Vivotek PT7137 network camera By Johan van Heest ‐ NAP Media
When you want your valuable belongings safe and secure, at home and in the office, video surveillance is essential. It would be a good idea to purchase a video surveillance system you could connect to through your intranet and/or the internet. You could use separate cameras connected to a network video server, or you could just use cameras with the server inbuilt. A big advantage is you can monitor your rooms from the other side of the World, and can easily control the camera. Also all user settings and options can be managed online, no need for that to be on location. Today we got the PT7137 camera from Vivotek to review. This has an internal server, UTP and Wi‐Fi connection. With this camera all is needed is connect to your network, initial configuration, and you’re in business. So you can connect both using the Wi‐Fi connection, as using a standard network cable. For this review we’ll test both connections.
PACKAGING The packaging looks really well thought of, and is in full color. The contents of the PT7137 box doesn’t really surprise us, all is neatly and nicely packaged but looks a bit simple. All that’s included is the Pan/Tilt camera, adapter, wall mount and needed mounting hardware, antenna, warranty card, manuals and cd‐rom. A network cable is not included. In many cases you won’t need any, but it would be nice if Vivotek would include it. Because our unit is obviously tested before (slightly damaged packaging, scratches on the protective plastic layer under the camera), we checked all contents. However, the network cable is not mentioned anywhere. Also, an extensive paper manual is not included in the box, but of course can be found on the cd‐rom and online. The camera itself looks good and solid, and has handy LED’s to display its status. The camera consists of sturdy plastic of good quality. Everything feels solid. Besides that, the unit is very light, so weight wise it would not be a problem to mount it on the ceiling or wall. The needed hardware and accessories for mounting the camera to the wall or ceiling are all included.
Packaging Contents SOFTWARE The next step is installing the software. This exists of the Installation Wizard, to find and install the camera in your network and the Monitor software, which you can use to easily manage and monitor the camera, and which you can also use for recording footage. You can use it to monitor and control up to 16 cameras. Besides real‐time viewing of the footage it’s also possible to store footage on your hard drive. You could store days or weeks of information depending on the size of your HDD. Footage is stored in MPEG4 format, which insures excellent image quality, but reduces file size as well.
Stored footage can then be viewed using the supplied Playback software. As mentioned you can use the Monitor software for up to 16 cameras, and you can automatically switch between them. The layout can be changed when using fewer cameras. (1/4/6/9/13 and 16 cameras respectively) All work excellent and is nicely done. However they only thought of Windows users, software for other systems is unavailable. You can also log on to the camera itself to change specific settings or manage certain tasks like upgrading the software. Our camera was using a somewhat older firmware, so we upgraded to the latest version. After this the camera was automatically rebooted and ready to be used.
Monitor software Installation Wizard NETWORK AND SETTINGS Connecting the camera is very easy, if your network automatically assigns IP‐addresses, the camera will be assigned a free working address. Just connect the camera to your network and connect the adapter. If you are not using a DHCP server, the camera chooses a free IP‐address in your network. You can set a fixed IP‐address later in the camera’s settings if needed. Would you want the camera connected wireless, you need to do the initial configuration using UTP. If not connected by wire, the camera looks for an unprotected wireless network. But in most cases Wi‐ Fi networks will be secured using WEP or WPA encryption. So the camera can only connect to these after setting the correct settings. But after configuring the Wi‐Fi connection, there is really no need for the UTP cable, so it can be removed. This also works excellent, without any delays in audio or video. But in most cases you would prefer the stability of a wired network, if possible. But in our short test we never lost connection or experienced and signal problem. Choice in secure encryption is rather limited, only WEP or WPA. In our case we had to lower our network security level. WPA2 or better is not supported as of yet. Configuring the unit is rather simple. After inputting the IP‐address of the camera you’ll see a page where you can configure all settings.
