Arecont's New Compact Offerings Examined

JH
John Honovich
•Published Jun 22, 2011 00:00 AM
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This spring, Arecont Vision expanded their 'compact' product line offerings with 5 new H.264 models. This follows earlier releases in 2010 for a MJPEG compact line and 2 H.264 compact models. The compacts are especially noteworthy given their low price, even relative to Arecont's own lower cost offerings. In this note, we examine the differences and competitive positioning of these new compacts relative to the existing ones and competitor's cameras.

Here are the 5 cameras in this release:

  • AV1115 [link no longer available] - 1.3MP
  • AV2115 [link no longer available] - 1080p
  • AV3115 [link no longer available] - 3MP
  • AV5115 [link no longer available] - 5MP
  • AV10115 [link no longer available] - 10MP

Here is how the new series differs from the existing:

  • All of the new cameras support Auxilary power and PoE, unlike the earlier compacts than only supported PoE.
  • This is the first time compacts have been offered for 3MP, 5MP and 10MP H.264 cameras.
  • The new 1.3MP and 1080p compacts support higher frame rates than their predecessors (for the 1.3MP stated max of 42fps versus 32fps and for the 1080p stated max of 32fps versus 24fps). They are calling this feature 'Casino mode' alluding to the requirements in most casinos for 30fps.

Other features and functionalities remain the same. The pricing for the new 1.3MP compact (AV1115) is the same as for the existing (AV1315) one. The same goes for the new and existing 1080p cameras. As the new 1.3MP and 1080p provide all the same functionalities plus new improved ones (Aux power and higher frame rate), Arecont recommends the new product for new installations but will be offering the existing ones for current project rollouts.

Impact on Existing Arecont 'Full' Body Cameras

The new compacts now have the same feature sets as the existing 'full' body cameras (e.g., AV1305, AV3105, AV5105, etc.). For new projects, Arecont recommends using the new compacts rather than the 'full' body cameras, given the compacts significantly lower price. For existing projects / roll-outs, Arecont shall continue to support the 'full' body cameras.

Competitive Positioning

We think the most important competitive impact is the release of 3MP, 5MP and 10MP H.264 compacts as they provide 26-28% lower pricing than Arecont's full body cameras (e.g., the AV3105 and AV5105). By contrast, on the 1.3MP and 1080p, the differences are only incremental.

For instance, the existing AV5105DN 'full' body camera has an MSRP of $1,290 and an online price of about ~$750 USD. The new AV5115DN has an online price of ~$550 USD (lens excluded on both). That is an inexpensive price for a 5MP camera and is line with many other vendors HD cameras (though Arecont does not support audio, on board storage, ABF nor analytics). Similarily, the 10MP DN compact MSRP is $240 less than the full body 10MP DN ($1140 MSRP vs $1390 MSRP). On the other hand, as with all multi-megapixel cameras, we advise caution on the level of additional visual details the camera can deliver.