Exacq and Swan/Costco & imported HIKVision cameras

[drdave 0]

I'm in the process of upgrading my home NVR and analog cameras. For now, I'm trying Exacq because I like it's Mac OS client. I've been looking at various cameras on their supported list. I was going to buy some of the new ACTi D&E series cameras, but they haven't gotten the best reviews on here.

 

I've read the threads on the Swan relabeled cameras at Costco and decided to try a pair. Exacq doesn't support that particular camera, but it does support the 1M version (DS-2CD2012-I) so I wanted to try it.

 

I tried this camera with the stock Swan firmware and also with the 5.0 firmware from HIK. Both work with Exacq with the same limitations. Video works just fine using the HikVision driver. In camera motion detection works, but you have to set it up in the camera web interface, not the Exacq app. In particular, you need to change the linkage method to "Trigger Channel" and set the arming schedule. This camera works just fine at both 1080P and 3M.

 

So with that good luck, I decided to try some of the other cameras in the same HIK product family. Again based on advise here, I decided to order from Aliexpress. I bought the following two cameras:

 

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Hikvision-camera-DS-2CD2132-I-Network-IP-camera-3MP-Mini-dome-Camera-w-3D-DNR-DWDR/904067_852257797.html

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Hikvision-camera-DS-2CD2332-I-Network-IP-camera-3MP-dome-Camera-w-POE-3D-DNR-Full/904067_1008324254.html

 

As with other people's experience, Melinda was very prompt at updates on the ordering process and the cameras arrived as expected. They both came with the 5.0 version of the firmware. User interface looks the same as the Swan after the firmware update.

 

Here's the cameras for comparison:

 

 

Things I noticed: The 2132 dome is only a 2 axis camera. The 2332 is like other ball cameras and can be infinitely adjusted in 3 axis. The 2332 is significantly larger than the 2132. The 2332 has a square IR source -- this is advertised to have a better coverage. I did a few shots against a wall to see if that was a big deal. I thought it looked attractive because it would eliminate the IR leak that a lot of domes seem to have.

 

The DS-2CD2132-I

 

 

The DS-2CD2332-I

 

 

You might ask did I switch these images, and no. The standard dome seems to have less of a hot spot, at least close against a white wall. The square sensor has a + like appearance when you look at it and the illumination looks like that on the image. Maybe it will be different at a distance.

 

All these cameras have a bit of a weirdness in their field of view when switching from 1080P to 3M. The 3M mode gives more height but shaves off real pixels from the width. I don't know what the true resolution of the sensor is here.

 

I'll post some more images when I have a chance to try these outside.

[drdave 0]

One more thing. I noticed an oddity with the China sourced HIKVision cameras and Exacq. The 3M mode works just fine. The 1080P mode has some encoding problem, or maybe Exacq has a decoding issue. There is a bit of garbled data at the bottom of the image in Exacq. This is not present in the web interface of the camera and VLC plays the video just fine as well. I tried the HikVision, ONVIF, and RSTP drivers in Exacq and it's the same. The reflashed Swan bullets don't have this issue. I'll have to spin up a VM and try another NVR package to see if this is unique to Exacq.

 

[MaxIcon 0]

All these cameras have a bit of a weirdness in their field of view when switching from 1080P to 3M. The 3M mode gives more height but shaves off real pixels from the width. I don't know what the true resolution of the sensor is here.

Yeah, Hik's doing something weird with the 3MP; it's scaled compared to the 1080p, and if you assume the 1080p is true resolution, the 3MP is actually around 2.5MP. Someone pointed out it may be true 3MP and the 1080p may be scaled down from a larger image, which is possible, if not very logical.

 

I had a long post on it, but here's the rollup post, and comparison to a typical 3MP/1080p cam:

viewtopic.php?p=224748#p224748

 

I'm really interested in the performance of that square lensed IR design. It's a good idea, and could give better illumination with the same IR power, if they did it right. Looking forward to some outdoor clips!

[JoeyJoey 0]

I'm interested in the DS-2CD2332 too.

 

Does it use the same Hikvision raptor firmware?

 

(Aliexpress is like ebay, not a single company. Being in WA, not allowed to use it for some reason)