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

Most folks find IVS is more accurate than motion detection, especially in terms of fewer false events. That said, neither are 100% accurate so the best practice is to continuously record + record on motion detection/IVS. A lot of us (me included) have learned the hard way that if you're just recording events, you'll eventually have a situation where something doesn't record properly.

IVS may take a bit to get working the first time, but IMO its worth the effort. One of the not-obvious things is that to enable it, you need to go to Events > SmartPlan, select IVS and save that setting. Another not-obvious thing (at least to me) is that if you do a tripwire close to the image's edge, it may not reliable trigger because the camera needs time to notice moment and figure out if it's an object or not. If the object has already crossed the tripwire before the camera identifies it as an object, then nothing triggers. A way to work around that is to use intrusion zone with the option of "appears"... if something actually makes in inside of the boundaries you've drawn before it's classified as an object, it'll still trigger the alert. Oh, when done drawing the boundaries of a box, right-click to say you're done. There have been a few good threads about IVS over the past few years, so you might be able to Search up so more tips. :)
 
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aristobrat said:
Most folks find IVS is more accurate than motion detection, especially in terms of fewer false events. That said, neither are 100% accurate so the best practice is to continuously record + record on motion detection/IVS. A lot of us (me included) have learned the hard way that if you're just recording events, you'll eventually have a situation where something doesn't record properly.

IVS may take a bit to get working the first time, but IMO its worth the effort. One of the not-obvious things is that to enable it, you need to go to Events > SmartPlan, select IVS and save that setting. Another not-obvious thing (at least to me) is that if you do a tripwire close to the image's edge, it may not reliable trigger because the camera needs time to notice moment and figure out if it's an object or not. If the object has already crossed the tripwire before the camera identifies it as an object, then nothing triggers. A way to work around that is to use intrusion zone with the option of "appears"... if something actually makes in inside of the boundaries you've drawn before it's classified as an object, it'll still trigger the alert. Oh, when done drawing the boundaries of a box, right-click to say you're done. There have been a few good threads about IVS over the past few years, so you might be able to Search up so more tips. :)
Click to expand...

Interesting, i didn't actually know until I figured how much footage I was missing by just using MD.
Is the attached somewhat similar to your set up?
I will look into IVS next but I saw a video on how to draw the box like what you mentioned.

Would you also mind sharing your Video Encode settings? Curious to see the birate and frames per second you use on your 5442's

Cheers !
 

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This is the 3.6mm 5442 on the side of my house. I am going to use it for the backyard, but need 2 more for the sides. Thoughts on the lens size? Feels like the 2.8mm would be too wide and not capture enough detail until the person is really close to the cam given it's about 25 feet to the end of the house, and the 6mm would lose too much near distance?

1593621806132.png
 
pbc said:
Thoughts on the lens size?
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That is a nice pic of scenery, but what does it look like with a person walking there, in day and night? That is what you need to know. Walk it and see how close does one need to be to get a face shot that one could use to ID the perp.

Realize that the 5442 is now available from @EMPIRETECANDY in varifocal.
 
Will check the price of that one. This was a Hikvision 4MP, same spot but 6mm.

1593628706172.png
 
If you are trying to get a good face shot, there is no reason to have all that sky and down street view in the pic. Aim more down and walk it to see what a face shot looks like.
 
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So because of this thread I decided to buy this camera as an impulse purchase from Andy (love the Amazon ship speed!). I received this camera a few hours ago. I already have several Wyze, Amcrest, Reolink cameras ranging from $20 to $350 (PTZ) stuff. This was my first Dahua brand camera.

This camera was the toughest to install, out of the box it was hard coded to use 192.168.1.108 for IP but my subnet was 192.168.0.x so I had a very difficult time getting this thing online, having to download the Dahua setup tool and even connect my laptop directly to the camera, thankfully I have a 12V powersupply for the camera. There really should be a warning on this thing on the network issue, especially how to change IP you need to re-enter the password. Basically best to login and set to DHCP so you can use it normally, but you have to use their proprietary SW tool before you can even get to the web interface, this is the first camera I've encountered that has this strange requirement.

