D-Link Forums
The Graveyard - Products No Longer Supported => IP Cameras => DCS-2230 => Topic started by: slickster on April 22, 2012, 03:25:32 PM
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At the outside chance that some D-Link reps actually get to visit this forum and take to heart some of the suggestions for future firmware releases -- if there will be any -- here is my wish list. Feel free to add yours.
1. Add a 3rd event to the event list. There are already 3 profiles, so why not 3 events as well. I know about those 3-event firmware versions out there floating in the wilds of Russia and Italy, but we need official ones we could download from the D-Link support web site.
2. In order to use time-lapse snapshots effectively, reduce frequency from minutes to seconds. Right now as an alternative, I discovered that I could use the 3rd video profile with one frame per second and store such a time-lapse video on the SD card.
3. Increase the largest recordable video clip size from 3 MB to at least 5 MB, just like the largest clip we can record on the SD card.
4. I don't understand why date and time is part of the name of the mailed snapshots and video clips saved on the SD card, but not part of clips saved on the FTP site by event triggers. All should have date&time in their name for easier searches without viewing the content.
5. Make the positioning of time stamp and name string on the video display a user option. Upper left corner is not always the best choice.
6. Display a simpler Web page for non-admin guest viewers. Just show them a simple screen by hiding from them any features they cannot use or control.
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That's about all that I can think of right now having used the cam only for a short time. This cam has a great potential beyond what it can do now, only if the developers would recognize and act upon it. If anybody knows a better way to get a feedback to D-Link than this, please let us know.
By the way, anyone figured out how to copy the video clips from the SD card to a PC without actually moving the SD card to the PC? So far I could not figure it out yet.
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At the outside chance that some D-Link reps actually get to visit this forum and take to heart some of the suggestions for future firmware releases -- if there will be any -- here is my wish list. Feel free to add yours.
1. Add a 3rd event to the event list. There are already 3 profiles, so why not 3 events as well. I know about those 3-event firmware versions out there floating in the wilds of Russia and Italy, but we need official ones we could download from the D-Link support web site.
2. In order to use time-lapse snapshots effectively, reduce frequency from minutes to seconds. Right now as an alternative, I discovered that I could use the 3rd video profile with one frame per second and store such a time-lapse video on the SD card.
3. Increase the largest recordable video clip size from 3 MB to at least 5 MB, just like the largest clip we can record on the SD card.
4. I don't understand why date and time is part of the name of the mailed snapshots and video clips saved on the SD card, but not part of clips saved on the FTP site by event triggers. All should have date&time in their name for easier searches without viewing the content.
5. Make the positioning of time stamp and name string on the video display a user option. Upper left corner is not always the best choice.
6. Display a simpler Web page for non-admin guest viewers. Just show them a simple screen by hiding from them any features they cannot use or control.
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That's about all that I can think of right now having used the cam only for a short time. This cam has a great potential beyond what it can do now, only if the developers would recognize and act upon it. If anybody knows a better way to get a feedback to D-Link than this, please let us know.
By the way, anyone figured out how to copy the video clips from the SD card to a PC without actually moving the SD card to the PC? So far I could not figure it out yet.
Hi, all following opinions have to do with the updated firmware 1.00.02, so please ask to your local D-Link support to have an updated firmware release:
1) "Event setup" supports 5 servers, 5 media configs, 3 events and 2 recordings. Each event supports more than 1 action (so for example you can include email, ftp, nas and sd actions in one only event).
2) I don't understand this point. In which part of the web management D-Link should improve the software in order to have your requirement?
3) It is better to increase both "Maximum duration" and "Maximum File Size" fields inside "Event -> Media Type" in order to have greater values (for example 600 seconds and 50000 kbytes).
4) The date and time are always part of the name both in FTP and in SD (it depends on "Event -> Media Type -> "File Name prefix" value).
5) I agree.
6) I agree.
