Quick answer: The CS-I4SV S-2.8mm is a 4MP CASE Sharp-series turret built around PhotonX, with a printed minimum illumination of 0.0001 Lux, a 33 ft (10 m) white light and no IR illuminator at all. Specify it where color at night is the point — entrances, loading doors, small parking areas and walkways with some ambient light — and not where a pitch-black yard needs long-range IR. It is rated IP67, metal housing, −40 °F to 149 °F (−40 °C to 65 °C) as printed, and as a CASE camera it carries a 6-year warranty serviced through you.
What does PhotonX do on the CS-I4SV S-2.8mm, as printed?
PhotonX is the CASE name for its ultra-low-light imaging platform; the catalog headline is “Darkness into Daylight” and the figure printed for this SKU is Min. Illumination 0.0001 Lux. The camera is specified to keep producing a color image at light levels where a conventional camera has long since switched to black-and-white IR mode. Color at 2 a.m. is the difference between footage and evidence — a jacket color, a vehicle color — and that is what a property manager is paying for when they ask for “cameras that work at night”.
Two cautions before you quote the number. First, a lux rating is a laboratory test value; what the sensor delivers on a site depends on the lens, shutter, gain and the actual scene. Low-light and full-color behavior is stated per SKU on the specification sheet and should be confirmed for the site. Second, the CS-I4SV S-2.8mm prints Max. IR Distance N/A. There is no IR fallback: when ambient light is gone and the subject is beyond the white light’s printed 33 ft (10 m), there is no monochrome image to rescue the scene. The table puts the printed rating in context using typical values from the Wikipedia article on lux, not CASE figures.
| Scene (typical, per Wikipedia “Lux”) | Approximate illuminance |
|---|---|
| Moonless, overcast night sky | 0.0001 lux |
| Full moon on a clear night | 0.05–0.3 lux |
| Dark limit of civil twilight | 3.4 lux |
| Public areas with dark surroundings | 20–50 lux |
| Office lighting | 320–500 lux |
A lit entrance canopy, a parking area with pole lights or a street-lit walkway sits far above the printed rating. A closed yard with the lights off does not.
Where does a no-IR color turret beat an IR camera, and where does it not?
An IR camera lights the scene itself and records in black-and-white at night; the CS-I4SV S-2.8mm records in color using the light that is there plus its own 33 ft (10 m) white light. Each approach has a home.
| Site condition | CS-I4SV S-2.8mm | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Entrance or lobby door with canopy lighting | Fits | Ambient light is above the printed rating; color of clothing and vehicles is preserved |
| Small staff parking area with pole lights | Fits | Plate and vehicle colors; 120dB WDR as printed for headlights |
| Loading door, dock face within 33 ft (10 m) | Fits | White light covers the near field even when the dock lights are off |
| Walkway between buildings, street-lit | Fits | Human & Vehicle Classification plus Tripwire on the path |
| Unlit yard, subjects 100 ft (30 m) away | Does not fit | No IR; beyond the white light the image depends on light that is not there |
| Long-range perimeter or fence line | Does not fit | Fixed 2.8mm lens and no IR; specify an IR or varifocal model |
| Site where no visible light may be emitted | Does not fit | The white light is visible by design; an IR-only camera is the right tool |
If the job needs the same PhotonX rating in a bullet with a longer white light, the catalog sibling is the CS-I4UV S-4mm: 0.0001 Lux, 49 ft (15 m) white light, 4mm fixed lens, −31 °F to 149 °F (−35 °C to 65 °C) as printed. Note the colder rating on the turret: the CS-I4SV S-2.8mm prints −40 °C, which is why it appears in cold-weather camera selections for the northern US and Canada.
What are the installation notes for a camera without IR?
Everything you know about IR cameras still applies, but a few points change when there is no IR:
- Walk the site at night before you quote. Stand where the camera will mount. If you can read a plate’s color by eye, the scene is far above 0.0001 lux. If you cannot see your own hand, plan around the white light’s 33 ft (10 m) reach or add site lighting to the quote.
- Treat the white light as near-field fill, not a floodlight. The printed distance is 10m. Mount so the subject you care about — the door, the gate path — is inside that radius. Confirm the white-light trigger behavior (always on, scheduled or event-driven) on the spec sheet and firmware you are installing.
- Use the WDR. The printed 120dB figure is what matters at a dark entrance with headlights sweeping across it; angle the camera so headlights do not hit the lens head-on.
- Mounting height. With a fixed 2.8mm lens, mount low enough to keep faces and plates large in frame — roughly 8–10 ft (2.4–3 m) for a door. The field of view angle is not printed in the catalog; take it from the spec sheet.
- Audio. The camera prints Built-In Microphone Yes, Audio I/O N/A, Built-In Speaker N/A and Alarm I/O N/A: no two-way talk, no external audio, no relay. Spoken warnings call for an EW model such as the CS-I8XQ II-2.8mm.
- Edge storage. The memory slot is printed at 512 GB; a card is a backup if the recorder link drops, not the primary recording.
- Weather. IP67 and a metal housing as printed; seal the cable gland, and keep the dome face clear of drifting snow, which no rating fixes.
- Power. PoE class and power draw are not in the catalog row; read them from the spec sheet before sizing the switch.
