Hikvision AcuSense 8MP Turret Camera, Strobe Light, Audible Warning, Two-Way Audio, Black DS-2CD2386G2-ISU/SL(2.8mm)(C)(BLACK)

What this Hikvision camera is for

This Hikvision camera watches for people and vehicles, then reacts with light and sound rather than only recording. It is a network camera, so video travels over the same cable as its data. The black housing can suit dark fascias.

It can suit a homeowner or small business covering a door, yard or driveway, and an installer wiring a new network system. A turret camera has a rounded body with no dome cover over the lens.

How does AcuSense work on this camera?

• AcuSense: Hikvision's name for deep learning that sorts movement into human and vehicle targets. The system focuses on those targets, which aims to improve alarm efficiency.
• Perimeter detection: line crossing, intrusion, region entrance and region exiting can all use that sorting.
• Light and sound response: events can trigger an audible warning and the strobe light, as well as an email or alarm output.
• DarkFighter: Hikvision's low-light technology. It helps this model produce a usable colour picture in dim scenes before the IR takes over.
• H.265+: a video compression method that needs less bandwidth and storage than older formats for a similar picture.

Where to use it

The metal body and -30 °C to 60 °C working range suit outdoor walls and soffits, as well as indoor spaces such as warehouses.

The 2.8 mm lens has a wide view, so it suits areas a few metres from the camera. Examples are a front path, a parking bay or a shop floor. Think about neighbours before using the strobe, because it is a visible light.

What the figures mean in practice

• DORI distances: DORI stands for detect, observe, recognise and identify. Plan on 8.9 m where you need to identify a stranger, and treat 89.2 m only as seeing that something moved.
• WDR and lux: WDR balances the bright and dark parts of a picture, so a bright road and a dark porch can both stay readable. Lux measures light falling on a scene, and AGC is the camera's automatic gain.
• 95 dB speaker: that level is measured at 10 cm from the speaker, so expect far less across a yard.
• 512 GB card: at the top 16 Mbps rate this works out at about three days of constant recording, and far longer at lower rates or on event recording.

Installing it

• Power budget: a PoE switch port needs to supply Class 3, one of the PoE power levels. Allow max. 10 W for this camera when adding up the switch's load.
• 12 VDC adapter: the coaxial plug has reverse polarity protection, which guards the camera if the supply is wired the wrong way round.
• Alarm contacts: the alarm output is rated max. 24 VDC/24 VAC, 500 mA, so use a relay for anything larger.
• Fixings by code: as well as the wall and pole mounts, the options also include the DS-1276ZJ-SUS corner mount, the DS-1271ZJ-140 pendant mount, the DS-1273ZJ-140B wall mount and the DS-1280ZJ-PT6 junction box. These codes carry no colour, so check each one's finish on its own page.
• Set-up: use plug-in free live view in Chrome 57.0+, Firefox 52.0+ or Edge 89+, or the iVMS-4200 client.

Planning your system

A recorder is optional for small jobs, because the camera can save to a micro SD card or to a NAS (network attached storage) drive.

For longer retention, add a network video recorder that shares one of the profiles below, plus hard drives sized for how many days you want to keep. Up to 6 live views can run at once and up to 32 user accounts can be set.

Standards and ratings explained

• IP67: dust tight, and protected against temporary immersion in water.
• Profiles S, G and T: parts of the Open Network Video Interface standard. Profile S covers streaming, G covers on-device recording and T covers advanced video such as H.265.
• EN 50130-4: an immunity standard for alarm equipment, covering electrical interference.
• ISAPI and SDK: Hikvision's own routes for connecting software to the camera.