mroek

I'd like to hear more about your failed TFTP update attempt. Did you use the TFTP-server provided by Hikvision? Did the camera actually connect to the TFTP-server, but then failed to download the update? Or did it download the update, and then failed to actually flash it? According to my supplier, it is impossible to convert the cameras to the European version, unfortunately. I'm sure my supplier actually believes that, but I'm quite sure there is a way around it. ETA: I think the download you found at the Korean site is indeed the Chinese V5 firmware for the Raptor platform. This file is different to the Europan file, but I haven't analyzed it any further yet.

I agree that her customer service is great. My cameras did ship with the V5 firmware, but it is still not possible to flash them to the European version, like you seem to indicate. In fact I have also asked her about that, and she said that it is impossible to "convert" these cameras to Europen (or US) versions.

Oh, and for the record, I tried applying the European firmware, but I got the "Language version mismatch" error also. Didn't corrupt anything, though.

Well, since I am living in Norway, I don't have many alternatives, and certainly no Costco. Returning stuff to China is of course more or less a no-go, so I am just taking a roll of the dice. Simple as that.

I also received my Hiks today, from the same Aliexpress supplier. Mine are brand new, manufactured in July, and they all have the new style waterproof pigtail. They were delivered with the leaflet in Chinese, but that's irrelevant for me They also have the latest v5 firmware, but unfortunately the week/day display is in Chinese on mine also. It isn't very important, but it is a bit annoying, as everything else is English, like it should. I'm unsure if I should try flashing the European firmware or not. The version number is exactly the same as the one that is installed on the cameras.

Yep, it is clearly a jungle out there with the M12 lenses and their specs. Did you ever measure actual FOV of the Dahua 2100 with a 3.6 mm lens? If so, what is the calculated equivalent in the Theia calculator?

Ah, ok. MaxIcon also stated that the lens is considerably wider than the stated 4mm.

How did you get one with a 3mm lens? The Hikvision spec sheet only lists 4mm, 6mm and 12mm as the available lens options.

Kudos to Hikvision for actually putting the instructions for this in a public place. The procedure described should be pretty safe, as long as the firmware file is correct. These cameras will, on every boot, try to connect to a TFTP-server (this happens from within U-boot, the bootloader), and if it finds a server, it will download the new firmware. If it is bricked so badly that even U-boot has been corrupted, then there is nothing to do. Hikvision undoubtedly has a way more sane policy on all things related to firmware updates than some other manufacturers (Dahua being among the worst), and for me this is one of the main reasons I'm swapping my Dahuas for Hiks. One question for those that have Hiks: When you telnet to the camera, do you get root access rights? I guess not, but it sure would have been nice.

Please do. I am also waiting for some Hikvisions, and hopefully I'll also get some cameras from a newly manufactured batch. Let's hope that they no longer have the right side softness issue.

Has anyone disassembled this camera and documented it with pictures? It would be very interesting to see the internal construction. I've seen it written that the lens is (unfortunately) glued, but it would be nice to see a picture of how this glue is applied, and thus (guess at) how much work it would be to remove it to be able to change the lens.

As I mentioned, VLC works, but I'd have to run one VLC instance for each stream/camera, which I don't want. I want all the streams to stay within one instance and one window. I think the author of LiveVue is way too busy to do anything (he doesn't reply in the LiveVue thread on his own forum), and he seems heavily invested in all things Dahua, so he'd probably not be interested in adding support for anything else.

Hi, I've been searching for a simple (the ideal is a portable app without any installation) camera viewer application for Windows. I am currently using an application called LiveVue by Rory Knowles (Bahamas Security), which does just that. It can show the video from multiple cameras, and it is small and portable. The problem is that it only supports Dahua cameras, and I am going to swap my Dahuas for Hikvision, so I will no longer be able to use LiveVue. I know there are lots of NVR applications out there, but I'm using a Synology for that, so all I want is to have a simple application to monitor my cameras live. I don't want a big, intrusive do-it-all software. Had there been a simple way to show multiple video streams in VLC then that would have been an option, but unfortunately I'd have to run multiple instances of the app, which is undesirable. I've come across a few apps that purports to do this, but they're all crap. So, the question is simple: Does anyone know if such an app exists?

I meant the mount on the bullet, sorry for the confusion. What I really wanted to know, is if the Hik has approximately the same degrees of freedom in the mount as the Dahua 2100 (and probably most other Dahua bullets). I think the Dahua is pretty flexible, so I was hoping the Hik would be similar.

