Since there’s few situations where there’s too much light, except maybe if you’re trying to save battery or are in a particularly turbid/bright/reflective environment, do you actually use the dimming function?
0 voters
I basically only use 40% lights since I usually can’t see anything when the lights are over or under 40%. I have 4 of the lumen lights and my usual visibility is 5-15 feet. The main problem is the low resolution of the camera combined with its attempts at auto-exposure make it hard to see anything when the visibility is under 20 feet.
I also noticed that the contrast of the bottom makes a huge difference. I sometimes can get away with 60% light if it’s rocky.
If it’s helpful, it’s possible to change exposure to manual from the web interface Camera page (near the bottom of the settings), and set the level yourself. It’s also possible to set different camera settings profiles, so if you determine some decent settings for some operating environments that you’re frequently in you can relatively easily switch between them.
Automating camera settings adjustment to maximise visibility is something I’m interested in, but unfortunately don’t have time to work on at the moment. Would be nice to have something (camera or algorithm) that’s better tuned specifically to underwater operation, and potentially also has some comprehension of depth and/or water properties.
Marcus,
Interesting poll! From my experience, I almost never use the lights at 100%. We’re usually focusing on something up close with the ROV and the dim lighting usually results in much better image quality because the subject doesn’t get washed out compared to the surroundings. Here’s an example from the Lumen product page that I think shows this well:
I know you have a lot of applications with tow sleds, and I’m sure in that application it’s more important to have constant max illumination.
-Rusty
Hi Rusty,
Thanks for the reply! It seems the poll results are pretty conclusive, and I think you’re right, for close inspections, a dimmer light can be really important, which explains the poll results. And yes, I was curious about the results becasue since we are typically using tow/drop cameras, I almost never adjust the lighting, I would just set it to full, and the cameras auto-adjust as necessary. Since we aren’t usually doing super-close inspections with a tow camera (unless something goes wrong!!), the dimmer isn’t as important. Interesting to see how the two use-cases differ.
Thanks to everyone that voted!!
