Can't decide on 4CH K1 NVR or 8CH K2

[michty_me]

I keep jumping back and forth between the 4 channel and 8 channel NVR. At this moment in time, I only plan on fitting two cameras so the 4 channel woul dbe sufficient enough but after reading that users have managed to upgrade the 8 channel K2 varient to the V4 firmware, I'm tempted to pay the little extra and go with that.
The L2 varient seems too expensive for my needs.

I'm pretty certain I want to run with the 4MP ColorVu cameras.
Any thoughts?

 

[JB1970]

I'd recommend the DS7608NI-I2 if you are wanting to use the V4 firmware. Hikvision pulled the V4 firmware from the K series download area in January. It does work, it looks better and there are some features available that you won't get on V3 firmware BUT it is slow and a bit buggy on K series. There's clearly a reason Hikvision are still updating V3 for the K series rather than moving to V4...

If you're sold on the K series NVR then the main two differences between the 4 and 8 channel (apart from the obvious) are:

- the 8 channel K2 can take two hard disks - unlikely to be useful to you with two cameras
- the 8 channel has 4 alarm inputs and 2 outputs whereas the 4 channel has none. These can be very useful if you want to add an external PIR, contact on a gate, link to your alarm system for notifications etc

 

[michty_me]

Hmm decisions decisions.
Can you ever see the K2 being officially upgraded to V4 firmware? I noticed from various searches that Phil has been requesting further information on it from HIK but I've not seen further feedback.
I guess, If I were to pick the 7608NI-L2 I could drop the 4MP ColorVu cameras and pick the 6MP 2CD2365G1 cameras instead. This would actually work out cheaper.

 

[Kyle]

We're not optimistic of the of the V4 being released on K-Series NVRs as we've not heard anything recently to suggest that it will be.

@JB1970 has summed the differences between the recorders up nicely, the V4 firmware would be the biggest advantage you'd notice in going for the -I2.

These threads might be helpful:
New version 4 Firmware for HikVision NVRs
Which is the Best Hikvision NVR for 8 Cameras?

You should also bear in mind that ColorVu cameras don't use IR light at all so will turn on its built-in floodlight for supplementary white light in order to achieve its best colour image at, people often don't realise this.

 

[dazulrich]

A difference you might want to keep in mind, the 4 channel K1is fanless.
The K2 and the L2 both have two fans and are pretty noisy .
Depending on your planned location and noise sensitivity this might be consideration. (something i did factor in..)

 

[JB1970]

The ColorVu's are great if you've got "some" lighting. In that case, as I have with mine, you can just disable the supplementary white light completely. We have no street lighting close enough to our drive to be of use, but the 6W LED lantern I have by the front door is sufficient for me to get an image I'm happy with while raising the shutter speed to a more usable 1/100 second (1/12 second out of the box - not much use, will show motion blur at walking pace).

Last image shown is from last night 1/100 second shutter with my dawn to dusk light on. Bear in mind that that light (model Phillips Stock lantern) is warm white, probably around 3000K. I've had better results using 4000K daylight white lights. The ColorVu's don't fare too well if positioned where lights are visible in the scene - due to the large aperture, you can get some haloing/flare around the light source, so try it in position prior to cabling/fitting it permanently.
The built in supplementary white light LED is not at all "soft, warm" as Hikvision describe it - it's rather harsh.

The other two images show a camera at 1/50 second shutter - one with only street lighting and one after I fitted a 10W 4000K bulkhead fitting (to even illumination and eliminate the shadow caused by the tree). The supplement light is enabled on that camera but would only illuminate if both the bulkhead light and street light were to fail - unlikely.

Unless you have good lighting, I'd stick to ColorVu, or Darkfighter up to 4MP if you are wanting clear night time images. Hikvision cameras (other than ColorVu) tend to come with a default shutter of 1/25 sec which in most scenarios will be too slow.

.

 

[michty_me]

Morning Kyle and thanks for taking the time to respond.
After sitting down and thinking about it, I've decided that I will order the 4ch NVR along with two dark fighter cameras. I felt I would be paying a huge price for features that are readily available for my use at a much lower price point.
Along with the fact that tech is always progressing so I can update to newer products for less as and when the time comes.
Also my equipment will be located in the Kitchen cupboard so a more compact item will be perfect.

This ties in with dazulrich message that just popped up.

 

[michty_me]

The ColorVu's are great if you've got "some" lighting. In that case, as I have with mine, you can just disable the supplementary white light completely. We have no street lighting close enough to our drive to be of use, but the 6W LED lantern I have by the front door is sufficient for me to get an image I'm happy with while raising the shutter speed to a more usable 1/100 second (1/12 second out of the box - not much use, will show motion blur at walking pace).

Last image shown is from last night 1/100 second shutter with my dawn to dusk light on. Bear in mind that that light (model Phillips Stock lantern) is warm white, probably around 3000K. I've had better results using 4000K daylight white lights. The ColorVu's don't fare too well if positioned where lights are visible in the scene - due to the large aperture, you can get some haloing/flare around the light source, so try it in position prior to cabling/fitting it permanentlyView attachment 3554View attachment 3555View attachment 3556. The built in supplementary white light LED is not at all "soft, warm" as Hikvision describe it - it's rather harsh.

The other two images show a camera at 1/50 second shutter - one with only street lighting and one after I fitted a 10W 4000K bulkhead fitting (to even illumination and eliminate the shadow caused by the tree). The supplement light is enabled on that camera but would only illuminate if both the bulkhead light and street light were to fail - unlikely.

Unless you have good lighting, I'd stick to ColorVu, or Darkfighter up to 4MP if you are wanting clear night time images. Hikvision cameras (other than ColorVu) tend to come with a default shutter of 1/25 sec which in most scenarios will be too slow.

Thanks for the pictures, They look fantastic.
As I mentioned, I think for now, I'll be sticking with Dark fighter cameras to cut down on the costs but still have a good setup to start out with.

 

[sentinel44]

The ColorVu's are great if you've got "some" lighting. In that case, as I have with mine, you can just disable the supplementary white light completely. ..

Can You please share Your thoughts about line crossing and intrusion allerts if You set them? I bought one acusense variofocal camera 2CD2646G2-IZS and I am not very happy with night image, but from other side I don't want to have much false alarms. How colorvu perform in that segment?

Thx in advance.