TP-Link VIGI C330I 3MP Outdoor Bullet IP Camera, 2.8mm Wide-Angle Lens, PoE/12V DC, IR Night Vision 50m, Human & Vehicle Classification, H.265+, IP67, Built-in Microphone

The TP-Link VIGI C330I (2.8mm) is an outdoor IR bullet network camera designed for professional surveillance in business and commercial environments. It combines 3MP imaging, smart detection, long-range infrared night vision, efficient compression, and rugged outdoor protection in a compact bullet form factor. This model is built for reliable 24/7 monitoring for locations such as shopfronts, warehouses, office exteriors, parking zones, loading areas, perimeter lanes, and building entrances where consistent footage quality and practical event alerts are required.

At the imaging core, the VIGI C330I uses a progressive scan CMOS image sensor and supports a maximum resolution of 3MP (2304 × 1296). This resolution provides higher detail than standard Full HD 1080p, improving scene clarity for reviewing incidents, identifying movement patterns, and capturing finer visual information at typical surveillance distances. The camera supports multiple frame-rate options up to 30fps, allowing installers and operators to balance motion smoothness with storage requirements based on the site’s needs.

This specific variant uses a 2.8mm fixed focal length lens with an F2.2 aperture and a wide field of view suitable for general coverage. With a wide-angle lens, the camera is useful for covering broad areas with fewer blind spots, especially in entrances, corridors between buildings, storefront approaches, and general outdoor spaces where wide coverage is preferred over a narrow, long-distance view. The lens is fixed-focus, which simplifies installation and maintains stable focus for typical CCTV distances. For planning guidance, the camera includes DORI distance values for the 2.8mm lens: Detect up to 49m, Observe 20m, Recognize 10m, and Identify 5m. These values are intended as practical planning guidance and can vary depending on installation height, angle, lighting, and environmental conditions.

For night surveillance and low-light environments, the VIGI C330I includes infrared illumination using two IR LEDs with a rated IR range up to 50 meters at 850nm. The camera supports an IR cut filter for day/night operation and can switch using unified, scheduled, or automatic day/night behavior. Smart IR is included to help prevent close objects from appearing overexposed in the frame while still maintaining visibility at longer distances. This is important in outdoor scenes where reflective surfaces, nearby walls, or passing objects can cause infrared bloom or hot spots in night footage.

Image quality is supported by built-in image enhancement features intended to improve clarity in difficult lighting. These include digital wide dynamic range (DWDR) to help handle scenes with strong contrast (such as bright outdoor light with shaded areas), and 3D digital noise reduction (3D DNR) to reduce noise and pixelation artifacts, especially in low-light conditions. Additional image enhancement and control options include backlight compensation (BLC), highlight compensation (HLC), Smart IR behavior, image rotation (90°/270°), and multiple adjustable image settings such as brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, exposure, and white balance. The camera also supports privacy masking (up to 4 masks), region of interest (1 ROI region), and on-screen display (OSD), which helps in professional deployments requiring privacy zones and clearer labeling within the stream.

For storage and bandwidth efficiency, the VIGI C330I supports modern IP camera compression formats. The main stream supports H.265+ / H.265 / H.264+ / H.264, while the sub-stream supports H.265 / H.264. H.265+ and H.264+ are designed to reduce storage usage and bandwidth compared with older compression methods, which is beneficial for multi-camera installations and longer retention requirements. The camera supports CBR and VBR bit-rate control, allowing either consistent bandwidth consumption or variable bit rate based on scene complexity. Video bit rate ranges support a main stream range of 256 Kbps to 4 Mbps and a sub-stream range of 64 Kbps to 512 Kbps. Supported main stream resolutions include 2304 × 1296, 2048 × 1280, 1920 × 1080, and 1280 × 720. Sub-stream resolutions include 704 × 576, 640 × 480, 352 × 288, and 320 × 240. This flexibility helps in optimizing recording quality on an NVR while keeping a bandwidth-friendly stream for mobile or remote viewing.

Smart monitoring features are included to provide more actionable alerts and reduce non-relevant notifications. The VIGI C330I supports human and vehicle classification and supports multiple smart event types, including intrusion detection, line-crossing detection, region entering detection, region exiting detection, object abandoned detection, object removal detection, abnormal sound detection, people detection, and vehicle detection. Basic surveillance events include motion detection, video tampering detection, and exception alerts such as illegal login attempts. The camera also supports message push as an output notification method, supporting operational monitoring through compatible client software.

Audio monitoring is supported through a built-in microphone. The camera supports audio input and audio compression with 8kHz sampling and environmental noise filtering, with an audio bit rate listed as 64 Kbps (G.711 alaw). The built-in microphone is specified to record activity within approximately a 15-foot radius of the camera. This can add helpful context in certain installations (such as entrances, gates, or staff-access points). This model does not list built-in speaker support for two-way talk.

For networking and integration, the VIGI C330I includes a 10/100 Mbps RJ45 Ethernet interface and supports ONVIF (Profile S), enabling compatibility with many ONVIF-capable NVRs and video management systems in addition to TP-Link VIGI systems. Supported protocols include common surveillance and network protocols such as TCP/IP, UDP, ICMP, HTTP/HTTPS, DHCP, DNS, RTSP, NTP, UPnP, SSL/TLS, FTP/SFTP, RTP, IPv4, IPv6, and ARP. Security features include password protection, HTTPS encryption, IP address filtering, and digest authentication. The camera supports simultaneous live view of multiple streams (main and sub-stream combinations) and can be used with VIGI App, VIGI Security Manager, VIGI NVR, and web access.

The camera is built for outdoor use and is rated IP67 for weather protection against dust and water ingress. It operates within a temperature range of -30°C to 60°C, supporting deployment in demanding environments. The housing material is specified as plastic. The camera supports manual angle adjustment with pan from 0° to 360°, tilt from 0° to 90°, and rotation from 0° to 360°, which helps installers achieve the correct framing on walls, ceilings, or poles based on site requirements.

Power options include PoE (802.3af/at, class 0) and 12V DC input via a 5.5mm coaxial power plug, providing flexible installation choices depending on whether the site uses PoE switches/injectors or local power. Power consumption is listed up to 5W on 12V DC, with PoE class 0.

Overall, the TP-Link VIGI C330I (2.8mm) is suited for businesses that need a wide-angle outdoor bullet IP camera with 3MP resolution, long-range infrared night vision, smart human/vehicle detection, ONVIF compatibility, built-in audio monitoring, and efficient H.265+ compression for practical daily surveillance operations.