Secondly, I have all my cameras to just upload to my NAS FTP server box. Unfortunately this thing is uploading dav files instead of H265 mpg/avi files directly. Is there some hidden option to use mpg instead of dav? All the old searches from last year indicate thats not an option but thats annoying if you;re browsing the files on the FTP server jpgs to find the event and want to quickly view it.

I love the image quality in the dark. Is there an option to query an alarm server on event like motion detection or IVS line perimeter crossing? Basically want it to trigger an event on my z-wave home automation system to turn on lights when motion detected but I don't see any option for the alarm to ping a website, etc.
 
abductors said:
There really should be a warning on this thing on the network issue
Click to expand...
You really need to read the Cliff Notes as this exact issue is covered there. In just about every n3wb thread, folks tell them to read the Cliff Notes and check the WIKI BEFORE getting cams.
 
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abductors said:
So because of this thread I decided to buy this camera as an impulse purchase from Andy (love the Amazon ship speed!). I received this camera a few hours ago. I already have several Wyze, Amcrest, Reolink cameras ranging from $20 to $350 (PTZ) stuff. This was my first Dahua brand camera.

This camera was the toughest to install, out of the box it was hard coded to use 192.168.1.108 for IP but my subnet was 192.168.0.x so I had a very difficult time getting this thing online, having to download the Dahua setup tool and even connect my laptop directly to the camera, thankfully I have a 12V powersupply for the camera. There really should be a warning on this thing on the network issue, especially how to change IP you need to re-enter the password. Basically best to login and set to DHCP so you can use it normally, but you have to use their proprietary SW tool before you can even get to the web interface, this is the first camera I've encountered that has this strange requirement.

Secondly, I have all my cameras to just upload to my NAS FTP server box. Unfortunately this thing is uploading dav files instead of H265 mpg/avi files directly. Is there some hidden option to use mpg instead of dav? All the old searches from last year indicate thats not an option but thats annoying if you;re browsing the files on the FTP server jpgs to find the event and want to quickly view it.

I love the image quality in the dark. Is there an option to query an alarm server on event like motion detection or IVS line perimeter crossing? Basically want it to trigger an event on my z-wave home automation system to turn on lights when motion detected but I don't see any option for the alarm to ping a website, etc.
Click to expand...
So I bought mine a few weeks back, I will be tackling it sometime soon. I read the Cliff Notes, well most of it, I am sure the:
Dahua Camera Initial Setup section in the Cliff Notes is where I will start. So you did not set a Static IP? If not, I would at least set DHCP Static Mapping via the Camera's MAC in your Router.
 
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David L said:
So I bought mine a few weeks back, I will be tackling it sometime soon. I read the Cliff Notes, well most of it, I am sure the:
Dahua Camera Initial Setup section in the Cliff Notes is where I will start. So you did not set a Static IP? If not, I would at least set DHCP Static Mapping via the Camera's MAC in your Router.
Click to expand...

Strangely (and I haven't read the Wiki!), I also found the Dahua a bit more finicky than my Hikvisions to change their IP address. With the Hik SADP tool, I can easily change IP address and it pushes it to the camera automatically, and boom, can access the camera from the new address without playing around with my router (though I then reserve that IP in my router).

For whatever reason, I couldn't get that to work in the Dahua Config tool as easily. At one point I accidentally set the exact same IP address as another camera accidentally, and then it was a pain to figure out how to get past that! I essentially had to unplug one of the cams and set it to default settings and start over.

Guess I should have read the wiki!
 
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pbc said:
Strangely (and I haven't read the Wiki!), I also found the Dahua a bit more finicky than my Hikvisions to change their IP address. With the Hik SADP tool, I can easily change IP address and it pushes it to the camera automatically, and boom, can access the camera from the new address without playing around with my router (though I then reserve that IP in my router).

For whatever reason, I couldn't get that to work in the Dahua Config tool as easily. At one point I accidentally set the exact same IP address as another camera accidentally, and then it was a pain to figure out how to get past that! I essentially had to unplug one of the cams and set it to default settings and start over.

