Review of the Hikvision OEM model IPC-T2347G-LU 'ColorVu' IP CCTV camera.

[harb]

Just got one of these yesterday. Works fine using onvif to my dahua 4208 nvr.

nice colour images at night BUT I think I prefer the Dahua 5442 non-led which I think even tho black and white at night gives a better picture.

 

[harb]

Btw anyone with the hik what’s your LED settings please? Mine is default which is 15%

 

[craigspc]

Could somebody with this camera please post a couple of full resolution daylight screenshots from this camera? Also, if you have the 4mm version - could you please let me know at what distance objects are at their sharpest?

I received a 4mm T2347G-LU from Andy at the end of last week, but unfortunately it seems to be focused beyond infinity. Although image quality gets better with distance - at no point does anything become sharp. After talking to Andy, I've decided that rather than returning the camera - I'm going to take the risk of removing the glue from the lens and attempt to re-focus it myself. However, it would be really nice to see what an optimal daytime image looks like.

Thanks very much!
Craig.

 

[harb]

Could somebody with this camera please post a couple of full resolution daylight screenshots from this camera? Also, if you have the 4mm version - could you please let me know at what distance objects are at their sharpest?

I received a 4mm T2347G-LU from Andy at the end of last week, but unfortunately it seems to be focused beyond infinity. Although image quality gets better with distance - at no point does anything become sharp. After talking to Andy, I've decided that rather than returning the camera - I'm going to take the risk of removing the glue from the lens and attempt to re-focus it myself. However, it would be really nice to see what an optimal daytime image looks like.

Thanks very much!
Craig.

Here you go, not sure if this is the optimal way to take a picture. Its from the rtsp view in VLC. I haven't changed any of the image settings - they are standard with the res, fps, and bitrate bumped to max.

 

[craigspc]

Here you go, not sure if this is the optimal way to take a picture. Its from the rtsp view in VLC. I haven't changed any of the image settings - they are standard with the res, fps, and bitrate bumped to max.

Thank you very much! That’s definitely nothing like the image I have.

 

[craigspc]

OK, I've managed to remove the glue and adjusting the focus was quite easy. Everything is now great and equal to the sample image provided by @harb

Now that's sorted, I'll finally be able to compare it to the Dahua D5442E-ZE. I don't know if anybody else has both of these cameras, but the image quality on the Dahua is seriously impressive and I'm intrigued to know how they stack up against one another.

Thanks again!

Craig.

 

[Easyrr]

OK, I've managed to remove the glue and adjusting the focus was quite easy. Everything is now great and equal to the sample image provided by @harb

Now that's sorted, I'll finally be able to compare it to the Dahua D5442E-ZE. I don't know if anybody else has both of these cameras, but the image quality on the Dahua is seriously impressive and I'm intrigued to know how they stack up against one another.

Thanks again!

Craig.

Would be nice to see the comparison between those two, let us know when you did it, cheers.

 

[essjay]

OK, I've managed to remove the glue and adjusting the focus was quite easy. Everything is now great and equal to the sample image provided by @harb

Now that's sorted, I'll finally be able to compare it to the Dahua D5442E-ZE. I don't know if anybody else has both of these cameras, but the image quality on the Dahua is seriously impressive and I'm intrigued to know how they stack up against one another.

Thanks again!

Craig.

Also interested to see this

 

[craigspc]

Sorry for the slow reply - I've been away over the holiday season. I will be working with the cameras over the next week or two, so I'll try to put something useful together for everyone.

 

[Amgclk65]

Anyone have night video of the Colorvu with people in motion?

Hello, i made a little video of a colorvu at night. default settings other then the Led light is turned to 90. Im probably walking slower then most would walk along the side walk.

 

[bigredfish]

Between the LEDs and that streetlight it looks pretty darn good I think.

 

[alastairstevenson]

i made a little video of a colorvu at night.

That does look good. Very little motion blur.
What's the exposure set to, and what is the frame rate?

 

[Sonic01]

OK, I've managed to remove the glue and adjusting the focus was quite easy. Everything is now great and equal to the sample image provided by @harb

Now that's sorted, I'll finally be able to compare it to the Dahua D5442E-ZE. I don't know if anybody else has both of these cameras, but the image quality on the Dahua is seriously impressive and I'm intrigued to know how they stack up against one another.

Thanks again!

Craig.

I'm having the exact same problem here, I bought 2x IPC-T5442TM-AS 3.6mm and 1x IPC-T2347G-LU 4mm but the focus is exactly as you described in your previous post.

Can you tell me exactly how you fixed it? I'm guessing you removed the square glass lens protector? or you took the whole front off somehow? i cant see how any of this would come apart and then what, you just rotate the lens inside to adjust the focus?

I was also disappointment to find the IPC-T2347G-LU doesnt have a builtin microphone even though it was advertised, or am i just missing a setting somewhere? the IPC-T5442TM-AS builtin mic just worked out of the box.

I'm thinking to just send the IPC-T2347G-LU back and get another IPC-T5442TM-AS.

 

[craigspc]

Hi. I'm currently on the road, but in short - adjusting the lens requires taking the whole camera apart to get at the lens (which its self is locked in place with 3 blobs of glue that you need to remove). I found it easy enough, but it does require a lot of care!

Oh, and the camera does have a mic if that helps you.

