Netcam Studio is a free IP security camera software that can be used for home. Wired IP security cameras connect to a Network Video Recorder, while stand-alone wireless Wi-Fi IP cameras connect to your WiFi and record to an on-board microSD card.
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An IP camera is a type of camera used mainly in surveillance security systems that is able to send videos and receive control data via the Internet. These cameras are also referred to as “network cameras” or as “IP CCTV cameras”.
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Unlike the analog (HD or not) CCTV cameras, they don’t need a local recording device, all they need is a local network to be connected to. So, an analog HD camera needs to be plugged into a recorder in order for the camera to show a picture. That’s not the case for the IP cameras, you can plug the camera on the network and you can see the picture on multiple devices (even if you don’t want the camera to record).
What is an IP camera?
You should consider the IP camera exactly the same way as any other network device such a printer, tablet, laptop, scanner, desktop computer etc. An IP camera is a type of computer, has a motherboard, processor, graphics card, etc., however it has a specific purpose which is to transmit live images to a receiver via network.
Take a look at the illustration below. That’s an IP wireless camera which contains a motherboard where the processor is located, the lens bloc, the IR LEDs for night vision, etc., and all of them are enclosed inside a weatherproof metal housing. The shape of the IP camera can be dome-style, bullet-style, hidden style, etc. More samples of IP cameras can be found here.
As any other network devices, the IP camera can be accessed via the web browser where you can get the live feed and see all the settings that the camera comes with. They also come with their own software and need to be configured to a network in order to function. Most of the IP cameras now come with their own apps, which make recording and viewing video on the web even easier.
How the IP camera works?
The IP camera is connected directly to the network, just like any other network device. The network camera captures images the same way any digital camera does. What makes it different is its ability to compress the files and transmit them over a network. Depending on what type of camera it is, it may save video to an attached memory card, connect to a network recorder, or stream directly to the phone or tablet. When installing multiple IP cameras it’s recommended to use a centralized infrastructure, which requires a network video recorder (NVR).
An NVR is a program that can store video from IP cameras and allow for viewing of multiple cameras at once. It is similar to a DVR, but while a traditional DVR is responsible for encoding and processing video from component cameras, an NVR depends on the cameras to encode their video, simply storing it and allowing for centralized remote viewing.
The benefits of an IP Camera
- Picture Quality. IP cameras have superior image quality to that of analog CCTV cameras. This is definitive. Nowadays IP cameras offer 4K resolution that display a crystal clear image. The analog HD cameras can’t compete with that. Additionally, IP cameras capture a much wider field of view than comparable analog cameras, meaning a single IP camera is potentially able to capture way more scenes than a regular CCTV camera.
- Intelligent Analytics. IP cameras are basically small computers that compress and store video, also they can be programmed to provide all sorts of analytics. They can detect motion or smoke, count people, build heat maps, track objects, provide anti tampering, sense when something disappears, set off various alarms, provide face recognition. Instead of poring over hours of footage, your network can tell you exactly when these events occurred and point you right to them. Also there are third party software that get deeply analyze CCTV footage and provide certain types of information.
- Flexibility. In a traditional CCTV setups, each camera must be connected directly to the recorder (DVR). IP cameras can circumvent this through the use of switches, which allow cameras in close proximity to each other to be connected to a single switch, which then runs a single wire to the NVR. This reduces the amount of cabling runs, which makes it ultimately less labor intensive, and also allows you to connect more cameras because you’re no longer limited by the number of ports on your DVR.
- Ease of installation. While an analog camera takes two wires, an IP camera only uses one network cable for both data and power. This feature saves a tremendous amount of time and money when installing multiple cameras. All you need is one cable for each camera using the PoE function.
The analog CCTV camera have made a come back with their HD over coaxial images, however the future belongs to the IP cameras. With these types of cameras the possibilities are endless. They can be deployed along various AI software that can intelligently analyze the recorded or live videos and provide useful security data.
