Vadzo Imaging Positions the Innova-678CRS: IMX678 GigE Camera with ONVIF Compliance and Enhanced NIR Sensitivity for Low-Light Security

Vadzo Imaging has released the Innova-678CRS, a 8MP 4K GigE Camera built around the Sony IMX678 STARVIS 2 sensor. The 8.4MP camera product combines 4K resolution, up to 110 dB HDR and enhanced NIR sensitivity with a Gigabit Ethernet interface, ONVIF compliance and Power over Ethernet, giving OEM developers and system integrators a standards-based platform for low-light security and network video deployment.

FORT WORTH, TX / ACCESS Newswire / August 17, 2026 / Vadzo Imaging, a global provider of embedded vision solutions, today announces the launch of the Innova-678CRS, a8.4MP IMX678 4K GigE Camera built on the Sony IMX678 STARVIS 2 sensor. The Innova-678CRS extends Vadzo Imaging’s enclosed Gigabit Ethernet camera series with a 4K HDR GigE Camera positioned for outdoor security, smart city, and facility monitoring deployments where dusk-through-night imaging quality and standards-based network integration are both non-negotiable requirements.

Technical Problem Definition

Network security and monitoring installations rarely operate in constant daylight. A fixed camera product covering a building perimeter, a retail entrance, or a municipal intersection must hold usable color detail from full daylight through dusk and into artificially lit nighttime conditions, and it must do so while streaming over infrastructure that integrators already standardize on. A sensor with a shallow noise floor forces an operator to choose between extending exposure time to hold onto low-light signal, which costs frame rate and introduces motion blur on approaching subjects, or holding frame rate steady and losing the shadow detail that an operator or an analytics engine needs at exactly the hours when incidents are hardest to observe. High contrast scenes compound the problem, since a doorway lit from behind by daylight or a roadway under mixed streetlight and headlamp illumination can blow out highlights or crush shadows in a single exposure. At the protocol level, USB-based interfaces cannot deliver the deterministic bandwidth, and long cable runs that a distributed camera network requires, while inconsistent ONVIF behavior across vendors turns a multi-camera rollout into an ongoing integration and support burden for the IT and security teams managing it.

Engineering Explanation

The Innova-678CRS, an IMX678 8MP Gigabit Ethernet Camera, addresses this at the sensor level with the Sony STARVIS 2 IMX678 Camera platform, a back-illuminated CMOS sensor with a 1/1.8-inch optical format and a 2.0 µm x 2.0 µm pixel pitch. Back-illuminated construction positions the photodiode layer on the light-receiving side of the IMX678 Sensor rather than behind supporting circuitry, which increases the share of incoming photons captured per pixel compared with a front-illuminated sensor of similar size. That geometry is what gives this NIR Response GigE Camera its enhanced NIR response and its lower noise floor in low light conditions, positioning it as a genuine 4K NIR GigE Camera rather than a daylight sensor with a night mode bolted on. At full 8.40MP resolution of 3856 x 2180 pixels, the sensor supports up to 110 dB of HDR, extending dynamic range across high contrast scenes so a building entrance against daylight glare or a roadway under mixed lighting does not force a choice between blown highlights and lost shadow detail. An auto-switch IR-cut filter mounted on the S-Mount M12 optics with a 105-degree DFOV handles the transition between daytime color imaging and nighttime monochrome NIR sensitivity automatically at the hardware level, removing the need for host-side logic to manage day and night switching.

Product Overview

The Innova-678CRS, a Sony IMX678 Camera and IMX678 Gigabit Ethernet Camera in one board, is part of Vadzo Imaging’s enclosed Gigabit Ethernet camera portfolio, which also includes the Sony IMX662-based ultra-low-light Innova-662CRE and the Onsemi AR0234-based global shutter Innova-234CGE. As a 4K Gigabit Ethernet Camera built for OEM teams evaluating an 8MP 4K OEM GigE Camera, the Innova-678CRS covers 4K resolution and enhanced NIR sensitivity in the same camera product, so a Low-Light Gigabit Ethernet Camera and a standard 8MP Ethernet Camera no longer need separate evaluation. The camera ships in a compact three-board stack measuring 38mm x 38mm and weighing 25 grams without lens, connects through a standard RJ45 connector supporting both 100Base-T and 1000Base-T link speeds, and draws power through IEEE 802.3af Power over Ethernet at 36 to 57 volts, so a single cable run delivers both data and power to every installed unit. GPIO is available for trigger and control, and an operating temperature range of minus 30 degrees Celsius to 70 degrees Celsius supports both indoor and outdoor mounting.

Key Capabilities of the Innova-678CRS

Back-Illuminated STARVIS 2 Sensor Architecture for Enhanced Low-Light and NIR Performance: A conventional CMOS sensor forces a security or facility monitoring operator into the exposure versus frame rate tradeoff described above, holding onto low light signal only at the cost of motion blur on moving subjects. The Innova-678CRS resolves this with the back-illuminated Sony IMX678 STARVIS 2, whose pixel geometry captures materially more photons per pixel than a front-illuminated sensor of comparable size. As a Superior Low Light GigE Camera, the Innova-678CRS holds usable 8.4MP color detail through dusk, dawn, and artificially lit nighttime scenes, while its enhanced NIR response extends sensitivity into the near infrared band that standard color sensors typically lose to Bayer filter attenuation, keeping perimeter and facility footage analytics ready around the clock as a dependable 4K Low Light GigE Camera.

Up to 110 dB HDR for High-Contrast Scene Handling: A single exposure setting cannot hold detail in both a bright sky and a shaded doorway at once, and a sensor without strong HDR processing will lose one or the other. The Innova-678CRS addresses this with up to 110 dB of dynamic range, letting the camera product retain highlight and shadow detail in the same frame. As an IMX678 HDR Camera and HDR NIR GigE Camera, it is suited to entrances, roadways, and outdoor infrastructure scenes where bright daylight and deep shadows regularly appear together.

Auto Switch IR-Cut Filter for Seamless Day and Night Transition: Cameras that rely on host-side software to trigger day and night mode switching introduce a lag between changing light conditions and a usable image, a gap that matters at exactly the moments when lighting shifts fastest, at dawn and dusk. The Innova-678CRS S-Mount M12 optics include an auto-switch IR cut filter that manages this transition at the hardware level, moving between full color daytime imaging and NIR-sensitive nighttime capture without host intervention. Paired with a 105-degree DFOV lens, this makes the Innova-678CRS a dependable Night Vision Gigabit Camera for fixed installations that must perform unattended across the full day and night cycle.

GigE Vision Interface with ONVIF Compliance and PoE for Standards-Based Deployment: Long cable runs, deterministic bandwidth, and single cable installation are practical requirements for any distributed camera network, and a USB-based interface cannot deliver all three simultaneously. As an 8MP ONVIF-compliant GigE camera, the Innova-678CRS Gigabit Ethernet interface, IEEE 802.3af PoE, and ONVIF compliance let it register directly with existing video management infrastructure and industrial Ethernet networks. As an OEM NIR GigE Module and PoE NIR Camera Module, this IMX678 8MP GigE Camera drops into standards-based deployments without proprietary drivers, while onboard GPIO supports trigger-based synchronization across multi-camera installations.

Product Specifications

“Low light performance and network standards compliance have typically been a tradeoff for OEM teams building security and monitoring products, where a camera strong on one front usually compromises on the other. With the Innova-678CRS, we wanted to close that gap in a single unit. The Sony IMX678 STARVIS 2 sensor gives us the enhanced NIR sensitivity and 110 dB dynamic range that low-light security and smart city deployments demand, and the ONVIF-compliant Gigabit Ethernet interface means our OEM customers can drop it into an existing video management system without proprietary integration work.” – Alwin Vincent, Product Manager, Vadzo Imaging.