Spec table — CS-I4SV S-2.8mm as printed
Metric values are the catalog’s; the imperial conversions are ours for North American drawings.
| Item | As printed | Field note |
|---|---|---|
| Image sensor | 4MP | Sharp series, turret form |
| Lens | 2.8mm Fixed | Wide fixed lens; no zoom |
| Max. resolution and frame rate | 2688×1520@25fps | Set the NVR stream to match |
| Min. illumination | 0.0001 Lux | PhotonX; confirm for the site |
| Max. IR distance | N/A | No IR illuminator |
| White light distance | 10m | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Wide dynamic range | 120dB | Headlights and backlit doors |
| Protection | IP67 | Outdoor rated |
| Housing | Metal | As printed |
| Operating conditions | -40ºC~65ºC, 0~95% RH | −40 °F to 149 °F |
| Built-in microphone / speaker | Yes / N/A | Listen only; no talk-down |
| Audio I/O / Alarm I/O | N/A / N/A | No external audio or relay |
| Memory slot | 512 GB | Edge backup |
| Video compression | S+265/H.265/H.264B/H.264M/H.264H/Motion JPEG | S+265 where the NVR firmware supports it |
| AI (on camera) | Tripwire, Perimeter, Human & Vehicle Classification | Confirmed per firmware |
| Warranty | CASE camera | 6-year, through the installer |
Which NVR should you pair it with?
The camera’s own analytics — Tripwire, Perimeter, Human & Vehicle Classification — run on the camera; how their events are recorded and searched is confirmed per NVR model and firmware. Pairing it with an AI NVR adds the recorder-side set. For a small site of up to eight such cameras, the CS-N110 P8H-AI prints 10 channels, 8 PoE ports, 100Mbps incoming bandwidth, AI by NVR and VCA Search. For the typical office or retail job, the CS-N220 P16H-AI prints 20 channels, 16 PoE ports and 160Mbps incoming (AI on: 120Mbps); see the CS-N220 P16H-AI spotlight for the full row. Both record up to 10 TB per hard drive as printed, and both are CASE NVRs with a 6-year warranty. Hard drives are supported through back-to-back manufacturer warranty.
- Enable S+265 on the camera stream where the NVR firmware supports it; the codec is printed in the camera’s compression row.
- Keep the bandwidth sum under the printed incoming figure with AI on, not off, if you plan to use AI by NVR.
- Check which camera events appear in VCA Search; AI and search features are confirmed per model, firmware, software version and project configuration.
- For remote viewing, CASE Connect is the official app experience for CASE systems. App features and remote access options should be confirmed by model, software version, and project configuration.
- Third-party recorders: ONVIF profiles supported are S, T, and G, with M on pinhole models. Third-party behavior is confirmed per platform and project.
How do you prove it before the quote?
Sell this camera with a night-time comparison, not a brochure: put one CS-I4SV S-2.8mm next to the customer’s existing IR camera for a week and export two clips from the same hour. For approved demo products we provide a 90-day test period under the approved demo return process. This is not a general return policy. Private pricing sits behind your approved business account, spec sheets and firmware in the download area; Anabon, a North American B2B distributor of CASE and other professional security brands, quotes you and never your customer.
What to tell your customer
“This camera is rated to keep recording in color at very low light — 0.0001 lux on the specification sheet — and it has no infrared, so what you see at night is the real color of people and vehicles. It has its own white light for about 33 ft (10 m) in front of it; beyond that it relies on the lighting you already have, which is why we checked the site at night before quoting. It carries a 6-year warranty, and warranty and service go through us.”
FAQ
Does the CS-I4SV S-2.8mm need ambient light to work at night?
It has no IR illuminator, so outside its printed 33 ft (10 m) white light the image depends on available light. The printed minimum illumination is 0.0001 Lux, far below street or canopy lighting, but a fully dark yard beyond the white light is not this camera’s job. Walk the site at night before you quote.
What is the difference between PhotonX and NightBright?
Both are CASE full-color technologies with exact names. PhotonX is the ultra-low-light platform printed with a 0.0001 Lux rating on SKUs such as the CS-I4SV S-2.8mm and the CS-I4UV S-4mm. PhotonX is the ultra-low-light color platform, printed at 0.0001 Lux on SKUs such as the CS-I4SV S-2.8mm and CS-I4UV S-4mm. NightBright is CASE’s 24-hour full-color technology (large aperture, large sensor and warm light), carried by models such as the CS-I5XP S-2.8mm, printed at 0.0004 Lux. Specify by the printed row, not the icon. Specify by the printed row, not the icon.
Can it give spoken warnings or trigger a relay?
No. The printed rows are Built-In Microphone Yes, Built-In Speaker N/A, Audio I/O N/A and Alarm I/O N/A. It captures audio through its built-in microphone and offers no talk-down or relay output. For light-and-audio deterrence, specify an EW model such as the CS-I8XQ II-2.8mm; EW and AEW availability is confirmed per SKU.
Is it suitable for Canadian winters?
The printed operating range is -40ºC~65ºC at 0~95% RH, which is −40 °F to 149 °F, with an IP67 metal housing. That is the coldest operating rating printed for CASE fixed cameras, shared by a handful of other models. Keep the dome face clear of drifting snow and confirm the PoE switch or injector is rated for the enclosure temperature where it is mounted.
What warranty applies to this camera and its recorder?
CASE cameras and CASE NVRs carry a 6-year warranty. CASE PTZ cameras carry a 3-year warranty. CASE accessories carry unlimited warranty. Hard drives are supported through back-to-back manufacturer warranty. Warranty service runs through the installer or dealer who supplied the system; end users should contact the installer or company that supplied their system, never the distributor.
