Dahua vs Hikvision: How to choose? (Table Comparison)

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Dahua vs Hikvision: What’s the difference? Which is better?

Dahua and Hikvision are the most well-known and trusted brands in the ever-expanding world of video surveillance. If you’re a customer who’s just starting to look into the various surveillance choices on the market, you’ll almost certainly end up shortlisting both of the aforementioned brands. And that’s when you might come to a fork in the road. It’s quite difficult to choose between the two.

While Dahua and Hikvision are the market leaders, no one has yet identified the brand that takes the top spot. So, let’s get started on uncovering the indisputable king of surveillance CCTV cameras.

Main Differences between Hikvision and Dahua

Even though there are several differences between Hikvision and Dahua, we have compiled a list of the most significant distinctions so that you can simply choose the best one after considering the following points:

1. Sensor Size and Low Light Ability

The Wizsense from Dahua has a 1/2.7′′ Progressive Scan CMOS sensor, whereas the Darkfighter from Hikvision has a 1/2.4′′ Progressive Scan CMOS sensor. Both brands, however, use 1/3′′Progressive Scan CMOS sensors in the bulk of their products.

The sensor size impacts not only the camera’s resolution but also its low-light capability. As a result, Dahua’s Wizsense has a lower minimum illumination (0.005 Lux) than Hikvision’s Darkfighter (0.016 Lux). When compared to Darkfighter cameras, Dahua’s Wizsense IR range (50m) is also longer than Hik’s Darkfighter (30m), allowing Wizsense cameras to capture details of objects further away in a scene when recording at night.

2. Camera Lens Option

While a security camera’s sensor influences video quality and low-light performance, the camera lens specifies the field of view available. Because you want everything in your surveillance footage to be viewable at once, using a lower focal length for a larger field of view is always suggested. Both Hikvision and Dahua provide excellent camera lens selections. 2.8 mm, 4 mm, 6 mm, 8 mm, and 12 mm lenses are available from Hikvision, while 2.8 mm, 3.6 mm, and 6 mm lenses are available from Dahua.

3. Protocol Support

Starting with the software features of these surveillance cameras, you should first verify their protocol support, as they are IP cameras, and connecting them to the internet will be difficult without correct protocol support. Both Hikvision and Dahua cameras support ONVIF and RTSP protocols, allowing them to be used as IP cameras with ease.

4. Bitrate

The amount of processing power necessary to record and watch a video is referred to as bitrate. Video quality is determined by bitrate in the same way that picture quality is determined by resolution. Hikvision’s Darkfighter has a bit rate of 32Kbps/16Mbps, whereas Dahua’s Wizsense supports both H.265 and H.264 video formats and thus bit rates of 32Kbps and 19 Kbps.

5. Weight and Dimensions

Both Hikvision and Dahua offer lightweight models for easy installation if you wish to mount a surveillance camera on the ceiling. Hikvision cameras are about 4.4 × 3.2 inches in size, while Dahua cameras are about 4.33 x 3.19 inches in size, making them fairly close in size.

Other Differences between Hikvision and Dahua

	Hikvision	Dahua
Focal Lengths	4 mm and 6 mm lenses	2.8 mm, 3.6 mm, and 6 mm lenses
Motion Detection	Support	Support (Even supports face detection and missing object detection)
Sound Recording	A few cameras support	Offers more models for versatility
Night Time Color	Slightly better in terms of color accuracy and easy to monitor footage	Good
Minimum Illumination	Good	Good
The Apps	Offer smartphone apps for both Android and iOS devices	Offer smartphone apps for both Android and iOS devices

Conclusion

After reading this comprehensive comparison and considering all of the criteria discussed, you should have a very decent sense of what Hikvision and Dahua have to offer. While they are both excellent security cameras, they do have some distinctions.

As a result, the only conclusion we can draw is that Dahua generally produces slightly less expensive products that are better suited to domestic installation. Hikvision, on the other hand, prefers to manufacture higher-end products that are more suited for commercial installation.