TP-Link VIGI Solar 4G PT Camera First Impressions

TP-Link VIGI Solar 4G PT Camera First Impressions

TP-Link VIGI Solar 4G PT Camera First Impressions Are Promising.

TP-Link VIGI Solar 4G PT Camera First Impressions – We’ve had TP-Link’s affordable VIGI Solar 4G PT camera sitting at the SEN office for a while and one of the pleasures of the Christmas holidays was getting the opportunity to set this solution up and have a test drive.

TP-Link’s VIGI Solar 4G PT system combines a 90W solar panel, a 30Ah lithium battery with heater, adjustable mounting bracket, an MPPT charge controller and a VIGI C540-4G 4MP outdoor colour 4G pan/tilt network camera with a 4mm fixed lens. The system is IP66-rated for dust and water resistance, while total weight is 15kg and operating temperature is -30 to 60C.  

Physical installation was easier than expected and once I’d blundered my way through download of the relevant software components, finding the camera on the network was easy (there’s a QR code for 4G connection) and I was quickly enjoying sweeping views of my very large scene.

Optical performance is good with the caveat that this is a PT camera with a moderate resolution of 4MP (2560 x 1440 pixels) and a 4mm focal length slightly enhanced by digital zoom. You pass a point where you are winding into pixel spread with digital zoom but it’s still worth having, thanks to its ability to go in as far as a standard 1920 x 1080p monitor will display without pixel spread.

Colour rendition in varying daylight conditions is excellent. Settings were near default – my only tweaks were to activate WDR, opt for highest quality and slide up sharpness. I noticed bitrate was quite low during periods of inactivity but with a lot of tree and grass movement – we’re talking half the scene or more – bitrate was peaking at around 10Mbps.

This camera has integrated white and IR light, and I tried both at night. Ultimately, I preferred the IR, given it has far deeper penetration – it’s useful to a range of about 40 metres from the lens – deeper still if confirmation of intrusion is your operational focus.

Don’t miss our full review of the TP-Link VIGI Solar 4G PT camera coming up soon in SEN – check out the full specifications here and read more SEN news here!

“TP-Link VIGI Solar 4G PT Camera First Impressions Are Promising.”