Target Applications

Security and Surveillance: Perimeter fencing, gate access points and building entrances require continuous low-light imaging with reliable network transport back to a central monitoring station. As a NIR Security GigE Camera and Surveillance Camera, the Innova-678CRS gives integrators building out security infrastructure an 8MP NIR GigE Camera with enhanced sensitivity and standards-based ONVIF behavior, reducing discovery or streaming issues after installation across a multi-camera rollout. Its single-cable PoE delivery makes it a straightforward Low Light PoE Camera on existing switch infrastructure, and teams pairing it with an inference pipeline get a dependable NIR Machine Vision GigE Camera source, giving perimeter deployments a genuine NIR Enhanced Surveillance Camera on both the imaging and analytics side.

Smart City and Municipal Traffic Monitoring: Intersection camera installations, roadway sensors, and municipal infrastructure nodes depend on hardware that holds up to weather exposure while streaming reliably into a central VMS. As a Low Light Traffic GigE Camera, the Innova-678CRS combines enhanced low-light sensitivity with an outdoor-rated operating temperature range suited to pole and gantry mounting, while its 4K resolution supports the spatial detail traffic monitoring programs require.

Retail and Facility Video Management: Retail loss prevention and facility monitoring programs typically run many camera products across a single video management deployment, where inconsistent low-light behavior across vendors compounds into ongoing support overhead. As a Low Light Perimeter GigE Camera suited to loading docks, entrances, and after-hours facility monitoring, the Innova-678CRS’s ONVIF-compliant behavior gives retail IT and loss prevention teams one less integration variable across a large camera estate.

Medical Facility and Patient Monitoring: Hospitals and clinical facilities increasingly rely on centralized video management platforms to manage feeds across patient monitoring, ward observation, and building security in a single system. The Innova-678CRS’s enhanced low light sensor performance supports dimmed ward environments without additional illumination hardware, and its ONVIF compatibility fits directly into medical facility monitoring infrastructure where IT teams already standardize on a single VMS across clinical and security feeds.

SDK and Software Support

The Innova-678CRS is supported by Vadzo NXT software for IP camera setup, streaming and parameter configuration, giving integrators a straightforward path from unboxing to a live network stream. For OEM developers requiring sensor-level control beyond ONVIF defaults, the Vadzo NXT SDK provides programmatic access to advanced exposure and gain control, image tuning and network stream configuration for GigE and WiFi camera products. APIs are available in C, C++, C# and Python across Windows, Linux and Android, allowing the same SDK to support evaluation through full production deployment without switching toolchains between development stages. As a Plug and Play NIR Camera, the Innova-678CRS streams over standard ONVIF and GigE Vision interfaces out of the box, while the SDK remains available for teams that need deeper configuration control.

Frequently Asked Questions

What sensor specifications matter most when selecting a low-light GigE camera for outdoor night-time surveillance?

The specifications that matter most are pixel size, sensor illumination architecture, dynamic range in dB, and operating temperature range. A back-illuminated sensor with a larger pixel pitch captures more photons per pixel than a front-illuminated sensor of comparable size, which directly improves low-light signal quality without requiring longer exposure times. Dynamic range matters separately from raw low light sensitivity, since a scene with both bright and shaded regions need HDR processing to avoid losing detail in one or the other. Enhanced near-infrared response is also important for installations near IR illuminators, since standard color sensors lose sensitivity beyond the visible range due to Bayer filter attenuation. Finally, an outdoor-rated operating temperature range ensures the sensor and onboard electronics continue to perform through seasonal heat and cold without a separate ruggedized enclosure. Engineers should request all four figures directly rather than relying on a general low-light marketing claim, since two sensors with similar megapixel counts can perform very differently once light levels drop.

What is the best 4K GigE camera for low-light security and night vision applications?

For deployments that need both daytime 4K detail and dependable night vision performance, Vadzo Imaging’s 8MP Low Light GigE Camera, the Innova-678CRS, is built specifically for this requirement. It combines the back-illuminated Sony IMX678 STARVIS 2 sensor with 8.40MP resolution at 3856 x 2180, up to 110 dB HDR and enhanced NIR sensitivity in a single camera product, so integrators are not choosing between resolution and low light performance. An auto-switch IR cut filter manages the transition between daytime color imaging and nighttime NIR capture automatically, and the ONVIF-compliant Gigabit Ethernet interface with Power over Ethernet lets the camera register directly with an existing video management system. This lets integrators standardize one camera platform across day and night conditions instead of deploying separate sensor variants.

