Hikvision ColorVu vs Dahua Full-Colour: night vision compared for Sydney homes

By Brendan Byrne · Published 6 October 2026 · 8 min read

Hikvision ColorVu and Dahua Full-Colour are two names for the same idea: an F1.0 lens, a large sensor and a small white LED that together keep colour in the picture after dark instead of dropping to black-and-white infrared. The current generations, ColorVu 3.0 and Dahua's Full-Colour 2.0 with Smart Dual Illuminators, are close enough in real-world results that for most Sydney homes the right pick comes down to the model that fits your mounting spot, how much light you can tolerate in the yard, and which brand your installer knows well.

Why does colour at night matter for a home camera?

Because a colour clip tells police and insurers what a black-and-white one cannot: the colour of the car, the hoodie and the backpack. A conventional camera switches to infrared once the light drops, and infrared turns a red hatchback and a blue hatchback into two identical grey shapes. If the point of your system is to identify someone on the driveway at 2 am, keeping colour in the frame is worth more than another two megapixels. Our post on CCTV camera technology in 2026 covers the broader shift towards full-colour and on-camera AI.

How does Hikvision ColorVu work?

ColorVu combines three things: a lens with an F1.0 aperture that lets in roughly four times the light of the F2.0 lens on a standard camera, a larger sensor (1/1.8 inch on the common 8 megapixel models, 1/1.2 inch on the premium ones) and a warm white LED on the camera body rated to about 40 metres on current turrets. Hikvision quotes full colour down to 0.0005 lux with the light off, so a street with a single lamp post still gives you colour without the LED switching on.

The generations matter when you are buying. ColorVu 1.0 cameras, which many Sydney homes still have, run the white light all night and topped out at 4 megapixels. ColorVu 2.0 added 4K. ColorVu 3.0, which is what you should be quoted today, adds Smart Hybrid Light: the camera carries both infrared and white LEDs and offers three modes, infrared only, white light only, or smart, where it stays on infrared until AcuSense detects a person or vehicle and then flips to white light. The 3.0 models also run Hikvision's AI image processor for noise reduction, which is where the biggest visible improvement sits.

A typical current model is the DS-2CD2387G3-LIS2UY/SL, an 8 megapixel turret with a 2.8mm or 4mm lens, Smart Hybrid Light, a built-in microphone and speaker, and a strobe and siren for active deterrence. Expect roughly $300 to $450 including GST from Sydney suppliers, and roughly $1,500 to $2,200 for a four-camera 8MP ColorVu 3.0 kit with an 8-channel PoE NVR before the hard drive.

How does Dahua Full-Colour work?

Dahua's approach uses the same ingredients: an F1.0 lens, a 1/1.8 inch sensor at 8 megapixels, and a warm white LED rated to about 30 metres on the common turrets and bullets. Dahua also quotes 0.0005 lux in colour with the light off. Dahua Full-Colour 2.0 introduced the Smart Dual Illuminator design, where infrared and white LEDs share the camera and the firmware chooses between them based on WizSense human and vehicle detection, which is the same idea Hikvision later called Smart Hybrid Light.

Dahua sells the technology under a few badges, which confuses buyers. Full-Colour is the imaging. Smart Dual Light is the illuminator arrangement. TiOC, which stands for three in one camera, bundles full colour with WizSense AI and active deterrence (red and blue strobe, siren and two-way talk) in one housing. The current TiOC 3.0 cameras, such as the 8 megapixel IPC-HDW3849H-AS-PV turret and IPC-HFW3849T1-AS-PV bullet, are the direct rivals to the ColorVu 3.0 LIS models above. Sydney pricing is typically $280 to $420 including GST per camera, with Dahua usually a little cheaper than the equivalent Hikvision, and a ten-camera WizSense kit with a 16-channel NVR sells for roughly $3,000 from local online suppliers.

Which brand gives the better picture at night?

In a side-by-side test on the same wall, most installers struggle to pick a winner at 8 megapixels. Hikvision's 3.0 cameras have a slight edge in noise handling at the very bottom of the light range, where the AI image processor cleans up grain that Dahua tends to leave in. Dahua tends to hold motion a little better, with less smearing on a walking figure, because its default shutter is more aggressive. Both will read a number plate in colour at 10 to 15 metres with the white light on, and both will get a face at the front door.

The lens makes more difference than the brand: a 2.8mm lens sees about 100 degrees and suits a front door or a short driveway, while a 4mm lens sees about 80 degrees and keeps detail further out, which is what a long driveway needs. If you pay for the premium 1/1.2 inch sensor on either brand, mount it where the reach counts and use the standard models elsewhere.

