Hikvision Door Station Tested
Hikvision has entered the video intercom market, aiming to bring the race to the bottom to a whole new audience.
To see how it stacks up, we bought and tested their vandal resistant door station, the DS-KB8112-IM, to see how it compared to the Axis A8105-E from Axis, testing:
- Full light image quality
- Low light image quality
- WDR performance
- Audio quality
- VMS integration
- Mobile app integration
- Installation issues
See our full results inside.
Interested readers should see our past tests of other door station models, including:
- Axis Door Station Tested (A8105-E)
- DoorBird D101 Tested Vs Ring and Axis
- Geovision Doorstation Tested (CS1320)
Key Findings
Based on our testing, the DS-KB8112-IM had several positives:
- Superior dark images: Due to its built in IR, the KB8112-IM produced recognizable subject details in very dark scenes (<1lx) which door stations in past tests have not (Axis, Doorbird).
- Simple cloud connection: The KB8112 connected to Hikvision's Hik-Connect cloud service without port forwarding, allowing users to answer calls from their mobile device and unlock doors with very little setup.
However, there were several negatives, as well:
- Weak audio: Both mic and speaker audio were weak, limiting the door station's usefulness in noisy environments, even with audio levels at their highest settings.
- Weak WDR: The KB8112 includes only digital WDR, resulting in moderate overexposure of subjects against strong backlight/sunlight.
- Limited VMS integration: Only RTSP integration was possible with third party VMSes (video and audio). Despite claims of ONVIF support in its specs, the door station did not connect to any VMS tested via ONVIF or direct drivers nor is listed as officially conformant by ONVIF.
- Installation issues: The KB8112's three piece mount made installation frustrating, with no way to lock the camera in place while attaching the backplate and a small, difficult to adjust set screw.
Price
The DS-KB8112-IM sells for ~$230 USD online, significantly lower than other commercial door station models, such as the Axis A8105 (~$700 online) or Doorbird (~$350).
Physical Overview
The KB8112 is different from most door stations we have tested, using three pieces: a tubular camera/button module which rotates inside a mounting housing, which is then secured to a wall plate. This design leads to some mounting issues, discussed below.
The KB8112 includes an 80° lens, narrower than many other models which use wide angle or panoramic lenses. Also unlike many, the station includes 940nm "invisible" IR illumination, which improved dark scene performance (discussed below).
The video below provides a physical overview of the Hikvision KB8112:
Compared to the Axis A8105-E, the KB8112 is moderately larger, extending further from the wall, and not able to be mullion mounted (Hikvision recommends a single gang box for mounting). However, the KB8112 is IK09 rated for vandal resistance, while the A8105-E is not IK rated.
Installation Issues
The KB8112 had two significant installation issues:
- Difficult positioning/mounting: Because of its three piece construction, it was difficult to position the door station in the mount, then slide it onto the backplate without it moving. This resulted in the station frequently changing position/angle, or sometimes falling out of the mounting slots entirely.
- Small set screw: The set screw in the bottom of the door station which locks it to the mounting plate was a very small hex head (~1/16") which was difficult to adjust with even the included hex key provided by Hikvision.
Installers are likely to get used to these issues after installing several stations, but those unaccustomed are likely to be frustrated and spend additional time installing compared to other models with simpler mounting. We review these issues in this video:
Weak Audio
Audio on the KB8112 was weak in our tests. With the subject standing at ~3-4', he was intelligible, though quiet, even with mic levels turned all the way up (below). The same was true of speaker audio, with the operator intelligible but soft. Users in noisy environments may find the KB8112's audio lacking.
Image Quality Performance
We tested the door station at a visitors entrance to a building, a typical installation point. Below is the test field of view.
In full light the Hikvision provided enough details to identify the subject, however the Axis, with true WDR, was able to provide more detail both in the subject as well as the background.
Even Lighting: Hikvision Similar Details
Next, the door station was tested in a vestibule with more even lighting, though with strong sunlight on one side, shown below:
In this scene, the Hikvision door station provides similar subject details to the Axis A8105-E, with slightly better clarity but no practical difference in recognition details.
Low Light: Hikvision Overexposed
At night with exterior lights providing ~12lx the Hikvision slightly overexposes the subject, while the Axis A8105-E provides clear details. At this light level, though dim, the Hikvision KB8112 did not switch to night mode with IR on, staying in day/color.
Dark: Hikvision Better Details
Due to its built in IR, the KB8112 provides much better detail than the Axis A8105 when the scene is very dark, ~0.02lx in this example. Subject details are clear in the Hikvision door station, but obscured by noise in Axis.
Limited VMS Integration
Although it claims ONVIF support on its spec sheets, the KB8112 is not included on ONVIF's conformant devices listing.
In our tests, ONVIF support was poor, with only ONVIF Device Manager (ODM) able to view the door station video stream. Avigilon, Exacq, Genetec, Milestone, and Network Optix were unable to see connect via ONVIF or direct drivers.
RTSP streaming of the video and audio streams worked without issues.
Limited Hikvision NVR Integration
Hikvision has released special firmware for their -I series NVRs to integrate the KB8112, available on their website. However, this integration simply overlays text indicated an intercom event on the live view of the local NVR user interface (SHOWN BELOW). This text is not displayed on the web interface or iVMS-4200.
Additionally, there is no way to search for these events in any UI (local, web, or client software).
Hik-Connect Integration
While integration with VMSes and Hikvision's own NVRs was lacking, the KB8112 worked well with Hikvison's Hik-Connect cloud platform, ringing users mobile devices for incoming calls, allowing two way audio and unlocking of the door.
Master Station/Door Station Use
Note that this test focuses only on the KB8112 used as a standalone station, but Hikvision has also released indoor master stations for more typical point to point intercom use. In this configuration, calls may be answered from the master station instead of using mobile app or other software, more typical in education, multi-tenant housing, and higher security applications.
Test Parameters
The following firmware versions were used in this test:
- Hikvision KB8112: V1.4.6 build 170728
- Axis A8105-E: 1.65.1