Review IPC-T5442TM-AS-LED (Full Color, Starlight+)

[mech]

Do you think this would a decent substitute for a night light, since the LED brightness is adjustable? How is the dispersion?

I would say "it depends." If you read my post on the one I installed, you saw that it can make a very bright-looking scene with minimal light (including its own light) but it's like a "watercolor" depiction of the scene... my face becomes a smudge with not a lot of fine detail for ID purposes. If you just want to see if someone's moving around, the camera's own light might be a nice boost to your ambient light in an urban environment, and get the job done.

But for me, what I really want is to identify car prowlers. I need detail, like ear shape, eye depth, nose shape, jaw shape, logos on hats and bags, that kind of thing. So I had to dial down the settings to a scene that looks pretty dark, actually darker than it does to the naked eye, but I can ID people when it counts. For that purpose, what you need is as much light as you can get, so you can crank the shutter speed up to a fast, blur-free shutter like 1/250th second without getting a ton of visual noise. The camera's on-board light is nowhere close to what you can get from even a modest LED floodlight fixture, let alone some big 100W+ outdoor floods.



Above is a quick demo video starting with my ID-tuned settings:

Shutter speed not allowed to drop below 1/200th second, to prevent blur
Medium gain
Limited noise reduction to prevent losing detail
Reduced Gamma to help control noise, and prevent overexposure
HLC enabled to prevent the nearby shed light from overexposing subjects when it turns on
Camera's onboard lights maxed out

I demonstrated several settings of the camera's onboard light, as well as how it looks with Auto Exposure, and then switched HLC to SSA in the Backlight section. SSA makes the scene look FAR brighter than it does to the human eye, it's an impressive effect. But it will cost me the fine detail I want for identifying prowlers.

Also note the effect of HLC compared to OFF in the backlight section. With the trailer and the shed's eaves in the camera's view, you can see how HLC is effective at counteracting overexposure. In practical terms, that helps pull out facial detail and clothing/gear detail on a subject despite the strong front lighting.

 

[mech]

Also, here are some samples for those interested. As Abraham Lincoln supposedly said, those who like this sort of thing, will find this the sort of thing they like. This is Microsoft Game Bar doing screencapture from Blue Iris. In all of these, the shed's modestly-sized LED floodlights have activated, so foreground light is mostly the shed light, plus the camera's LEDs at maximum output.



Above: a sample using my preferred settings, dialed in for identification purposes of prowlers at close range. Be patient with the lead-in, it gives YouTube time to get past that pixelated effect.




Above: Exposure is set to AUTO, with SSA enabled. The Picture settings are all set to stock (50) for Brightness, Gamma, etc




Above: SSA is still enabled, but now exposure is set to 0ms - 5ms (1/200th second is the slowest shutter allowed). The Picture settings are all set to stock (50) for Brightness, Gamma, etc. It got noisy, so I also boosted Noise Reduction to 40 to get the noise under control.

Any requests for specific tests, let me know

 

[Arjun]

I'd like something not too bright, but not too dim either. Apparently, the LED brightness is adjustable on this model, and as long as it can shine on the steps and disperse a decent amount of light in its surrounding, its a win. Hopefully will not consume too much power. Does this model heat up too much if the LED stays on?

 

[mech]

I'd like something not too bright, but not too dim either. Apparently, the LED brightness is adjustable on this model, and as long as it can shine on the steps and disperse a decent amount of light in its surrounding, its a win. Hopefully will not consume too much power. Does this model heat up too much if the LED stays on?

That's a good question. It's 18°F / -8C here right now, so I can't check it by hand, I'm sure it feels like an icecube at the moment.

 

[aristobrat]

Do you speculate that the spread of light will be moderately good to acceptable?

Not sure if this helps any, but FWIW in a large scene the lights seem to disperse fairly adequately (IMO), but like @mech mentioned, they're not as bright as a modest floodlight.

Phone (scene was so dark it couldn't focus):


Same scene viewed from the T5442TM-AS-LED with LEDs OFF:



T5442TM-AS-LED with LED ON:

 

[Arjun]

Thank you very much @aristobrat This is exactly what I was looking forward. It looks pretty decent. I don't want a large floodlight that will attract bugs as well as people to stick around while they look into their phones. It will be interesting to see how the looks looks after I set this camera up. Cheers

Not sure if this helps any, but FWIW in a large scene the lights seem to disperse fairly adequately (IMO), but like @mech mentioned, they're not as bright as even modest floodlights.

LED lights OFF:
View attachment 50203


LED lights ON:
View attachment 50204

 

[aristobrat]

@Arjun, I just added a pic from my camera phone to the post above to show how dark the scene really looks.

 

[Arjun]

@Arjun, I just added a pic from my camera phone to the post above to show how dark the scene really looks.

This camera is damn impressive in dark; so far it gets a thumbs up from me

 

[fergenheimer]

Thanks for the review Aristobrat! I bought this camera from Andy's amazon store based on your review. I have not been disappointed..

