fenderman
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This will result in a decent static image but as soon as there is motion it will be a blur...
IPC-HDW4631C-A - any thoughts?
- Thread starter EvgenioZ
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Agreed. Just the only way to make it look similar to the 4431C-A. I have 3 of them, maybe thats just a bad model, will test the other 2. The daytime digital zoom is great though, its so much sharper than the 4431C-A (although some of those just come a little out of focus too). Wish it was better at night. Firmware is Nov 2017 I believe. Its a business so unfortunately I cannot post any sample images etc.
Tried another of the 3 and its the same - so much darker than the 4431C-A, definitely not starlight - I had to make it manual exposure 1/10 and gain 50-80 (for night only, as whiteout in the day if outside), to come close to the 4431C-A. Also the BLC sucks on these, same way it sucks on the 4431EM-AS - it turns everything very "clay" like, and at night there is tons of noise. Great image without BLC if there is tons of light, otherwise 4631C-A and 4431EM-AS are not worth it IMO. 4431C-A rules the night. BTW, the audio on the 4431EM-AS is superior to the 4431C-A.
Engee
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what seller you used? I tried to find C-A and found xinray with good pricing, and aotetec store, which gives lowest prices ever and fast free shipping via dhl (looks like noone else is giving that). Anyone has experience with these vendors?
It's just converted to English. It's a great camera and way better than similar US models which costs DOUBLE the price, like the 4431EM-AS. You can download the latest firmware in English, there are official English NTSC files out there on various Dahua websites, otherwise there is an English mod if you want to go that route. Updating to the Dec 2016 firmware - if it does not come with it already - adds the Smart Plan feature so IVS works with the NVRs. Works great BTW. I use amazon, none directly from China. But the 4631 is really only good for well lit applications, like retail store cash areas.
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Thats when Smart Plan was introduced, which links the IPC to the NVR for Push Notifications - so thats the earliest firmware you need to do tripwire alerts etc. Most updates in the newer firmware are security related like mandatory stronger passwords, which is very annoying - also, automatic firmware updates, and they even removed stuff like H.264 replaced with H.264H and H.265. Bottom line is the 4431C-As from what I have seen are 2016 cameras, the 4631 is 2017 but not as good at night, there is a replacement for the 4431 but not sure how good that is, Amazon is still flooded with the 4431C-As. I dont buy direct from China so its usually 1 year behind.
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BTW Dahua's greatest NVR, the Ultra model, its latest firmware is still 2016 ;-)
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Can you elaborate please? What do you mean by china hacked?
fenderman
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It is a camera only to be sold in China hacked with enlish firmware and is not upgradeable.
Engee
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guys, I bought some cameras on aliexpress, to make a test, I purchased cameras from different sellers and I will tell you what a level of service it is, how long it takes to get via dhl, etc. this will be a good source of info about the risk of buying on ali,
Engee
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the cameras have firmware from autumn 2017, yes, probably they have added english. but all stuff inside is of original dahua quality. note that cameras are not starlight, but it is not a disqualification, all depends on your needs.
I'm going to labour this point to get to the bottom of this as i'm not the only interested one......if there are seldom firmware updates and/or if you are not bothered about updating the firmware, then what are the other downsides of buying such a model?
Hi this is my first post, I'm a total noob!
Interested in a security cam, looked online and found out that SCW makes some great stuff but seemed too expensive. Found another website (backstreet surveillance) less expensive. Similar quality stuff with a discount going on and was about to buy a camera system when I found out a NVR identical on ebay for way less money! Continuing my 'research' found out that most sellers are resellers aka the middleman, nothing wrong with it just that us budget minded consumers are always looking for the best bang for our buck. Resellers like SCW, backstreet and bnhphotovideo provide support and such but as I said I look for the better deal always and support myself through the internet lol. In my 'research' I found this Dahua ipc hdw4631c-a camera with the Dahua nvr4104-p-4sk2 to work great! Bought it on eBay from someone out of Walton, Kentucky (100% positive feedback) for around $225 (155 nvr+70cam) plus the cat6 cables and 2tb HDD. Have space for 3 more cameras at around $70 a piece.