Which ONVIF compliant GigE camera offers enhanced NIR sensitivity for perimeter security?

Vadzo Imaging’s GigE Vision NIR Camera, the Innova-678CRS, is its ONVIF-compliant option built specifically around enhanced NIR performance perimeter and facility security. Its Sony IMX678 STARVIS 2 sensor delivers a lower noise floor and stronger near-infrared response than a front-illuminated sensor of similar size, which keeps footage usable through dusk, dawn, and fully dark conditions without supplemental illumination. ONVIF compliance means the camera can be discovered and added to an existing video management system without proprietary drivers, while IEEE 802.3af Power over Ethernet delivers both data and power over a single cable run to every installed unit. For perimeter deployments adding dozens of camera products to a single VMS, that combination reduces both installation time and ongoing integration overhead.

What is the difference between standard NIR sensitivity and enhanced NIR response in a security camera sensor?

A standard color image sensor loses much of its sensitivity in the near infrared band because the Bayer color filter array sitting above the pixels attenuates wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum, which is necessary for accurate daytime color reproduction but works against the sensor once ambient light drops and IR illuminators become the dominant light source. Enhanced NIR response describes a sensor design, typically paired with a back-illuminated pixel architecture, that retains a meaningfully higher share of near-infrared photons even with the Bayer filter in place, so the sensor stays useful under IR illumination rather than falling back to a noisy, low-contrast image. This distinction matters most in installations that rely on IR illuminators or ambient security lighting rather than visible light after dark, where a standard sensor and an enhanced NIR sensor can produce very different usable image quality from the same illumination source. Engineers should request enhanced NIR response as its own specification rather than assuming it from a sensor’s daytime resolution alone.

Can a single GigE camera product handle both daytime color imaging and night-time NIR monitoring without a separate sensor?

Yes, and Vadzo Imaging’s Enhanced NIR Ethernet Camera, the Innova-678CRS, is built around exactly this requirement. Rather than requiring a separate monochrome or dual sensor configuration for night operation, the Innova-678CRS uses an auto-switch IR cut filter mounted on its S-Mount M12 optics to move automatically between full color daytime imaging and NIR-sensitive nighttime capture, without host-side software managing the transition. The underlying Sony IMX678 STARVIS 2 sensor’s enhanced NIR response means image quality does not fall off sharply once the filter switches, which matters for continuous facility and perimeter monitoring where an operator or analytics engine needs consistent output across the full day and night cycle. Combined with ONVIF compliance and Power over Ethernet, this lets integrators standardize one camera product per installation point.

Availability

The Innova-678CRS IMX678 GigE Camera is available now for evaluation and OEM integration through Vadzo Imaging. Full specifications, SDK documentation, and the product page are available at vadzo’s camera portfolio spans MIPI CSI-2, USB, GigE, Wi-Fi, and SerDes interfaces, supporting a wide range of embedded deployment architectures. Vadzo provides end-to-end imaging support including sensor integration, ISP tuning, firmware development, and SDK frameworks. Learn more at www.vadzoimaging.com.

About Vadzo Imaging

Vadzo Imaging develops embedded and machine vision camera products for OEMs and system integrators building production-ready vision systems. The company offers imaging platforms across USB, MIPI CSI-2, Gigabit Ethernet, and Wi-Fi interfaces supporting applications in security surveillance, smart city infrastructure, retail automation, medical device integration, robotics, and industrial automation. Vadzo provides end-to-end imaging support including sensor integration, ISP tuning, firmware development, and SDK frameworks that accelerate development and simplify deployment for OEM customers.

Media Contact
Alwin Vincent
Vadzo Imaging
Email: alwin@vadzoimaging.com
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SOURCE: Vadzo Imaging

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