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Author Topic: Video setup: PIR or not ? % sensitivity. Questions !  (Read 6527 times)

MacUser

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Video setup: PIR or not ? % sensitivity. Questions !
« on: July 28, 2015, 09:48:57 PM »

I stupidly discarded the setup info which accompanied my many drink cameras.  Just recently started video and still pix recordings onto the SD card, using Safari web browser on a Mac.

1.  After entering the IP address, why does the user name AND password have to be entered TWICE ?  That's four fields.  Further, it doesn't allow storing of the user name nor password.  Wish that the name and password could be entered just once, and then anything can be done until logout.  Storing the user name would be a bonus so one just needs to enter the password.

2.  Almost every time I leave LIVE VIDEO and adjust things, such as in SETUP, I have to enter the user name and password in order to again see LIVE VIDEO.   

3.  When to check "Use PIR" ?   It seems to cause unwanted recordings when it's checked.

4.  How does one determine % sensitivity needed ?   Right now I'm using 30%.  What are the guidelines ?

5.  I heard that H264 video is preferred, but my Android demands MP4 for remote video viewing.  What's the best format and the best way to handle this issue ?   On my Macs, FLV Player plays the MP4s, but MP4 recordings seem shorter than H264.

I'll have many more questions in the next few days.  The help screens in the web interface don't "help" that much.  Is there an easy common-sense guide in this forum or on the Net ?

Thanks.
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MacUser

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Re: Video setup: PIR or not ? % sensitivity. Questions !
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2015, 09:08:42 PM »

No answers ?  Help!
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cmontyburns

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Re: Video setup: PIR or not ? % sensitivity. Questions !
« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2015, 09:01:17 AM »

1&2.  I wish I knew the answer to this one.  You can have your browser remember the ID and password to access the camera itself, but the video stream does require a separate authentication for some reason.  If you have your browser remember the ID and password (assuming you are comfortable with that from a security point of view) then at least you will only need to enter the credentials once to see the video.

3.  "PIR" is the passive infrared sensor.  The camera offers two ways of detecting motion.  One is the PIR sensor, which detects changes in the "heat signature" of the field of view and will trigger a motion event when there is a change in the heat map -- for example, if the camera is monitoring an empty room and a person walks in.  The second way is video motion analysis, where the camera looks for changes in the video image itself.  If a person walks into the image and disrupts the scene, this will trigger a motion event if the number of pixels changed exceeds the limits you set in the camera config.

All that said, which one you pick to use (or both) takes a lot of trial-and-error, in my experience.  My cameras are all outside and I use the PIR sensor on one of them, which watches my back yard.  There are lots of motion shadows from the trees there, making video motion detection pretty useless (constant false positives).  PIR works great in that location.  It works much less well for the cameras in my front yard, where there is a lot more sun and heat differences are harder to detect.  And it is an imperfect technology anyway, so it is not going to be perfect wherever you use it.  Best I can recommend is to experiment and see what works best.

4.  For sensitivity, again you'll need to experiment.  This will depend a lot on what your camera is watching.  If it is monitoring an outdoor scene, where you can expect a lot of shadows and other things that will cause false positives, you probably will want a lower sensitivity and almost certainly a lower percentage.  Indoors or for more static scenes, you can probably go with a higher sensitivity.  The 30% you are using seems a bit low to me, but I don't know what your camera is pointed at.  You could try a higher sensitivity and then adjust the percentage until you get the result you want.  Regardless, tune both variables together to get the best result.

5.  MP4 and H.264 are two different things.  H.264 is a video format, and refers to the "codec" used to record the video.  MP4 is a file format, or "container", used to store multimedia recordings.  They are complementary things.  The camera's H.264 video is stored in a .mp4 file.  So there's no either/or for you to pick from.  I would guess that your confusion is stemming from the fact that the camera offers you a choice of H.264 and MPEG4 as codecs.  I would be surprised if your Android phone is demanding an MPEG4 recording because H.264 is a more modern and efficient choice, and is almost universally supported these days. 
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MacUser

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Re: Video setup: PIR or not ? % sensitivity. Questions !
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2015, 01:22:57 AM »

Your answer is the absolute best reply in any of the 53 forums in which I'm involved.  Very nice!

Not what about video recording time length?  Sometimes it's 1 second, sometimes 12 seconds.  How to adjust and how adjustable are they?
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cmontyburns

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Re: Video setup: PIR or not ? % sensitivity. Questions !
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2015, 06:25:43 AM »

Not what about video recording time length?  Sometimes it's 1 second, sometimes 12 seconds.  How to adjust and how adjustable are they?

For recordings based on motion events, you can specify a pre-event recording duration (up to 3 seconds, I think), and a post-even duration (up to 30 secs, I think).  Look in Event Setup for that setting.  There is also a setting for maximum file size (I think 5 MB is the biggest).  Whether your recording actually runs the length you specify depends on the recording quality settings you are using.  A recording using all the max quality settings will hit the max file size long before it gets to the maximum allowed length.
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7ravler

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Re: Video setup: PIR or not ? % sensitivity. Questions !
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2016, 10:02:48 PM »

What is the pre-event recording setting for? Does that mean it records 0-3 seconds before it records the event? Doesn't make sense. Also...it seems to start the recording late. I usually catch a glimpse of the person leaving the area after walking all the way through. If an intruder moves fast enough he will avoid being recorded.
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RYAT3

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Re: Video setup: PIR or not ? % sensitivity. Questions !
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2016, 07:18:08 AM »

What is the pre-event recording setting for? Does that mean it records 0-3 seconds before it records the event? Doesn't make sense. Also...it seems to start the recording late. I usually catch a glimpse of the person leaving the area after walking all the way through. If an intruder moves fast enough he will avoid being recorded.

Yes that's what it means. Your camera won't be late anymore.
It's probably late also because your trying to record in hd.drop down to 640x480.

Are you recording to sd or ftp?

Recording sd card 24 hours and doing ftp video b on this camera will cause delays always.
You might also need to increase sensitivity to detect the video motion earlier rather than later.  It takes some playing around.
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