Here at Plus 5 to Tech we use the awesome range of Hikvision products, our suppliers are able to stock most models of Hikvision and Hilook. This gives us many options such as dome, turret mini dome or bullet cameras. Cameras that use Infra Red or ColorVu. Cameras with Acusense or IntelliSense and Liveguard. Maybe a camera with Darkfighter or Lightfighter is better for you. Once we settle on the type of camera, we can then decide what MegaPixel camera you need, what size fixed lens, or perhaps a variable focus lens you need. Somewhere in that combination is the right setup for you!
Ok, but that was a bunch of brand name jargon, what does all that mean, and what does it get you?? Good questions, lets break it down a little.
Ok, but that was a bunch of brand name jargon, what does all that mean, and what does it get you?? Good questions, lets break it down a little.
Infra Red
This is a cool name for your standard black and white night vision picture. The cameras can see the infra red spectum of light, but the human eye can not. Its a good way of illuminationg an area subtly, as the led lights on the camera will glow a dull red, but thats about all you can see.
IR Pros:
|
IR Cons:
|
ColorVu
This is Hikvisions techie name for their ultra light sensitive cameras. The camera sensor and lenses are designed in a way that they only need minimal ambient light (0.0005 Lux) to give a full colour picture. Something like a streetlight at the front of your yard is enough light to make them work well.
In areas that still don't have enough ambienrt light, the cameras have their own white LED lights and generally provide enough light to see about 30-40m. The brightness is dimable, so you only need to have enough for them to work. They are probably as bright as a solar powered shed sensor light, although can be quite bright if you look directly at them.
In areas that still don't have enough ambienrt light, the cameras have their own white LED lights and generally provide enough light to see about 30-40m. The brightness is dimable, so you only need to have enough for them to work. They are probably as bright as a solar powered shed sensor light, although can be quite bright if you look directly at them.
ColorVu Pros:
|
ColorVu Cons:
|
Darkfighter
The Darkfighter range is similar to the ColorVu range of cameras. Both are designed for very low light colour images. One of the main differences is when a Darkfighter camera finds the area too dark, below around 0.002 lux it still reverts back to an Infra Red light in order to continue working, instead of the white light that the ColorVu uses. This means in super dark areas the Darkfighter will still show a traditional black and white image. THe Darkfighter series generally use much longer range IR illuminators as well. We also find most Darkfighter cameras tend to use a lower MegaPixel sensor. This is because they use larger pixels to gather more light. This is normally not a problem as most of these cameras also use zoom lenses, so they can be adjusted to the right magnification to still capture the scene you want in good quality.
Darkfighter Pros:
|
Darkfighter Cons:
|
Lightfighter
Lightfighter cameras are designed to solve a differnt issue to the Darkfighters... light. A Lightfighter camera can resolve a good picture even when pointed toward lights bright enough to disrupt other cameras. They use a high frame rate a large WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) to filter out the light from an image. They are a more specific use type camera, but do well in areas that are brightly lit, or an room that has standard lighting but faces a bright object, such as an office with large windows in full sun. A normal camera will show the office but not outside the window, a Lightfighter will do both.
Lightfighter Pros:
|
Lightfighter Cons:
|
Image credit: Freepik