Dahua MultiVision Cameras: Panoramic, Multi-Direction and X-Spans Explained
Dahua's MultiVision cameras put several lenses in one housing to cover more ground with fewer cameras. The July 2024 update has three families: Panoramic Splicing (a seamless 180° image), Multi-direction (several independently aimed views) and X-Spans (a wide overview plus a zooming detail lens that tracks what the overview detects). Here's how each one works, where it fits, and the panoramic and fisheye cameras we stock.
Why multi-lens cameras?
A single fixed camera has a limited field of view. Covering a car park, a warehouse floor or a junction usually means several cameras, several cable runs and several recorder channels and licences. Multi-lens cameras tackle the three gaps Dahua highlights: limited field of view, single-direction coverage and poor linkage between cameras.
The three MultiVision families
Panoramic Splicing
- Several lenses whose images are blended with pixel-level fusion into one 180° panorama, without the curved distortion of a fisheye.
- EPTZ lets you cut out up to five close-up views from the panorama.
- One camera and one cable instead of three or four, which Dahua says saves on product and labour costs.
Multi-direction
- Lenses that can be aimed independently, for example down two corridors or at a junction from one mounting point.
- AI functions run on every channel at the same time.
- FlexStream combines several views into one channel, saving recorder channels and licence costs.
X-Spans
- An overview lens and a detail lens in one unit.
- Auto Calibration aligns the two in the same coordinate system.
- Smart Tracking: when the overview spots an intrusion, the detail lens zooms in and follows the target.
Dahua has also brought dual-lens ideas to smaller cameras, from the 2023 Full-color Duo (two F1.0 lenses stitched into a 180°, 4K image) to the PT MultiVision models in its HDCVI X Plus range. See our HDCVI X Plus article.
Where each type fits
- Panoramic Splicing: car parks, playgrounds, squares, the front of a warehouse.
- Multi-direction: corridor junctions, building corners, crossroads.
- X-Spans: perimeters and large open areas where you want the overall picture and the detail of whoever crosses it.
Dahua panoramic and multi-sensor cameras we stock
- IPC-PFW8800-A180 4×2MP 180° panoramic bullet and IPC-PDBW8800-A180 dome version
- IPC-PFW8601-A180 3×2MP 180° panoramic bullet
- DH-SDT3E410-8P-MB-A-PV1 8MP + 4MP 10x panoramic PTZ, an overview and a zooming lens in one
- DH-PSDW8852SP-A180 8MP 180° panoramic + PTZ
- Fisheye: IPC-EBW81242P-AS-S2 12MP 360° WizMind fisheye and DH-IPC-EBW8842P-AS 8MP fisheye
See our WizMind guide or browse the Dahua range.
Our take
Multi-lens cameras used to be a big-project item. The economics now work for mid-sized sites too: fewer cameras, fewer cable runs and fewer recorder licences can outweigh the higher price of one multi-sensor unit. X-Spans in particular solves the old problem of a PTZ looking the wrong way when something happens.
Want to know if a panoramic camera could replace several on your site? Call 01902 902251. We ship nationally to England, Scotland and Wales.
Quick questions
What is a panoramic splicing camera?
A multi-lens camera that blends several images into one seamless wide view, such as 180°.
What's the difference between panoramic and fisheye?
Fisheye cameras use one very wide lens and need de-warping; panoramic splicing cameras use several lenses for a flatter, more detailed wide image.
What is Dahua X-Spans?
A camera with an overview lens and a detail lens that automatically tracks targets the overview detects.
What is FlexStream?
Dahua technology that combines several camera views into one recorder channel to save channels and licences.
Sources: Dahua MENA press releases, 19 April 2023 and 10 July 2024.
