IP Camera recommendation for integrating into HSTouch?

[dchramcow]

So we want to integrate 6 IP Cameras directly into HSTouch. We have used HomeSeer's own IP cameras, but we would like something with higher image fidelity and full IP67 rating.

What would be a good camera that allows direct streaming into HSTouch and has at least a 2 to 4 MP sensor?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

[Wade]

For exterior I have several Amcrest IP8M-2496EB that I've been very satisfied with.

[dchramcow]

For exterior I have several Amcrest IP8M-2496EB that I've been very satisfied with.

These would be for exterior yes. Do you have those streaming directly into HSTouch? How's the image quality?

[wpiman]

I have several Dahua cameras. The Starlight+ cameras are fantastic...

[dchramcow]

I have several Dahua cameras. The Starlight+ cameras are fantastic...

Thanks for the tip wpiman . Do you have those streaming directly into HSTouch?

[Wade]

These would be for exterior yes. Do you have those streaming directly into HSTouch? How's the image quality?

Yes I'm streaming directly to HS Touch. URL is http://usernameassword@camIP/cgi-bin/snapshot.cgi?
Not a true video stream; rather snapshots and refresh interval is configurable in HSTouch. I use 1 second interval.

Image quality is somewhat subjective beyond the specifications. I would say it's good, though not great for such detail as license plate reading except relatively close. Night view is where I've noticed the most variation between cameras of similar specs--although I've not done much comparison. Night vision is pretty good, although mine aren't working in complete darkness. Day and night examples below, although I had to reduce image quality to get them below the 2MB max size on the forum so image quality is degraded a bit. There's a streetlight above/left of image, so that improvess the night view significantly beyond the IR LED reach.

Daytime image (overcast skies), reduced resolution for upload:

Nighttime image, reduced res for upload. Not a great example due to foreground objects, but don't want to publish other camera views on the forum.


Truck across street ~50', full-res.



Stop sign and street sign a ~140', full res.


In HSTouch.

[dchramcow]

Awesome post!, thanks for the detailed information. The image itself does look very impressive.

We would want at least a 15 to 20 frames per second on that stream, do you think that would possible?

[Wade]

Awesome post!, thanks for the detailed information. The image itself does look very impressive.

We would want at least a 15 to 20 frames per second on that stream, do you think that would possible?

I don't know anything about configuring a full video stream, but my understanding is it can't be done directly. This (old) thread discusses using Blue Iris as intermediary. I use Blue Iris but haven't tried using it to feed HSTouch as the snapshots are sufficient for my needs.

[Hsuser]

Yes I'm streaming directly to HS Touch. URL is http://usernameassword@camIP/cgi-bin/snapshot.cgi?
Not a true video stream; rather snapshots and refresh interval is configurable in HSTouch. I use 1 second interval.

How exactly are you doing that and do you use a firetablet\android? I've tried getting my amcrest streams in hstouch for the past few months and never got it working. I tried with the URL you gave and it still doesn't work for me.. I've tried using a textbox with the URL as the text which is how I get blueiris streams to work but doesn't work with the cgi streams like amcrest cams and i've tried using an 'image box' and using the url in the "imageURLnormal" And still not working (even with the "IsVideo" option). Is there something special you did?

[dchramcow]

How exactly are you doing that and do you use a firetablet\android? I've tried getting my amcrest streams in hstouch for the past few months and never got it working. I tried with the URL you gave and it still doesn't work for me.. I've tried using a textbox with the URL as the text which is how I get blueiris streams to work but doesn't work with the cgi streams like amcrest cams and i've tried using an 'image box' and using the url in the "imageURLnormal" And still not working (even with the "IsVideo" option). Is there something special you did?

That's too bad. Let's wait for Wade response as to how he got it working.

[Wade]

Here's my config.

[Hsuser]

Here's my config.

Omg.. I 'had' to put http:// in front of the address.. It's working for me now. It worked fine in my browser without the http but in hstouch it seems you have to use it. So yeah it's working for me to. I wonder if my past attempts failed all because of that lmao.

[ksum]

Also, there are two web settings which must both be true. I just have up web cameras and set a series of web pages up, reach of which displays a different camera.

[Wade]

Also, there are two web settings which must both be true. I just have up web cameras and set a series of web pages up, reach of which displays a different camera.

Bear in mind that yours is set up as a text element while mine is an image element which doesn't have those two properties. I don't know whether the 2 are interchangeable or if the text element is required for a webcam stream and the image element required for the camera snaps. I've not tried a text element.

[ksum]

Ah. Right. Yes, I have a live stream of video using only the text element with the URL as the text and the two web settings as shown in my image. The stream is a bit larger than my touch screen but I am able to slide it around and see different areas. Here is my touch screen: