What is the difference between Hikvision and HiLook?

HiLook is Hikvision’s own budget brand. The cameras are simpler, with standard infrared night vision and without ColorVu or AcuSense in the entry range, and they cost less. They run on the same Hik-Connect app. I fit HiLook when the budget is tight and the job is straightforward, and the main Hikvision range when you want colour at night or person and vehicle alerts.

Is Hikvision any good?

It is what I fit on every CCTV job, and I would not do that if it let me down. The ColorVu picture at night is proper colour, AcuSense cuts false alerts right down, and the app works. When a camera needs adding or swapping later, the parts are easy to get and go on the same recorder.

Can I view my Hikvision cameras on my phone?

Yes. The Hik-Connect app gives you live view and playback of every camera from anywhere with a signal, plus alerts with a snapshot. There is no monthly fee for live view and playback from your own recorder. I set it up on your phone on the day of the install and show you round it before I go.

How many days does a Hikvision system record for?

It depends on the size of the hard drive, how many cameras you have and the resolution they record at. The recorder writes over the oldest footage when the drive is full, so it never stops. I size the drive in the quote, and if you need longer, I fit a bigger one.

Turret or bullet camera, which is better?

Neither. They suit different spots. A turret is small and tidy and goes under the eaves or over a door. A bullet reaches further and is obvious from the street, so it suits a gable end or a long drive. A turret is the usual pick for close cover, with a bullet where there is a long view to cover.

Do I need a monitor with the recorder?

No. You can watch on your phone, or on a TV plugged into the recorder when they want a bigger picture. A monitor makes sense in a shop or an office where someone keeps an eye on it through the day.

Hikvision cameras, explained by the bloke who fits them round Bradford.

Turret or bullet. ColorVu or infrared. HiLook or the full range. Here is what each name means for your house, so you know what you are paying for before I turn up with a ladder.

Get a quote How I fit CCTV

Mitu at the top of a ladder working high on the corner of a stone house, next to the satellite dish, with a Security By Mitu bell box on the wall below

A stack of red Hikvision ColorVu camera boxes on a driveway, Mitu stood behind them with his tool belt on

Every camera I fit comes from the same maker.

Some installers fit whatever the wholesaler has on offer that week. I fit Hikvision on every CCTV job, with HiLook as the budget tier. So before I get up the ladder I already know which camera suits a stone gable, which one wants a bracket, how the recorder likes setting up, and where the app hides its settings.

It also means that if you ring me later to add a camera, it goes on the same recorder and the same app, and I already know your system.

HiLook is Hikvision’s budget range. More on that further down.

Three shapes of camera, and where each one goes.

Most of the choosing gets done stood on your drive, looking at the wall. The turret is the tidy one: the lens sits in a ball, so there is no glass dome in front of it to fog up or bounce the infrared back at night. The other two earn their place when there is a long view, or one high spot that has to cover a lot.

	CAM 03 · Turret under the eaves Turret	PHOTO NEEDED: a bullet camera on a gable end, close, cable hidden. Portrait. CAM 04 · Bullet on a gable · DD-MM-YY HH:MM Bullet	CAM 05 · PTZ on a chimney PTZ
Looks like	A ball in a cup, about the size of a fist.	A tube with a hood, pointing where you aim it.	A dome on a bracket or a pole. It turns, tilts and zooms.
Goes on	Under the eaves, on a soffit, over the back door.	A gable end, a warehouse wall, the end of a long drive.	Somewhere with a view. A chimney stack, a yard, a car park.
At night	Infrared, or ColorVu for colour.	Infrared, or ColorVu for colour.	Infrared. Some models have a white light too.
Pick it for	Tidy, close cover over a door or under a soffit. Easy to stop noticing.	The long view: down a drive, along a fence line. Obvious from the street, and sometimes that is the point.	One high spot that has to cover a lot. Steer it from your phone or set it to patrol. Dearer.

ColorVu keeps the colour after dark.

PHOTO NEEDED: a driveway at night on a standard infrared camera, black and white.

CAM 06 · Drive · Infrared · DD-MM-YY HH:MM

PHOTO NEEDED: the same driveway, same night, on a ColorVu camera, in colour.

CAM 06 · Drive · ColorVu · DD-MM-YY HH:MM

Same drive, same night. Left: standard infrared. Right: ColorVu.

A normal camera switches to infrared when it gets dark. You get a clear picture, but it is black and white. Fine for seeing that someone is there. No use for saying what colour their coat was, or their car.

ColorVu cameras have a lens that lets in more light, and a soft white light for when there is none. So the picture stays in colour all night. A red car is red. A blue coat is blue.

My advice: ColorVu on the drive and the front, where the detail matters. Standard infrared is fine for a back garden nobody parks in. The white light comes on when it is properly dark, and on a front elevation it can catch a neighbour’s window, so I show you on the visit where it will fall.

