Smart Home Series · Hikvision
Hikvision CCTV Systems, Supplied and Fitted
A wired system rather than a set of Wi-Fi cameras: PoE cameras, a recorder that holds weeks of footage on its own drives, and one cable per camera. This is the tier you specify when the footage has to stand up as evidence.
- Genuine Hikvision
- PoE — one cable per camera
- Records to its own drives
- Cabled and commissioned by us
Hikvision or EZVIZ — which should I be looking at?
They are the same company — EZVIZ is Hikvision’s consumer brand — but they solve different problems, and picking the wrong one is the most common expensive mistake in this category.
Choose this Hikvision system if you want four or more cameras, footage kept on site rather than in a subscription, and a picture good enough to identify a face rather than merely show that someone was there. It needs cabling, which means it is an install job, not a purchase.
Choose the EZVIZ range if you want one to three cameras, no cabling, and you are happy reviewing on your phone. There is a battery-and-solar model there for walls with no power — nothing in the Hikvision set can do that.
Which tier fits you
- You are here
Hikvision — wired system
PoE cameras + NVR. 4–16 cameras, on-site recording, best low-light picture, evidence-grade detail. Needs cable runs.
Typical: whole house, shoplot, factory, anywhere with a guardhouse.
- The other option
EZVIZ — Wi-Fi cameras
Standalone Wi-Fi cameras, microSD or cloud. 1–3 cameras, no cabling, battery-and-solar available.
The system
Cameras, recorder, and optionally a monitor. We quote it as one system because that is how it has to be designed — the recorder has to match the camera count and the resolution you choose.
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DS-2CD2167G3-LIS2UYTop spec
Dome camera
6 MP ColorVu Dome — the one to specify
Quoted as a systemThe best camera in this set. A 1/1.8″ sensor behind an F1.0 lens, which is what lets it hold full colour at night instead of switching to grey infrared. Vandal-resistant to IK10, and it classifies people and vehicles on-camera rather than alarming at every moth.
Best for: front doors, driveways, shop interiors, anywhere the footage has to identify someone rather than just show that something happened- 3200×1800 (6 MP)
- F1.0 · colour at night
- IP67 + IK10
- Black or white
Ask about this unit
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DS-2CD2067G3-LIY6 MP
Mini bullet
6 MP ColorVu Mini Bullet
Quoted as a systemThe same 6 MP sensor and F1.0 optics as the dome, in a bullet body. Choose it when you want the camera to be visibly pointed at something — a bullet reads as a deterrent in a way a dome does not.
Best for: driveways, car porches, perimeter walls, loading areas- 3200×1800 (6 MP)
- F1.0 aperture
- Anti-corrosion
- IP67
Ask about this unit
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DS-2CD1343G2-LIU4 MP
Turret
4 MP Turret — the volume camera
Quoted as a systemWhere the budget has to cover six cameras rather than two. 4 MP, F1.6, Smart Hybrid Light and human/vehicle detection. Less light-gathering than the 6 MP pair, and honest about it.
Best for: side passages, back yards, corridors, second-floor coverage- 2560×1440 (4 MP)
- F1.6
- Built-in mic
- IP67
Ask about this unit
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DS-2CD1043G2-LIU4 MP
Bullet
4 MP Bullet
Quoted as a systemThe turret’s twin in a bullet housing. Identical sensor, lens and detection — pick by the shape you want on the wall and how obvious you want it to be.
Best for: gates, fence lines, driveways, anywhere a visible camera is part of the point- 2560×1440 (4 MP)
- F1.6
- Smart Hybrid Light
- IP67
Ask about this unit
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DS-7616NXI-K2/16P16 channel
Recorder
16-Channel PoE NVR
Quoted as a systemThe recorder for a bigger property. Sixteen PoE ports, so each camera takes one cable that carries both power and video. Two drive bays, up to 16 TB each.
Best for: larger homes, shoplots, factories, multi-building sites- 16× PoE ports
- 160 Mbps in
- 2 × SATA to 16 TB
- AcuSense
Ask about this unit
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DS-7608NXI-K1/8P8 channel
Recorder
8-Channel PoE NVR
Quoted as a systemThe right size for most houses. Eight PoE ports and one drive bay to 16 TB — which at 4 MP is comfortably weeks of continuous recording, not days.
Best for: terrace and semi-D homes, small offices, four to eight cameras- 8× PoE ports
- 80 Mbps in
- 1 × SATA to 16 TB
- AcuSense
Ask about this unit
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DS-D5024F2-AV223.8″
Monitor
23.8″ Monitor
Quoted as a systemA screen built to be left on, wired straight to the recorder’s HDMI. Optional — you can review everything from your phone — but useful at a guardhouse, reception or shop counter.
