Anyone having issues with the starlight sensor not working? This is happening on all 3 of my V3 cams. They worked for a few months after first getting the cameras but one day it just stopped for all cameras. I thought it may have been an update that caused it that might be fixed in future updates but it’s been a few months and still doesn’t work. Using the night vision with IR turned off works well at night and that’s what I’ve been using but turning off the night vision at night is very dim, even during full moon with no clouds. I haven’t tried a factory reset yet, thought I’d check for answers here first.
My V3s have been working great. Can you upload an example of a cloudless full moon night?
The Starlight sensor is MUCH more sensitive than the V2 cam ever was, but for color night vision to work it still needs light. In fact, if a cloudless full moon light source is all you have, then it probably would be a little dim, and wouldn’t even be in color.
If you don’t have a cloudless full moon or other light source to work with, then it will be dark. That’s when it would be appropriate to switch to night vision. I have 1 cam on a fenced-in back patio in that situation. It can’t see the lights around the patio. I don’t need the IR lights there, but it is too dark for the starlight sensors without them being set to look in the near infrared spectrum.
In the timeframe you are talking about you may have seen the growth of leaves on the trees that is obscuring some of your sky light. That hurt my back patio view.
For now, if you turn on a porch light, does it improve the situation? Got to have SOME light.
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Do you have a before and after screenshot available you can post?
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I don’t have a screenshot of back when it was working. That was months ago. I can take a couple pics (night vision on/off) tomorrow night when the sky will be clear.
Update: I was able to find a pic when it used to work. I’ll send another pic tomorrow night to compare
It used to work great even in really low light but for the past few months when I test it on a bright night it just isn’t close to the same. There’s a camera in front of my house and back of my house and both act the same. The night vision without IR turned on works great and is bright as the starlight used to be but it’s in black and white. That’s why I’m just bringing it up now because I can live without the color but it would be nice to get it working again.
I see what your issue is. When I have snow on the ground, it is like daytime to the starlight sensor. BIG difference, I LOVE snow! Also, there are no leaves on your trees then, allowing maximum sky light to come thru. Sometimes that’s even better on cloudy days, as local lights reflect off the clouds and then the snow.
I’m afraid you won’t get that view back until snow is next on the ground. In the meantime, you need to help compensate for the loss of light.
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I’m pretty sure it was almost as bright without snow on the ground that’s just the only pic I could find. Also, if my night vision is currently working great with IR turned off, shouldn’t that mean there’s enough light for the starlight to work too?
It’s definitely the snow, although I’m sure the clear trees helped. You will notice the difference next winter now.
And no, when you hit very low light, visible light is not where you want to be. The starlight sensor will be less sensitive to it than if you switch it to near Infrared night vision mode. Take my back patio as an example.
You can supplement the light with regular floods if you don’t use night vision, and with IR floods if you do. Or just wait for the next snow fall. 
Here’s a pic from the other day using night vision and IR lights turned off. So you’re saying that’s not enough light for starlight to work? Also, the front of my house doesn’t have any trees in the way. Here’s a pic from the front, again using night vision with IR turned off
I’m saying you will have better results in the near Infrared night vision mode than in visible light. Your 2 pics look great!
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Yeah, I’m happy with the way the night vision looks. Waaaay better than v2. I just find it odd my night vision pics can be that good but then trying to use it with starlight is just bad. I wish I had some pics of starlight working without snow on the ground. It was just as clear as the pics I sent but in color. I guess I’ll just have to keep using what I’m using until it snows again. I’m tempted to do a factory reset on one just to see if it makes a diff.
The biggest problem here is you don’t have a lot of local light, like a yard light. Or a neighbor across the street with one. If you flipped on your front porch light, you may find you get your color night vision back. It needs a local light source of SOME kind.
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We’ll it was operating under the same conditions before when it was working. I pretty much kept night vision off every night unless it was like pitch black.
I’ve tried the near and far IR and those work well but I like the range better with IR turned off unless it’s extremely dark then I’ll use IR.
It seems according to you they are operating as intended so I guess I will drop the issue. I appreciate your help and if a factory reset makes any difference I’ll let you know.
Cool. But you are on the fringe. Light levels will vary. You may or may not perceive that. It will be darker in the summer than in the winter. But everything looks normal to me otherwise. 
Just to clear something up, the sensor in the camera is a starlight sensor. It is never “off” like if night vision mode is enabled the starlight is disabled. The sensor is a starlight sensor that helps color night vision and when the night vision mode is enabled the same. It helps the camera function in all low light conditions. No matter what mode, the camera still needs soooome light in the environment to work whether that’s moonlight, street light, IR light, and having light or bright colored objects in the frame help as well.
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I have the exact same problem! Seems like Starlight stopped working overnight. See attached photos. The cam facing out to the street is subtle - shadows are darker on the bottom and more recent one, but the cam facing the garage is a stark contrast. Notice the times are almost midnight, then at 2:30am. Moon and stars are out on the bottom pic, so I’m not sure what to make of this. Any suggestion?
Minor things can cause the auto white balance and exposure settings change from one time to another, weither it’s subject matter changes (car in one day, gone the next) and lighting changes (moon phases, environment lighting, etc) causing the change. In your photos, I think the car being there and not is a factor, and a big change is the moon phase on either night. Ex:
This morning looks like you had a minimumly lit moon in Ohio.
And on 7/23 into 7/24, you had an almost full or actually full moon. Which shows with your fully lit driveway.
These what seen like suttle changes effect the starlight sensors alot.
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Yes, if you don’t have a stable local light source (like a street light or yard light) you will be at the mercy of the moon & cloud cover. Performance will then vary based on what light sources the camera can find.
Thanks! I’ll monitor the clouds and moon as a light source and see if that makes a difference in my views.