AcuSense: the camera can tell a person from a cat.

Plain motion detection fires at anything that moves. The cat, a branch in the wind, rain on the lens, the neighbour’s security light. After a few nights of that the alerts get switched off, and then the camera might as well be a sticker.

AcuSense cameras sort what they see into people, vehicles and everything else. Your phone only goes off for the first two. The recorder tags them as well, so when you need last Tuesday’s footage you search for “person” and skip the six hours of nothing.

Alerts you

AlertPerson walking up the drive
AlertCar pulling onto it
AlertSomeone at the side gate, 3am

Ignored

The cat
Branches in the wind
Rain and snow
The light changing

HiLook is the budget line. Same maker, less in the box.

HiLook is Hikvision’s own budget brand. The cameras are simpler: standard infrared at night, with no ColorVu and no AcuSense in the entry range. They record to the same sort of recorder and run on the same Hik-Connect app. For a terrace where you want two cameras and a picture on your phone, it does the job for less.

Where I would stop you: if you want to read a number plate at night, or you are sick of false alerts, HiLook is the wrong range. That is the middle tier, or ColorVu.

Four cameras, fitted, runs from £649 on HiLook to £1,399 on ColorVuPlaceholder prices, not final.The full table is on the CCTV page.

How I spec a system

Every camera gets one job before it gets a name: the drive, the front door, the side gate. We settle what each spot needs to see, then pick the camera for it. A turret under the eaves, a bullet on the gable, ColorVu where the colour matters. The same house rarely gets the same camera all the way round.

Then the recorder: enough camera slots for now and a couple spare, and a drive sized for the days of footage you want to keep. On the day the cables go inside the cavity, one hole per camera, and Hik-Connect goes on your phone before I leave.

Where the recorder and the drive live.

The NVR

Every camera runs back to a recorder, the NVR. It is a slim box about a foot wide, wired to your router, with a socket for each camera. One cable per camera carries power and picture both, so there is no plug socket needed up by the camera. It goes in a cupboard, under the stairs, wherever the cables land.

The hard drive

Inside it is a hard drive made for recording all day, every day. When it is full the recorder writes over the oldest footage, so it never stops. How many days you get depends on the drive, the number of cameras and the resolution. I size the drive in the quote, and if you want longer, it is a bigger drive.

Hik-Connect, the app

Live view of every camera from anywhere with a signal. Playback by time, or by person and vehicle on an AcuSense system. Alerts with a snapshot. Share access with the family. Talk through a camera that has a speaker. No monthly fee for live view and playback from your own recorder.

I put it on your phone before I leave, and I stay until you have found the playback yourself.

A monitor showing four live camera feeds from a house at night

PHOTO NEEDED: a phone showing the Hik-Connect live view of four cameras. Portrait.

Hikvision questions I get asked

What is the difference between Hikvision and HiLook?: HiLook is Hikvision’s own budget brand. The cameras are simpler, with standard infrared night vision and without ColorVu or AcuSense in the entry range, and they cost less. They run on the same Hik-Connect app. I fit HiLook when the budget is tight and the job is straightforward, and the main Hikvision range when you want colour at night or person and vehicle alerts.
Is Hikvision any good?: It is what I fit on every CCTV job, and I would not do that if it let me down. The ColorVu picture at night is proper colour, AcuSense cuts false alerts right down, and the app works. When a camera needs adding or swapping later, the parts are easy to get and go on the same recorder.
Can I view my Hikvision cameras on my phone?: Yes. The Hik-Connect app gives you live view and playback of every camera from anywhere with a signal, plus alerts with a snapshot. There is no monthly fee for live view and playback from your own recorder. I set it up on your phone on the day of the install and show you round it before I go.
How many days does a Hikvision system record for?: It depends on the size of the hard drive, how many cameras you have and the resolution they record at. The recorder writes over the oldest footage when the drive is full, so it never stops. I size the drive in the quote, and if you need longer, I fit a bigger one.
Turret or bullet camera, which is better?: Neither. They suit different spots. A turret is small and tidy and goes under the eaves or over a door. A bullet reaches further and is obvious from the street, so it suits a gable end or a long drive. A turret is the usual pick for close cover, with a bullet where there is a long view to cover.
Do I need a monitor with the recorder?: No. You can watch on your phone, or on a TV plugged into the recorder when they want a bigger picture. A monitor makes sense in a shop or an office where someone keeps an eye on it through the day.

Also on the sheet

Two ways to get a price. Both end with me stood on your drive, looking up at your wall.

A few questions about the property, a figure on screen.

Get a quote

07540 049136

If I can’t pick up, leave a message and I’ll ring you back.