 

[dimammx]

@aristobrat

Is it possible to get a cell phone picture of the same area when T5442TM-AS-LED LED is on? Would be interesting to see illumination perceived by other device.

 

[essjay]

Anyone know is there an API command to switch on/off the LED's (can you do it with IR enabled Dahua cams)?

Might be an option to detect motion on BI and execute a script that switches on the LEDs?

 

[Markboni]

How is this compared to Hikvisions ColorVu? I have not seen any comparisons yet between the two? Whats the general consensus on this board of which performs better? Dahuas LED version or ColorVu?
Can someone recap the significant differences between the two? I recall seeing comments and details that Dahua has active deterrent setting that auto turns the led lights on. Anything else worthwhile?

 

[joshwah]

Anyone know is there an API command to switch on/off the LED's (can you do it with IR enabled Dahua cams)?

Might be an option to detect motion on BI and execute a script that switches on the LEDs?

yes would be awesome

 

[aristobrat]

Anyone know is there an API command to switch on/off the LED's (can you do it with IR enabled Dahua cams)?

Might be an option to detect motion on BI and execute a script that switches on the LEDs?

IIRC, in the built-in web interface, this model treats the LEDs like they're IR so I'd guess that the commands that control the IR on other Dahua models should control the LEDs on this model. If I get a chance, I'll try to that.

How is this compared to Hikvisions ColorVu? I have not seen any comparisons yet between the two? Whats the general consensus on this board of which performs better? Dahuas LED version or ColorVu?
Can someone recap the significant differences between the two? I recall seeing comments and details that Dahua has active deterrent setting that auto turns the led lights on. Anything else worthwhile?

In terms of low-light image quality, they both use a 4MP 1/1.8" image sensor and have the same min. illumination specs, so I wouldn't expect a big difference between the two in that area.

This particular model is not in the Active Deterrence series, so it will not automatically turn the LED lights on (and doesn't have a built-in speaker to play an alert sound). For whatever reason, Dahua does not currently make an Active Deterrence model that uses the great 4MP 1/1.8" image sensor.

 

[Markboni]

IIRC, in the built-in web interface, this model treats the LEDs like they're IR so I'd guess that the commands that control the IR on other Dahua models should control the LEDs on this model. If I get a chance, I'll try to that.


In terms of low-light image quality, they both use a 4MP 1/1.8" image sensor and have the same min. illumination specs, so I wouldn't expect a big difference between the two in that area.

This particular model is not in the Active Deterrence series, so it will not automatically turn the LED lights on (and doesn't have a built-in speaker to play an alert sound). For whatever reason, Dahua does not currently make an Active Deterrence model that uses the great 4MP 1/1.8" image sensor.

From your review of the Dahua unit would you recommend one over the other if they are very similar in function and quality?
Thank you for sharing the correct specs and your quick response. Much appreciated.

 

[aristobrat]

From your review of the Dahua unit would you recommend one over the other if they are very similar in function and quality?

I don't think you can go wrong with either brand, but in a situation where both brands offer models that are about the same, I lean towards Dahua. The biggest reason (again, this is just my thinking here) is that because the forum has such a great Dahua OEM vendor (Andy/@EMPIRETECANDY), the Dahua sub-forum here seems to have the most owners willing to share their experiences and help others out when they can... this has been invaluable for me when it comes to learning (in general) and getting support when I need it. And because Andy sells the OEM versions (same hardware/firmware as the "Dahua" version, just no Dahua logos in them) they're usually less expensive. Andy has an official relationship with Dahua and shares what he learns with the forum, which is info that's usually hard to get.... Since he's selling OEM models, he's responsible for warranty and support, which is fine by me as Dahua/Hikvision don't seem to be the best when it comes to directly supporting owners... their business model seems to be geared towards dealing with their network of authorized installers.

Having said all of that ... Andy does sell the OEM Hikvision version of the ColorVu, so the price difference isn't as great as if your only buying choice was the "Hikvision" version. Also, this appears to be a niche model for both manufacturers, so there aren't a bunch of owners to offer advice/support for either.

IMO a big thing that makes this camera do so well in low light is the 4MP 1/1.8" image sensor. If you think you eventually may want other camera models that use this great low-light sensor, IIRC the ColorVu is the only Hikvision model with this sensor that sells for under $200. Meanwhile, Dahua has a bunch of $150-$200'sh models that use this sensor. So if you see yourself expanding your camera system with other models besides this LED one, Dahua may make more sense. If you want to see Dahua's lineup, checkout their website, change the location to International, then drill into Products > Network Cameras > Pro-AI Series > 4MP. Those should all use the 4MP 1/1.8" image sensor.

 

[djernie]

Here are pics of mine with the LED off and on. Brightness level is only on 9.

 

[random101]

Did anyone work out if they have a trip line for the light sensor to turn on?

 

[djernie]

I do not use trip line or any of that on any of my cameras. I just have motion set and continuous record.

 

[aristobrat]

Did anyone work out if they have a trip line for the light sensor to turn on?

AFAIK, only the Active Deterrence models have that option built-in to the camera.