Review-Dahua SD1A203T-GN Starlight Mini PTZ

[aristobrat]

I think @aristobrat will find that people's faces will be blurred when moving without any ir.

Someone else will have to test that. At night, the porch and soffit lights on turn on automatically for a few minutes whenever anyone approaches the front of the house, or the front door opens (which catches folks as they leave).

I did try adjusting the day/night sensitivity without much luck (as compared the the Starlight turrets that I'm used to working with). How these cameras switch between b/w color hasn't been a problem for me, just something different.

 

[looney2ns]

IIRC, it defaults to the Day profile which is set for automatically switching between day and night. There are settings to adjust the sensitivity and delay before it switches.

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It would be nice to see a photo of it installed next to a dark colored house, during the day and at night with ir on.

I know this isn't an option, but it would be nice to have the option to control the 3 ir leds individually. I'd be curious how much it would reduce reflection if you masked off the led(s) closest to the wall/beam with some tape.

I think it will work pretty well, but I think you'll want to set the PTZ to it's highest speed:
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When you manually adjust the PTZ you can choose speeds 1-8 in a drop down menu.
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These speeds are a fraction of the low/mid/high setting above. It moves to presets faster than it moves during manual control.

Don't forget to turn on the built in mic:
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So, do you like AAC better than the default?

 

[looney2ns]

I Apologize for the delay. Today the weather finally cooperated.

I have added outdoor daytime footage to post #2.
Night footage hopefully tonight.

@EMPIRETECANDY

 

[looney2ns]

is that your backyard? That looks like a really nice area. Some really good footage there to. I'm really impressed at the mic in these cameras. Just got mine today and can't wait to get it installed.

Thanks.
Yes it's my backyard. I agree on the mic, very good.

 

[looney2ns]

I am surprised the camera didn't shift back into day mode when the car pulled in. There should been enough light in there to shift it back.

More on this, mounted outdoors and it changed from day to night roughly the same time as the other two cams on the north side of my house.

 

[looney2ns]

Outdoor night video added to post #2.

 

[bigredfish]

Not bad Looney... I liked how it doesnt wash out your face with IR

 

[Arjun]

Isn't there a preset which can be made in this case where the subject enters the frame the the PTZ tracks the that subject and returns to default position after subject exits the frame? Picture quality is acceptable here, however, just wanting to know if such a configuration can be made, thanks

Outdoor night video added to post #2.

 

[tangent]

Isn't there a preset which can be made in this case where the subject enters the frame the the PTZ tracks the that subject and returns to default position after subject exits the frame? Picture quality is acceptable here, however, just wanting to know if such a configuration can be made, thanks

No. These cameras don't have auto tracking. You can make it go to a specific preset when a line crossing rule is triggered, but it will not track the subject.

 

[Arjun]

Thanks, that makes sense at this price point. After going to a specific preset, I can program the camera to return back to original position after a certain time delay, right?

No. These cameras don't have auto tracking. You can make it go to a specific preset when a line crossing rule is triggered, but it will not track the subject.

 

[looney2ns]

Thanks, that makes sense at this price point. After going to a specific preset, I can program the camera to return back to original position after a certain time delay, right?

Yes.

 

[tangent]

Thanks, that makes sense at this price point. After going to a specific preset, I can program the camera to return back to original position after a certain time delay, right?

Yes, but the amount of control you have is limited. It will return to the preset it started on no matter what and you can't chain multiple rules together (you can't use IVS rules to make it go from preset 1 to preset 2 and then to preset 3 for example). It returns to the original preset after 10 seconds.

 

[Arjun]

The preset setting functionality makes this model a bare minimum requirement for it qualify as a PTZ; it should work for certain environments though, and at this price point, would seem justifiable to have one unit handy.

In the beginning, used to play around with Amcrest's PTZ Dome Shaped Indoor cameras, they were specified as PTZ, but they can't be programmed for certain presets and are basically set and forget. At least this Dahua PTZ would be a notch better than the Amcrest.

Yes, but the amount of control you have is limited. It will return to the preset it started on no matter what and you can't chain multiple rules together (you can't use IVS rules to make it go from preset 1 to preset 2 and then to preset 3 for example). It returns to the original preset after 10 seconds.

 

[tangent]

The preset setting functionality makes this model a bare minimum requirement for it qualify as a PTZ; it should work for certain environments though, and at this price point, would seem justifiable to have one unit handy.

In the beginning, used to play around with Amcrest's PTZ Dome Shaped Indoor cameras, they were specified as PTZ, but they can't be programmed for certain presets and are basically set and forget. At least this Dahua PTZ would be a notch better than the Amcrest.

