Jennifer Hackenburg
Product Marketing Director
The VU-MORE camera’s standout features are that it can analyze lighting conditions and motion in its field of view to activate IR or white-light illumination depending on light levels. This is not our only camera that does this; however, we’re proud to give our dealers and end users more options for security by including similar features on other cameras. In this post, we will walk you through each low-light option and illumination mode to help you better understand their benefits and decide which one to choose.
Starlight
Starlight was one of the first low-light technologies we introduced to the market. It includes three levels: Basic Starlight, Enhanced Starlight, and Starlight+. The different levels of Starlight align with different levels of darkness in which the image will remain in color before turning to black and white. Starlight cameras rely on their optics, sensors, and image processing. They implement IR cut filters in bright lighting conditions and can provide clear images in environments down to 0.004 lux depending on the model. Starlight is a good choice when covertness is a priority.
Night Color
Night Color cameras do not use IR cut filters like Starlight cameras do. Instead, they have high-performance sensors and achromatic, large-aperture lenses (F1.0) that produce color images in low light. These cameras are light sensitive enough to keep images in color around the clock without switching to black and white, like the IR-dependent cameras do. Our Night Color and Night Color 2.0 lines have models with and without white-light LEDs.
Night Color Fusion
Night Color Fusion is another good option for covertness. The camera has two 4MP sensors, one of which extracts details from the visible color spectrum. The other sensor extracts the brightness from the black and white spectrum. The two images then fuse to create a best-of-both-worlds scenario where color images are visible in a very dark scene without turning on the white-light LEDs.
Three in One Camera (TiOC)
One of the TiOC’s best features is it activates certain functions based on Smart Motion Detection (SMD). The “three” in the “Three-in-One” refers to three deterrents for unwanted activity: a siren, flashing blue and red lights, and two-way talk that lets operators speak to people in the scene. All of the deterrents work hand-in-hand with SMD. SMD also drives TiOC’s smart dual illumination, whereby an Analytics+ algorithm determines whether the camera should use its white-light illuminators or IR. The LEDs allow the camera to record in full color during a security event.
VU-MORE Color
VU-MORE Color, the newest member of Dahua’s low-light technology family, is similar to the TiOC technology in that the cameras turn on white-light LEDs when they detect human motion in a scene but use IR the rest of the time, reducing light pollution. The VU-MORE Color cameras will receive a firmware update in December 2022 with the new Flexible Scheduling feature. Flexible Scheduling will let users create custom schedules for when they want the LEDs to illuminate versus the IR.
Now that you’re armed with knowledge of the differences among these camera lines, are you ready to see them in action? Schedule a live demo with the Dahua team.