Also for me this IP cam has a great potential, but D-Link should understand it, believing on it and improving some features (it's very hard for me to understand why in my country there is an updated firmware while outside there is still the first one!!!).
About your question, this IP cam is DLNA compatible, but you can only use a Media Player to watch all the videos included in SD card (there is no way to delete files in SD using DLNA apps). The problem is that it is not possible, as far as I know, to manage all files inside SD (for example to copy, to move or to quickly delete many of them) using a simple way - for example using Samba shared folders.
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Hi, all following opinions have to do with the updated firmware 1.00.02, so please ask to your local D-Link support to have an updated firmware release:
Mille grazie, but I only wish I knew how to get hold of a local D-Link rep. I don't think there are such in the US.
1) "Event setup" supports 5 servers, 5 media configs, 3 events and 2 recordings. Each event supports more than 1 action (so for example you can include email, ftp, nas and sd actions in one only event).
This sounds too good to believe. I want it!
2) I don't understand this point. In which part of the web management D-Link should improve the software in order to have your requirement?
Well, one of the triggers for video events is "Periodic" that can only be set with minute granularity. I just suggested that fortunately there was an alternate method to achieve the same thing with a video frame rate of 1 (or 4) per second.
3) It is better to increase both "Maximum duration" and "Maximum File Size" fields inside "Event -> Media Type" in order to have greater values (for example 600 seconds and 50000 kbytes).
I agree but right now my firmware version only allows max duration of 100 secs or file size of 3000 Kb, of which usually the latter is the limiting factor.
4) The date and time are always part of the name both in FTP and in SD (it depends on "Event -> Media Type -> "File Name prefix" value).
Not in my case. The video clips I send to the FTP server have names like these:
Vclip1335023466_0526.avi, Vclip1335023496_0404.avi and Vclip1335023520_0305.avi, where I chose only the "Vclip" prefix. The digits in the file name are totally meaningless to me and do not reflect the date or time as far as I can tell. On the other hand, the video files on SD card have names such es this:
SloMo20120425_164906_0813.avi. Today's date and time are obvious here and only the "0404" part seems to be a sequential number to me. The "SloMo" prefix was selected by me.
5) I agree.
6) I agree.
Also for me this IP cam has a great potential, but D-Link should understand it, believing on it and improving some features (it's very hard for me to understand why in my country there is an updated firmware while outside there is still the first one!!!).
Tell me about it. ;-)
About your question, this IP cam is DLNA compatible, but you can only use a Media Player to watch all the videos included in SD card (there is no way to delete files in SD using DLNA apps). The problem is that it is not possible, as far as I know, to manage all files inside SD (for example to copy, to move or to quickly delete many of them) using a simple way - for example using Samba shared folders.
Sorry, but I have no idea what DLNA compatibility means but you're right about not being able to manage those files en mass.
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1. Add a 3rd event to the event list. There are already 3 profiles, so why not 3 events as well. I know about those 3-event firmware versions out there floating in the wilds of Russia and Italy, but we need official ones we could download from the D-Link support web site.
FWIW, the 3-event firmware versions (also supporting 5000k max file size) are official (i.e., they are located at D-Link ftp sites), although they may be beta and are located a D-Link's Russian or Italian ftp sites. The menus are totally in English, and they appear to work fine in my USA-purchased camera. This forum discourages their use, and there certainly may be problems I am not aware of, so I am not recommending them. However, they do solve some of the problems you have encountered.
Also, with my camera, the video clips sent to FTP as a result of an event have names that reflect their date and time. I am pretty sure it has always been that way, even before I used newer firmware. I don't understand why yours uses a different convention. Very strange.
Finally, to copy files from the SD card, right click on the file and select "Properties." You will see an address (URL). Highlight it (make sure scroll down to select the entire address -- some of it will be hidden) and copy it to your browser's address bar. Hit "enter," and you should be given the opportunity to save the file. This is a tedious way to copy the file, but I don't yet know how to browse the SD card from a browser. If I figure it out, I'll post it.
