FAQ: Can I View My IP Camera With My Phone?
With the improvements to mobile phone hardware and the reduction in prices for bandwidth, it’s no wonder that many people are trying to integrate their phones with their security systems. The benefits are great; while away from home you can immediately log into your cameras and ensure that nothing is wrong.
However, despite the fact that modern phones are powerful, they are not fully fledged computers, meaning that there are limitations which can prevent video or images from being displayed.
We’ve taken a look at some of the main IP camera manufacturers to see how their cameras cope with mobile viewing, and explore any limitations found.
How-to: Email Alerts from Panasonic IP Cameras
In this How-to: setting up motion detection email notifications with image attachment on a Panasonic camera.
Having an IP camera can give you a lot of reassurance when away from home. However, it’s implausible to monitor the camera 24 hours a day, so it’s handy to be notified in the event something happens.
Panasonic IP cameras offer this functionality. By setting up motion detection and integrating it with an email service, you can be notified if an event takes place and even have the camera send you an image so that you can quickly see what’s happened.
This how-to covers the setup of email notifications on all Panasonic BB and BL cameras. We have used a Panasonic BL-C160 for testing, but other cameras in the range will be all but identical.
How-to: Recording Axis IP Camera Snapshots to an SD Card
In the past couple of years, IP camera manufacturers have started building SD card slots into their cameras, enabling on-board recording of video and images. The simplicity of this solution has resulted in recording directly to the camera becoming ever more popular. In this how-to, we’re going to show you how to enable hourly snapshot recording on your Axis security camera (one of many ways to utilise on-board recording). But first, a bit more about the benefits.
HOWTO: Playing audio from an Axis IP camera without Internet Explorer
Listening to sound from an IP camera can be a headache when using a web browser other than Internet Explorer (IE). Most camera manufacturers create ActiveX controls for handling sound which are limited to IE only, resulting in no audio at all for other browsers.
It’s not widely known, but Axis cameras have another facility for playing audio; Java. This means that users with Mac or Linux computers can listen to audio, as well as Windows users who don’t use Internet Explorer.
Some configuration changes are required, but it can be accomplished in a few minutes.
Read more >>
HOWTO: Setup Multi-Camera viewing in Panasonic IP cameras (BB and BL)
Multiple Panasonic IP cameras from the BB and BL range can be viewed together through one camera interface by using the Multi-Camera page. This guide walks you through how to set up this feature for viewing your cameras locally and over the Internet.
Recording at the edge – A new approach to surveillance system design
Overview
Edge recording is a term which is has started to populate through the IP camera industry with regards to network video recording. Edge recording is a network configuration designed to reduce the bottlenecks inherent to centralized video systems. This article describes how edge recording functions work and describes the pros and cons of its use. Read more >>
HOWTO: Setup recording to a microSD card on a Mobotix M24
The latest generation of Mobotix cameras, such as the D24, M24 and Q24, feature on-camera memory for storing video footage. As standard, each camera comes with a 4GB microSD card, allowing you to store video footage without any additional equipment.
For this article, we will demonstrate how to configure the SD card, set the recording and review stored footage. Read more >>
HOWTO: Dynamic DNS with Panasonic’s Viewnetcam.com
To access your camera over the Internet you need to know the IP address of your external Internet connection this is known as your public IP address. Most domestic ISPs will provide you with a dynamic public address which means every time you connect to the Internet you will get assigned any available IP address. This means that it will regularly change. So to keep track of what IP address your Internet connection has you need a dynamic DNS service.
All Panasonic IP camera models starting with BB and BL come with free registration to Panasonic’s Viewnetcam dynamic DNS service which is regularly updated by your camera. The Viewnetcam service then provides you with a domain name to link to the current IP address of your Internet connection allowing you access to your camera.
This HOWTO guide walks you through setting up the Viewnetcam service with a Panasonic BB or BL IP camera. The screen shots taken in this guide are of a BL-C131 but are going to be pretty much identical for most of the BB and BL range of Panasonic IP cameras.
Digital Pan, Tilt and Zoom Cameras: Can they compete with conventional cameras?
With the increase in megapixel and HD cameras, more and more camera manufacturers are offering digital pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) features as an alternative to conventional mechanical pan, tilt and zoom. Can digital pan, tilt and zoom cameras offer the same level of functionality when used in security scenarios?
HOWTO: Setup E-mail (SMTP) Settings on Axis IP Cameras
IP cameras can send you email notification on alarm or at scheduled intervals, but to do this they require access to a SMTP server to send the email. Most email accounts come with SMTP access for outgoing mail but not all of them are easy to integrate with your IP camera because they require a secure connection.
This guide will walk you through setting up SMTP settings in an Axis IP camera with a GMX email account. This guide uses an Axis M1011 IP camera but most Axis IP cameras have pretty similar settings.