Avigilon H4 IR Mini Dome Camera Tested

Published Oct 24, 2017 16:47 PM

Avigilon has released their successor to the aging Micro Dome, the H4 Mini Dome, claiming easy install, a patent-pending surface/recessed mounting system, Lightcatcher low light performance, true WDR and more.

We bought this new model and tested against Axis and Hikvision minidomes. Inside, we report our findings on:

  • Low light image quality
  • Full light image quality
  • WDR performance
  • IR Pattern
  • Bandwidth
  • Price Comparison
  • Physical Overview
  • Ease / Difficulty of Installation

Summary

Based on our tests, there are several pros to the H4 Mini Dome:

  • Strong low light details: The H4 Mini Dome performed the best of the three cameras tested in low light scenes, with better subject and text details.
  • Even IR coverage: The camera provided even IR coverage and reached its specified 10m/~33' range, while the Hikvision 2522's illumination was hot in the center and dark on the edges.
  • Solid WDR: The H4 Mini Dome performed well in WDR scenes tested, slightly worse than the Axis M3045, but notably better than Hikvision's 2522 (both true WDR cameras).
  • Simple / quick installation: Recessed installation took just a few minutes on our first attempt, without issue. This was one of fastest and easiest installations we have tested.

However, there are two key drawbacks:

  • Soft full light images: The H4 Mini Dome appeared softer than other models tested (Axis and Hikvision), reducing details in full light.
  • Only one lens option: Avigilon offers only 2.8mm lenses on the Mini Dome line (as does Axis), 100 or 110° AoV, depending on resolution. However, Hikvision offers 2.8, 4, 6, 8, and 12mm options on their 25XX series minidomes, making them more flexible in covering various scenes.

Pricing

The 1080p Avigilon H4 IR Mini Dome (2.0C-H4M-D1-IR) has a street price of ~$300 USD, significantly higher than the Hikvision 2522, ~$160 online, and similar to Axis' indoor IR dome, the M3105-L (~$300).

Physical Overview

The HD Mini Dome is similar to Avigilon's past Micro Dome model in form factor, but recess and surface mount models now use the same base camera module with different mounting hardware for surface and recess mounting, shown below:

The HD Mini Dome still uses an enlarged PoE dongle, an installer complaint about the Micro Dome and other recess models. However, it is significantly smaller than the Micro Dome dongle, with the reset button and status lights moved to the camera body instead of the dongle. The smaller dongle, and updated mounting system, also fixed a common installer complaint with the Micro Dome, where after drilling a hole large enough for the dongle very little room/material was left for the mounting screws, often causing installers to have to get creative with adhesives or wood filler.

The camera lacks some features found in competitive minidomes, such as SD storage, I/O, or audio. We review these and other hardware features in this video:

Size Comparison

The HD Mini Dome is moderately smaller than Axis and Hikvision minidomes, about 1" smaller in diameter, but all were about 2" tall. 

Quick Recessed Installation

Installation of the H4 Mini Dome is quick, taking us only ~2 minutes total. In the video below, we show the installation process after cutting a 3" hole in the tile (using a holesaw). The video below shows our very first attempt at recess mounting the camera, with no practice, making it one of the easiest recess mount installations we have seen. 

This process is similar to many recess mount cameras, such as Avigilon's original Micro Dome and Vivotek's FD816C. However, the HD Mini Dome mounting clips hold more securely than leaf or wire springs found on these other models, which felt like they could be pulled from the ceiling more easily.

Note that the recessed H4 Mini Dome is not rated for use in plenum ceilings, a feature found in some recessed models or mounting kits. 

Image Quality Comparison

The camera was tested in our conference room for both low light and full light image quality in the field of view shown below.

Solid Low Light Image Quality

The Avigilon Minidome performed better than the Hikvision 2522 in low light with IR on, with better details of the subject and test chart and more even illumination (see below). The Axis M3045-V was noisier than other models due to its lack of integrated IR, though still produced rough details of the subject and some legible lines of text.

 

At further distances, with PPF dropping to ~35, the Avigilon Mini Dome still provides moderately better details of the subject and chart than Hikvision.

Even IR Pattern

IR illumination of the HD Mini Dome is even across the field of view, with no bright central hotspot. However, in all scenes tested, a reflection was visible near the bottom of the image, appearing as a curved bright line, shown below. 

Average Full Light Image Quality

The Avigilon HD Mini Dome produced softer images in full light than competitive 1080p cameras tested, reducing subject and chart details.

 

Solid WDR Performance

We tested WDR against an entry/exit door with harsh changing light levels, ~45 lux inside compared to ~2,400 lux outside. 

Shown below, Avigilon performed well, providing details of the subject and scene background both indoors and out, but was outperformed by the Axis camera which adjusted quicker, providing less overexposed images of the subject and door sign while the door was open. The Hikvision appears overexposed and tinted blue while the door is open.

The cameras were also tested in another common WDR application, a glass door lobby. Light levels inside were ~85lx inside and ~290lx under the exterior awning. 

The H4 Mini Dome performed well in this scene, with only slightly less detail than the Axis M3045-V. The Hikvision 2522 was overexposed causing the loss of details in the subjects face.

HDSM Smart Codec

The H4 Mini Dome includes Avigilon's HDSM SmartCodec, which allows users to adjust compression on background objects as well as reduce frame rate, quality, bit rate cap, and GOP interval when the scene is idle:

In our tests, similar to other smart codecs, reductions of ~90% were seen in daytime still scenes, with over 60% in daytime high motion. At night, effects were lessened, but reductions of almost 50% were seen. 

We plan to test the HDSM SmartCodec in a separate report, but saw no issues with image quality during testing (noise, degradation of foreground objects, smearing, trails, etc.).

Bandwidth Comparison

With the HDSM Smart Codec on, the Avigilon H4 Mini Dome's bitrates were lower than the Hikvision 2522 with H.264+, and similar to the Axis M3045-V in still day and night scenes, but moderately lower than Axis in a high motion night scene.

Test Parameters

The following firmware versions were used for this test:

  • Avigilon 2.0C-H4M-D1-IR: 3.16.0.208(21792)
  • Axis M3045-V: 7.30.1
  • Hikvision DS-2CD2522FWD-IS: V5.4.5 Build 170124
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