Edit: A quicker way to copy a file from the SD card is to right-click it and select "Save Target As . . ."
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FWIW, the 3-event firmware versions (also supporting 5000k max file size) are official (i.e., they are located at D-Link ftp sites), although they may be beta and are located a D-Link's Russian or Italian ftp sites. The menus are totally in English, and they appear to work fine in my USA-purchased camera. This forum discourages their use, and there certainly may be problems I am not aware of, so I am not recommending them. However, they do solve some of the problems you have encountered.
As a fellow geezer ;-) I appreciate your response. Especially because you stated that you had actually tried those versions in your US-purchased cam. So, have you tried both the Russian and Italian versions then, but which one are you using and why that one? My concern -- beside the potential Trojan from them -- was that perhaps D-Link was marketing slightly different version of the same camera abroad, with perhaps larger memory capacity, hence those firmvare versions with 3 events and 5K file size would only fit those foreign cam versions. I seem to remember that one of the frequent contributors to this forum, casey-something, mentioned some error message with one of those foreign Beta firmwares.
Also, with my camera, the video clips sent to FTP as a result of an event have names that reflect their date and time. I am pretty sure it has always been that way, even before I used newer firmware. I don't understand why yours uses a different convention. Very strange.
Well, believe me, I've recorded many video clips with it and got no time stamp embedded in the clip names. I wonder if this happens only when the clips are triggered by the Digital-In trigger event though and you have been using video or IR triggers. Perhaps I should also try those methods but because I have the cam inside of a window looking outside, I can only use the digital-in trigger effectively that works from a PIR motion sensor outside the window.
Finally, to copy files from the SD card, right click on the file and select "Properties." You will see an address (URL). Highlight it (make sure scroll down to select the entire address -- some of it will be hidden) and copy it to your browser's address bar. Hit "enter," and you should be given the opportunity to save the file. This is a tedious way to copy the file, but I don't yet know how to browse the SD card from a browser. If I figure it out, I'll post it.
Edit: A quicker way to copy a file from the SD card is to right-click it and select "Save Target As . . ."
Hm, this is another valuable advise I will be trying it out soon. Thanks a lot for it.
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I have the DCS on board and running but it isn't doing what I want it to do. I would like to see if there is anything available that would allow me to pick off the IP video off the camera and send it directly to my website in a format, such as mp4.
Maybe different file formats in the next build?
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As a fellow geezer ;-) I appreciate your response. Especially because you stated that you had actually tried those versions in your US-purchased cam. So, have you tried both the Russian and Italian versions then, but which one are you using and why that one? My concern -- beside the potential Trojan from them -- was that perhaps D-Link was marketing slightly different version of the same camera abroad, with perhaps larger memory capacity, hence those firmvare versions with 3 events and 5K file size would only fit those foreign cam versions. I seem to remember that one of the frequent contributors to this forum, casey-something, mentioned some error message with one of those foreign Beta firmwares.
Actually, the "casey-something" is me. The account for caseydoug was banned, probably by mistake, and all of my posts were removed (I discussed this in the thread started by bao in this forum). Yes, I have tried all three versions, and I could see no difference in the way they performed. I use the Russian version because it supports both 3 events and 5MB file size, while, as I recall, the Italian version supports 3 events but not the larger file size. There may have been some other differences, but I wrote those up in the posts that were removed, and I can't recall precisely what they were.
The Russian version does throw up a 404 error message when you access the configuration page for ICR and IR. However, this message does not appear to affect the way the page functions. If it causes a problem for you, it is easy to load the stock firmware.
Well, believe me, I've recorded many video clips with it and got no time stamp embedded in the clip names. I wonder if this happens only when the clips are triggered by the Digital-In trigger event though and you have been using video or IR triggers. Perhaps I should also try those methods but because I have the cam inside of a window looking outside, I can only use the digital-in trigger effectively that works from a PIR motion sensor outside the window.