I'm also very interested in hearing about those brackets. Are they less adjustable than the brackets on the Dahuas (2100 specifically)?

Thanks for that link. Looks like noise is manageable with the Hiks also. I still don't like the dynamic coloring of the text overlay on the Hik, but perhaps it will be possible to persuade them to add an option to disable that. In any case, it's not a deal breaker, so I'm going ahead with my order.

And with Firefox. I just tried. But I'm going to try Hiks anyway.

Did any of you play around with the noise reduction on the Hik? I am going to order some Hiks to replace my 2100s anyway, I think. There isn't many compelling arguments to buy the 3200S, I figure. It is slightly larger (and I like small), Dahua has this annoying firmware policy (although to be fair, I have gotten some firmwares directly from them, and they did fix the noise reduction issue I complained about), but most of all, it is only 16:9, and that is a disadvantage for me (except in one location, where it doesn't matter). And the Hiks also have a plugin that works in Firefox, from what I understand. The IE-only policy of Dahua is also a drawback.

How is the noise reduction on the Hik? From the screenshots of the config interface, there seems to be a slider to adjust it. Does it also degrade daytime images? And one more question: In the Hik user manual (which covers a lot of models) there seems to be a "Corridor mode", where you either mount the camera sideways, or rotate the lens and sensor board. I gather the latter is probably not possible on the Hik bullet, but is the corridor mode actually present in the config options for this camera?

Thank you very much for taking the trouble to do this! It seems the Hik has approximately the same coverage in the 3MP mode as the Dahua in 1.3MP mode, just as I was hoping. And it is actually a bit wider in the 720P mode than the Dahua, meaning that if I don't need as much VFOV, I can run it in that mode for better HFOV. I gather the Hik has the same FOV in 1080P mode (which you didn't post any shots from) as in 720P, right? Then a few comments to what you wrote: Why do you think the Dahua should have changed HFOV when switching between the 1.3MP mode and 720P? The horizontal resolution is exactly the same, the 720P-image is just cropped top and bottom. No extra interpolation, I think. And you also wrote that there is no WDR on the Dahua. That's not entirely correct, in one of the later firmwares, Dahua added WDR also to the 2100. Mine has it, it's one of the "BLC mode"-options.

Ok, thanks. I've been in contact with a supplier on Aliexpress, and I think I will try the Hiks, just want to see your comparison shots before pulling the trigger on them. If the Hiks can provide more or less the same HFOV and VFOV as my 2100 in 1280x960 mode, then it is more or less a sure thing. It would seem the Hik is better in most areas, perhaps except noise in low light, but as Buellwinkle pointed out, a little noise but with preserved details can be just as good as less noise and less detail.

MaxIcon, could you also include pictures from the other available resolutions of the Hik when you compare it to the 2100? Does the Hik have a 1280x960 mode also?

Comparison shots between the Hik and the 2100 would be great (looking forward to see them), even though your numbers seems to indicate that the Hik in 3MP mode (4mm lens) is pretty similar in HFOV (and thus also VFOV) to the 2100 in 1.3MP-mode (3.6mm lens), and should be a good candidate for replacing the 2100. I've been in contact with an Aliexpress merchant that sells the Hiks, but they're currently out of stock (sells very good, she said). The downside is that shipping is ridiculously expensive. The fact that Hik actually posts public firmware updates is a big pro for them.

I've been reading your investigation regarding sensor size and pixels with interest, but it is really difficult to figure out whether I'd get enough coverage with the different candidates to replace the HFW2100 that I have. The Dahua 3200S presumably takes the same lenses, but being widescreen, that means I'd lose quite a bit of image at the top and at the bottom. The Hik has a 3MP mode (which isn't really 3MP as you've discovered), but it crops the sides in the process, losing HFOV. In a different thread I saw someone write that going below 4 mm on the Hik would cause the top shield to come into the image. I really think in the majority of cases it is better with a 4:3-format for a security camera than 16:9, and if only the Hik had been providing the full width of the image in both modes, it would have been more or less perfect. The fact that they glue the lenses is a drawback, of course.

This URL works with my cameras, but they are running a slightly older version than yours: http://<ip-address>/cgi-bin/snapshot.cgi?channel=0 The URL you supplied doesn't work with mine either.