G3 ColorVu Cameras - First Impressions/Review

[Kyle]

Hi @Kyle, do you have plans to stock the 4mm versions of the new G3 mini bullets ?

I'm afraid not anytime soon - Hikvision seems to have cut back on bringing 4mm mini bullets into UK stock as they've become less popular.
There's still a good amount of stock of the 4mm 2xx7G2H cameras, so I suspect we'll see some 4mm G3 mini bullets start to arrive later in the year as the G2H cameras sell out.
Of the back orders we're aware of, there are only 4mm G3 turrets and larger bullets, but even these are smaller quantities compared to 2.8mm cameras.

These are the models that are in stock now in 4mm:

Hikvision DS-2CD2347G3-LI2UY 4MP Smart Hybrid Light with ColorVu 3.0 Fixed Turret Network Camera

Key features: - 4MP (2688x1520) Resolution, at up to 30fps - Fixed-focal Lens - 2.8mm or 4mm - M16 Lens Mount, F1.0 Aperture, Fixed Iris - Angle Adjustment - 0° to 360° Pan / 0° to 75° Tilt / 0° to 360° Rotate - Smart Hybrid Light: Integrates IR and White Light; 3 Supplemental Lighting Modes -...

www.use-ip.co.uk

Hikvision DS-2CD2387G3-LI2UY 8MP Smart Hybrid Light with ColorVu 3.0 Fixed Turret Network Camera

Key features: - 8MP (3840x2160) Resolution, at up to 30fps - Fixed-focal Lens - 2.8mm or 4mm - M16 Lens Mount, F1.0 Aperture, Fixed Iris - Angle Adjustment - 0° to 360° Pan / 0° to 75° Tilt / 0° to 360° Rotate - Smart Hybrid Light: Integrates IR and White Light; 3 Supplemental Lighting Modes -...

www.use-ip.co.uk

Hikvision DS-2CD2T47G3-LIY 4MP Smart Hybrid Light with ColorVu 3.0 Fixed Bullet Network Camera

Key features: - 4MP (2688x1520) Resolution, at up to 30fps - Fixed-focal Lens - 2.8mm or 4mm - M16 Lens Mount, F1.0 Aperture, Fixed Iris - Angle Adjustment - 0° to 360° Pan / 0° to 90° Tilt / 0° to 360° Rotate - Smart Hybrid Light: Integrates IR and White Light; 3 Supplemental Lighting Modes -...

www.use-ip.co.uk

Hikvision DS-2CD2T47G3-LIS2UY/SL 4MP Smart Hybrid Light with ColorVu 3.0 Fixed Bullet Network Camera

Key features: - 4MP (2688x1520) Resolution, at up to 30fps - Fixed-focal Lens - 2.8mm or 4mm - M16 Lens Mount, F1.0 Aperture, Fixed Iris - Angle Adjustment - 0° to 360° Pan / 0° to 90° Tilt / 0° to 360° Rotate - Smart Hybrid Light: Integrates IR and White Light; 3 Supplemental Lighting Modes -...

www.use-ip.co.uk

Hikvision DS-2CD2T87G3-LIY 8MP Smart Hybrid Light with ColorVu 3.0 Fixed Bullet Network Camera

Key features: - 8MP (3840x2160) Resolution, at up to 30fps - Fixed-focal Lens - 2.8mm or 4mm - M16 Lens Mount, F1.0 Aperture, Fixed Iris - Angle Adjustment - 0° to 360° Pan / 0° to 90° Tilt / 0° to 360° Rotate - Smart Hybrid Light: Integrates IR and White Light; 3 Supplemental Lighting Modes -...

www.use-ip.co.uk

Hikvision DS-2CD2T87G3-LIS2UY/SL 8MP Smart Hybrid Light with ColorVu 3.0 Fixed Bullet Network Camera

Key features: - 8MP (3840x2160) Resolution, at up to 30fps - Fixed-focal Lens - 2.8mm or 4mm - M16 Lens Mount, F1.0 Aperture, Fixed Iris - Angle Adjustment - 0° to 360° Pan / 0° to 90° Tilt / 0° to 360° Rotate - Smart Hybrid Light: Integrates IR and White Light; 3 Supplemental Lighting Modes -...

www.use-ip.co.uk

 

[johnfitzy]

I'm afraid not anytime soon - Hikvision seems to have cut back on bringing 4mm

I promised myself never 2.8 again... and.... let's just say planned obsolescence aint in my future... like George Bush said fool me I don't know just don't try fool me

 

[murcod]

Thanks Kyle.
The G3 image has a lot more visible noise than the G2.

There's a lot of ambient light in that scene too.

Compare the top of the "Dover Beacon" sign - the G3 picked up the writing, the G2 shows nothing. The face on the person- the G2 looks slightly like a face with facial features sort of there, the G3 a smudged mess.

Neither are great given the amount of light there is.

 

[JB1970]

There's a lot of ambient light in that scene too.

Compare the top of the "Dover Beacon" sign - the G3 picked up the writing, the G2 shows nothing. The face on the person- the G2 looks slightly like a face with facial features sort of there, the G3 a smudged mess.

