IDIS AI box price for the DV-1304-A and DV-1304 per camera and for a whole site

The IDIS AI Box for Surveillance, model DV-1304-A, costs $986 at Surveillance-Video and $1,120.50 at Network Camera Store, against a $1,245 regular price. It analyzes 4 cameras and carries no license or subscription fee. The catch is in IDIS's own specification: it works only with IDIS DirectIP cameras, registered to an IDIS DirectIP NVR, and it does not record anything itself.

That makes it one of the cheapest ways to add person and vehicle detection to cameras that have none, and also one of the narrowest. If your site already runs IDIS end to end, the box is a strong buy. If your cameras are a mix of brands, or your recorder is not an IDIS DR series unit, it will not see them at all. Below are the current US prices, the requirements printed in IDIS's datasheet and manual, and the arithmetic for a typical fifteen camera site.

IDIS AI Box price by model

IDIS sells two AI boxes on the same hardware. The DV-1304-A is the surveillance model, launched in February 2023 and shown at ISC West that spring. The DV-1304 is the earlier retail model from April 2022, built for counting rather than security alerts. IDIS does not publish a US price, and its distributor ADI shows prices only to signed in dealers, so these are street prices from resellers.

Two listing quirks to know before you order. Surveillance-Video files both boxes under the Arecont Vision brand, a catalog error, since the part numbers, text and analytics are all IDIS. Network Camera Store's title says the box supports "DirectNET" cameras only, which is a typo for DirectIP. Neither changes what you receive.

Is there a subscription or license for the IDIS AI Box?

No. IDIS's brochure calls the box license free, with no upfront or recurring licenses and no device connection costs, and the launch release repeats that there are no ongoing license fees. You pay for the box once. The larger IDIS DV-3200 analytics server is a different product, and some reseller listings say it needs a per device ISS-IDLA license.

What the IDIS box needs before it works

This is the part the low price hides. IDIS's architect and engineer specification for the DV-1304-A states that it supports only the DirectIP protocol, and that the IDIS protocol, ONVIF and third party protocols do not work with it. Supported cameras are "all IDIS network cameras which support DirectIP protocol."

• An IDIS DirectIP NVR. The box is registered to the recorder and set up from it. The June 2023 specification lists the DR-2500 and DR-6500 series on firmware 8.5.0 or later, with the DR-8500 added after.
• IDIS cameras. Any camera from another brand is invisible to it, even if it streams ONVIF.
• A viewer for the results. Alerts show in IDIS Center, which is free, or IDIS Solution Suite. IDIS Center has a VA Dashboard tab for the analytics graphs.
• Power. 48 V DC at 38.4 W, or PoE 802.3at from a port that can supply 30 W. It has two 100 Mbit ports and no storage.

So the real price question for most buyers is not $986 against $1,120. It is whether the site is already IDIS. If the recorder is a Hikvision, Dahua, Lorex, Uniview or Hanwha unit, the box would need a new IDIS NVR and new IDIS cameras around it, and at that point you are pricing a new system, not an add-on.

How 4 channels get used up

Four channels does not always mean four cameras. The DV-1304-A manual counts channels per analysis rule: one camera with two rules, say intrusion on the fence line and loitering at the door, takes 2 of the 4 channels. IDIS also sets a load ceiling of 1080p at 10 frames per second per channel, and recommends feeding it 640x360 at 15 frames per second or more.

In practice, a site that wants one rule per camera fits 4 cameras per box. A site that wants two rules on its entrances and one elsewhere should budget closer to 3 cameras per box. IDIS says you scale by adding boxes to the NVR, and its brochure shows 8 to 32 channel recorder setups, but we found no published maximum number of boxes per recorder.

Fifteen IDIS cameras, priced

Take fifteen existing IDIS DirectIP cameras on a supported DR series NVR, and the Surveillance-Video price of $986 per box. Recording is already paid for, because the NVR keeps doing it.

On an all IDIS site, the box route and ours cost about the same over five years, and the box is paid once with no internet dependency. That is a fair win for IDIS, and if it describes your site, buy the boxes. Our row exists for the much more common case below. For the same fifteen camera math across Hanwha, Rhombus, Verkada and Avigilon hardware, see our AI box for CCTV cameras price comparison.

If you are collecting quotes from two or three integrators for this, a procurement platform that lines up supplier quotes keeps the box count, labor and part numbers comparable instead of buried in three PDFs.

When the IDIS box is the wrong buy

Many US small business sites have cameras from two or three brands, often bought at different times, on an NVR from yet another brand. None of those cameras can feed a DV-1304-A. The options then are a box that accepts third party cameras, a cloud connector that replaces the recorder, or classification on the streams you already have.

The last one is what we sell. You give the console the RTSP sub stream of each camera or of each NVR channel, it drops motion from shadows, rain and headlights, and sends person and vehicle alerts with a cropped image to email, Slack or a webhook. Nothing is installed on the cameras, and the recorder keeps recording. The video analytics software price page shows every tier, from $288 a year for 4 cameras. You can run one of your own clips through the demo above first.

Hanwha's appliance is the nearest box alternative for non-IDIS cameras, with 8 channels and certified support for Hanwha cameras; its limits are on our Hanwha AI Box price page. If a dealer is steering you toward replacing the recorder outright, the Avigilon AI NVR price breakdown shows what that costs.

Questions buyers ask

How much does the IDIS AI Box cost?

At US resellers, the IDIS DV-1304-A AI Box for Surveillance is $986 at Surveillance-Video and $1,120.50 at Network Camera Store, with a $1,245 regular price. The DV-1304 retail model is $1,048.79 to $1,265.85. Each box handles 4 channels and has no license fee.

Does the IDIS AI Box work with third party cameras?

No. IDIS's specification for the DV-1304-A says it supports only the DirectIP protocol, and that ONVIF and third party protocols do not work with it. Only IDIS network cameras that support DirectIP can be analyzed, and the box must be registered to an IDIS DirectIP NVR.

What is the difference between the IDIS DV-1304 and DV-1304-A?

They share the same hardware. The DV-1304-A is for security: object detection, intrusion, loitering, line crossing and face detection. The older DV-1304 is for retail: people counting, occupancy control, queue monitoring and heatmaps. Buy the A model if the goal is alerts.

Does the IDIS AI Box record video?

No. The datasheet lists the supported device as a DirectIP NVR and notes that recording is not included. The box analyzes the camera streams and sends events to the NVR, IDIS Center or IDIS Solution Suite. Your IDIS recorder keeps recording as before.

Is the IDIS AI Box NDAA compliant?

Yes. IDIS lists the DV-1304-A as NDAA and TAA compliant, and the brochure calls it NDAA compliant. It also carries FCC, CE and KC approvals. That matters for US government contractors and for sites replacing Chinese made hardware.