Hanwha Vision is launching a new product series - the A-Series - and will be able to offer customers high quality cameras and recording servers in a budget product range. Until now, large and non-Chinese manufacturers, including Hanwha Vision, have avoided competing directly with Chinese products in their core business of low-cost commercial cameras.

The 14 models in the A-Series range offer a wide range of applications for small and medium-sized sites in retail, hospitality and commercial environments. They are available in dome, spherical and flat lens designs, with 4 MP and 2 MP resolutions, NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) compliant for reliable cyber security, and IP66 certified for outdoor use. The cameras are complemented by A-Series NVRs that allow monitoring up to 4K resolution for a superior viewing experience.

Hanwha Vision now offers the most affordable A-Series, which aims to compete with leading Chinese manufacturers to provide a solution for customers who are looking for the highest possible quality at a budget price. This blog post will look at the competitive dynamics and potential challenges and opportunities.

Short-term or sustainable choice?

Most manufacturers outside China avoid what executives usually call "run-rate business", which is also seen in the offer of many Latvian distributors - very cheap cameras and recording systems, which are usually bought outright by smaller CCTV buyers without careful consideration for smaller jobs.

Logically, Chinese manufacturers have captured the huge domestic Chinese market by pursuing a strategy of selling at very low prices and investing heavily in local sales and marketing. As a result, the brands represented have become the most common choice in the low-price category. Manufacturers also have solutions designed to compete with the most well-known European and US manufacturers, but for this blog post we will focus on the budget range. Nor will we look at the range of cameras that are priced only slightly above the camera multicam.

We are clearly aware of situations where the customer's choice is made on price alone. Where the business need is for a short-term simple solution, such as temporary sites, simple surveillance conditions, private individuals and similar. We therefore evaluated the capabilities of the new Hanwha Vision A series against their competitors.

Series A review:

A-Series cameras are designed to deliver the highest quality video that enhances the operator's awareness and understanding of events. They offer a maximum frame rate of 30 frames per second. Built-in infrared and lens distortion correction provide detailed images that facilitate operator monitoring.

Meanwhile, True Wide Dynamic Range provides backlight compensation to ensure clear images in all lighting conditions. The Corridor View function allows you to monitor tight spaces such as long corridors and hallways with a vertical field of view that can be rotated by 90°, 180° and 270°.

The new ANE-L7012L white light camera with flat lens can use warm white light to complement dark scenes to deter anti-social behaviour, intrusion and theft. It has built-in intelligent video analytics that include virtual zone, virtual line and motion detection. If a person is spotted crossing a virtual line or entering a virtual zone, the light can be automatically switched on as a visual warning or to illuminate dark areas.