Guess I should have read the wiki!
Click to expand...
I still read the wiki it comes in handy all the time.
 
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pbc said:
Strangely (and I haven't read the Wiki!), I also found the Dahua a bit more finicky than my Hikvisions to change their IP address. With the Hik SADP tool, I can easily change IP address and it pushes it to the camera automatically, and boom, can access the camera from the new address without playing around with my router (though I then reserve that IP in my router).

For whatever reason, I couldn't get that to work in the Dahua Config tool as easily. At one point I accidentally set the exact same IP address as another camera accidentally, and then it was a pain to figure out how to get past that! I essentially had to unplug one of the cams and set it to default settings and start over.

Guess I should have read the wiki!
Click to expand...
Funny you said that I was just reading the
Using The Dahua ConfigTool section in Cliff Notes, It is towards the bottom...
If you experience difficulty using the Dahua ConfigTool, the below guidance may provide some assistance. The default IP address of all Dahua cameras is 192.168.1.108, regardless of your LAN IP Address range. The tool is useful for initial network discovery and for changing the network settings; it can be downloaded here. Here is some guidance, inspired by @looney2ns

Thanks @looney2ns
 
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You don't need the config tool. Plug the camera into your PoE switch and then make sure the computer you are working from is also plugged into the same switch (or same L2 network). Then temporarily adjust you PC network settings (Windows Network TCP/IP) to match the subnet the camera is located on. For example, since the camera defaults to 192.168.1.108 set your computer temporarily to 192.168.1.x (pick whatever you want so long as its not .108). Subnet is 255.255.255.0. Set the gateway to192.168.1.1 and the DNS server to 192.168.1.1. Again, these don't matter (well the subnet does but others dont). We are just temporarily putting the computer on the same subnet the camera is located on.

Now you can open up a browser and type in the camera IP. Go ahead and log in and go through the setup and then head to Network and change to either the static IP address you want for the camera or set the camera to DHCP (if letting the router handle the IP assignment via MAC). It will reboot after that. You can then set your network settings back how you had them (probably dynamic assigned).
 
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biggen said:
You don't need the config tool. Plug the camera into your PoE switch and then make sure the computer you are working from is also plugged into the same switch (or same L2 network). Then temporarily adjust you PC network settings (Windows Network TCP/IP) to match the subnet the camera is located on. For example, since the camera defaults to 192.168.1.108 set your computer temporarily to 192.168.1.x (pick whatever you want so long as its not .108). Subnet is 255.255.255.0. Set the gateway to192.168.1.1 and the DNS server to 192.168.1.1. Again, these don't matter (well the subnet does but others dont). We are just temporarily putting the computer on the same subnet the camera is located on.

Now you can open up a browser and type in the camera IP. Go ahead and log in and go through the setup and then head to Network and change to either the static IP address you want for the camera or set the camera to DHCP (if letting the router handle the IP assignment via MAC). It will reboot after that. You can then set your network settings back how you had them (probably dynamic assigned).
Click to expand...
Easy enough, like most device setup's. kewl. Yeah, I use a laptop to Setup/Manage my Switches, Web Interface to Config. Maybe the Dahua ConfigTool is good for multiple Cam Configs/Management.
Not sure if this will work on Managed Switches with VLANs assigned to different ports though.

Thanks
 
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David L said:
Easy enough, like most device setup's. kewl. Yeah, I use a laptop to Setup/Manage my Switches, Web Interface to Config. Maybe the Dahua ConfigTool is good for multiple Cam Configs/Management.
Not sure if this will work on Managed Switches with VLANs assigned to different ports though.

Thanks
Click to expand...
It will if the computer you are running it from is in the same broadcast domain (VLAN or subnet) that the camera is in. It won’t cross VLANS since routers don’t forward broadcast packets unless you configure it specifically for that which isn’t default.
 
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bigredfish said:
Actually most of the newer bullets over the past few years (going back to the 5231 series) use the new larger IR emitters spaced away from the lens much like the 5442. I use a lot of bullets as I think they have better depth of field and really dont have any more trouble with spiders than with my turrets.
Click to expand...

What bullet cams do you favor?
 
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