IP Camera

Overview

An IP Camera has an image sensor much like the analog camera. However, once it has captured its image, it transmits it as “data” over a network connection. That data is in the form of compressed video frames sent over standardized networking protocol used for computer applications which is where it gets its name. “IP” stands for Internet Protocol which is the low-level language used to transmit data between computers in your home and the Internet. What this implies then is that the IP Camera is like a little computer that you connect to, to access your video. Indeed, IP Camera are computers and run operating systems not all that different from your PC. Where they differ is that they are fixed function and their programming cannot be extended by the user. The fact that the camera uses IP for transmission is not very important.

The fact that the camera uses IP for transmission is not very important. What is important that we are no longer bound by the broadcast standard. In theory, we could now have any resolution we wanted. You could as easily envision a camera with 10,000x2x000 pixels as you can 800×800. Let’s drill into different technologies used an IP Camera and their impact on system functionality and performance. Sensor:Lowest end IP Cameras use the same sensors as analog cameras. In other words, they have a resolution of 720×480 or 720×576. Some go as far as even using interlaced sensors. While interlace is a fact of life in analog camera, we cannot think of any reason to tolerate them in IP world where interlace only hurts the image fidelity. So where possible, avoid using interlaced IP Camera and instead, opt for units with “Progressive” sensors. You can find this fact in fine print of camera spec. If not, ask the manufacturer or avoid the brand altogether. It is a bad sign that they would not be forthcoming with this information. As the resolution climbs above broadcast level, the sensor type will always be progressive. By convention, IP Camera companies advertize the resolution in “megapixels.” To arrive at megapixels, simply multiply the horizontal resolution by vertical and divide by one million. If a camera has 1280×720 resolution, it would have 0.9 million pixels but this is often rounded to one megapixels.

Fisheye IP Camera

The S-FE111 is an outdoor fisheye IP camera that allows you to monitor all angles of a location using just one camera. The distorted hemispherical image of the fisheye camera will be converted into the conventional rectilinear projection. Without installing any software, you can watch live view and utilize functions such as motion detection, privacy mask, and alert notification through the Web interface using an IE browser. In addition, the S-FE111 seamlessly integrates with the S-System, providing advanced monitoring and video management features. The S-Fisheye IP Camera is designed to be mounted on the ceiling, wall or ground. There are two ways to mount the S-FE111 on the ceiling, Hard Ceiling Mount and In-Ceiling Mount. In-Ceiling Mount allows the camera to be mounted into the ceiling, revealing a small portion of the camera.