Review: Dahua DH-IPC-HDW3449HP-AS-PV 4MP TIOC Active Deterrence Camera

wittaj

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DH-IPC-HDW3449HP-AS-PV from @EMPIRETECANDY
4MP Active Deterrence Network Camera with Blue and Red LED Strobe lights

Review unit courtesy of Andy (@EMPIRETECANDY ) in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Andy's ipcamtalk vendor forum: link
Andy's AliExpress store: link
Andy's Amazon store: link
Andy's Email: kingsecurity2014@163.com

Price Approximately US TBD
Purchase from Amazon here: TBD
Andy's Aliexpress store here: TBD

I have the 2.8mm lens version. All video is exported out from Blue Iris.

IMG_20201218_143350977.jpg IMG_20201218_143317181.jpg


Please try to keep this thread on topic

I have purchased several cameras from Andy and I have highly recommended him here, as well to people I know looking to get cameras. I recently made yet another purchase LOL and Andy was nice enough to send me this camera to make a review on it and compare it to the other active deterrence cameras I have purchased from him. As usual, camera arrived in less than 3 days from China.

I currently have two of the Loryta Active Deterrence Camera IPC-T5241H-AS-PV 3.6mm that I had purchased about eight months apart. Here is the review that @looney2ns did on that camera back in July, 2019. Many of the attributes are the same.

They are very similar cameras. The major differences between the two cameras include the following:

  • The 3449 is a full color camera and does not have or see IR light.
  • The 3449 is a 4MP camera compared to the 2MP of the 5241.
  • The 3449 is an all metal construction compared to the plastic base of the 5241.
  • The 3449 active deterrence includes red and blue strobe lights compared to just white light of the 5241.
  • The 3449 white light is either on all night or off – do not have the option to only turn on when motion is sensed.
  • The 3449 has a slightly larger sensor (1/2.7” compared to 1/2.8”)
  • The 3449 max aperture is F1.0 compared to F1.6
  • The 3449 uses a set screw instead of the tab release of the 5241. Unfortunately, the set screw is smaller than all my other Dahua’s, so the tool is not interchangeable.

Dahua marketing material: Here

Dahua marketing video: Here

Full Spec sheet: Here

My initial impression of this camera during bench testing inside was wow these blue and red strobes are blinding. I was seeing white flashes for 30 minutes after testing and I wasn’t even looking straight into them. The bounce off of the walls illuminated the room, the hallway, and the room down the hallway. I couldn’t wait to get this outside at night and was expecting to see this illuminate for a distance and maybe bouncing off the neighbor’s house simulating maybe a police car around the front of the house.

My current active deterrence camera was placed close to a 3,100 lumen flood light (reduced to 620 lumen until motion activated), so I knew this new camera would be best positioned at this location and I would move my current camera to the other corner of the house that would need the IR light. The camera is located 9 feet high, but it is being used as an overview and I have other cameras lower to get the right shot.

By doing this, it allowed me to compare these two cameras in an identical location. Recognizing that this camera is a 4MP, 2.8mm lens compared to my existing 2MP, 3.6mm lens, I wanted to set each camera up to identical parameters for initial testing for a compare and contrast of the two cameras at the same settings. Also, we do not get many opportunities to see a 2.8mm and 3.6mm and 2MP versus 4MP cameras in the same location, so I thought this would be interesting to see and point people to as we get many new posters here asking why their new 3.6mm camera cannot make out a face at 75 feet and also show the differences between a 4MP and 2MP with the same amount of light.

These cameras were setup at 8,192 bitrate, 0-6ms shutter, 0-45 gain, and NR at 50. I run a faster shutter at this location due to its proximity to a flood light in order to try to capture as much detail and minimal blur.

Original 2MP Camera:


TIOC 4 MP Camera


The first obvious difference is the 2.8mm has a wider view. And no surprise to those that have experienced 2MP versus 4MP cameras, that once you dial them in, the 4MP needs more light. Even with this camera being a full-color, Non-IR camera, it still needs more light.