This includes setting an administrators password, and adding usernames and passwords for other users. The administrators account is the only with full access to all settings, all other accounts can only control the camera itself. If you are not configuring an administrator password, the camera will be wide open for ALL users. So it would be a good idea to configure this as soon as possible. Further options are setting the time zone, network settings for both LAN and WLAN, audio and video settings, camera configuration and blocking or allowing of certain IP‐addresses. Too much to list.
Monitor screen and configuration screen in Internet Explorer Very important to mention is the possibility to use DDNS (Dynamic domain name service). If you don’t have a fixed external IP‐address, it could be difficult to connect to the camera from outside your network. You can sign up for a fixed IP‐address at a DDNS provider, and use those settings in the PT7137 configuration. After that, the address you received from the DDNS provider automatically connects you to the correct IP‐address. Even if your external IP‐address changed. This insures you can always reach and monitor your camera. An example is http://name.dyndns.org, much easier than using a dynamic IP‐address as assigned by your internet provider. Of course it’s also possible to use your email and/or FTP settings so you will be notified automatically if there is an event. This can be a log, or by using camera footage. The camera also incorporates a very sophisticated and excellent motion detection system. You can specify areas you want to monitor especially; if there is any change or event you’ll be immediately notified by email and/or video or image footage on your FTP server. The sensitivity and size of the monitored area’s can be adjusted manually. Due to certain circumstances I had to test this camera at home, and my network options where rather limited. Usually the camera uses the standard http‐port (80) to communicate with the outside world; however this was impossible in my case. This forced me to choose another port, 8080 and I
had to manually open this in my modem before I was able to contact the camera from outside my network. This changes the IP‐address in http://ip.address.network.cam:8080/. In my case this was the only option to get things working. The camera itself supports using the UPnP protocol, which automatically opens and configures the correct ports and letting the camera identify itself to the. I was unable to test this function, because my modem/router does not fully support this feature. (System and network crash after a while) In many cases it’s often better to configure and manage the router or modem ports yourself, and open the needed ports. UPnP is not the safest and secure option, because it automatically handles all network settings and configurations. It’s much safer to decide for yourself which ports to open and what network traffic is and isn’t allowed. Another really nice feature is the possibility to receive the camera’s footage on your mobile phone. The phone has to support 3GPP/ISMA. This enables you to always keep an eye on your rooms or valuables. Some media players also support this (QuickTime for example) What I do miss personally is a guide how to setup the needed ports in the routers or modems. You can find out which ports the camera uses from the setup page, but not if it’s related to incoming or outgoing traffic, or which protocol it uses (UDP of TCP). In my case it was only possible to use http streaming, I was unable to get UDP and TCP streaming to work and the camera kept switching the feed to http. Maybe it would be a good addition to the software to be able to check and diagnose the network and offer some guides on general network settings. Besides that, the camera mainly works with Internet Explorer. When using other browsers it did not work as it should or we experienced problems. If it works at all. This basically is caused by the use of ActiveX, something only Internet Explorer supports. With other browsers you are able to control and configure the camera, but you are unable to receive any live feed. If you get image at all, this is a static image or snapshot, you’ll have to refresh to see any changes. QUALITY The image quality of the camera is really astounding, while it uses a CMOS sensor instead of the better and more expensive CCD. But compared to the CMOS camera’s we reviewed earlier, this one’s image quality isn’t that far off the CCD competition. The image is razor sharp and very detailed, and very acceptable for surveillance purposes. Zooming is working also, but only digitally. Because of that, image quality degrades a lot when used. If you need optical zooming abilities and thus better quality when zoomed in you need a more expensive camera. The camera has an internal microphone (can be disabled if needed) so you will be able to also hear what happens.
