Hi folks. I bought a set of T5442TM-ASs from Andy, so here is a quick review of this model.
This camera is identical to T5442TM-AS-LED, which I reviewed here some time ago. The only difference is that this one owns infrared LEDs instead of white light LEDs, and has an ICR (removable IR filter). The IR LEDs are hidden behind front, dark plastic as opposed to white LEDs, which are easily visible.
Apart from LEDs, the specs are identical. The white LED model is placed in “full color” section, which would suggest it should have better night time capability, and no need for IR illumination.
After loggin to a Web Interface, the first thing that draw my attention, was that this cam had clearly better image quality than my white-LED model. Sharpness value no longer affects noise level, and there is less glittering in color during nighttime. It turned out, Dahua has fixed these issues in newer firmware. My white LED model had firmware from April 2019, while these new IR cams had firmware from June 2019. After installation of this firmware provided by Andy, the image from white LED model become identical to IR model, and most image issues were gone. Of course there is no mention about any fixes of image issues in firmware description, but this shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s very common for software developers to omit such things in update descriptions.
There is another firmware updatefor this model from September 2019. It mainly addresses Smart IR issue. Unfortunately it also introduces some error about algorithm version.
The Smart IR function is rather useless for IP cams (it works well only in analog models). I described the topic here.
After checking all settings I can tell you, the T5442TM-AS is no different from white LED model. It has identical gain scale from ISO50 to roughly ISO40000. Noise reduction works the same. The lens brightness is identical. I got white LED model with 2.8mm lens, while all IR models with 3.6mm lenses. So below animations are a direct comparison between 2.8mm and 3.6mm.
The only visible difference is when you turn on IR/BW mode. In case of white LED model there is no ICR and no IR LEDs. The T5442TM-AS has both. After switching to this mode, the white-LED model drops its sensitivity by about 1EV while IR model rises by 1EV. While in case of white-LED model I have no clue why it happens so, the IR model gets brighter because IR filter is removed, there is additional supply of IR light, so it gets brighter. I haven’t noticed any image softness after rising IR filter in IR model.
In summary I don’t see any reason to choose LED model over IR one. The T5442TM-AS is superior in terms of IR with almost 2EV better night vision. If you’re a fan of white LEDs, remember that these have only ON and OFF option and can’t be triggered by motion detection. For such functionality you'll have to choose Active Deterrence models.
If I was asked today, which model from all Dahua’s cameras I’d choose, this would certainly be T5442TM-AS. Every time I log to my HDW4231EM-AS, I see huge difference in image quality. I’m pretty sure the HDW5231R-ZE would fall behind T5442TM-AS if directly compared.
This camera is identical to T5442TM-AS-LED, which I reviewed here some time ago. The only difference is that this one owns infrared LEDs instead of white light LEDs, and has an ICR (removable IR filter). The IR LEDs are hidden behind front, dark plastic as opposed to white LEDs, which are easily visible.
Apart from LEDs, the specs are identical. The white LED model is placed in “full color” section, which would suggest it should have better night time capability, and no need for IR illumination.
After loggin to a Web Interface, the first thing that draw my attention, was that this cam had clearly better image quality than my white-LED model. Sharpness value no longer affects noise level, and there is less glittering in color during nighttime. It turned out, Dahua has fixed these issues in newer firmware. My white LED model had firmware from April 2019, while these new IR cams had firmware from June 2019. After installation of this firmware provided by Andy, the image from white LED model become identical to IR model, and most image issues were gone. Of course there is no mention about any fixes of image issues in firmware description, but this shouldn’t be a surprise. It’s very common for software developers to omit such things in update descriptions.
There is another firmware updatefor this model from September 2019. It mainly addresses Smart IR issue. Unfortunately it also introduces some error about algorithm version.
The Smart IR function is rather useless for IP cams (it works well only in analog models). I described the topic here.
After checking all settings I can tell you, the T5442TM-AS is no different from white LED model. It has identical gain scale from ISO50 to roughly ISO40000. Noise reduction works the same. The lens brightness is identical. I got white LED model with 2.8mm lens, while all IR models with 3.6mm lenses. So below animations are a direct comparison between 2.8mm and 3.6mm.
The only visible difference is when you turn on IR/BW mode. In case of white LED model there is no ICR and no IR LEDs. The T5442TM-AS has both. After switching to this mode, the white-LED model drops its sensitivity by about 1EV while IR model rises by 1EV. While in case of white-LED model I have no clue why it happens so, the IR model gets brighter because IR filter is removed, there is additional supply of IR light, so it gets brighter. I haven’t noticed any image softness after rising IR filter in IR model.
In summary I don’t see any reason to choose LED model over IR one. The T5442TM-AS is superior in terms of IR with almost 2EV better night vision. If you’re a fan of white LEDs, remember that these have only ON and OFF option and can’t be triggered by motion detection. For such functionality you'll have to choose Active Deterrence models.
If I was asked today, which model from all Dahua’s cameras I’d choose, this would certainly be T5442TM-AS. Every time I log to my HDW4231EM-AS, I see huge difference in image quality. I’m pretty sure the HDW5231R-ZE would fall behind T5442TM-AS if directly compared.
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If I could download this latest firmware once again, I could install it on another camera and see if I messed something. The link is expired. Maybe someone can attach the file directly here. The exposure compensation is the only feature that I missed so much. I so happy it is finally implemented. It makes a big difference.
