Selecting Hikvision cameras for my home?

[AJBurgess]

Looking at installing camera on my home and am trying to determine what to go with, I have narrowed the field down to this selection:

First Floor Soffit Level: one front and back of the house, trying to determine which of the two, There is little ambient light from other houses or street lights on the street:

Hikvision 8MP 2.8mm AcuSense Darkfighter Turret Network IP Camera Speaker DS-2CD2386G2-ISU/SL/GREY

Or

Hikvision G2 4MP AcuSense ColorVu 2.8mm Turret Camera with Built in Mic IP POE DS-2CD2347G2-LU/BLACK

Front Carport – PIR Light: installed at rear of the carport under the roof level:

Hikvision G2 4MP AcuSense ColorVu 4mm Turret Camera with Built in Mic IP POE DS-2CD2347G2-LU

Rear Garden – No lighting:

Hikvision 6MP Powered By Darkfighter 4mm Fixed Lens 30m IR H265+ IP67 Turret Camera DS-2CD2365G1-I

My concern over the Colour Vu is the light being on or can this be set to trigger on the Acusense? I don't want to upset the neighbours but plan on discussing and giving them an advance warning and discuss any concerns they may have.

 

[JB1970]

First Floor Soffit Level: one front and back of the house, trying to determine which of the two, There is little ambient light from other houses or street lights on the street:

Hikvision 8MP 2.8mm AcuSense Darkfighter Turret Network IP Camera Speaker DS-2CD2386G2-ISU/SL/GREY

Or

Hikvision G2 4MP AcuSense ColorVu 2.8mm Turret Camera with Built in Mic IP POE DS-2CD2347G2-LU/BLACK

Bear in mind the 2.8mm are a very wide angle - 103 degrees from memory. The ultra wide lens will make the area look larger, making objects appear further apart, smaller, more distant. A 4mm lens (if available) is usually more suited at (from memory) around 85 degrees - still wide enough for most scenarios.

Only you can decide whether you want/need the full time colour image of the ColorVu. With the ColorVu turret you get a max of 4 megapixel (nothing wrong with that) and currently theres no 2 way audio. If you don't need 2 way audio on the AcuSense BTW the IU model is cheaper with microphone only.

Rear Garden – No lighting:

Hikvision 6MP Powered By Darkfighter 4mm Fixed Lens 30m IR H265+ IP67 Turret Camera DS-2CD2365G1-I

I'd probably avoid that and stick with the AcuSense 2346/2386IU. The microphone is handy on the IU and I wouldn't want to be without the AcuSense on any camera now it's available. Also the 2346/2386 AcuSense models are newer and will outperform the older G1 "powered by" Darkfighter models in low light.

My concern over the Colour Vu is the light being on or can this be set to trigger on the Acusense? I don't want to upset the neighbours but plan on discussing and giving them an advance warning and discuss any concerns they may have.

With the latest firmware, the ColorVu white LED light can be triggered by event.

I still tend to prefer the AcuSense 2346/2386G2 over the ColorVu, but that's just my opinion. I find that the infra red provides a more evenly illuminated scene in darkness. The ColorVu's are good - I have one at the front of my house mounted low down but it's covering my wife's car and the front door which are very close and they are exposed well but further away the exposure soon falls off.

 

[bros1957]

Bear in mind the 2.8mm are a very wide angle - 103 degrees from memory. The ultra wide lens will make the area look larger, making objects appear further apart, smaller, more distant. A 4mm lens (if available) is usually more suited at (from memory) around 85 degrees - still wide enough for most scenarios.

Only you can decide whether you want/need the full time colour image of the ColorVu. With the ColorVu turret you get a max of 4 megapixel (nothing wrong with that) and currently theres no 2 way audio. If you don't need 2 way audio on the AcuSense BTW the IU model is cheaper with microphone only.


I'd probably avoid that and stick with the AcuSense 2346/2386IU. The microphone is handy on the IU and I wouldn't want to be without the AcuSense on any camera now it's available. Also the 2346/2386 AcuSense models are newer and will outperform the older G1 "powered by" Darkfighter models in low light.


With the latest firmware, the ColorVu white LED light can be triggered by event.

I still tend to prefer the AcuSense 2346/2386G2 over the ColorVu, but that's just my opinion. I find that the infra red provides a more evenly illuminated scene in darkness. The ColorVu's are good - I have one at the front of my house mounted low down but it's covering my wife's car and the front door which are very close and they are exposed well but further away the exposure soon falls off.

Have a look at this link, Considering 4K CCTV? Here's what you need to know It may change your mind of what to get, It changed mine because I want to be able to identify someone coming onto my property. I have Hikvision DS-2CD2T87G2-L cameras and not that impressed

 

[JB1970]

Have a look at this link, Considering 4K CCTV? Here's what you need to know It may change your mind of what to get, It changed mine because I want to be able to identify someone coming onto my property. I have Hikvision DS-2CD2T87G2-L cameras and not that impressed

I just read that swiftly. It's a poor method of evaluating cameras as there is only the briefest of specifications given and no detail at all on the settings used on the cameras - whether they had been adjusted or were "out of box". The tests for motion blur do not take into account that shutter speeds can be increased to avoid motion blur and supplemental light added.

"My personal view is that IR is just a way of getting poor cameras to perform better at low light." My personal view is that his personal view is rubbish! Suggesting that cameras are poor because they need light to produce an acceptable image is plain silly. Technology has moved on in leaps and bounds and manufacturers are making cameras that work well in low light with additional signal amplification, noise reduction, processing etc but cameras need light - period. Photography - derived from the latin "drawing with light" - says it all really.

8 megapixel cameras have their place but I tend to prefer 4 megapixel models positioned appropriately to capture what's required.

 

[fullboogie]

LOL, I read that and thought the same thing. Garbage.

 

[bros1957]

The 2mp camera with 140 wdr has a frame rate of 60fps that captures motion better than a camera with 30fps and isnt that what you want. To capture and see who the intruder is that is coming onto your property and they dont stand still for a selfie for you. Dont just write a paragraph saying what you think show some proof because I have not seen a 8mp camera still shot of someone that is moving at night time that I can make out who it is clearly. All the youtube videos I have seen never show a still shot of a person at night

 

[spirch]

please try with this IPVM Camera Calculator it's powerful and it will give you good idea

instruction Google Maps Camera Calculator Released

 

[JB1970]

The 2mp camera with 140 wdr has a frame rate of 60fps that captures motion better than a camera with 30fps and isnt that what you want.

Not necessarily. It would be unusual to require 60FPS for home security (better suited for wildlife capture, gaming tables in a casino etc) It doesn't necessarily capture motion better than 30FPS - it just produces more still images. Most cameras ship with a default of shutter speed of 1/25s PAL or 1/30s (if set to NTSC). So with your 60FPS example, with defaults settings the shutter is open for the duration of 2 frames. It has to be set to at least 1/60s to avoid issues and all that will give you with insufficient illumination is 60 blurred stills. Motion blur is caused by having too slow a shutter speed for the target being captured - it has nothing at all to do with frame rate. The 140db WDR could be useful depending on the scene but again if it's lit correctly it'll not be needed. I rarely switch on WDR.

Dont just write a paragraph saying what you think show some proof because I have not seen a 8mp camera still shot of someone that is moving at night time that I can make out who it is clearly.

I don't need to supply proof and I'll write whatever I think! - it's based on reasonably extensive experience. A correctly setup 8MP camera, with sufficient illumination, positioned correctly is capable of recognition/identification. My closing comment did state that my preference was to use lower megapixel cameras.

 

[fullboogie]

But JB, you didn't supply the "proof" like The Bro did. I don't believe you.

 

[bros1957]

Dear Mister well known member, I only offered something outside the box you think in and I have a Hikvision DS-2CD2T87G2-L camera and this link is what made me get it

My camera does show video at night the same as that one but if you watch the youtube video closely there is blurr in the motion that i am not impressed with, I cannot make out a good visual of a face in motion when I pause mine
Thats what I want, So it is a lot of hype with 8mp cameras and if you have any issues with 2mp 140 wdr cameras take them up with Luke Percy-Dove the man and the security consulting company of Australia and Singapore with a phone number on there web site you can ring and talk to him its in the first link I posted. I only put that link up for a different look of whats out there. The thing is 2mp 140 wdr are 4 times the price as mine, Does that say something ?

 

[cctvsig]

Looking at installing camera on my home

I recently installed a system comprising of a combination of fixed and PTZ IR cameras. I am new to this, so others may be able to give you a more technical explanation, but from a user's point of view:

- I'd steer clear of anything less than 8Mp and make an IR illuminator mandatory in my selection as this will make sure your image will carry high level of detail when recognising a face for example and that the camera is 100% functional even in total absence of light.

- Regarding the focal length, it depends on the application. If you plan to place a turret in a corner and there are, say, a door and a window that you'd like to mointor, a 2.8mm will do the job with its 100 degrees or so field of view (just more than a right angle). If that's not the case a 4mm or so may be more suitable. I noticed in my wide angle cameras that the IR illuminator creates some vignetting as the light is very strong at the centre and the camera compensates by adjusting exposure and, as a result, by underexposing the corners. Not a deal breaker but something to be aware of.

