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.
IPv6 and IP-based Security
While the last of the old IPv4 addresses are being used up, the physical migration to IPv6 is a slow one. How does this affect IP CCTV?
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 >>
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?
What is a Network Port and why do I need one?
Network Ports can often be a difficult concept to understand. When working with IP cameras you don’t really need to worry about them until you have to set up remote access. Routers rely on ports to limit data which can access your camera and differentiate between multiple devices. Believe it or not, you are using a port just now, only you can’t see it.
UPnP: Friend or Foe?
We get a lot of technical support requests regarding Port Forwarding, the process of allowing access through the firewall on your router to your camera so that you can access your camera from across the Internet. It’s a tricky process which can leave many novice users scratching their heads. Read more >>
HOWTO Set up a personal FTP server for use with an IP camera’s image transfer function
With the image transfer feature found in many IP cameras you can store a number of images in a central location as an archive for security purposes or maybe for building a time-lapse movie.
These images are sent using the FTP protocol which stands for File Transfer Protocol and is normally associated with transferring files across the Internet. It also works equally as well on a local network and this guide will show you how to set it up.
Using H.264 video compression in IP video surveillance systems
Introduction
H.264 is an open video compression standard. Uniquely, H.264 is the first compression format to be formed by collaboration between members of both the IT and telecommunications industries and each have their own name for it. H.264 is the name used by the ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union) and MPEG-4 Part 10 AVC (Advanced Video Coding) is the name used by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization). The video surveillance industry has adopted the term H.264 and this has become the primary reference to the standard. This is also the term we use.
H.264 is fast becoming the standard video compression format for the video surveillance world and if we look at the claims it makes we can see why. We hear bold statements about low bandwidth usage, reduced storage requirements, higher resolution monitoring and better quality images and it all sounds too good to be true… doesn’t it?