on debug go to option logging and check zm_drbug. Also debug level to 3.

[iconnor]

crap I mistyped my email address. isaac@zoneminder.com

[Quantum]

No, no, no, don't listen to them.

The OP has clearly become a vampire, which accounts for the camera barely being able to discern him.

OP check a mirror. If you can not see yourself, this is the problem. Stay away from crosses and daylight.

Hope this helps...



Oh, all right: https://ipvm.com/reports/tcp-udp-video-surveillance

[Ramblin]

https://ipvm.com/reports/tcp-udp-video-surveillance

After seeing the content of the link, I thought that must be it.

But unfortunately, when I checked, the protocol in use was TCP and the transparency effect was still happening.

Maybe the vampire option is becoming more realistic...

[iconnor]

Effect can also be caused by decoding thread falling behind, or not enough buffers. In which case your logs will be filled with errors. Check your logs.

[scientist434]

I'm having the same issue, it's not a camera issue since I can record the stream straight to OBS on my windows PC and it's fine. I'm thinking it's some kind of encoding error since if I download it to VLC I get ghost effects but not at exactly the same spots.

Not sure if it's related but my streams are also turning grey, you can see some movement in the grey feed but not much. When I get back to my computer I will enable debugging and post the outputs.

Edit: found a error of Monitor shm not connected so did chmod 777 to /dev/shm and now I'm not getting the grey screen. Will keep an eye on it though it's only been an hour so might be an intermittent bug.