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I don't have a Hikvision, but the firmware was readily available on a google search. This was how I identified the Swann as a Hikvision in the first place, when someone posted their firmware revision. Here are some Hikvision downloads: http://www.hikvisioneurope.com/portal/index.php?dir=Technical%20Materials/Firmwares/Cameras/ The TFTP/RS232 updates are easy if you have the right cable. JTAG can be more difficult, depending on the interface, but you know that, I'm sure.

To minimize compression artifacts, you want to use the highest bitrate and best quality (if you're using VBR). My 720p cameras, including the Dahua, are generally much better than my analog cams were with the same field of view, even the expensive 1/2" cams with nice lenses. The main exception is night shots, where you're looking at a basic problem of more pixels in a given sensor area, so less light per pixel. No way around that, even if you go to 1/2" IP cams.

Those stills look resampled. There's some kind of tomfoolery going on here, and Hikvision's got some 'splainin to do. If you display both full size in browser windows and adjust them so that the same thing is in the center, then switch back and forth between windows, you get a zoom effect. If it was just pulling more pixels from the sensor, the items in the shots would both be the same size, just with more pixels on the sides. Also, the 1080p is 1920x1080, while the 3MP 2048x1536, so the 3MP should have 7% more image to the right and left, but it's actually got less image! It does have more vertical pixels. Looks to me like they have a sensor that isn't actually either one of these resolutions and they're using software to show the resolution people expect to see. ETA: Q, try this: Go to whatever the next 4:3 resolution is, assuming the camera offers it, and see if you get the same field of view. Alternately, try each resolution until you get the same horizontal view as the bogus 3MP, then post what that resolution is. This must be a 3MP sensor at least, since the maximum horizontal pixels (at 1080p) should be correct, while at 3MP it shows more pixels than 1080p, and it looks about right for 1500-ish pixels. Updated: If they're scaling it in software, all bets are off. Curiouser and curiouser... OK, one more data point before I move on (yes, I get obsessed on technology and data): On the 3MP shot, the down-arrow key on the keyboard is 17 pixels across. On the 1080P shot, it's 14 pixels across, which is why you get the zoom effect between shots. They're scaling it somewhere; the question is, where? Heck, maybe this is their 720P camera with a software tweak to scale it to 1080p!

An easy test would be to download another file of the same version and do a binary compare: viewtopic.php?p=213477#p213477 Broken record time: This would be so much easier if Dahua would provide a little support, like Vivotek, Messoa, Hikvision, Arecont, IQInvision, etc, etc...

ONVIF compatibility can be tricky. Not everybody is compatible with everybody else. This is still a work in progress, and results are not guaranteed.

Most snapshot settings won't take very many frames per second, but it depends on the camera. By the time you get enough to be equal to low frame rate video (say, 5 fps), you'd save space with video due to MPEG or h.264 compression. Snapshots will be better quality for each frame (this is why they're larger), but this then depends on the quality settings the camera supports. A 32GB card won't record much 1080p video, and accessing the video can go from very easy to a huge pain, depending on the camera's firmware. Likewise, if the card needs to be removed or changed, this can be difficult, again depending on the camera's design. All these things need to be looked at. Really, this is simple. Do you want to record video? You need a video recorder, unless you only want small amounts that will fit on the 32GB card.

There are lots of Avigilon price lists on the web, if your google-fu is good. These are mostly from government sites, which are often required to post such data. Whether they're up to date or reflect quotes you'd expect to get from your local rep are another question.

Lorex, Swann, and QSee are all re-branders. None of them make the gear or develop the software. They all buy from the OEM and have it labeled, sometimes with minor tweaks to the software. If one of them has several different 1080p cameras available, there's no guarantee they'd all be made by Hikvision (or whoever). One could be sourced from Hik, one from Dahua, etc. This is how they ran their analog businesses, too. Really, this boils down to which one provides better service. It sounds like QSee and Swann are beating out Lorex here, but let's see how the feedback comes in.

I've been ripped off on ebay a few times (and ebay/paypal made it good each time), and there are a few red flags on this. Most of the seller's feedback is from 2011, with only a handfull of items from late 2012 or 2013. Also, the most recent items are inexpensive, which is a technique people sometimes use to build up their ratings before offering items up. Now, if he really wanted to scam people, the thing to do would be to offer them at an awesome bargain so people would snap them up without looking too hard. $375 for a 1MP MJPEG camera isn't exactly a barn-burner price these days. I'm not saying I think the seller is bad, but a listing for items costing this much with limited feedback does call for a little thought.

