I'm in the process of trying to pick out a few cameras, Hikvision brand. From reading through the forum some say the US and Chinese cameras are the same. It appears the Chinese version may have some possible problems with the firmware. I see many people here trying to update the firmware and having lots of problems. Why would you need to upgrade the firmware on a new camera? I went to Wrightwood Surveillance website and found they sell US and China versions of the same camera, DS-2CD2032-I HD 3MP 4mm. The US version 145.99 with a one year warranty and China 99.99 with 90 day warranty. I know they can be purchased elsewhere for less. My question are the US and Chinese versions the same cameras, quality/materials, aside from the firmware and warrantees? Thanks Bentley
Hikvision Cameras US/China
- Thread starter Bentley
- Start date
Yes, the are the same hardware. It is just firmware and warranties that differ. If you use a Hikvision NVR, it must match the region of the cameras, but if you use 3rd party software like Blue Iris then it doesn't matter. There are hacks you can use to change the region of a camera but they are tricky and doing it wrong can brick the camera! Most Chinese Hikvision cameras available in the USA have been pre-hacked by the seller so they have the English language in their web interfaces, but they are still Chinese region. Some are further hacked so they show English for the date in the on-screen text, while some will still show Chinese characters for the date. Either way, if you try to update the firmware, they revert back to full Chinese language and you either have to just live with that or try to hack them again.