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WebCam Monitor
v5.03 |
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IP Camera
based Security Setup |
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Once you have decided to
opt for the IP camera based
surveillance
system, you can begin specifying the requirements
for your video security system. Before you buy an
IP camera, you need to answer some basic questions. |
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While Buying an
IP Camera: |
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How large an area do you
want to view with each camera? The
distance to and the width of the area you want to
view will determine the type of lens you need.
The higher the “mm” (focal length) the smaller the
field of view and the more magnification you get.
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How much light is available?
Do you want to monitor and record at night?
The amount of light determines how sensitive the
camera needs to be. You may wand to
select a low-light camera. The "Lux" rating
tells you how well a camera sees in dim light.
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Do you want to use the camera
outside? If the camera needs to be
used in a wide variety of lighting conditions, you
need an auto-iris lens that adjusts to the light.
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Do you have a large area that
requires a Pan, Tilt, Zoom (PTZ) camera?
You can select a camera with either digital PTZ or
mechanical PTZ.
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What frame rate is required?
A high frame rate is required if you want to record
a fast moving object. But if you are using the
camera for general surveillance; you may only
require 1 or 2 frames/sec. The higher the
frame rate the more storage space you will require.
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How much image clarity and
detail do you require? If you want
to view a larger area then you need a higher
resolution camera. Higher resolutions provide
more clarity and better image quality. But if
you want to monitor a smaller area and do not want
to see a detailed view, a camera with lesser
resolution might do. Higher-resolution images
also mean larger recorded video and snap files, thus
taking up more storage space.
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Do you want to monitor
manually or need automatic alerts?
f you simply want to view your IP camera from any
location, you need either a PC or a mobile device
like a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) or cell
phone with an Internet connection.
Surveillance software can automatically start video
recording when motion is detected. Special
video software like
WebCam
Monitor is used to control the video from IP
cameras. It stores the video, sounds alarms
when motion is detected, controls PTZ movement, and
much more. Once motion is detected you can be
notified by email, sound alarm, or even receive a
page.
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Taking these factors into
consideration, you can choose among the many IP cameras
available in market. Some of the popular
manufacturers are Panasonic, Sony, Cannon, Toshiba, and
DLink. |
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It's important to
consider the compression method used by an IP camera.
Compression reduces the size of the video files
generated while monitoring. Since video files
contain a huge amount of data, compression is required
to reduce the storage and bandwidth requirements.
The commonly used compression techniques are MPEG-4 and
MJPEG. Let us try to quickly understand how these
work. |
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MJPEG (Motion
JPEG) |
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IP cameras using this
type of compression can capture images at rates of up to
a maximum of 30 frames per second. In MJPEG
recording, each frame consists of a complete JPEG image.
This is referred to as
Motion JPEG. By compressing each frame as
an individual image, this produces high picture quality,
but when compared with MPEG4, the bandwidth required for
transmission and the disk space required for storage are
both higher. |
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MPEG-4 |
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The Moving Picture
Experts Group (MPEG) is the organization that defined
the standards for this format. With MPEG4, only a
small fraction of the video frames are sent as a
complete image. For other frames, only information
about the difference between this frame and the previous
one are actually transmitted, not the complete image.
Frame to frame coding techniques are based on the
knowledge that most frames are similar to the ones
preceding and succeeding them. This means that
most of these frames can be transmitted as differences
between their neighbors, which in turn means that a lot
less information has to be transferred. The result
of sending only image changes is both reduced bandwidth
usage and storage space. However MPEG4 has a lower
image quality when directly compared to MJPEG. |
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If you want your family
and friends to watch the live feed, inform them of your
IP address and the port (if you have specified one) to
which they can connect to. You may have to
Configure Your Camera and PC For Internet Streaming. |
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Choosing MJPEG
for Video Surveillance |
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Most IP cameras currently
available in the marketplace are based on MJPEG.
MPEG4 provides better compression so less storage is
required but image quality is lower. MJPEG offers
higher image quality. |
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In video surveillance
applications that require storage of the video, MPEG4 is
not as easy to deal with as MJPEG. To find a
particular frame in MPEG requires first finding the
reference frame with regard to which the changes in
subsequent frames have been transmitted and then moving
to the exact time period you would like. MJPEG is
a less complicated compression. When you retrieve
MJPEG video you can go to the exact frame you want very
quickly and easily. |
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MJPEG (Motion JPEG) is the compression of choice for
video surveillance because it has better image quality
and shows graceful degradation at bandwidth constraint.
MJPEG guarantees a defined level of picture quality,
which is vital in most security applications. |
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Using WebCam
Monitor with your IP camera: |
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Though IP cameras can be
accessed from any location using Internet and can
provide live coverage of an event, you need surveillance
software for advanced features like motion detection and
alarms, as well email and other automated notifications.
WebCam Monitor is an uncomplicated and inexpensive
application that turns your PC and IP camera into a
sophisticated security system. |
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Once WebCam Monitor is on
guard, you do not have personally monitor activities
recorded by the IP camera or start the recording and
alarms. It
alerts you periodically or when
motion or
noise is detected, depending on your choice.
It can start and stop monitoring at any scheduled time.
You can monitor using multiple devices including IP
cameras, web cameras and several audio devices.
Remote monitoring options like live video/audio
broadcasting, FTP uploading and e-mail notifications
with embedded images keep you informed on all motion and
noise events. You can
view all event
history and recordings from within the application.
WebCam Monitor provides customizable alerts like
Video/Audio Recording,
Photo Snaps,
Sound
Alarms,
Launch
Program,
E-mail and
SMS
Notifications. |
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To work with WebCam
Monitor once you have installed an IP camera, you need
to follow the procedure given below: |
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| 1. |
In the File menu, click on Add
Camera Wizard. |
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Click Next on the welcome page.
Choose the Select or add a Network IP Camera
option. Click Next. |
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Click on Add new IP camera button.
Give the IP address and other details of the
camera you want to use for monitoring.
Click
Ok to add the camera. |
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Click Next. The camera is added.
You can choose to Add another camera,
Start Monitoring with Alerts or
Configure Alerts. |
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Click Finish to exit the Add Camera
Wizard. |
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If you choose the Configure Alerts
option, Auto Configuration Wizard opens. |
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Select any of the five commonly used
monitoring scenarios listed. Every
scenario comes with presets that automatically
configure WebCam Monitor. You are required
to configure some frequently used settings.
You may even configure advanced settings for the
scenario if you want. |
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Click Finish to exit the Auto
Configuration Wizard. |
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Quick Settings
allow you to easily configure WebCam Monitor depending
on your surveillance requirements. |
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You can use the
Schedule Devices option if want monitoring to start
automatically at a specified time, using an IP camera
that is already added. You can schedule one or
more device pairs using this option. Each pair
will monitor for 60 seconds and then switch to the next
device pair in the list. |
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Under the Which Alerts
do you want to run? option, you can select the
alerts you want and configure them if you haven’t
already done it while using the Auto Configuration
Wizard as mentioned above. |
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Once an IP camera is
added and you have configured WebCam Monitor, you can
rest assured that an effective security system is in
place. A simple installation and a small
investment such as this goes a long way in safeguarding
people, places and things that you hold dear to your
heart or consider important. |
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