If it always happens at 2 am, you may have the 2 am reboot feature enabled. I disabled that on mine months ago, with no problems. Otherwise, it may be a firmware bug. Posting your firmware version might give a clue. My 2100 doesn't do this, but it's watching a driveway and street, with no grass. It's also on an older version of firmware- 2012-06-21.

This totally depends on the software. Some NVRs dump the h.264 straight into a video wrapper with minimal CPU usage, but others (like Blue Iris) decode the video and save it in their own format, requiring more powerful PCs. The other things to consider, along with what dexterash mentioned, are any kind of analytics, motion detect, etc. If these aren't done on the camera, they need CPU at the NVR. If you're considering using Blue Iris, you should go to their community forum at cam-it.org, where there are many discussions about CPU power and how many MP and fps you can support. If you're looking at other systems, you'll need to ask about that specific software.

It's definitely cheaper to run the dedicated NVR than to buy a PC, and there's no way it'll be as customizable or flexible as Blue Iris, or most other NVR software. In addition to the basic NVR software, you have the flexibility that comes with a PC - scripting, multiple types of remote access, all kinds of backup and archive options, etc. You also get more stability, in general, on a dedicated box than on a PC. I typically reboot my PCs once a month to install various OS updates, and they'd probably run a good bit longer if I let them, but my DVR boxes used to run for years without issues, except the occasional hard drive replacement. Also, PCs typically will consume more power than a dedicated box, but this will depend on the specific hardware. One downside of many dedicated boxes is that you'll be more limited in what you can connect to them. If Lorex started selling re-branded Avigilon cameras at Walmart next month, you'd likely have better luck connecting them to a PC based NVR than a competitor's dedicated box. If you're going to use the PC for 2-3 years, the incremental cost/month isn't that much, but it's all trade-offs.

The mid-range home budget sweet spot cams right now are from Dahua and Hikvision, it appears, with ACTi moving in. You have to follow the reviews to see which ones have warts you're willing to live with. Before Dahua shook things up, there was a lot less choice, and Vivotek was the only decent quality MP option in the under $300 range for some time. Things are moving faster now, and new price point busters are coming out every quarter, it seems. Unfortunately, the software quality isn't so good at the lower end.

I haven't seen anyone identify the connections here, or even whether it's a serial interface vs JTAG, which is more complicated. If anyone here knows, they're not sharing. My HFW3300C has a three pin connector inside, and I haven't played with it yet. My HFW2100 is the same size as your camera, but I haven't looked for the connector yet. Here's the board with connector (labeled J3) that I suspect is the serial/JTAG connector on the HFW3300C:

Two thoughts, aside from the IR washout that's a problem on most non-intelligent IR cams. Lens quality seems like a likely problem with the softness, though for all of them to have the softness in the same spot would imply that the lens quality control is good enough to assembly them all incorrectly exactly the same way. This would be easy to test for someone with both a good and soft camera - swap the lenses and see if the problem swaps. Also, the brief period when the camera was in BW mode but the IR hadn't come on showed really horrendous sharpening artifacts, which is a common issue with inexpensive IR cams. Whether it would be a problem long term will have to wait for more real-world video, but one of my Dahuas sees the sharpening artifacts as motion at certain times and records until the firmware cleans it up a bit. If this camera has adjustable sharpening, that could help too. The Dahua doesn't, and really needs it.

That looks like the IR filter is not going in during the day. My HFW3300C does the same thing sometimes. This is one of the flaws of the Dahua night vision system - every part of the IR system is controlled separately. Here's an easy test. When it comes up purple, switch Day/Night to Night, then back to Day, and see if it looks good. This works on my 3300 when the IR filter stays out.

