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Embedded use of IP Camera

IainH

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My company manufacture simulation equipment for training of personell in emergency scenarios and we would like to use a number of IP cameras (up to 5?) in one of our trainers to monitor record training activity.

Our equipment is computer controlled from our own instructor station and we would like to view the cameras using an embedded web browser in our existing software.

I know that this is possible, but what I need is some guidance towards possible cameras (for indoor use) that will stream the video directly to a browser in "full screen mode" without the requirement to manually log in to the camera.

The LAN used would not be connected to the internet, so prevention of unauthorised access should not be a problem.

Additionally, we would like to be able to selectively record the data stream for lesson evaluation purposes. Does this require dedicated recording software or could it be done from with our own application?

Thanks,

Iain
 
Hi Ian,

If your instructor station does actually use an embedded browser then you should be able to effectively browse to the IP address of the camera(s) on your LAN and view the video feed(s).

If you want multiple cameras, then you can build a web page for your browser which collects feeds from more than one camera and displays them.

Bear in mind that as IP cameras are simply on your network, as a network device, at a given IP address, they can be viewed from multiple points at once e.g. watched on several PCs in browsers, displayed on big screens, etc.

Most IP cameras could meet this requirement. Even the very basic models will allow you to configure them to provide a feed which is always available and accessed by anyone who knows which url/IP address to visit OR to require a password to be able to view the video feed.

The choice of which camera is probably more determined by environmental factors e.g. indoors/outdoors; mounting position e.g. wall/ceiling; available light; quality of image you require e.g. VGA/megapixel; static view, or needing to 'look around' e.g. PTZ.

For recording, it depends what you want to do with the video (presentation-wise) after it's recorded. For instance if you simply want to record multiple cameras and review them later then using the typical manufacturer's VMS (Video Management System) CCTV recording software will probably be adequate - some will also allow you to archive recordings to keep longer term.

If you want to do more or other things with the video recorded then you may need software which can take the feed(s) and will allow you to edit it for presentation.

Probably best to start with some free CCTV recording software for multiple cameras, give it a trial and see whether it's adequate for your requirement ...

It's the multiple camera issue which makes things complex - I did some work for an army training village once where they had multiple CCTV cameras to monitor the troop training. They used a video editing suite and then showed the footage via professional quality projectors in a large auditorium (think cinema!).

So, CCTV software will allow you to review a quad screen (four cameras at once) or 9 or 16-way view of your recordings from multiple cameras. All views unedited, with playback showing you what happened in front of each camera at that same time. Well, that's a basic simplification of what it would typically offer anyway, because there are now some fairly web2.0 CCTV software solutions which would allow you to drag & drop views from one screen to another and lots more ...

An editing suite would allow you to grab and clip footage from any camera at any time and join it all together to make a movie to review:)

Hope that helps, please feel free to ask for any further clarification you might need.
 
Thanks Phil, that gives me the confidence to go ahead along the lines I had hoped.

I need to get some guidance on the quality/price of cameras that are expected and then I can source some and put together a trial for evaluation.

As for replay of the recorded video, that probably won't want any more than the ability to replay the recordings of the most recent lesson(s) for discussion in the classroom. This should not require any editing so files could either be viewed via the network or extracted using USB memory (depending on size).

Using some proprietary software for this would mean that, hopefully, I shouldn't have to worry about the recording process or the file management!

Iain
 
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