IP CAMERA LEARNING & RESOURCE CENTER

It’s possibly a little known fact that Panasonic IP cameras come with a dedicated viewer for cell phones and mobile devices. We certainly point this out if someone calls us for advice but I don’t think it’s a feature that Panasonic shout too much about.

So let us shout about it now because we think it’s a great feature which seems to be overlooked all too often.

Static image only

So first off, it’s designed for cell phones so don’t expect 30fps live video, in fact, don’t expect a live view at all as the viewer will only give you a static JPEG.

What’s the use in that? Well, its a live shot taken from the camera the moment you accessed the viewer and gives a good representation about what you camera can see at the exact moment in time. You can also refresh the image using the on-screen option.

This feature can be found in the consumer range of Panasonic video products: BL-C1A, BL-C20A, BL-C111A, BL-C131A, BB-HCM371A, BB-HCM511A, BB-HCM515A, BB-HCM527A, BB-HCM531A, BB-HCM580A, BB-HCM581A.

How do I access the viewer?

Dedicated viewer for cell phones/mobile devices (Panasonic BL-C111 V3.10R02)

To access the viewer for cell phones and mobile devices use the following address:

http://[IP]/mobile
(substitute [IP] for the IP address of your camera, including port number if you have selected a non-standard HTTP port number for the camera)

For extra compatibility you can try the following commands if you find the viewer doesn’t display properly on your mobile device:

http://[IP]/mobileh (for an HTML version)

http://[IP]/mobilex (for an XHTML version)

Controls

There’s controls too? Yes. Let’s take a look at them more closely:

We’re using a BL-C111 for this example which is a pan-tilt camera that can be controlled remotely over the Internet.

Pan/Tilt controls taken from Panasonic BL-C111 (firmware version: 3.10R02)

As you can see from the image above you can press the [4] and [6] keys on your cell to move the camera left and right and the [2] and [8] keys to move the camera up and down. Each movement will also cause the image to refresh.

Hitting the center [5] key will refresh the image without movement.

Finally the [0] key will swap between different resolutions allowing you to select the best resolution to suit your mobile device.

Preset controls taken from Panasonic BL-C111 (firmware version: 3.10R02)

You can also select from the first 4 camera presets using the [1], [3], [7] and [9] keys. Once the camera has moved to the designated preset the image will automatically refresh.

Additional options

If you access the viewer from a mobile device using an internet broswer you will also have access to the various links on the page as well giving further controls.

Home position: Will take you back to the home position of your pan-tilt camera

Alarm log: will display the alarm log file showing details of all previous alarm activity

Buffer/Transfer: Allows you to enable or disable triggers in the camera you have previously set, effectively ‘alarming’ your business or property from a remote location using your cell phone or mobile device.

Privacy Mode: You can control the camera’s privacy mode from the mobile viewer. Privacy mode allows you to protect your privacy by hiding the lens inside the camera, preventing camera images from being seen. When privacy mode is activated you will see the following message when you try to access the camera using the viewer:

Select ‘Disable Privacy Mode’ to disable privacy mode and view the live image.

Finish

Now you know how to access this useful (and fairly unique) function found in Panasonic IP cameras. If you have any questions or feedback please leave your comments below.