Simple doesn’t mean bad (honestly, I’m confident it’s the best thing possible – the simplicity). So, as IMOU IP Dome Camera IPC-T22A – as simple as it can be. Really simple, nice, and inexpensive solution for indoor installation. With a few drawbacks, but at such a price, the advantages surpass the drawbacks. It is a brief review and showcase of the IMOU T22A IP Dome Camera:
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Main Features
Main things to know about the IMOU T22A.You get classic 2mp. 1080p, which is common and is OK… but it’s time to move on and go higher even on the entry-level. Anyway, here is the video from the camera in maximum quality:
25 FPS, 120 degrees FOV with quite a high intensity of the scene. And it looks good, except a high video compression, habitual for the segment, and usual blurriness. Colors are ok, lighting is ok too, I actually always liked the quality of videos taken on IMOU cameras, taking into account their price and the fact that they’re from the home segment. There are 3 versions with different focal lengths. That is: 2.8, 3.6, and 6 mm. And this is how your field of view looks with 2.8 mm, for 3.6mm. and with 6mm (low to high):
By the way, concerning the video compression, we have here H.265 codec support on board, turned on by default from the box, which mostly makes the video file size decrease by 2 times, compared to the old H.264. But keep in mind that the video file size directly depends on the scene intensity. The more motion, the bigger video file you get, regardless of compression level.
Built & Body
Below, under the camera module, we have infrared LEDs for night vision, according to the manufacturer’s statement, providing a clear night vision on up to 30 meters distance away from the camera, and here goes the video for you to see and estimate with your eyes:
From my point of view, it looks OK, does what it is supposed to do, and does it well, more or less. What’s indeed unusual for IMOU – this time we don’t have any Wifi on board, yet the device is now positioned in a different way. Because both the network and power are supplied via the twisted pair cable from a PoE switch, and this is the only option, here we have a tail for the RJ-45. By the way, the body is made completely out of plastic, so it won’t be particularly suitable for the street installation, maybe only under a canopy.
Although the temperature indicator allows us to do that, up to -30 Celsius. And now the bitter part – what had to be sacrificed to reduce the price and make this cam Really Affordable. As I mentioned earlier, we are left without Wifi. Further on, there is no built-in slot for a memory card, which is indeed very strange, taking into account that all new IMOU cameras have 256 GB. microSD capacity support, which is literally an established standard for IMOU.
But the manufacturer tries to replace this shortage with ONVIF support, making it easy to bring the camera to any video recorder with ONVIF support, meaning most of them. The next one is eye-and-ear-catching – no two-way audio. No microphone, no speaker, which actually disappoints… For the home cameras segment, it has been and is an absolute standard for a long time. What’s left to say is about the motion detection. Here it’s done at the software level, but actually it works well, and here’s the demo:
Activation / Set-up
Concerning the user experience, nothing new for IMOU, in a good sense. Simple system controls in a nice mobile app, remote access through PC via IMOU client or Dahua Smart PSS software. Although this time we supply the network and power to the camera via twisted pair coming from the PoE switch or the injector. Then we scan the QR code on the camera’s body with the phone app, and the camera is added to our account. From that moment, it is always available for the remote view and control…
Bottom Line: IMOU T22A Dome IP Camera
IMOU T22A is a simple, lightweight, nice, and inexpensive camera. Inexpensive due to sacrifices made to achieve such a price. However, if these sacrifices are not that important for you, it turns out to be a normal saving, and the dome IMOU T22A is a good choice.