I have used both the motion and built-in PIR triggers. The file naming is the same for both. I have not tried the external DI trigger. I have one I could use, but it uses 9-12V power, so I would probably need to use an external power supply or battery. You might want to try a different firmware just to see whether the file naming convention is more rational. Alternatively, you might try recording a series of clips and then studying their names to see whether you can crack the naming code. For example, what parts of the name are the same and what parts are different? Are sequential files named sequentially, and does any part of the name look like it reflects the number of seconds since the previous file?
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I have the DCS on board and running but it isn't doing what I want it to do. I would like to see if there is anything available that would allow me to pick off the IP video off the camera and send it directly to my website in a format, such as mp4.
You can set up one of your three profiles as MPEG4 at the frame rate and resolution you want, then access that stream at <servername>/videox.mjpg, where x is 1, 2, or 3 depending on which profile number you choose. I know I can access that stream using a player like VLC media player. I'm not sure what it takes to play it on your website.
Edit: I just tried it using Chrome, and it played fine.
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With my dcs-2210 if i use vlc with http videoX.mjpg link it seems that codec is always mjpg (that's what VLC said)
My Feature wish list :
720p with wide viewing angle (same as 1080p)
Pushmail notification
smartphone app for 2nd videoprofile (mydlink ???)
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Actually, the "casey-something" is me. The account for caseydoug was banned, probably by mistake, and all of my posts were removed (I discussed this in the thread started by bao in this forum).
Whoa, that's strange that they would ban one of the most helpful guys here! I guess, I better watch myself then too, right? ;-) I guess I've missed the earlier discussion of this.
Yes, I have tried all three versions, and I could see no difference in the way they performed. I use the Russian version because it supports both 3 events and 5MB file size, while, as I recall, the Italian version supports 3 events but not the larger file size. There may have been some other differences, but I wrote those up in the posts that were removed, and I can't recall precisely what they were.
The Russian version does throw up a 404 error message when you access the configuration page for ICR and IR. However, this message does not appear to affect the way the page functions. If it causes a problem for you, it is easy to load the stock firmware.
Well, I definitely use the ICR and PIR config options, so it has to work for me. That 404 error msg is not too comforting though. :-(
I have used both the motion and built-in PIR triggers. The file naming is the same for both. I have not tried the external DI trigger. I have one I could use, but it uses 9-12V power, so I would probably need to use an external power supply or battery.
Since I use the camera behind a window, I cannot really use its built-in PIR for detecting motion. So I kinda' piggy-backed it on my electronic "barking dog's" outside PIR with home-made, small electronic interface to the cam's DI input which works pretty well. Unfortunately as all PIRs, that one also gets a lot of false triggers on warm days. But the sensitivity of that PIR is adjustable, which helps a bit though the right adjustment for night is usually not right for daytime. So I also tried video motion detector, but that takes a bit more trial&error and I still don't quite understand how to interpret the sensitivity and percentage adjustments on it, especially the latter. I wish they would not have chosen the 50% example as an explanation, but something like 30%, for instance.
You might want to try a different firmware just to see whether the file naming convention is more rational. Alternatively, you might try recording a series of clips and then studying their names to see whether you can crack the naming code. For example, what parts of the name are the same and what parts are different? Are sequential files named sequentially, and does any part of the name look like it reflects the number of seconds since the previous file?
I might try the Italian firmware because I can live now with the 3 MB file limit that in my case gives me 12 sec video clips that is usually long enough. I have already studied the current file naming convention that does have some fixed parts in it that allows sorting them in chronological order, but I could not discover a readily ascertainable time stamp in the name. Perhaps it is an internal Unix (Linux) time format that the programmer forgot to format to yyyymmdd-hhss format for the file name. I used to do Unix programming, so that looks like an easy mistake to make.