What is the right lens and resolution for your IP camera? When you put together your IP camera system, you want to make sure that the camera you select for each location meets your expectations. It is important to first know the objectives for each area you are viewing. Do you want to identify a person’s face, a license plate, or just detect a person walking far away? In general, the more detail you want, the higher the resolution you need. This article shows you how to determine the viewing area and distance you should expect.
Note: this article was updated on 8/15/2017 to correct an error in calculation.
First understand that the number of pixels per ft. (or per m) determines the detail we can see. The higher the resolution of the IP camera, the wider the area we can see at a specific pixel/ft. When there are enough pixels covering a person’s face, we can recognize the person. The lens allows us to frame our field of view. We can select a lens that allows us to see an area 10 ft. (3 m) away or a different lens that magnifies an area that’s over 10,000 ft. (3048 m) away.
The lens controls how wide our field of view will be. The wider our field of view the less pixels per ft (or meter) we will get. Let’s look at a simple example. Take a look at the line below. The line is broken into small sections or horizontal pixels. The more elements per distance (pixels/m or pixels/ft.), the more detail we can see. As we adjust our lens to provide a wider view, the number of pixels/ft. (m) decreases and the less detail we can see.
Determining the Viewing Area or Field of View.
In a previous article, we discussed the resolution required to identify a person’s face. We determined that if there is good light you will require about 80 horizontal pixels/ft. (260 pixels/m) to identify someone you know. But, if you need to identify a person you don’t know then you need a lot more resolution. It requires about 150 pixels/ft. (492 pixels/m). We consider this higher pixel count to be more of a forensic identification than a personal identification.
Calculating the field of view:
How wide a field of view can we see and still be able to identify a person’s face? To calculate the widest field of view, divide the number of horizontal pixels (available from the camera) by the pixels/ft. you would like to achieve. The following formula is used to determine the field of view:
Total Horizontal Resolution / Pixels per ft. = Field of View
For the following example, let’s assume you would like to identify the face of a person you already know. If the camera resolution is 1920 x 1080 pixels (2-megapixel), then our widest field of view is:
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1920/80 = 24 ft. (7.3 m).
If we have a 5-megapixel camera with a resolution of 2592 x 1944, then the widest horizontal field of view is 32.4 ft. (9.9 m). And, a 10-megapixel camera, with 3648 x 2752 pixel resolution, provides a 45.6 ft. (14 m) field of view.
We can also do this calculation in reverse. We can start with the field of view and then calculate the resolution of the camera. Use the following formula to calculate the resolution of the IP camera:
(Field of View) x (pixels/ft.) = Horizontal Resolution
If we want a field of view of 20 ft. and we need 80 pixels/ft. then the formula indicates:
20 ft. x 80 pixels/ft. = 1600 pixels (horizontal)
We can now select a camera that has at least 1600 horizontal pixels. For example, the Sony SNC-EM630 IP camera has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. This is a very nice 2.0 mega-pixel camera with enough resolution to meet these requirements. It is also one of the newer IP camera models that provides excellent low light sensitivity and wide dynamic range (WDR).
Calculating Distance based on the Camera Lens Angle
Someone once asked, how far away can I see with my IP camera? Well, you can see pretty far away. You can view the moon which is 238,900 miles (384,400 km) away. Of course you can’t see too much detail at that distance.
So how do you calculate the distance based on the detail you want to see. Well, there are a number of ways to do it. There are some calculators available from various manufacturers, but they tend to use the F-number of the lens (mm) rather than the lens angle or are very specific to the manufacturer’s cameras. The best way to measure the distance is to use trigonometry. Hopefully, you didn’t sleep through that class in school (like I did). We start with the angle of the lens mounted on specific cameras. The lens plus the sensor size determines the actual angle so we rely on the angles provided by the camera manufacturer or the lens manufacturer.
We can use the segment of a circle or a right-triangle calculator to calculate the distance from the camera. The circle segment is more accurate, but the triangle method is easier because we can use a right-triangle calculator.
