Yes/no to cameras for my proposed CCTV Setup

Hi,

My proposed system for a house with large back garden, with plenty of dark spots. Have PIR flood lights but no constant light-sources yet at front or rear.

My desire is to capture people coming through front drive (either side is bushes) but its a good 10 meters from front of house, and they can stick to bushes to get to the back. Motion detection in mind would be great to be alerted of people inside my boundary, during the day or night.

I'm happy with NVR (8MP max) but selecting the right camera is my question. Which of these would you guys go for, and why? For my given desire and the overall image quality day/night? If you need more info, I can provide.

1. DS-2CD2345FWD-I 2.8mm 4MP (powered by DarkFighter) - base choice
2. DS-2CD2347G1-LU 2.8mm 4MP (ColorVu) +£40 per camera
   
3. DS-2CD2385G1-I 2.8mm 8MP (powered by DarkFighter) +£45 per camera

Wondering if ColorVu benefits of a colour image at night, is worth the downsides? Would be great to hear people's experience given it has an always on LED, at night, to brighten the area.

Cheers

 

I’ll PM you some images of my colorvu I think they’re fantastic for the price of them. The LED can be set to automatic for lux levels or on a timer and the LED light brightness can be adjusted. we have one on our driveway permanent LED as a deterrent to protect the vehicles.

The IR on the standard cameras is up to 30m distance so any of the HIK cameras would give you a decent image.

unless you have a real need for the 8mp cam I would rule that out as the 4mp gives a pretty crisp image especially at the distances you’re talking. Other than that it depends on the supplement lighting and if you want that extra LED light that the colorvu provides

 

Cheers for the input.

So I am impressed with ColorVu, and if it can give 'close-enough' to colour at night, then fantastic. However, my concern when watching some of the youtube images, was that it then produces poor image quality/ghosting whereas with standard IR/Darkfighter you get a crisp BUT black/white image. So I am trying to think about the practical applications. The LED staying on overnight might annoy neighbours too come to think of it, and what do you think of the LED being on all night. Does that not reduce lifespan of the camera considerably. Once LED goes, I think that is camera done.

Re: 8MP, I am only considering it as I do not want to shell out for 4MP and be disappointed with the image quality. I fully appreciate there is more to image quality than simple resolution count.

 

They do give fantastic colour images at night. I haven’t noticed any ghosting images or poor quality at night time on the camera. The LED light can be adjusted in brightness and the annoyance is completely based on positioning obviously if it’s looking towards a window then you may get some complaints mine is about 9FT high on the driveway so not near any bedroom windows and is just a deterrent. In terms of LED going and the camera being redundant I haven’t encountered any colorvu cameras have there LED fail so can’t comment but I imagine lifespan on them is very respectable.
If you have the money to go 8mp then go for it, same model cameras but higher MP will obviously have a better image.

 

Poorly terminated cameras and interference are usual suspects for ghosting.

not sure on the model numbers as 2385 isnt colour view its dark fighter.

On the I range which is the part numbers you are quoting, setting the LED to around 6 appears to give full colour in a completely unlit dark area. If you have some lighting in the rear (solar lamps) there is a fair chance that the LED wont need to be used.

with the LED set at 6, you can see the LED is on wrt to the camera, however the illumination of the ground in reality is dim, but on the image is like a day image.

When set higher like at 100% then it is more noticeable the image, it is also enough to make the image of a darkfighter go to colour but not convinced its the best colour(ie very dark), but the LED of the color vu is the only source of light.

They don't do the color vu in IP above 4MP and 5MP in analogue.

Been to look at someone who had upgraded there Old swann unit with analogue Color vu today, and the pre made swann cable had to be replaced with a proper cable and have it properly terminated. That was suffering from ghosting and issues when the led activated, not seen such issues with the ip variants.

Using too much light from the camera can hide some of the detail as the light hit the object of interest, I would say the brighter the light the more of an issue this is, I set to a minimum regarded to get a full colour image in the pitch black.

Please can people get away with saying 8MP is better than 4MP when it comes to clarity, it is untrue.

One of the issues is pixel density, so that depends on how many pixels you get for the width of your scene.
So higher resolution for the same view will get a higher pixel density and a more detailed picture.
On varifocal cameras focusing can be a big cause of a poor image.
Lighting can affect clarity/ quality of the image especially on bright days and at nights.
interreference, poor earthing, bad power supplies can also affect image.

 

Thanks SecureIam.
I had copied and pasted wrong model. Update to DS-2CD2347G1-LU for ColorVu, an IP variant.

I am running new cat5 cables so ghosting/termination shouldn't be an issue hopefully if done right. The range looks impressive and there is a great review here I also sent to TIGERIII:

One interesting thing when watching the ColorVu, is reminding yourself that you are actually watching night-recorded images. Your mind is expecting a black IR image

I think I will stick with the 4MP (powered by DF) or the ColorVu, depending on what sparky quotes for new lightening at the back of the house. The 8MP will just eat up disk space, for possibly extra detail I do not need.

 

use ipvm calculator to get an idea of the cameras at your house.

it will give an indication on identification of face and blind spots etc, it is only a guide but you have some visual guide to get an idea and its not perfect but it does give you a good guide.

 

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