Compro Technologies IP540 PTZ Camera
by Cameron Butterfield on October 12, 2010 9:03 PM EST- Posted in
- IP cameras
- camera
- camcorder
- Gadgets
The IP540 is a HD camera, and it definitely has high resolution support to be considered a high definition camera. However it does not take images in a widescreen or 16:9 aspect ratio format, like the recently released Microsoft Lifecam 720p products. Instead, it utilizes the standard squarish aspect ratios of 160x120, 320x240, 640x480, and 1280x1024 which is still very common for devices of this type (as they are mostly used in a PC environment). Overall, it improves compatibility with a lot of camera software that do not yet support 16:9 webcam feeds. With a widescreen aspect ratio, feeds sometime end up looking compressed due to the aspect ratio not being recognized.
In order to judge of the image clarity and quality, some sample images were analyzed (they are reproduced below). The colors are reproduced with fairly good accuracy in medium light conditions.
Click to enlarge
The IP540 particularly excels at functioning in little or no light environments. Thanks to the 12 IR LEDs, It was capable of making pitch black rooms appear clearly, albeit in monochrome.
Click to enlarge
Video
The Compro camera supports a wide range of output containers and codecs depending on how the device is utilized. Recording manually from the web viewer saves the video in a MKV container using either MPEG-4 (DivX) or H.264. If event triggers such as motion or audio detection are used, the automatic recording is saved in the AVI container. With ComproView, the feed is exported in the WMV format. The WMV export can handle variable frame rates and required a new software update (as will be noted in the next section.)
| Video | |
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Video Compression |
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Resolutions |
160x120, 320 x 240, 640 x 480, 1280 x 1024 |
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Frame Rate |
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Video Streaming |
Dual H.264, MPEG-4 or MJPEG Video Streams |
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Image Setting |
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cbutters - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - link
We do have these sample clips.Let me see if we can get them accessible, hang tight.
cbutters - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - link
Ok here are some links to the requested sample files that we have uploaded to youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXZbAwbwtRM
Day 30fps 640x480 3mbps motionadaptive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiP4f8dok4M
Day 15fps 1280x1024 3mbps turbopicture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzKwx9tisEs
Night 15fps 1280x1024 3mbps turbopicture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UX95pFKnZ0
Night 30fps 640x480 3mbps motionadaptive
Also if you absolutely would prefer to see these videos unmodified you can download the set here:
http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/gadgets/Compro...
nanfy - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link
Thanks for the video's I really appreciate it.There IP70 Camera is actually in stock. I wonder if it has the same image quality as this camera.
somedude1234 - Friday, October 15, 2010 - link
Thanks for an excellent review as well as posting the video samples.The night shot in the nursery with the empty swing has a very "Paranormal Activity" like effect to it... kinda creepy actually.
Trefugl - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - link
I'm having a hard time getting a feel for the size of the camera. Do you have any shots of it with something for size reference, or at least some measurement specs?I like the idea of this, but I get the feeling that something of this size (or maybe any PT camera) is too large to put on the ceiling of my home or even my office without being distractingly out of place. Maybe there's an option of mounting it in a dark glass hemisphere...
Looking forward to seeing more IP cameras in this price range reviewed.
cbutters - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - link
On page two there is a shot of the camera next to a CD and also an ethernet cable.cbutters - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - link
also here is this: Dimensions: 105 x 125.5 x 128.6 mm (including bracket)Trefugl - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - link
Thanks for the dimensions. Somehow I must have glossed over the pictures with the CDs in it.pmely - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - link
Can this system be used outside? Does it need an environmental enclosure or can it be mounted under an eve away from weather and still function? What are the temperature specs?cbutters - Wednesday, October 13, 2010 - link
Here are the temperature specs, there is no mention of this being an outdoor camera however. Operating Condition: 5 °C ~ 40 °C