We've installed this camera at church to help protect against more burglaries. The idea of having an IP camera is that the images are immediately stored off-site, so whatever vandalism happens to the camera during a burglary, we should have images to help catch them...

I couldn't find much about it on the web, so here are my thoughts about it so far:

1. Great value for money
   For around £100 you get an IR equipped IP camera that sees in daylight and the dark, with a mounting bracket and complete software included in the box.

2. Good Resolution and Image
   It's quite wide angle, but that's good for the small spaces we've got.
   There's a very useful demo camera setup by a USA store: http://www.apexcctv.com/p-455-avi202z-ir-ip-camera.aspx - click the 'click here for a live demo' link.

3. Non-standard MP4 Video Files
   When uploading or emailing video files (yes, it sends video, not still images), it uses an ".avc" extension. Neither Windows MediaPlayer nor KMPlayer can play this - only the VideoViewer software included with the camera (which converts it to .avi format at the click of a button).

   However, the VideoViewer software is basic, and only shows one file at a time, so viewing a sequence becomes a pain.

   Online Flash players can't handle the files either, which is a shame - I'd hoped to have a web-based viewing setup. I've done that - but it's more basic than I wanted!

   MediaCoder tells me the .avc file is type H.264 ES, and encoded with odivx codec. However, when MediaCoder transcodes, the bottom 15% of the video is bad.

   I haven't tried the Motion-JPEG format, because it does not allow this when using motion detection.

4. Straightforward Setup.
   I managed to get it going pretty quickly using the supplied software. Detect the camera, set some settings, and off you go.

5. Viewing from external computers.
   This is a bit more complicated, but possible, I:

   • got a URL for our camera from dyndns.com,

   • set up the camera to use DDNS with that account,

   • set up the camera for a fixed IP address within the local network (settings on the camera, and the router)

   • setup the router to port-forward the appropriate address to the camera

   • discovered I had to re-jig the office's network setup (bridge the Voyager 210, don't you know!), and update the router's firmware (sounds shocking!)

   • bingo - many hours later the dyndns.com address works, and so does ftp from the camera.

6. ADSL Upload Speed
   Is important. To get continuous uploaded files without large time gaps, you have to tune the file quality / size settings to match your ADSL upload capabilities.
   If you've got 10Mbps upload, you can have best quality 640x480 at 25fps; if you've got 250kbps, you can have 320x240 at 2fps, normal quality.

7. Web-based viewing software
   I've done a simple console for checking what files have been recorded - here's a screenie.
   [evo_gallery]184443781246783[/evo_gallery]
   The software automatically sorts the video files into year/month/day folders.
   The strange bars at the bottom are a visual representation of the day, in different magnifications - they slide left/right to choose the time, and the file is highlighted in the list. With the VideoViewer software installed, clicking a file downloads and views it.
   If you want the code, contact me.

That's it. Hopefully it'll keep the burglars away, or the police will be able to catch them!