Review-OEM 4mp AI Cam IPC-T5442TM-AS Starlight+

looney2ns

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Night video added to post #2.
Spec sheet pdf attached to first post.
By the way, this cam will indeed fit on the new junction box adapter.
 
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looney2ns

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Where are the NIGHT videos!
I don't live on here 24/7. In most case's, each review, at my pokey old man pace, takes close to 20-30 man hours to produce. So, some patience would be appreciated.
I have 4 adult children and 11 grandchildren so I do take time to see them once in a while.
Soccer games to attend, school programs to attend, college graduations to attend, weddings to attend, Birthday celebrations, etc.
 

looney2ns

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Thanks for the review Loony

While these new cameras don't fit the old junction boxes we used with the 5231's, am I correct in thinking they will fit the Wall Mount Brackets that were used with the 5231 cams? PFB203W

Also, do you have to have a special NVR to use the AI features of the camera?
I've not had the chance yet to check on the accessories, you can here to check compatibility. Dahua Technology - Leading Video Surveillance Solution Provider with CCTV Produc
But this has a four screw mounting pattern, vs the 5231 3 hole pattern, so I'm guessing you would need the 204W wall bracket, unless you drill and tap new holes in the 203w to make it work.

Edit: see the pdf I attached to the first post.

No, I don't have an AI compatible NVR. What little I've been able to test is being being done in the cam and recorded to the SD card.
 
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looney2ns

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reeves1985

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Great review as always @looney2ns .
Really helps us out with actual real world footage rather than manufactured to suit the cameras as a selling point.

Now I have a few 5232r-ze cams in use and as we all know they have been the best around for some time for night and low light.
I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed by the newer starlight+ 4mp variants.
On specs they should be the new king.
The samples you posted look great with the IR on, was that with smart IR enabled as it seems a lot of washout on your face when approaching in direct line.

Also the ones with the IR off and colour mode don't look great at all, a lot of noise and motion blur. I don't see near as much of that with the 2mp (maybe that just the higher pixels tradeoff).

I'd be interested to hear your first hand comparison between the 2 because you've had hands on with both at your location o will be a better comparison.
 

SecuritySeeker

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There's something really strange going on with the compression it seems, similar to the version with white leds. It's almost as if looney2ns is some kind of semi-transparent ghost in those night time videos. Unless my memory is inaccurate (I should really re-check the reviews before saying this) the 2MP Starlight (5231 etc) cams seem to offer better quality at night with far fewer compression artefacts.
 

reeves1985

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There's something really strange going on with the compression it seems, similar to the version with white leds. It's almost as if looney2ns is some kind of semi-transparent ghost in those night time videos. Unless my memory is inaccurate (I should really re-check the reviews before saying this) the 2MP Starlight (5231 etc) cams seem to offer better quality at night with far fewer compression artefacts.
That's what I was getting at in a less technical way than yourself.

@looney2ns will be best placed to answer this having had both cameras to hand in a similar testing state.

But I do agree that it doesn't seem as good as I was expecting or as the specs suggest.

It could purely be down to the higher res having more pixels. But it could also be to do with the bitrate and compression.

Definitely going to be interesting to see if that can be cleaned up a lot by tweaking the settings. As I believe personally it should be better than the vids show.

But that is just my personal opinion and I am by no means an expert just an avid diyer with a good interest.
 

ThomasPI

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I tend to agree, I'd thought (my bad) this would be considerably better and no pun intended, but I'd anticipated seeing a night and day difference from the 2MP Starlight variant. Perhaps settings adjustments for firmware mods will make a considerable difference. It'd be great to have someone (no @looney, you've done great) do a side by side comparison of the two under identical conditions. Way back when @nayr first started posting up video and reviews of the 2MP Starlights now that was IMPRESSIVE and they're clearly still an outstanding camera.
 

MakeItRain

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Thank you for the night time shots. My initial impressions are that it doesn't seem like it is any better than the HFW-1831E 8MP 1.8" bullet. In fact, I was hoping that this 5442 would be noticeably better at night time.

Decisions decisions.

I'm about to order 8-9 cameras for my mother-in-law ...
 

EMPIRETECANDY

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Thank you for the night time shots. My initial impressions are that it doesn't seem like it is any better than the HFW-1831E 8MP 1.8" bullet. In fact, I was hoping that this 5442 would be noticeably better at night time.

Decisions decisions.

I'm about to order 8-9 cameras for my mother-in-law ...
Yes they both are good cams. The starlight tech need time to make a big step progress normally need 2-3 years. Maybe you can use different models for your system.
 

MakeItRain

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@EMPIRETECANDY
Certainly. I am looking for a camera that is somewhere between the 5231R and the HFW-1831 and I stumbled upon the 5442. I need something with slightly more pixels with better daytime-ness without giving up too much night time. I figured it was the best of both worlds. I get the starlight tech from the 5231R and with twice the pixel density but half the density than the HFW-1831. It seemed like a good compromise because my MIL's house is all dark, no lights, no street lights to illuminate.

Now, I'm seeing that the 5442 night time is no different than the 1831E. So maybe, just makes sense to order 1831E's...

looney's house is actually very similar to my mother-in-laws house as he has no public street lamps. It's virtually pitch black with neighbor houses across just like that.
 
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