2026 New Release from EmpireTech

[Arjun]

it's simple..
because they couldn't release any better cam than 5442-S3 using only better sensor...
there is NO better CCTV IR capable sensor available on Chinese market on this price range.

the only way to go are Sony Starvis II sensors - but they are much much pricey and due anti China politics done by the US, not available to HIK / Dahua (or there is no guarantee than any day US administration will not block access to it).

As I wrote many times on this forum, Chinese cctv cam business is very high volume and very low margin business.
they are using cheap and old (2-3 gen back) components (sensors and SOC chipsets) to fit into price.

NO ONE is investing into new sensor technology if don't see BIG possible profit.
All new sensor tech is done for mobile / sport camera market (no IR support there, so they can't be easly used). Not CCTV one...

the only way how Dahua / HIK can innovate is using better video processing for now.
But even there, they are using cheaper 3-4 years old AI technology (SOC chipsets) from mobiles / sport cams...

I play with those (sport cams and drones) and I know how AI video processing progressed there (in latest gen products). So there is a lot we can progress with AI-ISP 3.0/4.0 etc...

I'm sorry that HIK / Dahua released the crap that is WizColor / AI-ISP 1.0 in actual shape.
But this is a transitional stage into AI video processing, subsequent generations will be better.
And this is how all CCTV market is working.

No one in Dahua or HIK is thinking about a few older guys from this forum, who are upset that they bought an inferior product.
They released products for the masses - which (most of them) are happy with the progress in WizColor tech.

Ubiquiti better be taking notes

 

[bigredfish]

I didn't say "better" I said "equal to" the 5442-S3
Add white lights and the ability to activate them via IVS on a 5442-S3 and they would have sold out of them.

The moving image on the new cameras is clearly inferior to the 5442 in quality, we all agree on that.

Most companies that produce stuff don't go backwards in quality on the primary purpose of the item..

I understand what you're saying, if the world wants cheap crap with inferior image quality with the word "AI" in the marketing material, thats what manufacturers will produce.
I get it.

But I wont sit here in this forum and tell new users they're good image quality.
Particularly with new models being promoted that we seem to never get any real world test video of.... "trust me bro" marketing

 

[steve1225]

I didn't say "better" I said "equal to" the 5442-S3
Add white lights and the ability to activate them via IVS on a 5442-S3 and they would have sold out of them.

The moving image on the new cameras is clearly inferior to the 5442 in quality, we all agree on that.

Most companies that produce stuff don't go backwards in quality of the key purpose of the item..

I understand what you're saying, if the world wants cheap crap with inferior image quality with the word "AI" in the marketing material, thats what manufacturers will produce.
I get it.

But I wont sit here in this forum and tell new users they're good image quality.
Particularly with new models being promoted that we seem to never get any real world test video of.... "trust me bro" marketing

probably that product exists - it's 5442-IL (not -PRO) where you have AI-ISP processing disabled and in my opinion Dahua used the same sensor as in 5442-S3.

But I didn't have chance to test it and prove it.. in last year I'm totally out of cctv market / tech - I went into rebuild my house which turned out to be a process that greatly exceeded what I planed at beginning..

ps. I don't know how good non AI-ISP firmware is for that camera. Everything depends of quality of video processing encoded in SOC and firmware.

 

[steve1225]

But I wont sit here in this forum and tell new users they're good image quality.
Particularly with new models being promoted that we seem to never get any real world test video of.... "trust me bro" marketing

worse - as I understand CCTV market for now - there is no place (company) to go for something better (at video performance).
all other companies selling even worse crap..

 

[bigredfish]

probably that product exists - it's 5442-IL (not -PRO) where you have AI-ISP processing disabled and in my opinion Dahua used the same sensor as in 5442-S3.

But I didn't have chance to test it and prove it.. in last year I'm totally out of cctv market / tech - I went into rebuild my house which turned out to be a process that greatly exceeded what I planed at beginning..

ps. I don't know how good non AI-ISP firmware is for that camera. Everything depends of quality of video processing encoded in SOC and firmware.

Good luck on the house.

THAT’S a big project!

 

[GentlePumpkin]

we should seriously start putting a recent sony starvis 2 sensor usb module with an ai-capable raspberry-pi into a camera housing, run rtsp server on the raspberry, write a little web interface to control settings, maybe even run an ai yolo model on the device etc. Image quality with recent starvis 2 sensors - or even the larger 8MP starvis 1 sensor models run at 4MP - should easily be superior.

 

[Chokolinho]

probably that product exists - it's 5442-IL (not -PRO) where you have AI-ISP processing disabled and in my opinion Dahua used the same sensor as in 5442-S3.

But I didn't have chance to test it and prove it.. in last year I'm totally out of cctv market / tech - I went into rebuild my house which turned out to be a process that greatly exceeded what I planed at beginning..

ps. I don't know how good non AI-ISP firmware is for that camera. Everything depends of quality of video processing encoded in SOC and firmware.

The IL is the same shit in IR.

