Pixord P400 IP Camera Review

I have just forked out £220 on a nice looking new fangled IP camera by Pixord, model 400W P.

For those that dont know the difference between an IP Camera and a webcam, the difference is that an IP camera has a network card inside it allowing it to be attached directly to your internet connection and act like a mini computer in its own right with its own video server software running on the camera.

So all you do is set it up and (subject to a decent broadband connection) you can then from any computer in the world, type in the appropriate web URL and be directed straight to the live camera picture.

This makes for a great way to keep an eye on your young kids while someone is babysitting, perhaps your house while on holiday, entertaining your husband on the oil rig or any kind of live surveillance...

Hardware - The Physical bit

Right well I have actually completed all of the above and I can report that the camera itself seems to be well made, easy to fit up and the picture is OK. Only problem I have found physically with the equipment is with the sound. I need to scream like a madman from 2 inches of the body of the camera before it becomes audible to a viewer. I am yet to get to the bottom of this fault.

Software - The Clicking and Typing bit

Now this is a fabulous example of how difficult it is to choose a device by just looking at it or even seeing it in a shop delivering a picture on a screen. The Software Side of any device is just as important and in this case I would argue more important.

I am afraid this is where the device comes crashing down as it is an example of what happens when a company scrimps on or rushes out a bare bones version of supporting software. I have written to the company with my test results an I include the points I have mentioned to them below: -

Detailed Report To Manufacturer Concerning the Equipment

Having now installed and tested the Pixord P-400W IP Camera, I would like to report my findings to you: -

1 - Using the Camera out of the box with the latest version of IE7 with updates is actually not possible unless you first install the components from the provided CD. Obviously this has the drawback that no remote person with the latest IE7 can view your webcam ! This problem is solved only by downloading and installing the latest version of the Firmware from Pixord. This is worrying for the future.

2 - Sound is actually working, but sound volume is virtually zero, unless I scream at the lens on the camera.

3 - I have set up the motion detection option to email me via my own mail server. This seems to work, but all I receive is an email with an attachment of approx 1 second long AVI file. This displays a screen which has captured no motion at all, even though I have walked slowly through the door, past the camera. The motion detection area has been correctly created to cover most of the field of view. I suspect it is behind the action.

4 - The Properties settings of the motion area are just unintelligible. Sensitivity I can understand, although it needs an example i.e. (1) detects a crawling ant where (100) is only triggered by a raging bull. Also how do I understand what values "SAD" and "Motion Vector Threshold" should be set to ?

5 - Also I can’t seem to configure the motion detection. How does it work ? How long can it record for in seconds, before / after motion stopped / what quality to set, how long does the camera need to be standing without motion before the motion trigger is reset etc... ?

6 - On D1 setting, screen freezes repeatedly if there is plenty of movement in the picture, and browser needs to be restarted. This is just as bad on both wireless and cable, although surprisingly better on wireless. It does however drive you crazy. I have to say that this has been improved a bit by the latest firmware upgrade.

7 - If I physically move the camera, massive pixilation occurs, this in itself can be expected, but on one occasion the IP address of the camera was totally lost just by moving the camera 2 feet to my left. I could not discover the camera again, even with the IP-Installer. I switched it on and off numerous times, only way I got it back in the end was to open the saved ip-installer cfg file and make a synchronize. After 1 minute camera re-appeared under its IP address !

8 - Why is there no option to have a detachable resizable screen view so it can be placed conveniently on the screen ?

9 - I can’t work out how I use QuickTime/VLT to be able to view the streaming MPEG4 from the camera instead of the Pixord software. It would be nice to see an example of how to achieve this.

10 - What do these sort of messages mean that are displayed within the software to the end user (see below) what am I supposed to know ?

Note:Alert Message can be set by listen AP
(CGI ex:http://192.168.1.200/alertcfg?action=apply&
alert1_enable=1&alert1_ip=192.168.2.172&alert1_port=2203&alert1_msg=oct03)

11 - I feel like the software package that accompanies this camera/video server is just a bare bones version that barely works. Can you confirm if they are about to release a fully functional software platform to support this hardware properly in the near future, or is this as good as it gets ? I keep looking on the CD thinking and hoping that I have failed to find the real user software that comes with this product !! Unless I have missed a basic point here, it’s safe to say that this product as it stands is less than satisfactory. I would be interested if you could let me know your own experiences with this unit.

Conclusions

This is a frustrating example of a product that could be great if they spent another 3-6 months on perfecting the software side and providing a rich set of facilities through the user interface that would allow you to use the built in capability of the camera.

In a way I dont want to give it back, on the hope that there will be a new firmware release next week that will complete the job and implement all the facilities I mentioned.

However, the stark reality is that having spent £220 I on this combined unit, I know I could buy a stand alone video server and separate camera for the same price that would have been superior.

Anyway, the company, they have described my feedback as "great comments" so I am waiting in anticipation for their technical reply....