tried out my first 2MP starvis sensor, the low light performance is beyond awesome. I feel bad that all my other cameras are 4, 6 and even 8MP, and look like garbage compared to this. Should have taken the advice in the cliff notes seriously.
Here’s comparing a cheap HikVision indoor camera to a Dahua 2M turret.
My experience is that cheap Dahua cameras give a lot better image than cheap Hikvision cameras. Had you used a cheap Dahua camera for the comparison the images would still be different, but I expect the difference wouldn't have been as great.
Not to play devil's advocate, love my Dahuas, but the static images always look far better than when the scene has movement. If someone kicked in your garage door and was stealing all your Dewalt tools could you identify them in either picture?
But have to agree the top image is awful, and the bottom is what people have grown accustomed to around here with all the low-light camera sensors. And I assume the "look like garbage" you mean in low light, because 8MP ought to look pretty good in color mode with good light.
Either something is still reflecting or the lens is dirty.. I've never seen that kind of haze on a cube... The Starlight will obviously be significantly better than the cube as you can see.