 

[OD1]

NO ONE is investing into new sensor technology if don't see BIG possible profit.

Smartsens has only been shipping for a few years and already has 70-80% of the surveillance market. They release new tech (mostly distilled from other sectors) constantly. 4 micron pixel size should be very exciting for low light but also dynamic range without any extra “tricks”. They’ll almost certainly be shipping LOFIC (starvis 3 tech) to surveillance soon and eliminate multi-exposure for all scenarios. Combine Smartsens high speed iteration with Dahua’s ability to listen to their customers (big optics instead of more AI this year) and the future looks bright.

 

[bigredfish]

Smartsens has only been shipping for a few years and already has 70-80% of the surveillance market. They release new tech (mostly distilled from other sectors) constantly. 4 micron pixel size should be very exciting for low light but also dynamic range without any extra “tricks”. They’ll almost certainly be shipping LOFIC (starvis 3 tech) to surveillance soon and eliminate multi-exposure for all scenarios. Combine Smartsens high speed iteration with Dahua’s ability to listen to their customers (big optics instead of more AI this year) and the future looks bright.

I truly hope you’re right.

It just ain’t here yet

 

[OD1]

That was a small geopolitical hiccup, or large scale geopolitical warfare but just a bump in the road for progress. We’re seeing bounce-back at the ultra-budget tier. There is no sensor on the Chinese market that would justify high end market segmentation (when you start so high anyway) so they do it with AI features I don’t need and artificial bitrate and stream limits. Next year maybe they segment with LOFIC and make people feel more secure about their high end purchases. Or maybe we see some updated telephoto in the 5 series again.

Right now we have a pairing of an enthusiasts-driven camera manufacturer and a surveillance-driven CMOS producer. Doesn’t hurt they’re also gigantic and obviously working together as Smartsens would have never released a 1/1.8” 2MP sensor without listening to Dahua and its customers. They’re also hard at work on IR development that we haven’t seen in over a decade. Future is bright for sure.

EDIT: smartsens 2MP 1/1.8” already boasts similar dynamic range than STARVIS 3 even without the capacitor. Truly exciting times. No more WDR bull crap.

 

[bigredfish]

Again hope you're right.

I have no doubt someday we'll be able to buy a camera with at least equal image quality to the 5442 S3 series that sees IR and has onboard white led's

Wake me up when it gets here and I'll buy a few and talk nice about them

 

[StevenFromTexas]

Jesus...
Stop this nonsense about sensors already. All these new WizColor 2/3/5 series cameras are built on the same sensors. And they're not bad - they were used in many cams before AI-ISP / WizColor non sense with good effects.

The problem lies in the implementation of video transcoding from the sensor in the SOC. These new chipsets use newer denoising, brightening (always-HDR) and coloring algorithms borrowed from the smartphone / sport cam / drone market, which uses sensors with 48 or even 100 megapixels (so the pixels are much smaller).

The previous implementation handled brightening and denoising very well for static content. Unfortunately, there was no comparable solution for moving elements in AI-ISP 1.0. It's clear that AI-ISP 2.0 (WizColor X) is trying to solve this.

Looking at how the latest action cameras and drones perform at night, it's very easy to predict there will be AI-ISP 3.0 and AI-ISP 4.0. Each subsequent version, using the same image sensors, will provide increasingly better support for people/cars/objects in motion.

today progress in video is less and less from sensors, more and more from newer AI video algorithms in SOC chipsets..

The Babylon Bee would like to hire you as one of its writers. You're good!

 

[tigerwillow1]

The moving image on the new cameras is clearly inferior to the 5442 in quality, we all agree on that.

As someone who has had a -IL side-by-side with an S3 for 9 months, I do NOT agree with that.

probably that product exists - it's 5442-IL (not -PRO) where you have AI-ISP processing disabled and in my opinion Dahua used the same sensor as in 5442-S3.

Maybe that's an explanation. I've got no inside info, and am not willing to disassemble the cameras to see for myself. All I know is what I see every day.

 

[Arjun]

Last 12 posts or so are posts of the century. I'll reserve further comment until there is empirical evidence and something tangible that.comes along from the Dahuah pipeline. Meanwhile no further camera purchases unless it is the 5442

 

[JPmedia]

it looks like AI-ISP 2.0 (WizColor X) solved biggest problem we had with WizColor cameras..
Much sharper moving objects (faces) due some new movement detection algorithm..

Video still looks soft and there seems to be a lot of odd pixel shift throughout the video sample. Too much going on for the processor to handle at this time it seems.

 

[Arjun]

Last 12 posts or so are posts of the century. I'll reserve further comment until there is empirical evidence and something tangible that.comes along from the Dahuah pipeline. Meanwhile no further camera purchases unless it is the 5442

And to add, I'm not going to be stupid to spend almost double that what I last paid for a 5442 (the varifocal model used to be $175, now it is up to $275-$300 including tax, and Amazon is a piece of trash selling refurbished and open-boxed stuff).