Craig

 

[alastairstevenson]

I was also disappointment to find the IPC-T2347G-LU doesnt have a builtin microphone even though it was advertised

It does have a built-in microphone - but you do need to enable it in the stream using the Video Type settings as below


:

I'm guessing you removed the square glass lens protector? or you took the whole front off somehow?

No - don't attempt that!
Take the ball out of the base mount and split it by unscrewing the 3 screws.
The sensor / lens assembly can be removed from the front section by a couple of small screws.
Take care not to strain the flex cable from the sensor board to the main board.
And keep your fingers off the lens!

 

[Sonic01]

Thanks very much for your help guys.

With the above taken into consideration plus some testing I've done, I think I'm going to return it for another IPC-T5442TM-AS.

First I compared the audio, I set both the hikvision and the dahua to 100% mic volume with noise filters on. The dahua was miles ahead, the quality, volume and clarity were all vastly improved vs the hikvision, which was so bad it was almost useless.

Next I did some video tests but for picture clarity I can't really give accurate feedback as my hik is out of focus so all of my tests put the T5442TM in the lead. I decided to try some low light tests as i should be able to get an idea for low light picture quality even if the focus is a bit off.

The following is a screenshot from the Synology app on my phone, all the lights in my room are off and as you can see the curtains are closed. The only light in the room is the small glow from my phones dark screen, plus the sunlight bleeding around the edges of the curtains.



Now, I dont know if the hik being out of focus would really affect the light levels as shown in the above photo - but as you can see the dahua is miles ahead... you can make out all the stuff on my bed quite clearly when its not visible at all on the hik.

One thing i would give the hik points for here is colour accuracy, the dahua seems to give my curtains a red hue whereas the hik shows them as grey, which they are.

I was actually quite surprised by this result as i didn't realise the T5442TM had such good low light functionality, i actually expected it to flip to IR at this stage. I tried it a bit last night when it was pitch black and the IR picture was great as well.

So far both the audio and video seem better to me on the T5442TM...

Lastly, I don't really want to take the product apart and start fiddling with it, partly because i shouldn't have to but also i have essential tremor so the chances of me just f***ing it up are high. If I thought the T2347G would provide a tangible improvement over the T5442TM i would give it a go, but it seems like a bunch of extra effort and risk for something that just isn't better...

 

[pbc]

Hmmm...have been waiting to see if Hikvision comes out with a better night view model. I unfortunately made the mistake of going with 2142FWD domes (8 of them) before fully understanding how much better turrets are, so am left with cloudy video at night. Try to clean and modify the foam as best I can a couple times a year but it only helps for a couple months at best, if that.

Didn't want to revert to another brand and have to also reinvest in an NVR, but it's not looking great based on most comparisons. The CAD:USD exchange these days isn't helping much either!

 

[Amgclk65]

That does look good. Very little motion blur.
What's the exposure set to, and what is the frame rate?

Thanks .
It’s at 1/12 with 100 gain. 15 FPS as well.
The exposure also does not have a auto mode on my firmware.

 

[alastairstevenson]

It’s at 1/12 with 100 gain. 15 FPS as well.

The exposure also does not have a auto mode on my firmware.

I believe the auto mode is implicit in that the '1/12' will be the slowest allowed as opposed to the actual setting, and the actual will be much shorter given that the camera does not need such a long exposure.
That would explain why there is not the motion blur you'd get if it was actually set at 1/12 rather than it being treated as the slowest allowed.

 

[craigspc]

To be honest, I only took the risk of taking my own camera apart, because I didn't fancy sending it back to China - only to face the risk of import charges on a replacement that could potentially have the same issues.


I haven't yet done anywhere near enough testing, but comparing the ColorVu to the Varifocal/autofocus version of the Dahua that I have (edit: IPC-D5442E-ZE) - I will make the following provisional comments...


The Hikvision is about 25% cheaper than the Dahua, looks physically less imposing than the Dahua, and has low-light (in colour only) performance that equals (perhaps even beats) my old 2MP 1/1.8 Darkfigher.


Compared to the old 3MP Hikvision cameras with 1/3" sensors (such as the DS-2CD2032-i), the difference is a bit like switching from a decent compact digital cameras to a DSLR. When it comes to poor lighting, the ColorVu is certainly in a different league.


Sticking with the digital camera analogy, though... Using the Dahua is a bit like the first time you remove that cheap kit lens that came with your DSLR and stick a really good piece of glass on it. Even at 1:1 (100% image zoom), the picture is crisper and even more detailed than the Hikvision ColorVu in daylight and dusk conditions (the sensor/lens combination is really quite exceptional). Only in extremely low light does the ColorVu start to take the edge (colour accuracy is also a strong point)


The Hikvision ColorVu is clearly designed specifically for people who want the best possible colour images in low light conditions - for an affordable price. And for under 150 euros I don't know of any other camera that beats it in this specific regard.


On the other hand, the Dahua (IPC-D5442E-ZE - about 50 euros more expensive) might not quite match the ColorVu in terms of ultra low light colour, but when switched to night mode with IR disabled - it does benefit from that typical improvement in detail and noise that everyone probably notices on their own cameras when they first switch over.


I haven't done a side-by-side comparison to confirm my theory yet, but my suspicion is that the Dahua might just beat the Hikvision in terms of being able to resolve the most detail in low light (with equal shutter speed and despite the aperture) - at the expense being able to tell what colour something is.


I will keep you all posted.


Craig.

Edit : changed some text for clarity (6th Jan).