View of the camera

View of the microSD card slot

View of the connectors

The included accessories, also the cable fitting for protecting against water penetration

The Hikvision DS-2CD2165FWD-I camera is dedicated for professional IP CCTV systems. The compact camera has been equipped with high quality 6 MP 1/2.4" CMOS sensor providing perfect video coverage even in low-light conditions. Along with IR illuminator with range up to 30 m made in Exir 2.0 technology, the camera can also operate in complete darkness. The built-in 2.8 mm lens has 99° viewing angle. The IP67-rated housing of the camera protects the electronics against adverse weather conditions. The camera can be powered conventionally with a 12 VDC source or with the use of PoE option (802.3af).

The camera belongs to the new, EasyIP 3.0 series of cameras, having excellent parameters for affordable price. The embedded intelligent image analysis (VCA) includes detection of faces, virtual line crossing, intrusion detection, detection of leaving/taking objects. These features make the camera a perfect tool for implementing advanced video surveillance projects.

If the main stream is transmitted with 2944 × 1656 or higher resolution, the maximum frame rate of all streams is limited to 20 fps.

H.265/H.265+ – higher compression ratios with preserving video quality provided by H.264

The camera implements several video compression methods, H.265+, H.265, H.264+, H.264, MJPEG. Compared with H.264, H.265 can reduce by half the data stream, which translates into proportional savings of the disk space or into extended data retention time. H.265+ and H.264+ are Hikvision standards based on the original systems and optimized for CCTV applications. They further minimize the streams in typical video surveillance scenarios. With the advanced video compression algorithms, the camera can be used in IP CCTV systems based on modern NVRs implementing H.265 standard (the DS-76/77/96NI-I/K series supports H.265+, H.265, H.264+, H.264). Of course, the camera can also operate with older models supporting H.264 (the DS-76/77NI-E series supports H.264+, H.264).

The built-in powerful IR illuminator has a range of up to 30 m. The illuminator based on the newest Exir 2.0 light-emitting technology has ca. 30% higher efficiency compared with traditional IR LED arrays. Additionally, the IR light in the form of a rectangle fits the camera's field of view. This further improves the efficiency of the lighting and eliminates the excessive light intensity in the central part of the scene, typical for majority of IR illuminators. Exir 2.0 illuminators ensure much better luminance uniformity, including corners of the scene, at the same time reducing light pollution in the surrounding environment. Compared with the previous version, Exir 2.0 illuminators feature longer service life thanks to optimized heat dissipation, up to 20,000 hours.

With the support of ANR (Automatic Network Replenishment), each the IP camera equipped with a memory card can record video in the absence of network connection. After the restoration of the network connection, the recordings are automatically synchronized with those recorded on the NVR. This ensures continuous coverage of events, even in the case of communication problems between the camera and NVR.

The iVMS 4200 client software enables users of HIKVISION devices to manage them in IP networks. The software allows for configuration and management of NVRs/DVRs, IP and analog cameras (in hybrid systems). The iVMS 4200 utility can remotely manage up to 256 devices, with the use of up to 4 monitors. One monitor can display up images from up to 64 cameras. Aside from system configuration and live monitoring, the utility can be used for remote playback, notifying, two-way audio transmission, creating multi-level e-maps.

View of the control panel of the iVMS-4200 application

Hik-Connect is a mobile application, intended for smartphones running Android or iOS operating systems. It can be used for remote live viewing of images from DVRs, NVRs, network cameras via Wi-Fi, 2G or 3G networks, and for playing back recorded video files. The application connects with the devices by IP addresses and/or through the P2P cloud.

Hik-Connect is also a network service for Hikvison devices. The service is based on data processing in the cloud and integrates the following functions:

• Remote access through the cloud - it allows access to the device without having an external IP address and when simplicity is the most important thing. Only the basic configuration of the network is required. The application on a PC or smartphone connects with the device via P2P cloud service,
• DDNS server - DDNS assigns a fixed domain name to dynamically changing IP addresses (Dynamic DNS). This feature is useful when the ISP does not provide users with a fixed IP address. The condition for using DDNS is having a public IP address and providing access from the external network to the appropriate ports of the NVR (server and http, by default 8000 and 80). The connection is possible via a web browser, client application on a PC and on smartphones.

The degree of protection (IK rating) provided by enclosures for electrical equipment against external mechanical impacts is defined in the EN 62262 standard. The EN 62262:2003 standard specifies the conditions of the testing procedure.

The camera has IK10 rating.

SADP (Search Active Device Protocol) is a free and simple to use utility for searching Hikvision IP cameras and Hikvision DVRs/NVRs in the local network. The network device search tool can also be used for modification of network parameters of the Hikvision devices, including the change of passwords or recovery of default passwords. Detailed information on the software and its use is contained in the SADP application - LAN tool for organizing CCTV systems based on Hikvision devices article.