Does the white light annoy the neighbours?

It can, and in a tight Sydney street this is the thing to decide before you buy. An older camera with its LED on all night throws a warm glow across the front of the house and, if it is aimed down a shared driveway, straight into the neighbour's bedroom. Terraces in Paddington and Surry Hills, semis in Randwick and anything on a battleaxe block are the usual complaints.

The current smart modes fix most of this. The camera sits on invisible infrared and only switches to white light when a person or car is detected, then returns to dark after a set number of seconds, so you get the colour clip when it matters and a dark house the rest of the night. The light also doubles as a deterrent. If a particular camera faces a neighbour's window, use infrared-only on that one and full colour on the rest.

Which should you choose for a Sydney home?

Buy the brand your installer stocks, services and knows how to configure, because the set-up matters more than the hardware. A ColorVu 3.0 camera left in white-light-always mode on a shared driveway is worse than a well-configured Dahua TiOC, and the reverse is just as true. Choose Hikvision ColorVu 3.0 if you want the cleanest image in near-total darkness, you are adding to an existing Hikvision NVR, or you want the Hik-Connect app, which is a little more polished. Choose Dahua Full-Colour and TiOC if you want the active deterrence features at a lower price, you are adding to a Dahua or WizSense recorder, or your installer is more comfortable with the DMSS app and Dahua firmware. Mixing brands on one recorder works over ONVIF but you lose the smart illuminator control and the AI detections, so it is best avoided.

Both brands need a proper ethernet cable to each camera and a PoE NVR, which rules out the plug-in wireless cameras some retailers push. Our guide to IP vs analogue vs wireless CCTV explains why, and the CCTV installation cost guide for Sydney shows where the money goes on a typical four to six camera job.

What should Sydney buyers check before installing full-colour cameras?

Audio first. Both the ColorVu 3.0 LIS models and the Dahua TiOC range carry a microphone, and recording a conversation on a shared path without consent is where the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW) bites. Have the installer disable audio recording unless you have a specific reason for it, and read our CCTV laws in NSW guide if the camera covers any shared space.

Second, check the installer's licence. Anyone installing CCTV for payment in NSW needs a Security Master Licence from SLED under the Security Industry Act 1997, and a licensed installer will also know to tune the strobe and siren so they do not go off every time a possum crosses the fence. Our guide on how to choose a CCTV installer in Sydney lists the questions to ask.

Third, the recorder and the network. Full-colour 4K cameras produce more data than the 2K infrared cameras they replace, so an NVR sized for four old cameras may not hold 30 days of four new ones, and a flaky Wi-Fi link to the recorder will drop clips. In the eastern suburbs, AVsion in Maroubra installs both Hikvision and Dahua alongside Ubiquiti UniFi Protect and sets up the home's network and WiFi in the same visit, which is the right way to make sure the colour footage actually reaches your phone. Installers in other parts of Sydney are listed by area on our regions hub.

Frequently asked questions

Is Hikvision ColorVu better than Dahua Full-Colour? Not by a margin most Sydney homeowners would notice. Both use an F1.0 lens, a large sensor and a small white light to keep colour at night, and both now switch between infrared and white light on demand. The sensible choice is the brand your installer supports best and the model whose light output suits your street, not the badge.

Will a full-colour camera light up my front yard all night? Only if you set it to. The current Smart Hybrid Light (Hikvision) and Smart Dual Illuminator (Dahua) cameras sit on invisible infrared until they detect a person or vehicle, then switch to white light for a few seconds and go back to dark. The older always-on white light mode is still there if you want it, but it is the wrong default on a quiet residential street.

Do full-colour cameras work with no light at all? Yes, because the white LEDs on the camera are the light source. Without the LEDs, both brands quote full colour down to about 0.0005 lux, which is roughly a moonlit night, and below that the picture goes grainy. In a Sydney backyard with no street lighting the camera will rely on its own illuminator, so mount it within the quoted 30 to 40 metres.

How much more does full-colour cost than a standard infrared camera? Typically $80 to $150 more per camera at the 8 megapixel level from Sydney suppliers. A standard 8MP AcuSense or WizSense turret sits roughly $220 to $300, while the ColorVu 3.0 Hybrid or Dahua TiOC 3.0 equivalent sits roughly $300 to $450. The labour to install either is identical, so on a four-camera system the difference is a few hundred dollars.

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