- If you are monitoring a large area you may want to combine your fixed cameras with PTZ IR units, they can nicely frame and flood with IR light a tawny owl at 50m distance.

- Make sure the cameras you choose have the smart events features you look for.

I hope this helps

 

[fin]

This is really interesting

@JB1970 you still owe me one for fixing your NVR software that time.

I’ve a number of 2385 and 2386 (and a 2345 in the cupboard) and 4 and 7 series ANPR’s in my system and I have motion blur both day and night on people walking, external light at night is not that bad (in my opinion) with plenty of streetlights. I’ve got out the box settings, any advice? When I people search on the IDS7716NXi they are very blurred on the photos

 

[fin]

No issue with ANPR they are crystal clear day and night. These are also the settings in my NVR (all settings for one of my 2385 cameras) I turned 265+ off to save the whole picture rather then the bits that change, I’m now debating if that is correct.

 

[JB1970]

No issue with ANPR they are crystal clear day and night. These are also the settings in my NVR (all settings for one of my 2385 cameras) I turned 265+ off to save the whole picture rather then the bits that change, I’m now debating if that is correct.

I never use H265+ either. H265 does still update only the changes in between I frames though as does H264. I did a bit of a test once to see if I could tell the difference in recorded images with H264 and H265 and I didn't see any discernible difference (could be my 50 year old eyes mind!) I usually keep the I frame interval equivalent to 2 secs. Out of the box Hik cams are set to 25 FPS and I frame of 50 so if I set a camera up at 12FPS I'll set the I frame to 24.

I'd never keep the shutter speed at its default of 1/25s - it's just to slow to prevent motion blur of targets at walking speed even. I use 1/50s minimum but prefer 1/100s. At 1/100s only 1/4 of the light is reaching the sensor as was at 1/25s so it's always going to be a trade off. I'll lower the contrast a bit to brighten the image rather than use the WDR when possible. The noise reduction will always affect the image quality to some extent as it's looking at either adjacent pixels (space) or previous pixels (time) to determine what is visible noise and mask the pixels. Not sure why you would be getting motion blur during the day mind.

I used to use the 2385s but didn't rate them (the old 2385FWD-I not the G1) - the minimum illumination is given as 0.01 lux but that's at an aperture of F1.2 and that model has a smaller aperture of F2, the G1 version was marginally better. The 2386s on the other hand have a minimal illumination of 0.003 lux measured at F1.4 and they do have an F1.4 aperture.

I've not used that particular NVR so I'm not familiar with it and the people search on it but if your looking at the target cropped image from within the frame it's digitally zoomed so it depends on the distance to the target as to how many pixels are covering it.

 

[JB1970]

Dear Mister well known member, I only offered something outside the box you think in and I have a Hikvision DS-2CD2T87G2-L camera and this link is what made me get it

My camera does show video at night the same as that one but if you watch the youtube video closely there is blurr in the motion that i am not impressed with, I cannot make out a good visual of a face in motion when I pause mine
Thats what I want, So it is a lot of hype with 8mp cameras and if you have any issues with 2mp 140 wdr cameras take them up with Luke Percy-Dove the man and the security consulting company of Australia and Singapore with a phone number on there web site you can ring and talk to him its in the first link I posted. I only put that link up for a different look of whats out there. The thing is 2mp 140 wdr are 4 times the price as mine, Does that say something ?

I missed your reply earlier. It's not so much as thinking outside of the box, it's just that with regard to capturing motion in moving images and exposure in general there are well defined principals that will never change. I do agree with you that there's a lot of hype regarding the 8MP cameras. What I was trying to get at was that light is extremely important - whether it be natural or artificial and that the shutter speed is far more important than the frame rate when it comes to identifying a moving target.

Hikvision cameras usually ship with a shutter speed of 1/25 sec and sensor gain (AGC) set to 100 per cent. 1/25 sec is way too slow to freeze motion of even someone at walking pace. The 100 gain will introduce noise. But with each doubling of the shutter speed 1/25 sec to 1/50 sec, 1/50 sec to 1/100 sec etc you lose half of the light to the image sensor on the camera so the image becomes under exposed and visible noise increases in the image. Likewise reducing the gain will darken the image. The noise reduction smooths the image by identifying and masking the pixels which are sensor noise but this in itself removes detail in the image. With enough light the gain can be reduced which lowers the sensor noise and the shutter speed increased which reduces blur.

No issues with the camera mentioned at all. I have a few 140db WDR cameras that are 4MP ( the Hikvision Ultra series 5) and compared to what I usually use they were a small fortune. They're an improvement but even if I had deep pockets I wouldn't buy more of them.