A few months ago, ACTi generated a lot of discussion for its $200 10MP camera offer (here's our subsequent test of the camera).
Now, ACTi has repeated this play with its next 10MP camera - this one adding integrated IR, IP66 outdoor rating and an IK10 vandal specification for just $50 more than the previous offer.
Here's the promo:
Notice, again, that it for 3 months only (through beginning of May).
A few thoughts:
These introductory publicly pronounced price specials are getting them a lot of attention and encouraging people to try them out, hopefully to get them hooked. This looks like a good marketing tactic.
Adding IR is critical as 10MP cameras almost always struggle in low light. Here's our side by side comparison of ACTi's non-IR 10MP E97:
Weirdly, their marketing comparison image shows almost no practical increase in detail with the 10MP vs the 2MP one:
Finally, I am suspicious about their bandwidth claim is comparable with a 2MP camera. They measure 4Mb/s for the 10MP version but it is at a max frame rate of 6fps. At the same frame rate, no 2MP IR camera would consume anything close to 4Mb/s. Here's their comparison:
Bandwidth will remain a big issue for moving to 10MP cameras, as it is 5-8x increase over 2MP cameras for moderately (at best) improved quality.