TP-Link VIGI InSight S385 (2.8mm) 8MP 4K Outdoor Full-Color Bullet Network Camera (PoE) – H.265+, 120dB True WDR, Active Defense, Two-Way Audio, Human & Vehicle Analytics, IP67

The TP-Link VIGI InSight S385 (2.8mm) is a professional-grade 8MP (4K) outdoor full-color bullet network camera designed for businesses that need reliable, high-detail surveillance day and night. It is built to capture clear evidence in real-world environments such as shopfronts, warehouses, parking areas, building entrances, perimeter walls, loading zones, and outdoor corridors—where lighting changes constantly and security teams need footage that stays usable, not just “recorded.”

At the core of the InSight S385 is a 1/2.7" progressive scan CMOS image sensor paired with a fixed 2.8mm lens (F1.6). This lens provides a wide viewing angle (111.4° horizontal / 58.8° vertical / 134° diagonal), making it a strong option for covering broad outdoor scenes with fewer cameras—especially when the goal is to monitor a frontage, yard, or perimeter run from a single mounting point. For planning and expectations, the camera’s DORI guidance for the 2.8mm lens is Detect up to 85m, Observe up to 35m, Recognize up to 17m, and Identify up to 8m. These distances help you estimate how far away a person or vehicle can be meaningfully captured depending on the level of detail required.

This model is positioned for 24/7 color-focused monitoring, supported by an illuminator design that combines both IR and white light. The camera includes 2 IR LEDs (850nm) rated up to 30m and 2 white LEDs rated up to 30m, with control options such as Auto, Scheduled, Always On, or Always Off. In practice, this means you can tune behavior for your site: keep illumination automatic, schedule it only after hours, or disable it where external lighting is already sufficient. For many outdoor security deployments, the ability to capture color detail at night can be a major advantage for identifying clothing, vehicle colors, and other scene context.

When lighting is challenging—like bright headlight glare at night, strong sun during the day, or harsh contrast between shaded areas and bright skies—the InSight S385 supports 120dB wide dynamic range (True WDR). This helps maintain a more balanced image across bright and dark zones, reducing the “washed out doorway” effect or crushed shadow areas that can hide important details. The camera also provides common image enhancement features such as BLC, 3D DNR, HLC, Smart IR, and a range of adjustable settings (brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, exposure, white balance, and more) so installers can tune output for the environment.

For motion handling and recording smoothness, the InSight S385 supports up to 25 fps on both 50Hz and 60Hz profiles across multiple resolutions, including 3840×2160, 2560×1440, 2304×1296, 2048×1280, 1920×1080, and 1280×720 on the main stream. Sub-stream options include 848×480, 704×576, 640×480, 640×360, 352×288, and 320×240. There are operational notes worth knowing for deployment: if image rotation is set to 90° or 270°, if 120dB WDR is turned on, or if People & Vehicle Analytics is enabled, the camera’s supported frame rate can be limited to up to 20 fps. This is normal behavior in many higher-end analytics cameras where processing load increases with advanced features.

The InSight S385 supports modern compression to reduce bandwidth and storage demand without forcing you to sacrifice clarity. Main stream supports H.265 / H.265+ / H.264 / H.264+, while sub-stream supports H.265 / H.264. Bit rate control is available in CBR and VBR modes, with main stream bit rate ranging from 256 Kbps to 8 Mbps and sub-stream ranging from 64 Kbps to 1 Mbps. This gives your installer or IT team practical flexibility: use higher bit rate for higher detail and critical areas, or tune down for remote sites and limited uplinks.

Intelligent detection is one of the core reasons to choose this model over basic “motion-only” IP cameras. The InSight S385 supports Human & Vehicle Classification so events can be focused on targets that matter, reducing noise from moving trees, shadows, animals, or irrelevant motion. It also supports smart detection functions such as intrusion detection, line-crossing detection, region entering and exiting detection, abandoned object detection, object removal detection, loitering detection, abnormal sound detection, and scene change detection. For daily operations, that translates into cleaner notifications and faster incident review—because the system can mark meaningful events instead of dumping every movement into one large timeline.

In addition to detection, this camera includes People & Vehicle Analytics, a deep-learning function designed to search and filter people or vehicles of interest based on multiple attributes—helping speed up post-event investigations. This is especially useful in business scenarios where an incident might occur hours earlier and reviewing raw footage manually would be too slow.

The camera also includes active deterrence features. Alarm linkage supports message push, audible warning, and white light flashing. This can be used as an active defense approach: when a defined event occurs (like line crossing after hours), the camera can warn and deter immediately—often preventing escalation before security staff even arrives. This deterrence approach can be extremely effective in outdoor areas such as back doors, warehouse entrances, and perimeter fence lines.

Audio is another key capability. The InSight S385 supports two-way audio, with built-in microphone and built-in speaker. The built-in microphone is specified to record sounds within approximately a 15-foot radius, adding helpful context to incidents such as verbal disputes, alarms, or suspicious activity. Two-way audio can also be used for operational control—like warning trespassers, communicating with delivery drivers, or responding to visitors in restricted areas (depending on your workflow and policies).

For storage, the camera includes an onboard microSD card slot supporting up to 512GB (card not included). This provides local recording redundancy when network recording is unavailable, and can be used as a backup layer alongside an NVR. For integration and management, it supports ONVIF (Profile S/T/G) and can be used with VIGI App, VIGI Security Manager, VIGI NVR, Web UI, VMS local software, and VIGI Cloud VMS. Network interface is a 10/100M RJ45 Ethernet port with PoE support, and the camera supports DC power input as well.

Physically, the InSight S385 is built for outdoor deployments with an IP67 protection rating and a metal housing. It supports flexible installation (ceiling, wall, or pole mount) and provides manual adjustment ranges of Pan 0–360°, Tilt 0–90°, and Rotation 0–360° to help installers align the camera precisely.

If you need a high-intent business CCTV camera that combines 4K clarity, true outdoor durability, full-color night capabilities, smart analytics, two-way audio, deterrence, and efficient H.265+ recording, the TP-Link VIGI InSight S385 (2.8mm) is a strong fit for professional security deployments.