Testing StarDot's 5MP Camera (SD500BN)

While not well known in the security market, StarDot is one of a few manufacturers providing 5MP cameras. Though StarDot has been producing megapixel cameras for the tourism, construction and entertainment markets for years, they only recently entered security. Indeed, many, including myself, first heard of StarDot last August when integration with Milestone was announced.

Though StarDot has been somewhat of a mystery, it was clear from discussions with industry people that they were gaining ground and being specified into some large projects. 

As such, this test of the SD500BN aims to better understand the performance and capabilties of their cameras. The camera tested is a 5MP day/night camera with an analog output. The main issue is the lack of H.264 support. For background on the products, see their NetCAM SC product page.

Key Findings include:

• Low light video quality (sub 1 lux) was very good - impressive for a megapixel camera
• MJPEG Bandwidth consumption was modest and was lower than Arecont's H.264 during high motion and low lux scenes
• For complex scenes, the frame rate at 5MP was low
• Camera defaults should be changed to settings more appropriate for surveillance use
• Configuration requires modest training to understand settings