Samsung’s SNV-8081RP IR dome has been at the SEN office for some months awaiting testing. I liked the Samsung SNO, the bullet version of this camera system a lot. Would I warm to the fixed dome version of the camera? Read on!
IN terms of specifications, the Samsung SNV-8081RP is a vandal-resistant IR dome with a maximum resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels (5MP). The progressive scan sensor is a 1/1.8-inch 5MP CMOS S/N ratio is 50dB. The 8081R is fitted with a fast F1.3 3.6-9.4mm motorised varifocal lens, giving the equivalent of 2.4x optical zoom. Horizontal angle of view is 93.4 degrees at the wide end and 39.2 at the long end. Vertical viewing angle is 68 wide and 29.3 long. Hyperfocal distance is half a metre.
Setting up Samsung cameras is easy and once I get everything sorted out, I’m very pleased with the Samsung SNV-8081RP dome – it doesn’t hit me immediately but this camera just does a lot of things very well. The standout feature is the huge resolution – there’s so much detail I can’t see it all at once on my 1080p screen – I really only get the benefit with digital zooming.
For street work, this performance is great. You use optical zoom to get to the focal length you want and then rez up the image stream with digital zoom – it takes a long time to get to pixellation with this Samsung. You never have that feeling you often get with 1080p domes that, past 12-16m at wider angles of view, there’s no hope of getting worthwhile detail. With 5MP of available resolution up your sleeve, no matter where you are in the varifocal there’s always loads more detail in the mouse wheel.
Digital zoom, even at full wide, leans deep into huge street scenes…
Overall, the Samsung SNV-8081R dome is a good camera. The high resolution costs you moving detail in very low levels of light but even so, the huge levels of detail possible make this a price worth paying in applications with light levels between 5-10 lux and higher. The distortion correction works well, the ability to handle variables of light during daylight hours is exemplary – this camera resists over exposure in external applications. Resolution is relentlessly excellent.
There’s integrated IR which I find works better indoors than in external applications and the modest monochrome performance in night mode is more than made up for by the quality of the colour work above 2.5 lux at the lens. In colour in low light the image stream shows good colour, is composite and is delivered with very low noise. WDR performance is solid, too.
Check out the full review of Samsung’s SNV-8081R dome in SEN’s October issue! ♦
By John Adams
