IP CAMERA LEARNING & RESOURCE CENTER

All you need to know - from the IP surveillance camera specialists
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Archive for March, 2009...

Filed under HOWTO/FAQs

Step 1 - Registering with DynDNS.com

Visit the following website: http://www.dyndns.com

You will be presented with the home page which will look something like this:

DynDNS.org - home page

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Comments (5) Posted by Greg Innes on Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Filed under Y-cam, HOWTO/FAQs, Y-cam White, Y-cam Black, Y-cam Knight

Y-cam Black mini IP security camera

Here’s a quick HOWTO guide for something we get asked about a lot. How to use your Google Mail (Gmail) account with your Y-cam to send emails.

Almost all IP cameras have some form of email functionality but not all support a secure SSL connection which Google Mail requires. This isn’t normally a problem as the email account details you get from your ISP can be used in most circumstances but for people who want to use Gmail, read on.

This guide will show you the settings to use on the ‘e-Mail Server setup’ page in the Y-cam. How you then use these settings (alarm management, periodic sending) is up to you.

E-Mail Server Setup

email settings page from a Y-cam White IP security camera

The settings above should be self explanatory. The SMTP server name and port comes from Google Mail and you must enable both the Secure SSL connection and Authentication for it to work.

Then you must enter your own Gmail account details noting that when it asks for the user name you only use the first part of your Gmail email address.

Then the only important setting is the Receiver mail addresses of which you can enter up to 3. These are the email addresses which will receive the email from the camera.

All other settings are optional but you can see what they are by the entries we have used above.

If you find you can’t get the camera to send an email using the settings above then it could be the ISP is not allowing it. Some ISPs won’t let you use any other SMTP server other than their own (British Telecom BT are a good example of this). For these cases simply use the SMTP server details from your ISP in the camera (normally minus SSL and Authentication being enabled).

If you have any questions or feedback please leave comments below.

Comments (4) Posted by Greg Innes on Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Filed under Axis, Evaluations, Axis M1031-W

The Axis M1031-W is the flagship model from Axis’ latest camera series, the M10.

The M10 series is a range of IP security cameras aimed at the entry-level end of the market but it seems without any compromises made in terms of features. In fact, the features on offer are substantial considering the price. These are the cheapest Axis cameras we have seen and we can’t help wondering where the catch is? Let’s see if we can find it…

What’s in the box?

First let’s take a look at what you get in the box.

Axis M1031-W box contents

  • Axis M1031-W camera
  • Flexible mouting stand
  • G-clamp (optional mounting method)
  • AC Adapter
  • Power extention cable
  • Installation guide and warranty information
  • CD-ROM including installation tools, video management software and product documentation

It’s good to see Axis are still including a power extension cable and the G-clamp mount with their entry-level cameras as these are very useful and could have been so easily omitted at this price.

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Comments (4) Posted by Greg Innes on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Filed under IQeye, HOWTO/FAQs

This is a short, simple guide explaining the emergency factory reset procedure for an IQeye 700-series IP camera.

An emergency factory reset procedure is useful if you want to reset your camera back to its default settings or if you have forgotten the password.

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Comments (0) Posted by Greg Innes on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Filed under Panasonic, Panasonic BL-C121A

Panasonic BL-C121A Mini wireless IP security camera

Panasonic BL-C121A Mini wireless IP security camera

Panasonic BL-C121A Mini wireless IP security camera

Panasonic BL-C121A Mini wireless IP security camera

Panasonic BL-C121A Mini wireless IP security camera

Comments (0) Posted by Greg Innes on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Filed under Panasonic, Panasonic BL-C101A

Panasonic BL-C101A Mini home security IP camera

Panasonic BL-C101A Mini home security IP camera

Panasonic BL-C101A Mini home security IP camera

Panasonic BL-C101A Mini home security IP camera

Panasonic BL-C101A Mini home security IP camera

Comments (1) Posted by Greg Innes on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Filed under Axis, Axis Q1755

Axis Q1755 HDTV IP Camera

Axis Q1755 HDTV IP Camera

Axis Q1755 HDTV IP Camera

Comments (0) Posted by Greg Innes on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Filed under Axis, Evaluations, Axis Q1755

The Q1755 is the first true HDTV IP camera from Axis Communications. It is a static camera with a fixed zoom and autofocus feature and it conforms with the HDTV standards as laid down by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). What does this mean? Surely this is just a megapixel camera with a fancy name? Well, no. Let us explain…

HDTV

HDTV Network Video

The key difference between an HDTV IP camera which conforms to HDTV standards and a megapixel IP camera is in the broadcast quality output. HDTV standards stipulate that the camera must output at resolutions 720p (1280×720 SMPTE 296M) and 1080i (1920×1080 SMPTE 274M) at a full frame rate of 25/30fps (PAL/NTSC). Compare that to megapixel cameras which output large, high resolutions images but at much slower frame rates.

The question is, does the Q1755 meet the requirements? Let’s find out.

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Comments (18) Posted by Greg Innes on Thursday, March 5th, 2009