The other thing you see is that the total field of view once dialed in is a fairly small circle to run in color, but that is typical of any camera unless you run auto shutter or a slower shutter – and we all know what motion looks like then! The black stake you see in the yard is 15 feet from the camera. You will notice that the 2MP camera senses me and triggers before the 4MP camera. Despite a larger field of view, the 4MP did not identify me until I was 15 feet away from the camera.

Keep in mind that was with the cameras both at the same settings. Adjusting parameters in the camera to address the differences between the two cameras allows the 4MP to sense a person just as quickly.
For each camera, I stop and look at the camera at the 15-foot mark to see how recognizable features are with each camera at the same distance. I also run to see if there is any blurring or degradation. This shows that with enough light, a 4MP camera with a smaller lens can compete with a slightly larger 2MP lens.

I have enough light at this location that the white light on the camera didn’t make a difference. So with this 0-6ms shutter speed, I wanted to see if the camera could perform with only the white light from the camera and the flood light turned off. As you can see from this video, it never recognized me at these settings. You would need to run 0-12ms shutter with just the white light. You could also squeeze out 0-10ms shutter with higher gain.

Turning up gain or gamma would pick me up without introducing too much noise. A slower shutter would also allow it to pick me up.


My final settings with my flood light on settled on 0-8ms shutter and 0-50 gain and 50NR, which provides a larger circle of coverage than the 2MP counterpart that was at that location without compromising video quality. For some reason, my 2MP would pixelate badly at anything less than 8192 bitrate during the daytime, but I can run this one at half that with comparable performance.

I was surprised that outside the red/blue strobes were not more noticeable. For as blinding as they were inside, outside you really cannot see them unless looking at it. Certainly no light bounce off my neighbor’s house that I was hoping for. Without my floodlight, they are more noticeable. I run this camera with the white light off so that the red/blue strobe isn’t blinded out by it.

On the plus side, as you can see on my video above, they are hardly noticeable in the video, which that part is good, because in the promo video Dahua put out and linked above, the red/blue was impacting the video quality.

Andy also had me try different firmware on this camera. The stock firmware was very slow. The newer firmware (V2.80000000.22.R.20119) is a lot faster. I also tried V2.800.15OG004.0.R.201203 and didn’t notice any differences. Unlike other AI cameras, none of the firmware gave a global config tab. Fortunately, I have not had a need to use it and AI for human detection has been spot on.

Final Verdict – Many think that the active deterrence cameras are gimmicky. I find them as another tool in the toolbox or I wouldn’t have previously purchased two of them 8 months apart. I like that they can basically be two-way talk; many people may be scared away once the automated alarm or voice-over turns on; and with Blue Iris, I can now have cameras on the side of the house trigger these alarms before they make it all the way around the house.

In the right location with enough ambient light at night, I think the full color camera performs slightly better than my other active deterrence. The camera will work with just its white light, but the coverage zone is fairly small then unless you run slower shutter speeds. Keep in mind, that since this camera doesn’t have IR, you need a light source or use the camera white light that is either on or off. If you do not have enough light or neighbors would be complaining about the white light the camera emits all night, then the other active deterrence with IR is probably the better fit.

If you are going to go with a 2.8 or 3.6mm camera at a specific location anyway, I think it makes sense to have one or more active deterrence cameras on the property for the additional capabilities it provides. You can always turn the active deterrence off if not needed, and then turn on once you have a need for it.

With some home automation to trigger these, I think one of these would also be incredible inside a home. Like I mentioned, inside these lights are blinding and someone busting into a house and be presented with an eye full of these will not want to stick around long. Plus they will be temporary blinded and will bounce into everything, giving you time to catch up to them.

Thanks again to Andy for providing us a camera for testing!
 
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newkit

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do you still have videos of the camera? the youtube videos in your review are no more available.
 
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