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You can set up one of your three profiles as MPEG4 at the frame rate and resolution you want, then access that stream at <servername>/videox.mjpg, where x is 1, 2, or 3 depending on which profile number you choose. I know I can access that stream using a player like VLC media player. I'm not sure what it takes to play it on your website.
Edit: I just tried it using Chrome, and it played fine.
Wow, this is a new thing I haven't tried yet. I especially like that Chrome will play the stream, too, because bringing up the regular web interface in Chrome has a problem showing the video. This is also handy for non-admin users (friends and family) who won't have to deal with the web interface with a bunch of distracting options they cannot use, anyway. So thanks, guys.
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With my dcs-2210 if i use vlc with http videoX.mjpg link it seems that codec is always mjpg (that's what VLC said)
My Feature wish list :
720p with wide viewing angle (same as 1080p)
Pushmail notification
smartphone app for 2nd videoprofile (mydlink ???)
I didn't try to check the actual codec. It's strange that the URL would access a profile that is expressly set up as MPEG4, yet has a file name that ends in .mjpg.
Regarding pushmail notification, you can set this up using your provider's email-to-sms or email-to-mms gateway. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_SMS_gateways (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_SMS_gateways). The notice is delivered very quickly. Using the AT&T mms gateway (number@mms.att.net), I can have the camera send snapshots, but I haven't been able to get it to send video clips.
Regarding smartphone apps, I highly recommend IP Cam Viewer Pro. It doesn't give you a choice of profiles, but it is very flexible. You can zoom in and out (spread and pinch on an iPhone), as well as use the speaker and microphone (although the sound is pretty choppy). It supports hundreds of cameras and the developer is very responsive.
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I made many tests with my DCS-2210 and for now :
- Can't have 720p wide viewing angle
- Can't access HTTP stream which match video profile
- RTSP stream match videoprofile but no authentication required (it's a big security issue) and stream contains audio even if audio is disable
- When camera turn on, manytimes i received a PIR detection
- when IR turn on/off i always get PIR detection and motion detection
@Geezer22
I checked Ipcam viewer it seems to be a nice app, i will test it soon
I'm still checking mail to SMS gateway but for now in my country (France) It seems to be not so reliable
(of course some internet provider had some but you can received sms 1 hour later)
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Since I use the camera behind a window, I cannot really use its built-in PIR for detecting motion. So I kinda' piggy-backed it on my electronic "barking dog's" outside PIR with home-made, small electronic interface to the cam's DI input which works pretty well. Unfortunately as all PIRs, that one also gets a lot of false triggers on warm days. But the sensitivity of that PIR is adjustable, which helps a bit though the right adjustment for night is usually not right for daytime. So I also tried video motion detector, but that takes a bit more trial&error and I still don't quite understand how to interpret the sensitivity and percentage adjustments on it, especially the latter. I wish they would not have chosen the 50% example as an explanation, but something like 30%, for instance.
I have had lots of trouble with false alarms using the built-in PIR. Odd that you have more problems on warm days, as these devices are usually more sensitive when it is cold (they sense the difference between a warm body and the ambient temperature). Perhaps my false alarm problem is because my camera is mounted outside. However, I have another camera that uses an external Bosch Iscbpr2wp12 Blue Line G2 Pet Friendly sensor, and it works great outside even without a sensitivity adjustment.
Regarding the video motion detection, I believe the sensitivity adjustment reflects how many pixel changes will trigger the alarm (higher sensitivity means fewer changes will trigger the alarm). The percentage adjustment relates to what portion of the defined motion detection area needs to see motion before the alarm is triggered (lower percentage means smaller bodies will trigger the alarm, but only within the defined area). Thus you will get more false alarms with high sensitivity and low percentage. I agree, however, that trial and error is the only way to get this right, and even then there will be problems. I thought I had it perfect, but then we got some bright sunny days -- here in Seattle, that is sometimes rare -- and I started getting lots of false alarms again from the moving shadows. I have another Bosche sensor (only about $15) that I will hook up when I get around to it. Unfortunately it requires 9-12 volts, and the D-Link camera provides only 5 volts, so I will need to use a battery pack.