You do have to click the save button for the camera to remember presets that you set. Software VMS like blue iris set presets internally, instead of telling the camera go to preset 1 they tell the camera things like pan to 200 degrees and tilt to 38 degrees when you click a preset button. I don't think I've ever seen a PTZ that didn't have presets.

Having IVS functionality is a very nice addition. A PTZ without that would just look where ever you tell it to or change based on an alarm input. There are some limitations to what you can do with the IVS rules, but it would actually be possible to do things externally using the dahua api and some home automation to work around those. To state the obvious, a PTZ can only look at one direction at a time.

 

[looney2ns]

Update: So I've had this since the end of March. Wife and I both have used it quit a bit since I installed it outdoors. It's installed on the north side of the house, under a soffit. It went through quite a wind and rain storm last weekend, without issues.
I've not had any issue's with it, except once in a great while when zooming, it may struggle a bit to focus.
I get a little bit of glare from the dome just prior to sunset, but that doesn't last long.
But for the small size of the package, even with the downside of the dome, I like it.
It handles it's intended usage very well. Audio is great.
@EMPIRETECANDY

 

[Chase]

What kind of distance can you zoom to?

 

[looney2ns]

See videos on first page.

 

[Cameraguy]

Courtesy of Andy @ Empire Technology @EMPIRETECANDY we have a new Mini PTZ to check out.
This is similar to the one that @tangent reviewed, except this one includes zoom and IR illumination, his model does not.

You can see his review here of the SD12200T-GN: Review: Dahua Starlight Mini PT Dome SD12200T-GN

This camera, the SD1A203T-GN, that I'm reviewing is from Dahua's EcoSavy 3, Lite series of cams.
This camera was provided by Empire Technology in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Specs:
Image Sensor 1/2.8” STARVIS™ CMOS
Effective Pixels 1920(H) x 1080(V), 2 Megapixels
RAM/ROM 512M/128M
Scanning System Progressive
Electronic Shutter Speed 1/1s~1/30,000s
Minimum Illumination Color: 0.005Lux@F1.6; 0Lux@F1.6 (IR on)
S/N Ratio More than 50dB
IR Distance Distance up to 15m (49.2ft)
IR On/Off Control Auto/Manual
IR LEDs 3

Focal Length 2.7mm~8.1mm
Max. Aperture F1.8
Angle of View H: 105.6° ~ 35.2°
Optical Zoom 3x
Focus Control Auto/Manual
Close Focus Distance 100mm~ 1000mm

More specs here: http://www.dahuasecurity.com/asset/upload/product/20180118/SD1A203T-GN_Datasheet_20180118.pdf

Price as of this writing $170.00 shipped via DHL.
Can be purchased here: Aliexpress.com : Buy SD1A203T GN 2MP 3x Starlight IR PTZ Network Camera SD1A203T GN, Free DHL shipping from Reliable network camera suppliers on Empire Technology Co., Ltd

Body is all metal except for the dome and the black area that covers the IR's.
The web interface is pretty much standard Dahua Interface.
Upon logging into the cam for the first time, I did notice they have added additional nag screens.
The first one is to ensure you enter a strong password.
Then they want you to add your email address in case of password recovery.
Then a prompt to turn on Easy4IP, and sign up for their P2P service.
Also one to turn on automatic firmware upgrades. (my opinion, just say no)
My opinion is to skip adding your email address, nor enable Easy4ip for security reasons.
Firmware is dated 12/27/17.

Unless someone just HAS to see it's guts, I will refrain from taking the cam a part, as I assume it's very similar to the version that tangent is reviewing.

Cam and included accessories. Camera has a built-in mic, as well as an audio input and output on the pigtail. Once I get to the video's, you will hear why you may want this option, it's noisy with the built-in mic when moving.

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Without mounting plate.
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With mounting plate.
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Door off for reset button, and SD card install.
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SD card ready to be locked in.
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SD card locked.
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What format should sd card be formatted to if using a pre-existing card? Or can the camera format it itself?

 

[looney2ns]

What format should sd card be formatted to if using a pre-existing card? Or can the camera format it itself?

Yes, the cam can format. The last card I bought for a cam was plug n play. No formatting needed. That was a Sandisk Ultra.

 

[Cameraguy]

Yes, the cam can format. The last card I bought for a cam was plug n play. No formatting needed. That was a Sandisk Ultra.

Yea im gonna test a preexsisting card and see how it does