Curious why there is no ACTI specific section

[rufunky]

The sensors are the key to overall video performance of a security camera, just as in DSLR cameras.
There are plenty of sensor manufacturers competing with each other and continually improving the technology and pricing, it's been steady progress for a few years as the market builds.
For security cameras, which sell for a small fraction of a good DSLR, there is the trade-off between the sensor performance and capabilities and the cost.
Physically larger sensors are able to capture lower light levels for a given level of noise, but are more costly to manufacture.

That makes sense, thank you.

Lens quality, lens speed (f1.0 vs f1.8 for example) and sensor sensitivity are 3 other factors.

Good to know. I guess this is where the trial and error comes in to place to separate the great from the good and down to the outright bad as these specifics aren't released to the public in the product description.

 

[Razer]

I have the ACTi i51 Hemispheric camera and you aren't kidding! It was so hot, I seriously thought something was wrong with it when I picked it up off the test bench before I mounted it.

Haha, yes let anyone reading this in the future know that we are totally not joking about these being hot at a level I would have NEVER thought was safe. When I say you can take two and make a George Foreman grill there is a great chance you could totally cook bacon on the back of these just fine. I should try this for fun and video it!

They had a problem for sure on the early ones as when they failed, and they all did, they would come back with a new front with holes in it for better ventilation and a new mounting plate to keep the camera off the wall. Mine were mounted off the walls already but they still failed, they were mounted on the 10 degree angle adapter plates they make for them. If mounted directly to a wall I am sure it would discolor the wall, I'd think it would turn brown from the heat eventually. I too was not happy with the image quality overall and especially not for the cost.

I switched to the Vivotek hemispheric cameras and they work fine for my needs now. No heat at all on them so I have no idea what ACTi is doing on theirs. I also have a couple Hikvision hemispheric cameras that I like but cannot use with my NVR software yet. Waiting on support and I will likely use them instead as Hiks motion detection is so much better. That is my biggest issue with the Vivotek cameras, I need more motion windows and better sensitivity.