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I made many tests with my DCS-2210 and for now :
- Can't have 720p wide viewing angle
- Can't access HTTP stream which match video profile
- RTSP stream match videoprofile but no authentication required (it's a big security issue) and stream contains audio even if audio is disable
- When camera turn on, manytimes i received a PIR detection
- when IR turn on/off i always get PIR detection and motion detection
There is a setting for 1280x720. I'm assuming that is progressive, i.e., 720p. Does it not work?
I agree on your other points.
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I have had lots of trouble with false alarms using the built-in PIR. Odd that you have more problems on warm days, as these devices are usually more sensitive when it is cold (they sense the difference between a warm body and the ambient temperature). Perhaps my false alarm problem is because my camera is mounted outside. However, I have another camera that uses an external Bosch Iscbpr2wp12 Blue Line G2 Pet Friendly sensor, and it works great outside even without a sensitivity adjustment.
I think my external PIR might also be affected by moving shadows on warm sunny days. To get a better idea about my setup, I included a picture of it ar the following link:
http://i47.tinypic.com/2uj1h1v.jpg
The camera is behind that slot in the window blinds and the external PIR is just under the roof over the entrance toward the upper right of the picture. And because a few months ago you were wondering how much my camera might see at night without its built-in IR turned on, I also included here a video clip showing me driving to the garage at night. As you see, the outside lights provide plenty of illumination for the cam's own sensitive lens with ICR. That barking is from my "electronic dog" and the clicking sound from the relay triggering the digital input of the cam.
http://tinypic.com/r/2m3jmlk/6
Regarding the video motion detection, I believe the sensitivity adjustment reflects how many pixel changes will trigger the alarm (higher sensitivity means fewer changes will trigger the alarm). The percentage adjustment relates to what portion of the defined motion detection area needs to see motion before the alarm is triggered (lower percentage means smaller bodies will trigger the alarm, but only within the defined area). Thus you will get more false alarms with high sensitivity and low percentage. I agree, however, that trial and error is the only way to get this right, and even then there will be problems. I thought I had it perfect, but then we got some bright sunny days -- here in Seattle, that is sometimes rare -- and I started getting lots of false alarms again from the moving shadows. I have another Bosche sensor (only about $15) that I will hook up when I get around to it. Unfortunately it requires 9-12 volts, and the D-Link camera provides only 5 volts, so I will need to use a battery pack.
Thanks. You explained it much better than the cam's Help text.
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4) The date and time are always part of the name both in FTP and in SD (it depends on "Event -> Media Type -> "File Name prefix" value).
Joe Public,
I now use the 1.00.02 version from the Italian D-Link web site and the video clips stored on the FTP site still don't use the time stamp in a humanly recognizable format, such as the clips that are sent to the SD card or the snapshots I mail to myself. But now I at least can confirm what I suspected that video clips stored on FTP site indeed contain the unconverted Unix/Linux system date in their name. Here is an actual video clip name from my FTP site: VClip1337019963_1917.avi where "VClip" is the prefix I gave to all my video clips and 1337019963 is the Unix/Linux system time that counts the time from Jan 1, 1970 in secs. I'm not sure what that "1917" part is, but I suspect it's some kind of remainder from the time conversion.
You can easily convert this system time with the converter on the following web site to verify my theory:
<http://www.glassgiant.com/geek/unix-timestamp/>
That gives the date and time as 2012/05/14 11:26:03 PDT, where I am. That also happens to be the time when the video clip ended. Observe the time stamp on the actual clip:
http://tinypic.com/r/2yy5f9x/6
What I don't understand though is why it is only me who gets this unconverted time stamp in the FTP-d video clips even though I do get the converted time stamps in SD video clips and snapshots.