Review - Dahua IPC-HFW7442H-Z 4MP Ultra AI Varifocal Bullet Camera

Wildcat_1

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I have the cam ready to record in a more LPR friendly location based on its focal length BUT still in a real world setting. Watch this space and will upload any caps from tonight, in the morning
 

Davahad

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Can IR be controlled manually (turned off)? The spec sheet says Auto.
 

xtropodx

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I may run comparison vids/pics (if interested) against some of the cams below with the B5442 being the obvious choice for comparison due to sensor performance.

  • 5231 Pro (1/2.8” F1.6 2MP HD sensor)
  • 5241 Pro AI (1/2.8” F1.5 2MP sensor)
  • B5442 Pro AI (1/1.8” F1.8 4MP sensor)
  • 2831 Lite (1/1.8” F1.9 8MP 4K sensor)
  • 5831 Pro (1/2.5” F1.4 8MP 4K sensor)
Did you still have plans for comparison?

Be interested to know how compares at night against 5241/5442.

 

Wildcat_1

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Night ANPR / LPR caps updated in 3.3 tonight. Completely dark area for this test and with the weather not helping think the cam did VERY well
 

David L

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Thought you might like the snow :) the 60fps was disables in the latest Test FW (trying that as well) so will ask @EMPIRETECANDY to confirm with Dahua engineers that 60fps will return in final / next FW. Andy can you check on this please ? This was in the original and currently shipping FW for reference. Thanks
Did you ever get word back on the 60fps?

Thanks,
David
 

Davahad

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Ordered the 7442H-Z4 with the 32x and will post back here after testing with plates and car/people counting.
 

Wildcat_1

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David

I’ve reported that it’s missing in the latest test FW Through Andy and asked that it be reinstated in the next release FW. In the meantime, the shipping FW still supports the 60fps if you need it.

HTH

Did you ever get word back on the 60fps?

Thanks,
David
 

David L

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David

I’ve reported that it’s missing in the latest test FW Through Andy and asked that it be reinstated in the next release FW. In the meantime, the shipping FW still supports the 60fps if you need it.

HTH
Thanks, sorry I misread your original message.
 

EMPIRETECANDY

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Thanks for being us big fun, good job!
This camera right now no stock till the end of Nov. Guys can check IPC-HFW7442H-Z4 or IPC-HFW7842H-Z which are all stock in now.
 
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carteriii

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Do you know/Can you tell me, without using an AI NVR, is it possible for the camera to alert an outside system (such as an HTTP GET or POST) to alert some other system to the LPR event? It wouldn't have to contain any data other than, "Hey, something happened" and then let the external system make API calls to get the information it needed.
 

Wildcat_1

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@All I spoke with Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY) and it looks likes he just booked some more units. So if anyone is interested it would pay to act quickly as these new AI cams are moving fast !
 

rsoxhater

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I think you'll be pleased with the cam. Milestone's XProtect LPR is not a bad add on to their base system by any means but the AI on this should be able to perform very well for you. Even passing a stream into OpenALPR (for comparison) has given some fantastic results from this cam
I've been running openalpr on our existing traffic cam as a comparison against milestone LPR - its blowing it out of the water in recognition. I haven't put the new dahua into service yet. Best part, for PD's, Rekor gives 2 free donation licenses.

My one question - I noticed on the Dahua, it doesn't have the capability for any 1920x1080 mjpeg stream, just a smaller mjpeg one on stream 1. My experience with LPR has always been best with mjpeg, has this changed with new versions of openalpr that it can handle h.264 and accurately get plates with faster traffic?
 

Wildcat_1

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@rsoxhater I didn't know about the 2 free donation licenses to LE, thats a great feature !

I run live streams (RTSP) into OpenALPR from 3 cams with traffic speed around 30 - 35 MPH day & night and have had phenomenal results with it. So much so that I would absolutely advocate for NOT using MJPEG at all. feed it a sub stream from the cam and you will be good plus you benefit from the higher resolution stream. With the AI cams you also have the benefit of on-cam processing, AI NVR linking (should your install allow it or you have it available) plus much beefier SOC's so they don't get bogged down as much as some of the older cams *could* do under certain situations.

HTH but reach out if you need any further help


I've been running openalpr on our existing traffic cam as a comparison against milestone LPR - its blowing it out of the water in recognition. I haven't put the new dahua into service yet. Best part, for PD's, Rekor gives 2 free donation licenses.

My one question - I noticed on the Dahua, it doesn't have the capability for any 1920x1080 mjpeg stream, just a smaller mjpeg one on stream 1. My experience with LPR has always been best with mjpeg, has this changed with new versions of openalpr that it can handle h.264 and accurately get plates with faster traffic?
 

rsoxhater

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@rsoxhater I didn't know about the 2 free donation licenses to LE, thats a great feature !

I run live streams (RTSP) into OpenALPR from 3 cams with traffic speed around 30 - 35 MPH day & night and have had phenomenal results with it. So much so that I would absolutely advocate for NOT using MJPEG at all. feed it a sub stream from the cam and you will be good plus you benefit from the higher resolution stream. With the AI cams you also have the benefit of on-cam processing, AI NVR linking (should your install allow it or you have it available) plus much beefier SOC's so they don't get bogged down as much as some of the older cams *could* do under certain situations.

HTH but reach out if you need any further help
Awesome, good to know. What are you FPS and related settings such as iframe interval?
 

rsoxhater

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