Neither are great given the amount of light there is.

As Kyle mentioned, he'd left that camera on its default settings; Auto Exposure with 100% gain, 1/12sec exposure time (will cause image blur), H265+. I do think that the G3 provides a clearer image than previous models; better colour image day and night, brighter and sharper mono image when theres no ambient light. However I'm not seeing any drastic changes or improvements to support Hikvisions claims in their promotional material:

1 - I don't think the low light performance is necessarily better. I don't see the blur reduction that was mentioned. If this blur reduction is part of the 'AI', then perhaps the improvement is limited to H265+ which is the default for this model (I do not use H265+ ever)

2 - AcuSense 2.0. No additional information is provided for what the improvements are. There is no difference to the settings available for adjustment. I had some false alerts for cars picked up as human and had to restrict the coverage to get around that (I didn't have that on the previous camera)

3 - Audio 2.0. The claims of improved clarity with the dual array microphone seem to be wildly exaggerated. The audio is no clearer than the previous generation and unusable if the Environmental Noise Reduction is turned on. This is the case on both of the cameras I installed so doesn't appear to be a faulty unit.

4 - Dual VCA or Smart Search for non human/non vehicle targets is not possible and will always return 'no results'. As @alfaclvi has posted, 5.7.15 was the last version on the G5 platform (previous ColorVu models firmware) that this feature worked. As this newer model uses different firmware and is on its initial release, it wouldn't be possible to get this feature supported without Hikvision fixing it. That seems increasingly unlikely as it's a year now since the feature was removed on the G5's.

As yet there have been no firmware updates since before the cameras were available (in the UK)

 

[murcod]

It has got me pondering (again) why I keep buying Hikvision equipment.

The slow exposure time doesn't explain why the writing on that sign was completely missed by the G2.

Edit: Actually, looking at the G2 picture again the highlights are over exposed compared to the G3. That would explain the missing detail on the sign. There's a shop with lights on to the right of the truck , and the whole shop is a blown out mess on the G2, it's better on the G3.

Both cameras need a lot of tweaking to get a meaningful idea on any differences.

 

[Dave Howard]

Yes, here you go:

Hikvision G2, G2H & G3 ColorVu Comparison – Google Drive

drive.google.com

As mentioned, the settings will almost definitely need tweaking, and hopefully, we'll see improvements with firmware updates, but here are the default exposure and DNR settings used on the G3 camera for this recording:

View attachment 12750View attachment 12751

Brilliant..Thank you..Great to see this and the valuable insights from @jb1979 as always.

 

[Smoggie89]

Hello JB (I didn't realise you were a fellow smoggie lol) Do you know why I don't have the volume slider for the speaker volume available to me? is it to do with the NVR im using? (DS-7604NXI-K1/4P) , thanks

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https://www.hikvision.com/en/produc...-Video-Recorders/Pro-Series/ds-7604nxi-k1-4p/

​

 

[JB1970]

Hello JB (I didn't realise you were a fellow smoggie lol) Do you know why I don't have the volume slider for the speaker volume available to me? is it to do with the NVR im using? (DS-7604NXI-K1/4P) , thanks

​

DS-7604NXI-K1/4P

​

Yeah I did wonder if you were from the Boro. The audio settings are only available in the camera itself, so if you connect to the camera using Virtual Host you'll find them at Configuration > Video/Audio > Audio

 

[Smoggie89]

Yeah I did wonder if you were from the Boro. The audio settings are only available in the camera itself, so if you connect to the camera using Virtual Host you'll find them at Configuration > Video/Audio > Audio

Thanks mate found it. Is it worth turning on DDNS for use with Hik-Connect to remote configure? it seems like im missing quite a few options almost like a basic view on mine (iOS)

And yeah I live Billingham now but lived all over Boro mate

 

[JB1970]

Thanks mate found it. Is it worth turning on DDNS for use with Hik-Connect to remote configure? it seems like im missing quite a few options almost like a basic view on mine (iOS)

And yeah I live Billingham now but lived all over Boro mate

I don't bother with DDNS, I prefer to use a web browser while I'm on my home network or I'll use the local UI on the NVR. I just use Hik-Connect for viewing and notifications.

 

[gp116126]

4 - Dual VCA or Smart Search for non human/non vehicle targets is not possible and will always return 'no results'. As @alfaclvi has posted, 5.7.15 was the last version on the G5 platform (previous ColorVu models firmware) that this feature worked.

Can you explain this a little more or point me to the original thread. Because I'm mostly not interested in humans or vehicles is actually animals, as in cats.

Is this saying that these cameras with this firmware will only detect human or vehicle movement line crossing, intrusion. The other stuff it's just not interested in and doesn't give you the option.

 

[Smoggie89]

Can you explain this a little more or point me to the original thread. Because I'm mostly not interested in humans or vehicles is actually animals, as in cats.

Is this saying that these cameras with this firmware will only detect human or vehicle movement line crossing, intrusion. The other stuff it's just not interested in and doesn't give you the option.

