Since i have both camera's now, i though i'll let them zoom in on the same picture. This "te koop" picture is rougly 50 meters from my home. I know, the other one is flipped upside down, but you can clearly see the winner.
The smoked bubble is transparent grey of brown, obviscating in which direction the camera is looking. Don't worry about the colour: The internal white balance can even compensate for golden bubbles. But it will cost you some light sensitivity too. Usually this is specified per bubble: F1.0, F1.2 or F1.4.
In your case take the clear one: Since the Ultra's shape is round from all directions, it's still very hard to see what the camera is looking at.
If you're not going to use the camera in a harsh environment, you don't really need the I/O board. The I/O board allows you easier connections, direct alarm in- and outputs and controlling an internal heater and fan. But it's quite expensive.
It's not quite fair to compare these two cameras. Both are developed for different purposes. The Ultra VII was developed for surveilance and retails for around 2000 euro. I think the Sony was developed to capture the ambience in discotheques etc and it's probably a bit less expensive. To each their own.
The Sony produces brighter colours, but that may be due to SpeedDome being a NTSC camera and the Sony a PAL camera. From the other hand: Sony cameras are know for this.