STARVIS vs Starlight ?

rpscuba

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Preparing to buy a few outdoor cameras for my house. Im stuck between the N64CL52 and the N51BL22 and am looking for advise. Not sure between STARVIS and/or Starlight...

Thanks in advance.
 

rpscuba

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Or any other suggestions. I currently use a QNAP with QVR Pro as my NVR if that helps.

Thanks.
 

tangent

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Starvis is a line of Sensors made by Sony.

Starlight is a line of cameras made by Dahua that mostly use Starvis sensors that have very good low light performance. Generally a product Dahua brands as Starlight will preform better at night than one only marketed as having a Starvis sensor. In low light a lower resolution camera (2mp, 1080p) is often better than higher resolutions, it's a matter of how much light hits each pixel of the image sensor.
 

mat200

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Preparing to buy a few outdoor cameras for my house. Im stuck between the N64CL52 and the N51BL22 and am looking for advise. Not sure between STARVIS and/or Starlight...

Thanks in advance.
Welcome Rpscuba,

Due to issues with dome cameras outdoors, many of us prefer the turret form factor instead. Recommend considering turret styles instead.

You can read more in the notes which giomania has created from information shared by members
IPCamTalk WiKi | IP Cam Talk
 

rpscuba

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Welcome Rpscuba,

Due to issues with dome cameras outdoors, many of us prefer the turret form factor instead. Recommend considering turret styles instead.

You can read more in the notes which giomania has created from information shared by members
IPCamTalk WiKi | IP Cam Talk
Thanks, it is a pleasure to be aboard.

Thanks for the tip about turret cameras. Any advice/input on the following cameras:

N84BG44
N64CG52
N51BI22


Thanks!
 

rpscuba

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Starvis is a line of Sensors made by Sony.

Starlight is a line of cameras made by Dahua that mostly use Starvis sensors that have very good low light performance. Generally a product Dahua brands as Starlight will preform better at night than one only marketed as having a Starvis sensor. In low light a lower resolution camera (2mp, 1080p) is often better than higher resolutions, it's a matter of how much light hits each pixel of the image sensor.
Thank you. I am reading up and trying to learn as much as possible before I make a purchase, but there is so much to read its daunting. Thanks for the link to the Wiki.

I am prob asking too much to want maximum daytime resolution and very good to good low light resolution. Our new house is in a quiet residential area with street lights 2-4 lots away on both sides (front) and little to no ambient light in the back (field).
 

rpscuba

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1st starlight is fixed cam, i think it's IPC-HDW5231R-ZE like this kkind of.
2nd starlight is the Starlight PTZ, and high end one, costs 1000usd+ , I watched this demo at dahua, not normal fixed cams.
So do you think the 5mp N51BI22(Color: 0.009 lux at F1.6 (1/3 s,30 IRE) will perform similarly (or better) than the 2mp one you mentioned?
 

mat200

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Thank you. I am reading up and trying to learn as much as possible before I make a purchase, but there is so much to read its daunting. Thanks for the link to the Wiki.

I am prob asking too much to want maximum daytime resolution and very good to good low light resolution. Our new house is in a quiet residential area with street lights 2-4 lots away on both sides (front) and little to no ambient light in the back (field).
Hi rpscuba,

Don't worry, with the notes and members here you will quickly learn and pick up what you need to know.

Most of us have picked up the IPC-HDW5231xx turret Dahua OEM 2mp international model starlight camera from Andy and have been very happy with the low light performance.

If you need a low light camera either the regular PoE model or ePoE model would be a good one to compare your options.

Do take your time to go over the notes, as most of your initial questions you may have should be well addressed there.
 

rpscuba

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Thanks much to everyone here. So, I see that the 2mp is best for low light. Are we talking about this one (US Model) N24BG52 by chance? Or is the IPC-HDW5231xx from Andy better in one or more aspect?

Also, if I end up with the 2mp camera will I be disappointed with the daylight resolution? Is there a happy medium?
 

EMPIRETECANDY

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Thanks much to everyone here. So, I see that the 2mp is best for low light. Are we talking about this one (US Model) N24BG52 by chance? Or is the IPC-HDW5231xx from Andy better in one or more aspect?

Also, if I end up with the 2mp camera will I be disappointed with the daylight resolution? Is there a happy medium?
daytime also very sharp, some guys said 8mp and 2mp same pic, but i think will have difference on 4K screen. the one N24BG52 is model IPC-HDW4231EM-ASE, 2mp fixed lens. Pic not as sharp as the HDW5231R-Z, but also works very good for its costs.
 

aristobrat

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Thanks much to everyone here. So, I see that the 2mp is best for low light. Are we talking about this one (US Model) N24BG52 by chance?
IMO, very few folks here have US models. It took Dahua forever (and a day) to make Starlights available via the official Dahua US channel (whereas folks here have been buying <mostly through Andy, @EMPIRETECANDY> the OEM international models since fall of 2016)... and the official US models are usually priced a lot higher than the OEM international models.

The usual reason folks usually want an official US model is to be eligible for support directly from Dahua. But there have been enough posts here where Dahua referred folks with US models back to their reseller for support (i.e. didn't offer direct support) to make it questionable if Dahua will ever talk directly to a consumer. These are not consumer-level cameras...

Or is the IPC-HDW5231xx from Andy better in one or more aspect?
The HDW5231 (via Andy) is a vari-focal camera. Once you mount it, you're able to electronically zoom the focal length between 2.7mm and 12.0mm, until you have the perfect width for your shot. The N24GB52 is a fixed lens camera. Once you mount it, the width of the shot is not changeable. Most fixed-lens cameras come where you can choose a focal length (typically 2.8mm, 3.6mm, or 6.00mm) when you buy it. You pick the one that will give you a width closest to the width you want, and that's that... no changing it... if it's slightly larger, you end up recording pointless stuff, like the side of a wall. if it's slightly smaller, you miss recording some stuff that would be useful. Although you can change the zoom (focal length) of the 5231 at anytime, it's not designed to be a day-to-day PTZ. You have to manually pan and tilt it yourself when mounting, and the zoom is really only designed to be adjusted occasionally (i.e. for some reason, the width of your scene needs to be changed).

Also, if I end up with the 2mp camera will I be disappointed with the daylight resolution? Is there a happy medium?
To me, this is how your MP question pans out:
2MP Starlight = great during the day, excellent (the best) at night
Higher MP camera = up to excellent during the day, poor at night (static shots may look OK, but movement almost always turns shots into unusable blurs).

You can actually "see" the differences for yourself at IPVM Camera Calculator V3

Type in your address, pick/drop a camera onto the map, and then move the little guy around and see what the expected image quality would be.
 
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aristobrat

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Also, something I've seen @mat200 and others mention is mixing cameras... Use the 2MP Starlights where you need identification at night (driveway, porches/patios, etc), and use some higher MP models (w/ Starvis image sensors) for overview cameras (where you just want to be able to detect that someone in general is going on outside, with no expectations of being able to use that camera at night to ID anyone).

I've got a HDW5631 ( which looks like the varifocal version of theN64CG52) that I'll be trying this with. I've got it mounted over (and zoomed into) my driveway at the moment. As soon as I get a 2nd camera covering the driveway closer, I'm going to zoom this one out and use it as an overview camera that will catch the driveway and front yard/street. I'll see how it goes...
 
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aristobrat

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HDW5231R-Z vs HDW5231R-ZE ??
The Z was the original model, the ZE is the updated model. There's a review thread in the Dahua subforum here for both models. Other than physical appearance (I personally prefer the Z's "not all black front" appearance better, as it blends into my white soffits better), the functionality is about the same. I think the ZE model has slightly different focal lengths. Andy mentioned that he won't be able to order the Z model after May (IIRC) and that he's sold about 4,500 of those puppies.
 

rpscuba

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I like the multiple resolution camera approach. I will have a back yard that will be darker than the front so the 2mp Starlight may be best there. The front of my house will have more light due to street lights 2 lots away in one direction and 3 lots away in the other. Its still dark at night but the ambient light out front is a fair amount more than out back. One of my areas of concern revolve around daytime coverage/resolution when no one is home for 8-10 hours. Of course night when everyone is asleep is also important as well but I don't want to rob Peter to pay Paul so to speak. Surely there is a substantial difference between 8mp and 2mp cameras and what they can discern at any given dime during the day?
 
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