Review-Dahua DH-SD22204T-GN 2mp 4X Mini PTZ

[wackystuff]

isn't this an old camera? i think it's a couple years old model..

 

[Tom Lorek]

I've already noticed several differences between the two;
First, there's a third pigtail for audio which wasn't on the first cam.
Second, like Looney the desiccant pack wasn't attached to the inside of the dome cover.
Third, I noticed some differences in the interface and checked the firmware version, which is different. (most likely due to the audio)
First cam without audio has the following: 2.622.0000000.3.R, Build Date: 2018-01-16
New cam has 2.622.0000000.7.R, Build Date: 2018-04-04

Add a fourth difference, the cam I just received can pan/tilt at the same time (diagonal control) whereas the first cam doesn't. Firmware difference perhaps?

 

[J Sigmo]

Now I'm curious as to which one I'll receive. I, too, ordered through Amazon, using the link Andy posted above. Checking UPS tracking, mine will be delivered between 6 and 8:30 PM. Unfortunately, I will be at work by then, so my curiosity will have to go unsatisfied until I get home.

It looks like UPS must already be working "Christmas hours" this year. Amazing!

Audio of some sort would be nice. Is this just audio in, or perhaps audio out, as well?

 

[Tom Lorek]

Audio in and out plus ground in the third pigtail.

 

[J Sigmo]

Audio in and out plus ground in the third pigtail.

Thank you. I'll be hoping for all of those features!

 

[J Sigmo]

Well, disappointingly, I did not get the extra pigtail with the audio in and out. Then again, I wasn't expecting that when I made my order, so it's no problem.

The firmware says it's up to date, with these details about the camera:

Device Type DH-SD22204T-GN
System Version 2.622.0000000.3.R.T4.484, Build Date: 2018-01-16
WEB Version 3.2.1.0
ONVIF Version 16.12(V2.4.1.513183)
S/N XXXXXXXXXXXX
Copyright 2017, all rights reserved.

So it's just like your "non-audio" one.

I got the camera hooked up and hung temporarily to test it, and it really is fun. It's the first PTZ I've owned, and I'll probably wear it out playing with it.

I have it next to a known "starlight" camera, so I may be able to do some comparisons in very low light, but from what I've already seen, it does seem to do quite well. It's hard to directly compare them because their settings are not identical.

I notice that the unit gives "Life Statistics". I wonder how much I can operate it before things wear out.

Total Working Time 0 day(s) 14 hour(s) 0 minute(s)
ICR Switch 1 time(s)
PTZ Horizontal Rotation Times 82 time(s)
PTZ Vertical Rotation Times 2 time(s)
Upgrade Times 0 time(s)
Zoom Motor Direction Switch Times 46 time(s)
Focus Motor Direction Switch Times 1024 time(s)
PTZ Horizontal Electric Motor Direction Switch Times 87 time(s)
PTZ Vertical Electric Motor Direction Switch Times 2 time(s)
Supply Voltage Abnormity Duration 0 day(s) 0 hour(s) 0 minute(s) 0 Sec

The slight noise that the motors produce really gets one of our cats to be curious. She's tried to climb up to get to the camera, but hasn't found a way to reach it yet!

The camera seems to move diagonally for me.

My desiccant pack is secured with some double-stick tape or adhesive.

The default settings for pretty much everything were in force when I made this snapshot. Looking at this still, I can see that the default sharpening is quite aggressive, creating halos around fine details. That's probably what folks want for video, or perhaps this sharpening is added when a snapshot is generated. Since identification is what we mostly want these cameras to do, high sharpening is probably appropriate where it wouldn't be for a "normal" camera.

I also see artifacts that indicate that these cameras do not use an anti-aliasing filter (blur filter) ahead of the image sensor. Again, this is a matter of taste in a "photo" camera, with some very-new MILC and DSLR cameras now coming without anti-aliasing filters. And in a security camera, I think we want the maximum sharpness, even at the expense of potential Moire, because identification and detail is the primary concern.