As others have said daytime is great, night time is very limited, I plan to add a 25 IR piece for around $60. Software is all in plain English. I don't plan to upgrade it to avoid any issues as it's working perfectly. Though the day image is awesome (3072x2048@20fps) I wish it was better but I guess that would be 3840x2160@30 fps and up cameras which would cost a LOT more. BTW what's the difference between this camera and the N64CG53 sold by bnhphotovideo among others? It seems to be exactly the same camera for over $120 more. Maybe the official US version?
Overall my only disatisfaction is the range of the night vision which I'm planning to help with an IR light.
Interested in a security cam, looked online and found out that SCW makes some great stuff but seemed too expensive. Found another website (backstreet surveillance) less expensive. Similar quality stuff with a discount going on and was about to buy a camera system when I found out a NVR identical on ebay for way less money! Continuing my 'research' found out that most sellers are resellers aka the middleman, nothing wrong with it just that us budget minded consumers are always looking for the best bang for our buck. Resellers like SCW, backstreet and bnhphotovideo provide support and such but as I said I look for the better deal always and support myself through the internet lol. In my 'research' I found this Dahua ipc hdw4631c-a camera with the Dahua nvr4104-p-4sk2 to work great! Bought it on eBay from someone out of Walton, Kentucky (100% positive feedback) for around $225 (155 nvr+70cam) plus the cat6 cables and 2tb HDD. Have space for 3 more cameras at around $70 a piece.
As others have said daytime is great, night time is very limited, I plan to add a 25 IR piece for around $60. Software is all in plain English. I don't plan to upgrade it to avoid any issues as it's working perfectly. Though the day image is awesome (3072x2048@20fps) I wish it was better but I guess that would be 3840x2160@30 fps and up cameras which would cost a LOT more. BTW what's the difference between this camera and the N64CG53 sold by bnhphotovideo among others? It seems to be exactly the same camera for over $120 more. Maybe the official US version?
Overall my only disatisfaction is the range of the night vision which I'm planning to help with an IR light.
aristobrat
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IMO, Dahua has fairly regular firmware updates, at least for the popular Starlight models. And it’s not always behind-the-scenes security stuff, these firmware updates often fix bugs (like the vari-focal units losing focus when switching from day to night/IR), and add new features (like automatically switching between day and night profiles based on light, being able to enable SSH, the ability to switch auth modes for folks who like to do simple scripting, the ability to edit ONVIF accounts directly from the webui, ability to switch between NTSC/PAL without having to flash a different firmware, etc).
You also have to factor in any new tactics Dahua comes up with in their never-ending quest to kill this market. Some of Dahua’s latest NVR firmware updates now block these China-region cameras, which is something that their NVRs never did before.
At least most in this thread are aware of the trade-offs and can make an informed choice before buying. It always sucks to see the threads that pop up on here from someone who FUBAR’ed their camera by updating the firmware because they didn’t know what they bought...
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aristobrat
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FWIW, it looks like your order will ship from Kentucky, but the “someone” you bought from seems like they’re in China.
The “Contact Us” section of the eBay listing says:
Working Time: Monday-Saturday，9:00-18:30 （China time)
Ok I'll take time and energy to reply. The person in charge of security--cctv ships from Walton, Kentucky and from China as well. If it's shipped from KY is a lil more expensive. That's the products I got. Got my stuff in four days from day of purchase tracked by ups from day and indeed it ships from KY. Obviuosly ou have never vomr across this before and just received your education. I will post the same on the other post on this cam plus a lil more info. The person in charge of that eBay account has earned my respect and a five star rating. I'm surr there are a lot of dishonesty going on but he sent it from where he said he woukd send it from and I'm happy with my stuff.