Starlight Camera Testing + Comparisons

Background

With the trending towards video surveillance across the globe, it has become important for CCTV manufacturers to invest towards new camera technologies and image improvements. What use is capturing a suspect on video if the image quality is comprised due to a subpar sensor or lens.

Because the majority of crimes happen at night, video image quality during nighttime hours has become on of the most important concerns for the security industry. With this in mind, Uniview has continued to innovate, releasing their starlight and super starlight cameras with upgraded photo sensors. For this reason we decided to conduct a testing of Uniview’s Starlight Camera.

Infrared and Starlight

Lux is an international standard unit measuring the amount of light per unit area. All security cameras have a minimum lux specification. This rating is the amount of light threshold at which they can function in day mode. Below the camera’s minimum lux level, the image will become too grainy and noisy, causing the security camera to switch to night (infrared) mode. While in night mode, the camera’s IR light will turn on, lighting up the scene but causing image to appear black and white.

Typical Uniview cameras have a min lux level of 0.02, which is still quite good in the security industry. Uniview Starlight cameras have an upgraded sensor with improved light sensitivity, resulting in 0.005 min lux. This is a 4x improvement over non-starlight cameras. The Super Starlight cameras have a min lux specification of 0.0005, which is an astounding 40x more sensitive than the regular sensor.

Image Comparisons

We tested between two Uniview camera models: IPC3615ER3-ADUPF28M (starlight) and IPC3614SR3-DPF28M (non-starlight). Our testing area consisted of a warehouse which was lightly illuminated through a window in a different room about 30ft away. The weather outside was cloudy at the time, and the light reaching the warehouse was sparse. To begin, we tested the IPC3614SR3-DPF28M non-starlight camera with the IR turned off.

First Image – IPC3614SR3-DPF28M (Non-Starlight Camera) with IR OFF

As you can see, the image is quite noisy and it is difficult to make out some of the objects on the middle shelf. The subject is lit poorly, and some details of the clothing are lost. On the far right shelf the noise level reaches a point where we cannot make out individual details. The objects all blur together in one grainy mess. Secondly, we have the same camera with IR enabled.

Second Image – IPC3614SR3-DPF28M (Non-Starlight Camera) with IR ON

With the IR enabled the scene becomes monochrome, but many more details can be seen. Once again, we need to focus our attention to the middle shelf. Specifically, we can see some bundles of wire at the bottom which we could not see in the first image. Despite the increase in image detail, due to the infraraed lighting we cannot see any colours. Finally, lets see if the starlight camera can yield an improvement.

Third Image – IPC3615ER3-ADUPF28M (Starlight Camera) with IR off

Finally, we tested the IPC3615ER3-ADUPF28M starlight camera with the IR turned off. Despite the low lighting conditions, the subject in the photo is very detailed and the objects on the shelf are clear. Furthermore, on the middle shelf we can see colour on all the boxes and even on the far right there is still an acceptable level of detail. Overall the image is much less grainy than the 4 MP non-starlight camera, with a noticeable improvement to all aspects of the image.

Conclusion

To conclude, Uniview Starlight cameras offer a noticeable improvement in image quality in poorly lit environments. We recommend starlight cameras for outdoor scenes with some type of indirect lighting, such as nearby streetlights. In a completely dark environment, IR is still necessary to capture the scene.

You can purchase any of Uniview’s Starlight cameras directly on our website https://gsglobalsecurity.com/product-category/ipc/unvip/starlight-unv-ipc/. You can also visit Unview’s website directly at http://www.uniview.com/