I'm having a lot of fun with this thing! Being able to PTZ while viewing on my phone with the BI app is a hoot!

I've set up a few presets, actually while using the BI app on my phone, and that works great, and comes in handy. But I have not played with any automated PTZ based on face detection or another camera's event detection, or the like.

I'm pretty sure I'll be buying more PTZ cameras in the future. I can see how it can be very handy for some locations and applications. For the price, this camera has already been a fantastic introduction to PTZ for me, if only for viewing and harassing the cats in this one room!

 

[SkyLake]

First, there's a third pigtail for audio which wasn't on the first cam.

Post a picture of the camera with the audio pigtail. I mean a picture of a SD22204T-GN with a audio pigtail..

 

[J Sigmo]

I'd like to have the audio i/o. Imagine the fun of pestering your dogs and cats with two-way audio!

I wonder if Amazon just happened to ship the wrong camera, or one was mis-boxed. But if newer ones are coming with the audio i/o, that would be a real bonus.

 

[SkyLake]

As far as i know, the 22204t-gn does not come with audio. Even the 4mp (22404t-gn) does not have audio.

That's why i want to see a picture of the whole camera with the pigtail

EDIT: I found it, and i don't get it... Why it is not listed on the Dahua site, and why i cannot find it locally.

DH-SD22204T-GN / DH-SD22204T-GN-W - Kamera IP PTZ 2MP 4x Dahua Lite | Napad.pl

 

[J Sigmo]

Should I feel like I got ripped off?

 

[SkyLake]

Should I feel like I got ripped off?

LOL

No, i don't think so. Maybe it's just a new revision or one for a specific region only. We will find out

 

[Tom Lorek]

Post a picture of the camera with the audio pigtail. I mean a picture of a SD22204T-GN with a audio pigtail..

Sorry! Got ambitious and installed it this morning. Good that you found the images! That’s exactly what mine looks like.

 

[J Sigmo]

Dahua uploaded new firmware for this camera.

https://www.dahuasecurity.com/products/productDetail/3761

NTSC https://www.dahuasecurity.com/support/downloadCenter/download-search?keyword=DH_SD-Mao-Themis_MultiLang_NP_Stream3_IVS_V2.640.0000000.2.R.180928
PAL https://www.dahuasecurity.com/support/downloadCenter/download-search?keyword=DH_SD-Mao-Themis_MultiLang_PN_Stream3_IVS_V2.640.0000000.2.R.180928

As of now, mine reports having:

2.622.0000000.3.R.T4.484, Build Date: 2018-01-16

Right now, it seems to work fine, and when you let it check for firmware, it says it's up to date. Mine is PAL, and while we're on NTSC here in the US, of course this is irrelevant in my application hooked up via Ethernet and using Blue Iris. The number beginning with 2.622 rather than 2.640 makes me wonder if the firmware in the above links is for a different camera than mine.

@looney2ns

Interesting indeed, but i tried it with Edge, but gave me a error right away ----> "Adobe Flash" needed to be activated. Firefox just showed a black screen on the place holders for the live views.

I am not a fan of flash, because it introduces other and new security risks compared to a also risky installed plugin. And flash is standard blocked in Firefox. On top of that, flash will be dropped soon enough in 2020.

But for the rest did this update finally fix the annoying zoom in / out bug that came with the previous firmware. For now i am pleased with the update so far, except for the Adobe Flash route...

Can you describe the zoom in / out bug? I'm not seeing anything odd with mine, but now I'm curious!

 

[looney2ns]

As of now, mine reports having:

2.622.0000000.3.R.T4.484, Build Date: 2018-01-16

Right now, it seems to work fine, and when you let it check for firmware, it says it's up to date. Mine is PAL, and while we're on NTSC here in the US, of course this is irrelevant in my application hooked up via Ethernet and using Blue Iris. The number beginning with 2.622 rather than 2.640 makes me wonder if the firmware in the above links is for a different camera than mine.