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Using the triangle to calculate the distance when we have a 30-degree lens
Let’s use a 2-megapixel camera in this example. The resolution of the camera sensor is typically 1920 (H) x 1080 (V) pixels. Let’s assume we want to identify someone we know, so we need 80 pixels per ft. to do this.
Step one is to draw a triangle with the peak of the triangle at the lens and the base at the field of view. To make the calculations split the triangle into two right triangles.
We will use the right-triangle calculator to calculate the distance to the viewing area. For example, there’s a calculator located at http://www.cleavebooks.co.uk/scol/calrtri.htm, and another at http://www.mathportal.org/calculators/plane-geometry-calculators/right-triangle-calculator.php
As I mentioned, the 2-megapixel camera provides a maximum width of 24 ft (7.3 m). Since we cut the triangle in half, the opposite side (O) is equal to 12 ft (3.7 m).
Suppose the camera we select has a variable lens, and we decide to set the lens at 30-degrees, cut that in half and Angle x equals 15- degrees. Using the right-angle triangle calculator, we find that the hypotenuse side (H) is 46 ft. (14 m) away from the camera lens.
Using the Segment of a Circle
Calculating the distance using a segment of a circle requires a different formula.
C= circumference
S= segment of the circumference
A= angle of the lens
R = distance (or radius of the circle)
To calculate the radius (distance) using the segment method, we use the formula C=2πr.
Since a 30-degree segmentof the circle is 1/12 of 360-degrees we need to calculate the circumference using the following formula:
C= S x 360/A
In this case C= 24 ft. x 360/30 = 24 x 12 = 288 ft. (87.8 m)
Now we have the circumference, we can calculate the radius:
C/(2π) = R
288/(2 x 3.14) = 45.9 ft. (14 m)
As you can see, both methods provide similar answers, but as the angle increases the segment method is more accurate. The difference between the arc and the chord of the circle become greater as the angle increases. When the angle approaches 180 degrees the triangle method doesn’t work.
Calculating the Distance Using a Panoramic Lens
Note: this section of the article was updated on 8/15/2017 to correct an error in calculation.
How far can you be from a panoramic 360-degree camera and still be able to identify a person’s face? The triangle calculation won’t work, so we must use the circle calculation for this.
First we must make sure we have enough resolution in the total circumference. In the example above we were only looking at one segment of the circle (1/12th of the circumference, or 30-degrees), but in this example, we are looking at the 180-degree view provided by the panoramic camera. This is equal to 1/2 the circumference (or 180 degrees).
So let’s start the calculations again. As mentioned before, we need 80 pixels/ft. The 2-megapixel camera, provides a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. When calculating the field of view for a panoramic lens, we use the vertical resolution rather than the horizontal resolution. This is because the filed of view is square rather than rectangular. The field of view required to identify a person’s face in a linear field of view is 1080/80 = 13.5 ft. This is half the total circumference. Since the segment covers 1/2 the circle the circumference is 2 x 13.5 ft = 27 ft. Again we use the formula to calculate the radius (which is the distance from the camera):
C/(2π) = R
27/(2 x π) = 4.3 ft. (1.3 m)
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If you want to recognize people further away, you would need a lot more resolution. The higher the resolution, the more pixels are in the circumference (field of view), and consequently the further away we can see the same detail. As an example, a 12-megapixel camera, provides a maximum 37.5 ft. (11.4 m) FOV. It provides enough resolution to identify a person’s face 11.9 ft. (3.6 m) away from the camera.
Summary
We first determine what we want to see, and then we can calculate the IP camera resolution and lens to use. Once we know how much resolution we need, we can calculate the size of the field of view and distance from the camera, based on the lens we select. To get a rough idea of how far away we can see a certain amount of detail, we can use the right-triangle calculator, but when our angles get very large it is better to use the circle calculation.
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If you need help with these calculations, don’t hesitate to give us a call. We have a lot of experience with IP camera systems and can help you get the exact surveillance system you need. Contact us at 914-944-3425 or 1-800-531-1658 (in the USA), or just use our contact form.