Which microchips/processors does HikVision use in its cameras?

Infinity7

n3wb
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Which microchips/processors does HikVision use in its cameras?

Are they produced by HikVision, by other Chinese producer or imported from abroad?

If somebody disassembled a HikVision camera you may have an idea.

I searched internet and found nothing.
 

alastairstevenson

Staff member
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
15,930
Reaction score
6,779
Location
Scotland
Which microchips/processors does HikVision use in its cameras?
Ambarella and HiSilicon are the big Chinese names for the SoCs using in IP surveillance cameras.
These combine a version of the ARM 32-bit CPU for general processing and I/O with a DSP for handling video processing.
Hikvision use both.
Example:

DS-2CD2335FWD-I
Ambarella S3L (Flattened Device Tree), model: Ambarella S3L Olive Board

DS-2CD2T42WD-I8
Ambarella S2L (Flattened Device Tree), model: Ambarella S2LM Kiwi Board

DS-2CD3335-I
Hi3516a

DS-2CD2532F-IS, DS-2CD2612F
Ambarella A5M Coconut
 

consorts

Young grasshopper
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Messages
41
Reaction score
9
Location
NYC, USA
when hik's network ip cams are organized by

easyip 4, 3, 2+, 2, 1

does it mean they are using an improved cpu?
 
Last edited:

john-ipvm

Known around here
Joined
Oct 15, 2015
Messages
420
Reaction score
675
Note: Ambarella is a US company. Agreed, though, about Ambarella and Hisilicon being the two most common.

Fullhan is another processor provider that Hikvision uses, spending $32 million with them in 2017, though do not know what, if any, Western products Hikvision uses Fullhan chips in.
 

alastairstevenson

Staff member
Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
15,930
Reaction score
6,779
Location
Scotland
I wonder why I thought Ambarella was Chinese? Good that it's not, I often bemoan the lack of that type of technology outside China these days.
 

Infinity7

n3wb
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Thanks for the article - it's right to the point. Do you know in what products does HikVision use Movidius (Intel) and Nvidia chips?

I also have been thinking what would HikVision do if they are banned from US chips? Stop operations like ZTE did?
 

john-ipvm

Known around here
Joined
Oct 15, 2015
Messages
420
Reaction score
675
@Infinity7 Movidius chips are relatively new so I am not sure how many Hikvision (or other video surveillance products) they are being used currently. However, there is a lot of interest in using Movidius chips in 2019 / 2020 releases (e.g., Avigilon announced this year that Movidius is their new core chip for their H5 offerings). Between Intel, Intel / Movidius and Nvidia, the three represent core products used in current and upcoming 'AI' offerings.

Worth noting, Ambarella and Hisilicon both have their own AI chips so Hikvision could still choose from those two, even if / when sanctions were passed.
 
Joined
Jul 25, 2022
Messages
8
Reaction score
5
Location
NA
I realize this is quite an old thread, but I ran across it in a search. For anyone else that's looking, it appears that Hisilicon is still widely used in HikVision cameras.

On an unrelated note, I have a DS-HD1 with a Fullhan FH8830 running RT-Thread and have been doing some research in an attempt to customize the firmware but am struggling to find many cameras (or much information) about this CPU other than broken links. No u-boot source is available, SDK/toolchain is nowhere to be found, etc. The DS-HD1 doorbell camera appears to be originally developed for HikVision subsidiary EZVIZ as model DB1. White-label versions of the DS-HD1 are available in the US and EU with nearly identical firmware and white-label versions of the HikConnect app under a number of brands, including RCA. Though it seems Fullhan is still not widely used by HikVision.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 25, 2022
Messages
8
Reaction score
5
Location
NA
I used to dig some specs from this site.

Thanks for the link. This community needs something like the custom router firmware community has (search wikidev... or is it wikidevi? deviwiki?), which lists the actual hardware that's used in routers.

I've seen a lot of these bare camera boards. Are they typically sold with access to the SDK or is the firmware prebuilt/flashed?
 
Top