Mini-Review - EmpireTech IPC-TPC124XB-AI-S2 Thermal Network Mini Hybrid Bullet Camera

wittaj

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Apr 28, 2019
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As @EMPIRETECANDY pointed out in this thread, I have been playing with the EmpireTech IPC-TPC124XB-AI-S2 Thermal Network Mini Hybrid Bullet Camera with the larger 7/8mm focal length.

I previously reviewed in this thread the EmpireTech IPC-TPC124X-AI 1/2.7'' CMOS 4MP Thermal Network Mini Hybrid Eyeball Camera, which is a turret version using the old web GUI.

This new camera is a bullet form featuring a newer chipset and the new web5.0 GUI.

Here is a size comparison to the 4K/T turret. I would consider this a min-bullet compared to the Z4E and Z12E:

1718481567408.png

In particular, we wanted to see if this new chipset with the new GUI performed well, especially for wildlife and as a spotter camera for PTZ cameras.

The quick answer is yes, they appear to be triggering and logging and performing as one would expect. It opens up a lot of opportunities for wildlife watching or even better spotter cams for PTZs as I will touch on later.

Specifics on the camera can be found on the EmpireTech website.

The first thing I noticed when I bench tested this is that it is much more sensitive to thermal than the previous generation.

With this badboy, I could walk around the carpet and the camera would pickup the footprint. Part of that may be the result of the larger focal length as well.


View attachment Windows Media Player 2024-06-15 14-57-03.mp4


















But here was an interesting one I haven't experienced with the previous thermal cameras - it deemed a lawnmower was too hot and shut down the thermal sensor! Again could be a combination of the larger focal and more sensitive chipset. The mower was 35 feet away from the camera at this location.


View attachment 18.06.51-18.07.08[A][0@0][0][T][-5.0]_ch2.mp4
























I absolutely love that the thermal can be used to see things that you cannot see with your eye or a visible camera. It allows for a lot more flexibility in triggers.

Here was a bird at 70 feet:

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And of course deer:

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We often talk about how the DORI numbers are an over-exaggeration and the numbers should be cut in half during the day and that day number cut in half to 75% at night. I am finding that the thermal stands a much better chance at DORI distances than a visible camera. Now it will be a blob at 500 feet and even though they give IDENTIFY distance, one will never (or rarely) be able to IDENTIFY a person within the DORI identify number:

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Here is another difference from the prior version.

When using thermal and IVS rules, the previous versions would let you use whatever color scheme you want. I tend to favor the green for whatever reason, but many go for the fusion look.

Now when you set up IVS, it suggests that its best performance will be with black hot or white hot colorization.

In my testing like the field of view below, it really struggled with the fusion colorization. But another field of view and it was fine.

1718481956825.png


Another set of options that exist on this camera include the following that I am still testing and will update in later posts. I suspect some of them are for some specialized applications:


Screenshot 2024-06-15 131905.jpg





Because this camera has the web5.0, it includes many of the things we are seeing on other cameras.



The Diagnosis screen is a way to confirm everything is in good working order. Since I isolate my cameras from the internet, that is why I have abnormal for DNS and Network routing.

1718482063556.png


The camera also adds the ability for a firewall and anti-dos attack. Probably not an issue for those that isolate the camera from the internet.

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Here is a nice one-page snapshot showing the security status of the camera.

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As a spotter cam (copied over from other thread in case people only see this thread)

Here is where I think many of will find great use for this.

A common problem is to do a fixed spotter camera well, many of us have to use a bullet like the Z4E or Z12E in order to make the object large enough for IVS to trigger. So we end up having cameras that clearly are not pointed on our property hanging on the house. This camera being a turret isn’t as obvious.

Furthermore, due to infrared limitations, we probably cannot spot as far away as we would like. I know I would like to be able to get as much of the person on my PTZ as soon as possible and from further away as well.
My existing spotter cams are able to reliably get me an additional 75 feet off of my property for the PTZ to swing to and start tracking (shown in red).

With the thermal camera, since it doesn’t need light, I was able to reliably get the thermal to trigger for human 400 feet away (shown in green). Now of course my PTZ at night struggles at that distance due to the lack of light, but I was able to get it to consistently be able to track at night at the 150-200 foot range. That extra 75 to 1215 feet of extra distance allows me to get more of a straight on shot than a side shot of the person previously. Any time we can track a perp earlier the better.

Now of course, your situation will vary. Obstacles in the way like trees and other houses will limit the distance, along with available lighting and PTZ capabilities, but I would think that in every instance the thermal camera will allow for a further distance away for a spotter camera to trigger.

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In summary, I think a thermal should be considered in most applications. Even if you don't use it as a spotter cam, the ability to see and track things that you cannot see further out is a great benefit. It can help piece together events when the action was beyond the reach of infrared.
 

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Cool review, thanks bro! We also make a guide video for guys who want to do some fast settings. They are very cool and useful cameras, Not effect by weather, day and night. This night video is testing at very dark places.
 
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If only they weren't so darned expensive....
That seems to be their only flaw.
 
I tested mine and it's a great camera.
My only complaint is that the resolution for camera 2 (thermal) could be better, but not at this price obviously.
Lots of juicy features and Wittaj's writeup is spot on.
Overall, worth the money, for sure.
 
Thanks Jim

As an entry thermal camera, it's working bit good, but if want much better pic, the price will 3-4 times higher. It can detect any heating things that is hard to see from traditional cams.
 
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How do you get the thermal image to display on BI? Can the visual and thermal images be displayed at the same time?
 
In the video stream pull-down box, you will see the option for channel 1 and channel 2.

So if you want both images in BI, you add the camera twice and then select channel 1 for one of the cameras and channel 2 for the other camera.
 
you add the camera twice and then select channel 1 for one of the cameras and channel 2 for the other camera.
Got it! Thanks.
 
For my next question....
I set up IVS as identical as I could for the thermal and visual cameras, with 4 tripwires. When I walked through them, only the thermal camera caused a trigger on BI. I was expecting a trigger from both cameras, would that be correct?
In BI the only different setting I can find is in "ONVIF source" on the video/network IP tab. Could that have something to do with sensing IVS triggers? I can't tell because I don't have a clue what this ONVIF source setting is for. On the visual camera, both boxes say "VideoSource_1". On at least a few of the other cameras it's a number, a string of zeros on those I looked at.
 
Is there a setting to get the visual camera to correctly switch between color and B/W automatically? I've tried all the settings I can think of and nothing works. The closest I've got is this snip, which will switch to B/W at night, but not back to color in the morning. I tried all of the sensitivity settings.
Capture.JPG

With no help from the web5.0 manual I figured out that ICR is IR Cut Filter Removal. What is Electronic?
 
Tripwire setup is "different" on this camera.

In the video in post #4, it shows tripwires set up with multiple line segments, the same as on other cameras. On mine, the tripwire is only allowed to be a single line. When a tripwire is added, a single vertical line is pre-defined. It can be moved and resized, but only as a single straight line. This is how my IVS tripwire comes up, single line and no option to draw the rule the "old" way:
Capture.JPG

Am I doing something wrong, or is the video wrong?