Can you describe the zoom in / out bug? I'm not seeing anything odd with mine, but now I'm curious!

The auto update check in the cameras to the best of my knowledge, are not working.

 

[J Sigmo]

The auto update check in the cameras to the best of my knowledge, are not working.

Do you recommend updating to one of the two firmwares linked above?

 

[looney2ns]

Do you recommend updating to one of the two firmwares linked above?

I go by the rule, if it's not broke don't fix it.

 

[SkyLake]

As of now, mine reports having:

2.622.0000000.3.R.T4.484, Build Date: 2018-01-16

Right now, it seems to work fine, and when you let it check for firmware, it says it's up to date. Mine is PAL, and while we're on NTSC here in the US, of course this is irrelevant in my application hooked up via Ethernet and using Blue Iris. The number beginning with 2.622 rather than 2.640 makes me wonder if the firmware in the above links is for a different camera than mine.




Can you describe the zoom in / out bug? I'm not seeing anything odd with mine, but now I'm curious!

The firmware i posted before, is for the SD22204T-GN. I have a international version, but that should not matter. The 2.622 and 2.640 are just firmware revision numbering methods as far as i know. Like for example version 1.0, 1.1 and so on in software.

The zoom in/out bug i had with my camera was very annoying, as it completely zoomed in, and then out again to the last zoom state every 3 or 4 minutes. So it gave many false positives on tampering and motion etc.

If you do not have this issue, then what looney already said, if it's not broke don't fix it.

 

[J Sigmo]

I go by the rule, if it's not broke don't fix it.

I tend to do that, too. I wonder, though, about the "zoom in/out bug" mentioned above. I'm not seeing anything that seems too odd, but maybe I just don't know what I'm looking for.

Also, there's always the possibility that the board in my camera supports audio in/out, but they've just not included the pigtail for it. I'll have to examine the board more closely sometime and see if it seems to have the components and PCB pads to make the audio connections.

I'd love to get a look at the bottom of @Tom Lorek 's new camera, the one with the pigtail. It would be interesting to see if it has a different part number on it. And if we could get a view inside, showing where the audio wires make their connections to the PCB, that'd be nifty, too!

I'm pretty sure I don't care much about the update that lets people use the other browsers without the plug-in if it means enabling Flash to do so.

One thing I will say is that I cannot get the "tour" to work. It won't let me change the preset, duration, etc., for the steps in a tour. I'm probably doing something wrong, but perhaps it's a firmware issue. Beats me!

Edit: I posted this before seeing the new post by @SkyLake.

Mine does not zoom in and out on its own as far as I can tell.

I can't figure out their firmware revision numbering. I was thinking that the first number described the camera it was intended for, and the following numbers were the revision level. That must not be correct!

 

[Tom Lorek]

I'd love to get a look at the bottom of @Tom Lorek 's new camera, the one with the pigtail. It would be interesting to see if it has a different part number on it. And if we could get a view inside, showing where the audio wires make their connections to the PCB, that'd be nifty, too!

If we get a break tomorrow from the crazy winds we’re getting now, I’ll take it down and snap some pics.

 

[J Sigmo]

If we get a break tomorrow from the crazy winds we’re getting now, I’ll take it down and snap some pics.

That's going above and beyond. If you feel like it, and really have nothing better to do, it would be great. But having to take an installed camera down is a lot of hassle.

It's just for our curiosity. No problem whatsoever if you decide not to mess with it.

We get a lot of high wind here in the winter. But oddly, things have been calm here lately. I probably jinxed that now!

That's one of my concerns with any dome type camera. I don't know how their plastic domes will stand up to sandblasting. But it may be better than a normal PTZ that seems to have some exposed moving joints that would not like having grit blown into them.

I need to find larger sapphire domes to place over the cameras.