Dahua Australia Technical Support Details
Note: Support is usually done through your installer. Dahua may not help you directly.
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Is Dahua a Good Brand?
Dahua is one of the most popular IP camera brands in the world, second only to Hikvision in terms of global market share. They are known for making prosumer grade security products at an affordable price. They make CCTV cameras, network video recorders, access control products, video intercoms and more.
They have a wide range of products for almost any situation, which can be a little confusing due to too much choice. Security Installers make the choice simpler by carrying only a handful of security camera models that offer a good balance of price and features appropriate for the residential or business market.
Dahua tends to be one of the main brands that security installers who service the residential market will install. You will find many Dahua CCTV cameras on new house builds. For commercial installs, Dahua is common but Hikvision tends to be more popular with security installers.
They also have a consumer-grade security camera brand called IMOU, a step down in quality to get the price into the consumer range.
Dahua Product Series
Dahua offers three different series of products to meet various price points and needs.
Lite Series
The Lite Series is Dahua's entry-level option, ideal for budget-conscious users like residential installations or small to medium businesses. Despite its affordability, it offers a variety of camera types (turret/eyeball, bullet, dome) with resolutions from 2MP to 8MP and includes features like Full-Colour, Starlight, and Intelligent Video Analysis.
Pro Series
The Pro Series is a step up from the Lite Series, including all its features plus advanced AI capabilities like Wizsense and Wizmind (facial recognition, perimeter protection, smart motion detection, metadata, people counting). Starlight technology is standard, enhancing low-light performance. This series suits medium-sized businesses needing AI analysis, such as offices or small shops.
Ultra Series
The Ultra Series is Dahua's high-end range, designed for large-scale businesses requiring high resolutions (up to 12MP) and advanced AI features like heat mapping, people counting, and smart detection.
What is Dahua Starlight?
"Starlight" is Dahua's night colour technology. It uses a combination of optical, sensor, and image processing technologies to give them excellent low light performance. However, there are some trade-offs, which we cover in our security camera night vision article.
What is Dahua WizSense?
Dahua cameras have a product line called "WizSense", which features advanced motion detection techniques to identify humans or vehicles in an image. This means that their cameras can accurately filter out irrelevant things like trees swaying, car headlights, animals moving through your property etc.
It also means that they can detect people and cars from a distance of 25 metres (on a 2.8mm lens), which is much further than most consumer-grade camera systems.
WizSense allows two-way talk and customisable audio alerts when a person or car is detected as well as "Active Deterrence" where it flashes red and blue lights as you would see on a Police car. These flashing light cameras are known as "Dahua TiOC".
If the WizSense camera is a Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ), it can also move the camera to preset positions at certain times. For example, looking at the entrance gate of a factory in the morning and the exit gate at night.
If a camera has the WizSense branding, it does not mean that it has all of the features mentioned above. It just means it is part of the "smart" series, and individual models offer different features at different price points.
What is Dahua TiOC?
- Full-Colour night vision - It makes use of sensitive sensors and algorithms
- Active Deterrence - It has blue and red "police-style" lights and alarms it can activate as well as two way talk. The alarm can be a wailing siren or a recorded voice. ie "You are being watched, step away from the car".
- Artificial Intelligence - It has the ability to precisely detect humans and vehicles and keep the false-alarm rate under 2%. It's AI is quick to detect and works well at long range.
Dahua WizSense Active Deterrence Security Camera
What is Dahua IVS?
IVS stands for "Intelligent Video Surveillance" which is part of their AI system. The IVS features include:
- Smart Motion Detection (SMD) - Detecting people and vehicles anywhere in the scene
- Line Crossing Detection - When someone crosses a certain "line" drawn in a scene
- Intrusion Detection - When someone enters a defined area (like a parking spot)
- Abandoned Object Detection When an object stays in an area for some time (like a backpack)
- Missing Object Detection - Missing object detection is when an object was previously in the scene, but is no longer there
- PTZ Auto Tracking - When a Pan-Tilt-Zoom camera automatically turns to follow a person or car
- Face Detection - When it sees a Face in the footage, and can do something about it
- Scene Change Detection - When what the camera is looking at changes significantly. Like the camera being moved or covered
Example of Dahua IVS Tripwire Detection
Is Dahua or Hikvision Better?
Both Hikvision and Dahua have their inexpensive basic models and well-featured expensive models. It is difficult to compare the two because they have very similar product lines.
However, if you are comparing the Dahua and Hikvision brands as a whole, Dahua tends to have a lower price point. Check out our in-depth article on Dahua vs Hikvision We have also compared to Dahua to one of Hikvision's sub-brand in our HiLook vs Dahua article
Is Dahua Better than Swann?
Swann is a consumer-level brand, whereas Dahua is a prosumer (professional consumer) level brand. Dahua is superior in almost all categories. We have written an article that compares Dahua vs Swann in more depth here.
Is Dahua ONVIF Compliant?
ONVIF is a corporate forum designed to standardize communication between surveillance devices. What this means is that surveillance manufacturers who are members of the ONVIF forum agree to have their devices "speak a common language", so Hikvision cameras could work on a Dahua NVR for example.
Dahua was expelled from ONVIF in 2019 which means they no longer have access to the member resources. While they may not be "officially" ONVIF conformant, the ONVIF specifications are public and Dahua could just continue following them.
After checking some Dahua cameras manufactured well after the expulsion, Dahua still says they are ONVIF compliant.
Who are Dahua?
Dahua Technology ("Zhejiang Dahua Technology Co., Ltd.") is a Chinese security manufacturer founded in 2001. They are headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, and have offices worldwide, including in Australia.
Who Makes Dahua Cameras?
Dahua Technology is an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). While there are hundreds of security camera brands, only a handful of corporations manufacture cameras, known as an OEM. Dahua is one such manufactuer.
They also manufacture for other brands we see in Australia, including:
- IMOU (Dahua owns IMOU and is Dahuas consumer-level brand)
- Amcrest
- Anyday Security
- Lorex (Lorex is not just rebranded Dahua, Dahua owns Lorex)
- Honeywell
- Panasonic
- Speco
Is Dahua a Chinese Company?
Dahua is a Chinese company and is majority-owned and controlled by Fu Liquan and his wife, Chen Ailing.
Dahua is partially owned by the Chinese Government (2.87%), though a series of investment companies who report to the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China.
Is Dahua NDAA Compliant?
No, Dahua is not NDAA compliant. If you are looking for NDAA compliance, it is best to avoid Dahua, Hikvision, Hytera, Huawei, ZTE, and any brand that private-labels them.
Is Alhua the Same as Dahua?
No, "Alhua" is not the same as Dahua. The confusion arises because "Alhua" is a common misspelling of Dahua. This happens because the design of the Dahua logo features a "D" that curves around the "A," making it look like the "A" is the first letter in the name. The correct name is Dahua. If you're searching for information or products related to "Alhua," you should instead look for Dahua.