A Camera That Sees in Colour at Night: ColorVu, WizColor and Smart Lighting — How It Works and When Not to Overpay

In daylight the camera covers its sensor with a filter that blocks infrared light, which keeps colours natural. When it gets dark the filter moves aside, infrared LEDs switch on and the camera goes black and white. The human eye cannot see this light, but the sensor sees it well, so the picture stays sharp even in total darkness.

The price is the loss of colour. The night archive shows that a car drove into the yard but not whether it was red or grey; it shows a person but not the colour of their jacket. When investigating a theft or a collision near a car park, colour is often the main attribute used to search other cameras and describe the offender.

The first way is to gather more light. A fast lens and a sensor with large pixels produce a colour picture where an ordinary camera would already have switched to black and white: under street lights, facade lighting or light from windows. In this case the camera needs no illuminator at all.

The second way is to add visible light. The camera switches on a warm white light, usually around 3000 K, and records in colour even in total darkness. It is reliable, but the light is visible to everyone: it lights up the yard, can disturb neighbours and attracts insects.

The third way is smart lighting. By default invisible infrared light is used and the camera records in black and white; when a person or vehicle appears, the white light switches on and recording turns to colour. At the same time this works as a deterrent: the intruder sees they have been noticed. Hikvision calls this mode Smart Hybrid Light; Dahua marks such models with the letters IL in the model code.

The key part is the lens aperture, given by the f-number. The smaller the number, the more light reaches the sensor, and the relationship is quadratic: an F1.0 lens gathers roughly 2.5 times more light than the F1.6 typical of mass-market cameras. Hikvision ColorVu cameras use F1.0 lenses, while in Dahua's new WizColor 2.0 generation, unveiled on 15 April 2026, the F0.8 lens gathers, according to the manufacturer, another 1.6 times more light than F1.0.

The second part is the sensor. The larger the pixel, the more light it catches and the less noise there is in a dark picture. Higher-end models use 1/1.8-inch sensors instead of the mass-market 1/2.8–1/3 inch. For WizColor 2.0 Dahua states a 4-micrometre pixel — about 1.9 times the area of the previous generation.

The third part is image processing. The camera's processor suppresses noise and restores colour and the sharpness of moving objects; in the latest generations of both brands this is done by a neural-network ISP trained on large sets of night footage. That is why two cameras with the same resolution can give completely different pictures at night.

On Hikvision IP cameras ColorVu is usually shown in the numeric part of the code: a 7 after the resolution digits denotes the colour night line. For example, the DS-2CD2047G2-LU is a 4 MP ColorVu with 3000 K warm light and a microphone, the DS-2CD2347G2-LU is the dome version and the DS-2CD2387G2 is 8 MP. Models with LI and H in the code, such as the DS-2CD1027G2H-LIU, combine ColorVu with smart hybrid lighting.

Cameras with a 3 in the same position (DS-2CD1043G2-LIU) are not ColorVu but ordinary cameras with Smart Hybrid Light: at night they record in black and white with infrared light and switch to colour when the white light turns on for an event. Our catalogue cards show these differences in the lighting line.

For older analogue systems there is ColorVu in HD format too: for example, the DS-2CE12DF3T-F connects to an existing recorder over coaxial cable. This is the cheapest way to get colour at night without replacing the whole system.

Dahua sold its colour night cameras for a long time under the Full-color name; the code gives them away with LED, for example the IPC-HFW1239S-A-LED-S5 — a 2 MP outdoor camera with white light up to 30 metres and a microphone. In 2025 the line was renamed and expanded under the WizColor brand: 4K, pan-tilt, varifocal, analogue HDCVI and 4G models appeared.

Models with IL in the code (for example the IPC-HDW2449T-S-IL) have dual lighting, infrared and white, and can switch on the white light only when a person or vehicle appears. The TiOC series combines colour night imaging with active deterrence: on intrusion the camera triggers a siren and flashing light.

WizColor 2.0, unveiled in April 2026, is the next generation: an F0.8 lens, a 4-micrometre pixel and AI-ISP 2.0 neural processing which, according to the manufacturer, reduces motion blur at night. Such cameras are reaching the market gradually; our catalogue mainly carries Full-color and dual-light models.

Colour at night pays off where it matters to describe a person or vehicle: entrances and car parks, residential courtyards, shops and warehouses with night deliveries, and a private house whose yard is lit by street lights. Combined with a human/vehicle AI filter, a colour camera gives both fewer false alarms and a better picture for investigation.

Where colour is unnecessary or inconvenient: a long dark perimeter with no lighting — white light on mass-market models usually reaches 20–40 metres, while infrared reaches 30–60 metres and beyond; bedroom windows opposite the camera — constant white light will disturb people; licence plates — reading them needs dedicated plate-recognition cameras, and white light actually washes out the plate.

A sensible layout for a yard or site: ColorVu cameras at entrances and doors where there are street lights, smart hybrid lighting where there is no light, and a separate plate-recognition camera at the barrier.

Expecting colour in total darkness without lighting. Even F1.0 needs some light; if the site is dark, the camera will either switch on the white light or go black and white — make sure the chosen mode suits you.

Putting a camera with constant white light under windows. Within a week residents will ask for it to be switched off. For residential yards choose the smart mode, where the light comes on only for an event.

Looking only at megapixels. An 8 MP camera with a small sensor often loses at night to a 4 MP one with a 1/1.8-inch sensor. Compare aperture, sensor size and night footage samples, not just resolution.

Prices from our catalogue as of 30 October 2026, subject to change: analogue ColorVu Hikvision DS-2CE12DF3T-F from 122,900 UZS; Dahua IPC-HDW2449T-S-IL 4 MP with dual lighting from 474,900 UZS; Dahua IPC-HFW1239S-A-LED-S5 2 MP Full-color from 549,900 UZS; Hikvision DS-2CD1027G2H-LIU 2 MP ColorVu with smart lighting from 574,900 UZS; Hikvision DS-2CD1047G2-L 4 MP ColorVu from 766,900 UZS; Hikvision DS-2CD2047G2-LU 4 MP with a 1/1.8-inch sensor and microphone from 1,112,900 UZS.

A colour camera usually costs 20–50 % more than an ordinary one of the same resolution. The difference pays back at the first night incident where a car or person has to be described. You can choose cameras for your site's lighting, with an engineer's visit and a sample of night footage, on our CCTV page — we return a quote within one business day.