I've flashed my 4 Vivoteks more times than I can remember, including switching back and forth between versions to compare, and never had a problem, both with firmware from Vivotek and with firmware from the community. Totally reliable, and I've never hesitated. Heck, I've never had a firmware flashing problem with any of my other IP cams, including ones where the manufacturer is out of business. I've flashed my 2 Dahuas 5 times total, and one went wrong on the HFW3300C, causing multiple problems. Fortunately, it was recoverable, and flashing it again with the same firmware was OK, so it appears the firmware was corrupted, either going across the network or during the flash. Buellwinkle, who also has some expertise in IP cams, bricked one, using officially supplied firmware from his vendor. And yes, I did get improved performance the first time I flashed my 3300, as it enabled WDR, which was important to me. Which of the many firmware problems do the other updates fix? Well, nobody knows, do they? Or if they do, they're not telling. Seriously, this is one of the single biggest problems with Dahua's non-existent end user support, in my opinion - lack of firmware support, lack of bug fix info, lack of any support beyond "talk to your supplier" (which resulted in incorrect info for at least one user in a previous thread). These poor users who put the wrong firmware on (why did Dahua allow it to flash, if it's not right? Even my Y-Cam won't allow me to do that!) are just out of luck, it appears. This is the Dahua trashcan warranty - Got problems? Throw it away and buy another, because we won't help. I know you don't agree, dexterash, and that's fine, but you'll never convince the majority of Dahua end users that this abysmal lack of support is a good thing. Sorry about the rant, but none of my other camera manufacturers treat me this way.

Really, this is pretty clear. Cheap Chinese cameras can be fine for the money, but you definitely get less than with many more expensive cameras. The Dahua is a perfect example. The HFW2100 and HFW3300C are great cameras for the price, but the software isn't very polished, the day/night switching is unreliable and unadjustable, the IR can't be disabled in the controls, the sharpening algorithm is awful when there are both bright lights and shadows (the shadows lose all detail and turn to total fuzz), there's no factory technical support and vendor technical support is limited, the WDR is barely usable, they brick during software updates way too easily, and so on. Buy a more expensive camera from a good brand, and you get better support, more mature software, better construction, and so on. Is this worth it? It is to some people, and isn't to others. This is why you can buy Hyundai and BMW - each has its market segment. Sure, price isn't a good guide - some expensive cameras are junk, and you have to do your research on them - but (for example) the firmware on my Vivotek IP8332s is much better than on the HFW2100. The Dahuas and other inexpensive Chinese cams are fine for the money - I have several Dahuas - but low cost has its trade-offs, as always.

Yeah, welcome to the world of Chinese OEM gear. As long as the vendor supports it, though...

Here are my Dahua settings for the NV6480. These work for both the HFW2100 and the HFW3300C. SW version 7.9.0.0029 IPcam Version 7.0.0.117a Protocol: RTSP_RTP Model: TCP Video Format: Auto Channel: 1 IP Camera Site: rtsp://192.168.1.120/cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0 Port 554 Authentication checked, ID and password

I've got a Dahua HFW2100, which is the same cam, running on my NV6480, with no problems. I don't remember the settings, but can post them later if you'd like.

I'm running an NV6480 on an i3-540 box, using an Intel DH57JG mini-ITX motherboard and the on-chip video, with Win7 Embedded 32 bit, and it's very robust. I reboot once a month or so to install OS updates, but it hasn't crashed on me in many months. The only add-on card is the NV6480. This is on Aver software 7.9.0.0029; I haven't tried the newer .0033a verson yet. When I initially installed it, on a 7.7 version software, I had trouble until I updated my video drivers. It's worked fine ever since.

Looks like this model has the serial port on the motherboard, not on the case, so you'd have to find the connector and figure out the pinouts. Probably not real difficult, but it would depend on your hacking skills. From the Dahua "support" board: Come on, Dahua, get it together!

Regarding PTZ, they're not much use in your situation. Good PTZ cameras are expensive - typically over $1000, though there are exceptions - and cheap ones tend to be unreliable. Typically, PTZ is good for a few situations: - Someone is watching the output and can control the camera to get the images you need. - The camera's on a patrol setting, where it scans through a routine. This is useful in some situations, but without intelligence, it can miss important views. - You have auto-tracking software to keep the camera targetted on a moving object. This can work well, though the good stuff can be expensive, and it can get confused by shadows, animals, whatever. In general, for home use, you're better off avoiding the good PTZ cams and spending the same money on multiple fixed cameras to cover key areas.

Since I can buy a nice Hyundai for under $20k, why should a BMW M5 cost $90k? What a rip-off!