Best for: guardhouses, receptions, shop counters, anywhere someone watches live- 1920×1080
- 100 Hz max
- 4000:1 contrast
- HDMI + VGA
Ask about this unit
Compare the cameras
Specifications transcribed from Hikvision’s own datasheets. DORI is the useful column: it is the distance at which the camera can Detect, Observe, Recognise and Identify a person — and “identify” is the only one that means you could name someone from the footage.
| DS-2CD2167G3-LIS2UY | DS-2CD2067G3-LIY | DS-2CD1343G2-LIU | DS-2CD1043G2-LIU | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Body | Dome | Mini bullet | Turret | Bullet |
| Resolution | 3200×1800 (6 MP) | 3200×1800 (6 MP) | 2560×1440 (4 MP) | 2560×1440 (4 MP) |
| Sensor | 1/1.8″ CMOS | 1/1.8″ CMOS | 1/3″ CMOS | 1/3″ CMOS |
| Aperture | F1.0 | F1.0 | F1.6 | F1.6 |
| Min. illumination (colour) | 0.0005 lux | 0.0005 lux | 0.005 lux | 0.005 lux |
| Identify range, 2.8 mm | 8 m | 8 m | 6 m | 6 m |
| Detect range, 2.8 mm | 89 m | 89 m | 63 m | 63 m |
| WDR | 130 dB | Scene-adaptive | 120 dB | 120 dB |
| Supplement light | White + IR, 30 m | White + IR | White + IR, 30 m | White + IR, 30 m |
| Audio | Dual mic + line in/out | Dual mic | Built-in mic | Built-in mic |
| Alarm I/O | 1 in, 1 out | No | No | No |
| Vandal resistant | IK10 | No | No | No |
| Weather | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 | IP67 |
| Power | PoE 802.3af or 12 VDC | PoE 802.3af or 12 VDC | PoE 802.3af or 12 VDC | PoE 802.3af or 12 VDC |
| On-board microSD | To 512 GB | To 512 GB | To 512 GB | To 512 GB |
Both 6 MP models use Hikvision ColorVu 3.0, which holds full colour through the night instead of switching to monochrome infrared. The 4 MP pair uses Smart Hybrid Light and will fall back to black and white in very low light.
Why the aperture matters more than the megapixels
The single most useful thing to understand before you spend money on cameras.
And megapixels do not extend identification much. Look at the DORI row: going 4 MP to 6 MP moves the identify distance from 6 m to 8 m. Two metres. If you need to identify someone at the gate, the answer is to mount the camera closer to the gate, not to buy more pixels. That is a positioning decision, and it is free.
What we would actually do on a typical house: the 6 MP dome where people come to the door, the 4 MP models for the side and rear where you only need to know something moved. Spending the same money evenly across four identical cameras is the common mistake.
The honest limits
Four things worth knowing before you commit to a wired system.
You need to buy drives. The NVRs ship empty. Budget for surveillance-rated hard drives sized to how long you want to keep footage — we will work that out with you rather than guess.
ColorVu needs a little ambient light. It is remarkable in a street-lit driveway. In a genuinely pitch-black rear yard the camera switches its white light on, which is effective but visible — some people want that, some do not.
Cameras record; they do not stop anyone. They deter, and they give you something to hand the police. The barrier is still the lock on the door.
Where you may point a camera
This decides where we will and will not mount one.
Your property, not your neighbour’s
We install to cover your own property and its approaches. We will not aim a camera into a neighbour’s home or garden, into a shared bathroom, or anywhere a person would reasonably expect privacy — and we will not fit a camera concealed to record people without their knowledge. If a position overlooks someone else’s living space we will say so and propose a different angle, a narrower lens, or a privacy mask, which these cameras support in hardware.
For a shop, office or rental rather than your own home, the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 is engaged: signage, who can view the footage, and how long you keep it all matter. Tell us it is a commercial site and we will set the retention and access up properly at commissioning.
We design it, cable it and commission it
A camera system is mostly design and cabling. The boxes are the easy part.
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Before you buy
A site walk, then a written system quote
We work out how many cameras, which model where, the cable routes, the recorder size and the drive capacity — then quote the whole thing in writing. Usually with fewer cameras than people expect, better placed.
- Camera count and positions agreed first
- Cable routes walked before we quote
- Drive sized to your retention
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On the day
Cabled, aimed, and handed over working
Cable runs, terminations, mounting, aiming, then the recorder configured — detection zones, retention, and remote viewing on your phone, tested with you before we leave.
- Neat, concealed cable runs
- Detection zones tuned per camera
- Remote viewing tested on your phone
Questions people actually ask
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How much does a system cost?
We quote per site, because the camera count, the cable runs and the drive size move the number far more than the model does. Tell us the property type and roughly what you want covered and we will put a written figure to it.
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Do I need the monitor?
No. Most homes review on a phone and never wire a screen. It earns its place at a guardhouse, reception or shop counter where somebody is watching live.
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How long will it keep footage?
That is the drive, not the recorder. It depends on camera count, resolution and whether you record continuously or on detection. We size the drive to the number of days you actually want and tell you what you are getting.
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Can I view it from overseas?
Yes, through Hikvision’s app, provided the property has a stable connection. Recording continues on the drives regardless of whether your internet is up — which is the main advantage over a cloud-only camera.
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Is this better than the EZVIZ cameras?
Better at a different job. This is stronger on low-light detail, on-site retention and running many cameras from one recorder. EZVIZ is better when you want one or two cameras with no cabling, and it has a battery-and-solar option this range does not. Same parent company, different tier.
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Can it tell a person from a car?
Yes. All four cameras classify human and vehicle shapes on-camera, and the recorders add AcuSense on top, so alerts can be filtered to people and vehicles instead of firing at every shadow. This is the feature that decides whether you keep notifications switched on.
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Which one is the top model?
The DS-2CD2167G3-LIS2UY dome. 6 MP on a 1/1.8″ sensor at F1.0, IK10 vandal-resistant, alarm input and output, and the only one here with audio line in and out. It comes in black or white.
Tell us the property and what you want covered
Photos of the frontage and a rough idea of the areas. We will come back with a camera count, which models where, and a written supplied-and-installed price.