If you want to mount the camera at an angle or upside down, that is possible without any problems. The image can be flipped and mirrored so it is displayed correctly. The image is always easy to look at and in the correct position. The PT7137 is a so called Pan/Tilt camera, and so it can rotate. To be exact 350 degrees horizontally, and 125 degrees vertically. You’ll never miss anything. Controlling the camera is easy; you connect to the camera’s inbuilt web server using your browser, and just click on the image the camera displays to move it. Of course you could also use the Pan and Tilt buttons of the webpage. The rotate and movement speed is fast and smooth, the image quality is excellent. It’s really a big difference with the cameras we reviewed in the past. Never tested a camera where the movement was as smooth and steady as with the PT7137. It’s also possible to set the speeds of the Pan and Tilt’s. You can predefine several fixed points you want to monitor, when selecting these the camera automatically moves in the desired direction. And with one press on the “Home” button on the screen, the camera is back on the standard position. Especially the option to select fixed points to focus the lens on is great and special. A lot of other manufacturers only offer the option to use the Pan/Tilt manually or automatically. Vivotek enables you to specify what you want and don’t want to check out. You could define and name your entrance for example, your storage, and your cash register. The camera can switch between every position manually or automatically, without losing too much time. The camera also has patrol options; the camera then rotates automatically between the preset positions. You could also use the Auto Pan function; the camera will then rotate the full 350 degrees. Unfortunately it is impossible to use the Patrol of Pan function continuously, the camera makes one pass after which it will be returned to its starting position. Motion detection is another great feature you can use, you can set several positions in the image you want to monitor. For this to work correctly it’s best to have the camera in a fixed position, so you won’t receive any false warnings. In our tests this worked quite nicely with enough visible light, we were alerted instantly about an event, and the images where stored. However, with insufficient light this doesn’t work all that good. Even when the image itself seems clear enough. If it’s getting really too dark, the limits of the CMOS sensor are very obvious, there is not really a lot you can see. When using emergency lights, this usually is enough to use the camera. I was able to get a very acceptable image quality when I had only one small light on, several meters away. Enough to watch for intruders or watch objects. Because of interest I also tested the effects of using a separate IR‐source for lighting. Compared to other, more expensive cameras it doesn’t have internal IR.
The effect was an immediate and drastic improvement; with an IR‐torch (5m) objects were very clear and could be easily identified. Even details like faces were easily recognizable. Unfortunately this camera does not have the option to use an IR lens or light, there is also no option to connect it to. So if you would want to improve the light conditions, you’ll have to use separate IR‐ lights or just a small regular light. You could just point them to a specific fixed object you want to monitor. In general the image quality is really excellent, especially for cameras in this price range. Setting it up is really simple and the included software Works a treat. This camera is very suitable for daily use, both at home and at work. Advantages: ‐Image quality ‐Stability and overall quality ‐Software ‐Regular software and firmware updates Disadvantages: ‐Limited view in the dark ‐ Wi‐Fi encryption support ‐No extensive manual Conclusion: The PT7137 is an excellent camera, lots of possibilities and options that offers real value for your money. This will get you all the security you could possibly need. Score: 4.5/5
Price and distribution MSRP Website
296,31 euro http://www.vivotek.com
Specificaties Dimensions – L x W x H Weight Sensor ‐ Type Sensor – Max. resolution Sensor ‐ Framerate (fps) Lens ‐ Aperture Lens ‐ Shutterspeed Lens – Lightsensitivity PT ‐ Pan (degrees) PT ‐ Tilt (degrees) Recording ‐ Imageformat Recording ‐ Videoformat Recording ‐ Streaming video Recording ‐ Audio Security ‐ Usermanagement Security ‐ IP‐filtering Motiondetection ‐ FTP Motiondetection ‐ Email Motiondetection ‐ HTTP Networkconnection Encryption Power‐over‐Ethernet Outdoor use
110 x 110 x 130mm 271g 1/4 inch color CMOS 640 x 480 25/30 F2.0 1/60 tot 1/15000 seconde 1.0Lux / F2.0 350 125 JPEG MPEG4‐SP yes yes yes yes yes yes yes 10/100 Mbit, 802.11g wireless LAN WEP/WPA yes (optional) no
Manufacturer: Vivotek www.vivotek.com Distributor (NL): Intronics BV www.intronics.nl Thanks to Vivotek and distributor Intronics for supplying the PT7137.