My G2H cameras pick up birds/dogs so I’m sure cats will be too

 

[JB1970]

Can you explain this a little more or point me to the original thread. Because I'm mostly not interested in humans or vehicles is actually animals, as in cats.

Is this saying that these cameras with this firmware will only detect human or vehicle movement line crossing, intrusion. The other stuff it's just not interested in and doesn't give you the option.

It only applies to retrospective searching through playback.

If you set up a motion, line crossing, intrusion and use the Human/Vehicle filter when setting up (tick box) only Human/Vehicle events will be triggered as expected. If you don’t use the filters when setting up all events will be triggered so there’s no issue there. However if you set up your event with a Human/Vehicle filter but then later need to do a Smart Search/VCA search by drawing a box or line on the screen and clicking search, nothing will be found (unless it matches the filter in your event setup). Previously I could have my line crossing set to trigger on Human only, but let’s say I needed to see if a cat had been there I could draw a line on screen and do a smart search and it would show everything that crossed that line, now it won’t. So a very handy feature no longer works.

 

[gp116126]

It only applies to retrospective searching through playback.

If you set up a motion, line crossing, intrusion and use the Human/Vehicle filter when setting up (tick box) only Human/Vehicle events will be triggered as expected. If you don’t use the filters when setting up all events will be triggered so there’s no issue there. However if you set up your event with a Human/Vehicle filter but then later need to do a Smart Search/VCA search by drawing a box or line on the screen and clicking search, nothing will be found (unless it matches the filter in your event setup). Previously I could have my line crossing set to trigger on Human only, but let’s say I needed to see if a cat had been there I could draw a line on screen and do a smart search and it would show everything that crossed that line, now it won’t. So a very handy feature no longer works.

Ah.. Go ya. So in my case I just don't bother ticking human vehicle detection.

it's a shame they've done it like that because as you've indicated in another post it's not just human vehicle detection that could be influential in working out what's going on in a scene.

A for instance is, what's opened up my rubbish bags and through it all over the drive. Fox. Or, why did that light come on. Or in my case where are my bloody cats.

I appreciate the explanation. I expect as indicated in the post there won't be a solution to this as it's a design feature that hikvision think is an improvement.

Thanks

 

[JB1970]

So in my case I just don't bother ticking human vehicle detection.

Yes but then it's triggering for everything that crosses the line, enters the intrusion area so if you have notifications turned on it makes events unusable.

it's a shame they've done it like that because as you've indicated in another post it's not just human vehicle detection that could be influential in working out what's going on in a scene.

Exactly this. I use Human filtered motion detection covering a large area so that I can quickly skip through footage that contains a Human event, I use Human filtered line crossing on the driveway and have that send a push notification to me, but if someones dog were to s**t on the drive I'd have to trawl through hours of video to identify the mutt responsible. Previously two clicks with the mouse would position a line that when searched would reveal everything that crossed it and not just the Human events I've filtered for.

I appreciate the explanation. I expect as indicated in the post there won't be a solution to this as it's a design feature that hikvision think is an improvement.

Really I can only term this one an actual bug. I can't see any relevant reason that Hikvision would remove a capability. It works on all previous AcuSense models up to and including 5.7.15 of the G5 platform models (2nd Gen ColorVu with AcuSense inc G2H Hybrid Light models). The feature is there - 'Dual VCA'. The camera should send all video content analysis data back to the NVR with the video stream. What has changed that renders the feature useless is unclear.

 

[dazulrich]

Looks like HIK released new firmware for the G3 cams. V5.8.10_250605
No release notes.

 

[JB1970]

Looks like HIK released new firmware for the G3 cams. V5.8.10_250605
No release notes.

I’ll take a look. Same version number so I wouldn’t expect much to be changed. I still only have two of them; I held off swapping out any more of mine for the time being.

 

[JB1970]

Looks like HIK released new firmware for the G3 cams. V5.8.10_250605

Where have you seen this? I can't seem to find it on the UK, EU, or Global firmware search pages or the product pages.

 

[dazulrich]

It shows for me under the resources tab

DS-2CD2087G3-LI(2U)Y

Hikvision 8 MP Smart Hybrid Light with ColorVu Fixed Mini Bullet Network Camera DS-2CD2087G3-LI(2U)Y

www.hikvision.com

Just noticed it’s not showing the the turrets , just the bullets.

Direct Link https://assets.hikvision.com/prd/public/all/files/202506/Firmware__V5.8.10_250605_S3000653315.zip

 

[JB1970]

It shows for me under the resources tab

DS-2CD2087G3-LI(2U)Y

Hikvision 8 MP Smart Hybrid Light with ColorVu Fixed Mini Bullet Network Camera DS-2CD2087G3-LI(2U)Y

www.hikvision.com

Direct Link https://assets.hikvision.com/prd/public/all/files/202506/Firmware__V5.8.10_250605_S3000653315.zip

Thanks. When I looked for several models 2347, 2147 in the range, only the older build was there. I guess it'll appear shortly on the other pages.

Edit: It's showing for all the 8MP models but not the 4MP as yet. I'll load it anyway...