6 minute read
Oncam – C-12 Indoor Camera
TEST
PRODUCT TEST
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What’s in the box? Camera Enclosure Quickstart guide Drilling template Security bit IDC Network connector This internal 360° view camera designed for ceiling or wall mounting, is based on a 12MP sensor and provides a fisheye image with a wide range of configuration options.
Getting started
The Quick Start guide shows the basic methods to mount and connect the camera. It is PoE powered (<12.95W) with the advantage of either a direct RJ45 connection or a wired connection using the supplied “Punchdown” board that allows the network cable to be connected using an IDC punch down tool. The camera module is supplied out of its casing with packaging that allows access to the RJ45 for in-box configuration. The housing base can be fitted to a ceiling or wall surface using the drilling template and this allows for the alternative wiring formats to be accommodated. The Punchdown board if used is clipped into the back plate and the connections can be made for either T-568A or B configurations. Colour coding on the connector clarifies the conductors to be used for A or B.
With the base mounted to the surface the camera module which fits in the palm of your hand is clipped in and three captive security screws are tightened to secure it in place. If the Punchdown board is used, its RJ45 mates directly
with the camera, otherwise the RJ45 should be inserted first. The top cover is then placed on and rotated to click into place. Once connected to a PoE enabled network point, the camera will go through its start-up routine. The on-board LED illuminates Blue to indicate the OS is starting, then from Orange to Yellow to show firmware booting, White for network search and finally Green for operational. This LED can be used to indicate motion detection in the scene and can also indicate network errors and SD card problems or turned off. By default, the camera will be allocated a DHCP address if on a suitable network and can then be located using network tools or a search tool downloaded from the Oncam website. On first connection to the camera’s web browser display, you must enter a username of 4 to 12 characters and a strong password of 8 to 32 characters with at least 1 upper case, 1 number and 1 special character with no repetitions or sequential characters allowed.
A detailed 233-page user manual can be downloaded from the Oncam website, and this covers all the camera’s features and configuration.
Oncam – C-12 Indoor
Menu options
The browser view displays the menu options down the left-hand side of the screen. At the top of the display area are the Camera’s model number and IP address followed by the Recording Status, a “Jump to” search box, an Expert Mode switch and a Log Out button. The “Jump to” box allows direct access to menu features without having to navigate through the sub-menus. The Expert mode adds some of the more advanced features to the sub menus.
The top-level menu options are as follows: Dashboard – shows a low-resolution full camera image along with access to on-line FAQ and setup guides. Device – Device information, Date & Time, Maintenance, Firmware, Licenses, Security, and Attributes. Network – Network configuration, and Advanced Network configuration. Video/Audio – Media profiles, Image settings, Overlays, Global Streamlite Compression, Global
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audio, and Multicast. Events – Alarm rules settings. Recording – Storage device management, Recording configuration, and Search recordings. Motion/Analytics – Rules, and Global settings. Users – Create new users. Peripherals – Only available to the outdoor model for Input / Output configuration.
The Video/Audio menu states that the Global audio option is only supported on the outdoor model.
Within the menus there are extensive options to reduce bandwidth usage for the H.264 and H.265 encoded streams. Up to 5 privacy zones can be set and 3 captions including T & D if used. UK time and date formats are available and NTP is supported.
Hardware
The camera body has a diameter of just 86mm and a depth of 40mm without the RJ45 connector. The housing base has space for the alternative IDC connection adaptor to clip in place allowing a simpler device connection with the wires carefully dressed into the available space. The overall housing measures 92mm diameter x 52mm without the connector. A small slot near the base of the camera body accepts the SD card (up to 512GB). The camera includes an IR cut filter for day / night modes. If set to automatic the approximate lux level for switching can be set from 0 to 500 with a default of 140. Optional brackets are available including: Panoramic tilt mount – CAITM1-0; for wall mounting, allowing the camera to be angled from 20° to 45°. Indoor pendant mount – CA-IPM10; with threading for M20 or 3/4” NPT downpipe.
Indoor recessed mount – CA-IRM1-0; an aluminium enclosure to suit a 100mm (4”) diameter hole.
All are supplied with clear fitting instructions and use the same security screw head size as the camera.
Performance
The camera has four hardware encoders assigned to media profiles that can be configured for Fisheye only, in which case it can operate at up to 55 fps at its maximum 2992 x 2992 resolution or 60 fps at 2800 x 2800 pixels. Alternatively, a Multi-Mode setting provides maximum image flexibility with up to 30 fps for the fisheye view and a range of settings for the other three profiles. These can be selected from Panoramic+, T Corridor+, and Corridor+. These provide respectively a horizontal image, a T-junction corridor view (3-way split) and a two-way corridor view. Each has a range of controls to rotate and position the views so that they are consistent for the viewer and provide full coverage of the area.
A TrueDetail HDR (High Dynamic Range) feature is enabled by default, and this links Profiles 1 and 2 to provide the dual exposure necessary to deal with very high contrast scenes.
The web interface is very easy to navigate for camera configuration, however some features such as event recording to an internal SD card may take some experimentation to get right at first attempt.
The camera is ONVIF conformant to profiles S (Video streaming), T (Advanced video streaming) and G (Edge Storage) and when connected to a compatible Video Management system the camera provides a very clear fisheye image and supports multiple scene displays that can be used to zoom in on areas of interest for live and recorded images. The camera’s internal dewarping software helps eliminate lens curvature effects and provides reasonably distortion free panoramic views.
Up to 20 Unicast users can be connected or Multicast is supported for large scale streaming.
Conclusion
A very powerful compact fisheye view camera compatible with a wide range of video management systems with simplicity of installation and good support documentation.
