The bench test 1: Back in the Hunt

What our experts say…

IP cameras have come a long way in a very short time. A clear sign of how far and fast IP cameras have progressed is the way the early awkwardness and clunky installation procedures have been replaced by near effortless plug and play operation, and nowadays you don't need to be an expert in the ways of the Ethernet (though it's still handy to know a bit about how it works...).

The Hunt Electronics HLC830 goes a fair way to showing how it should be done, though it's not without its share of foibles, which we'll come to in due course. The spec is short and to the point: the camera will relay live video (up to 30fps) and audio (two-way) to a standard web browser (ie Internet Explorer) on a network connected PC.

It has a built-in motion detector with three configurable, variable sized target blocks and when triggered it will send an email alert, upload video to an ftp server and record video to a SD memory card. Video can also be recorded to the memory card if, for any reason, the network connection is interrupted. One last feature is optional wireless connectivity, which the manufacturers seem almost to regard as an afterthought. It was fitted to our test sample and as we shall see, it deserves more prominence.

On now to some particulars, and the camera is based on a 1/4-inch CMOS image sensor of unspecified parentage, resolution or sensitivity. The optical specs are equally vague though the lens appears to be a fairly basic board camera type with a focal length 3.6mm. Displayed resolution, in a browser window is switchable between 640 x 480, 320 x 240 or 160 x 120. The compression format used is MPEG4 and video files recorded on the SD card are in .avi format, which is readable on most PC multimedia players.

The camera is housed inside a compact white coloured rectangular case. On the front there's the lens, a power on indicator LED and a small hole for the on-board microphone. On the left side (looking from the front) is a standard F-Connector socket for the wi-fi antenna (supplied with the camera), on the left is the slot for an SD memory card and on the underside there are three sockets, for DC supply (5VDC mains adaptor included), an RS 485 connector for the 10/100 Ethernet LAN cable and a minijack for the audio output. The rear of the case comprises a metal plate, which doubles up as a heat sink (the camera gets surprisingly warm) and an attachment point for the mounting bracket (also supplied).

Setup and operation

If installing the camera takes you more than five to ten minutes you are doing something wrong, it really is that simple. Setup is equally painless. Once the camera has been powered up and connected to the network just pop in the installation CD and launch the IP Installer utility and it will display the camera's current IP address, the camera's name and current IP address. This utility also allows the installer to change the address, and other network parameters and upload them to the camera.

After any changes have been made the camera can be accessed from Microsoft Internet Explorer (v6 and above) simply by entering the IP address in the browser's address box. A password request is displayed and that's followed by the main display page, though at this stage it will be blank. An ActiveX plug-in needs to be downloaded from the camera; this takes only a few seconds, after which the live image appears in the display window, with a pair of icons for the setup menu and for taking a snapshot, which opens in a separate window.

Clicking the 'tool' icon opens the camera's configuration menu. This is divided into four sections: System, Network, AV Setting and Event List. The System menu opens to display System Information, which includes options to change the camera name, operating language (English and simple or traditional Chinese), setting the internal clock and a facility to synchronise with local PC, network or an Internet time server. The User Management sub menu is used to set up a list of authorised users and System Update is for carrying out Firmware upgrades.

The Network menu has four sub-menus; the first is for IP address and basic network settings, the second one is concerned with PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) settings, Network sub menu three handles DDNS (Dynamic Domain Name Server parameters) and the fourth one is for the optional wireless adaptor with switches for operating mode, wi-fi system (802.11b/g) SSID, IP Address, subnet mask and so on.

This should all be fairly straightforward, except that the supplied instructions provide no guidance whatsoever on the subject of wireless operation. If, as in our case, it fails to work properly, you are left completely high and dry. We did eventually manage to get it going, but more on that in a moment.

Moving on now to the AV menus, the first of the three sections deals with Image Setting, with controls for picture brightness, contrast, hue, sharpness, saturation, AE override and Night Mode. The latter switches the picture to black and white and increases the gain when light levels fall below a preset threshold.

The Video Setting sub-menu covers has 'Basic' and 'Advanced' options, the former allows the user/installer to change resolution, picture quality (5-levels) and system frequency (50/60Hz). In Advanced mode there are additional controls for Bitrate Control Mode (CBR or VBR – constant or variable bitrate), Video Frame Rate (2 to 30 fps in nine steps) and GOP Size (Group of Pictures).

The Event List section leads to four sub menus, the first of which, Event Setting, is concerned with motion detector setup (three definable areas and variable sensitivity), action when network disconnected (save to SD card) and network IP check, which appears to be an option to setup a recording utility on a remote PC, though once again the instructions, as happens all too frequently, descend into gibberish.

The second sub menu is a little clearer as this is concerned with setting up an alert email address and FTP server, for uploading video. The final submenu is labelled SD card and this is used to replay recordings stored on the memory card, and setting the pre and post alarm recording times (0 to 5 seconds).

We eventually managed to get the wi-fi connection up and running with some help from Hunt UK. The root of the problem was outdated firmware. This is replaced through the System Update menu and once uploaded the camera's wi-fi configuration can be accessed.

Essentially all you need to do is set the correct mode type in the network's SSID and if necessary configure the WEP/WPA encryption. When that's done remove the Ethernet cable, reboot, and the camera can be accessed as before through an IE browser window, but this time it will be via the wireless link.

The obvious advantage is simplicity of installation and it basically means you can have a remote camera set up and working in no time flat, no wires, no fuss. All you need is a nearby mains socket, and for the camera to be within range of a wireless router or access point.

Performance

At maximum resolution and the highest quality setting the image on the browser screen picture on the screen ranks as adequate. Resolution is fairly average and this isn't helped by what appears to be a rather ordinary lens, but without knowing more about the image sensor chip it's difficult to say how good or bad it really is. The auto exposure system works best with a simple well-lit scene and it doesn't respond well to sudden changes or bright lights in the image area.

Colour balance on our sample was disappointing, with a heavy blue bias under nearly all lighting conditions, and there is no way of correcting the error. In good natural light it's liveable but it does suggest either slack quality control, or a need for a manual white balance control.

Using the wi-fi connection there was very little change in resolution, but for some reason contrast, brightness and saturation all veered off in different directions and getting them back on track proved to be a time consuming business. Wi-Fi operation also resulted in a significant reduction in frame rate but overall, and bearing in mind the limitations of wireless operation, picture quality is impressive.

What the manufacturer says...

The HLC-830 from Hunt Electronic is designed to meet the fast growing demand for IP cameras in the security world.

It is an easy-to use IP camera, designed for small offices and workplaces and home users.

It comes with an external SD memory slot, which provides backup for instances of unexpected network disconnection. Hunt emphasises that this isn't suggested for long term recording, but as an emergency backup system.

The camera also has clear, built-in two-way audio communication – a rare and advanced feature in comparison to most other recent IP cameras.

This also makes it possible to use the camera in a small office for video conferencing.

The HLC-830 supports 802.11b/g wireless network connections, a capability which allows for the minimisation of hassle of messy and time-consuming wired systems.

MPEG-4 compression allows smooth video streaming via WAN. Hunt's 'Intelligence' software allows 16 different IP camera channels to monitored and recorded simultaneously.

Hunt is looking to the future and plans to go beyond traditional CCTV surveillance products, by launching several types of IP camera and video server.

These include an IR IP camera, four channel video server, vandal-proof IP dome camera, IP speed dome, and more.