Back to square one. I wrote to Hikvision regarding their camera based on the Sony IMX 178 sensor. Their model is only US$ 190/- whereas the FLIR version based on the same sensor is US$ 445/-. At the ab-soft the same Hikvision camera is US$ 250/-. I may purchase this camera from Hikvision and, if the camera is OK, later purchase the software from ab-soft. That is the only solution that comes to my mind.