Dome camera review: StarDot NetCam SC

The StarDot NetCam SC Dome Camera is a standard-sized 5MP camera that is vandal-resistant and IP-66 rated for outdoor use. It runs at up to 30fps but disappointingly only streams at 10fps at full 5MP resolution.

As well as supporting H.264 and MJPEG compression, the StarDot NetCam SC also features a constant analogue output. It’s extremly rare to find a camera that also features a constant analogue output, and this camera is one of them. I find it extremely useful, and it will prove cost-effective for users upgrading from analogue to IP systems as it will allow them to use things like old monitors and analytics encoders from their old system but without sacrificing recording the 5MP images on an NVR.

You can also access a load of configurable settings through the web-browser interface. Most cameras get used in default settings out of the box, but if you’re a camera junkie like me who likes to tweak the video settings, this camera allows you to dig really deep into them.

It performed very well in its day/night testing, though I had to tweak a lot of the internal settings to make it work how I wanted it to. It’s also not ONVIF-compliant.

Model reviewed: StarDot SDH500VN

Tech Specs

Max resolution    5MP
Motion detection    Yes
Frame rate    Up to 30fps
Vandal resistant    Yes
Indoor/outdoor    Yes
Video compression    H.264 and MJPEG
Day/night mode    Yes
ONVIF-compliant    No
IP66-rated    Yes

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