Review-Dahua IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS Starlight Camera-Varifocal

Chura said:
I have one 2231R, and I need another camera. is this still the recommended one ?
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Sure, this is a nice model.
 
If you are in the US, do you want the PAL or NTSC version of this camera?
 
iseeker said:
If you are in the US, do you want the PAL or NTSC version of this camera?
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x2 on what Andy said. Since the video is all digital, both PAL and NTSC will work fine.
 
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Going to purchase 4 of these when Andy gets back.

What is the main downside to only having one 1080p stream?

Say you had a 4 camera system with blue iris, and were in the multiple camera viewing screen ( so you could see all 4 video feeds of the cameras at the same time).

Would these 4 smaller feeds be cut down to D1, and only go to 1080P when you view just one camera?

I have a cheap sannce IP camera system currently and this is what it does. hate it.
 
They'll all stay in 1080P with four, or more, on the screen. The biggest problem is the resolution of the video card/monitor, but that shouldn't be a problem either given the current crop of hardware in PCs today. I have ten up all the time and the resolution is fine both on the console and remotes using UI3.
 
clean said:
What is the main downside to only having one 1080p stream?
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My original way of thinking about streams was wrong.

For most folks there isn't one (IMO).

A NVR works the same way, but if you have Blue Iris setup to connect to your 2231s, it will connect to each camera and start pulling each camera's one 1080p stream.

If you want to watch a camera/cameras "live", you would normally connect to Blue Iris (there's a few ways to do that) and then pick the cameras you want to watch. Blue Iris will then show you the 1080p stream that it was already pulling from the camera. If someone else connects to your Blue Iris and starts viewing the same cameras you are, Blue Iris will simply show them the 1080p stream that it was already pulling. It doesn't matter how many people are watching cameras from your Blue Iris PC at the same time, Blue Iris only pulls one stream from each of your cameras and shows everyone that. Side note, showing a camera feed to multiple people at the same time does take some CPU on your Blue Iris box, so don't get too excited about the idea of six people watching your cameras at once. :)

Where having only one 1080p stream can be a downside is if you decide that while Blue Iris is connected to your cameras (and pulling each of their one 1080p stream), you'd like to use an app like tinyCam or DMSS to connect directly to your camera/cameras and pull a *second* stream. Since the 2231 can't do a second 1080p stream, you'd have to settle for pulling a sub-stream (which is lower resolution). I've only seen a few folks here mention that they do that... seem like most folks will connect to their NVR/Blue Iris system when they want to watch a camera.
 
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Re: They don’t come with an Ethernet cable, so you’d have to provide/wire.

Thank you. What type of Ethernet cable: Cat-5, Cat-5e, Cat-6 or ? Is there an advantage to one over another? Thanks again!
 
aristobrat said:
Where having only one 1080p stream can be a downside is if you decide that while Blue Iris is connected to your cameras (and pulling each of their one 1080p stream), you'd like to use an app like tinyCam or DMSS to connect directly to your camera/cameras and pull a *second* stream. Since the 2231 can't do a second 1080p stream, you'd have to settle for pulling a sub-stream (which is lower resolution). I've only seen a few folks here mention that they do that... seem like most folks will connect to their NVR/Blue Iris system when they want to watch a camera.
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I don't know; this would mean the same if you would wanna watch the main stream on multiple PC's/laptops with (for example) VLC.

I have a 5231 recording on a SD-card (no NVR) and I'm currently watching the main stream with VLC on a PC, my laptop and Tinycam. (and also the webpage with live view on Pale Moon on my laptop)
With your theory that shouldn't be possible, or am I reading this wrong (or is their something in my setup?)
 
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Iemand91 said:
I don't know; this would mean the same if you would wanna watch the main stream on multiple PC's/laptops with (for example) VLC.

I have a 5231 recording on a SD-card (no NVR) and I'm currently watching the main stream with VLC on a PC, my laptop and Tinycam. (and also the webpage with live view on Pale Moon on my laptop)
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That's interesting... Dahua says the 5231 supports three streams, but you're pulling four.

Screen Shot 2019-02-08 at 9.15.59 AM.png

I just tested on one of my 5231s and was able to get eight streams going (all main, 1080) before the CPU on my laptop pegged out and I had to stop opening more. So I guess I don't understand Dahua's "Streaming Capability" like I thought I did. :wow: :banghead:

What am I misunderstanding?
 
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My understanding is that a "stream" is a video feed. Those feeds will support multiple connections/clients. Typically it is in the range of 10 to 20 connections per stream and is actually only limited by the cameras ability to accept login credentials. Think of a "stream" as a channel that accepts "parallel" connections. The same data is simply broadcast to multiple addresses similar to a broadcast TV or radio station. Multiple stream capable cameras are typically limited regarding the resolution of each, successive, stream along with limitations on simultaneous, AKA parallel, connections
 
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I might get killed for this, but looking to see how this compares to the Reolink 410-5MP. I just installed 12 of these!

I’m not excited that 12 Reolink 410s max a new PC in Blue Iris to 100%. But the Reolink is 5MP and these Dahua are 2MP. And I don’t need separate IR lights for the Reolink.

I’m still within the return period of the Reolink so it’s time for a decision. Appreciate comments on folks with experience with both cameras.
 
You don’t need separate IR lights for the 2231.

Pixel size on the 2231 (2MP spread over a 1/2.8” sensor) is a lot larger than the Reolink (5MP spread over a 1/2.7” sensor). This helps the 2231’s sensor capture more light in every pixel, which means better low-light image quality. “Grainy and jumpy” is not how people describe Starlight models (like the 2231) low-light image quality, not that it can’t be a challenge to eliminate motion blur in some situations.

2231 is varifocal, so you can zoom the lens in/out when you install it to get the ideal sized image. 2231 doesn’t have a microphone though. The 4231 (fixed-lens) and 5231 (varifocal) models do though.

Don’t know about your BI setup, but if you have direct to disc enabled on all cameras and aren’t doing 30 FPS (camera setting, not a BI setting) I would think it’d be at 100%. Can post in a BI thread if you’re looking to troubleshoot that.
 
kbgator said:
I might get killed for this, but looking to see how this compares to the Reolink 410-5MP. I just installed 12 of these!

I’m not excited that 12 Reolink 410s max a new PC in Blue Iris to 100%. But the Reolink is 5MP and these Dahua are 2MP. And I don’t need separate IR lights for the Reolink.

I’m still within the return period of the Reolink so it’s time for a decision. Appreciate comments on folks with experience with both cameras.
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Its unfortunate that you got suckered into reolink with is a lying scamming company and their products are not fully compatible with blue iris because you cannot set the iframe interval. The image quality is subpar in low light.
As far as maxing out your pc, if you purchased an underpowered pc and or did not set it up properly as per the wiki, then yes.
The dahua has built in IR as well.
 
Thanks you both.
Yes I do have direct to disk and frame rate is 15FPS. This morning I was able to get BI CPU to 80% by reducing max bit rate to 4096 on all 12 cameras.

So the Dahua 2MP daytime quality itself is good compared to Reolink 5MP?
 
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