New Amcrest AD410 doorbell Cam Review

[GaryOkie]

thanks @TechBill for this update. eliamcrest is a bonafide Amcrest support employee who has only very recently been providing assistance in the Amcrest Forum. It's sure good to hear it confirmed it was a developer mistake that will be corrected soon. And to clarify further - the only part of the AD110 API that was broken that I know of was event subscriptions - relevant to Home Assistant, BI, and others for detecting doorbell press/motion events.

Even then - I am sure not going to update my AD410 when the new firmware first comes out without closely watching these forums!

@cam26 - I don't use BI, but from all the reports from users in this forum that have, the AD410 with the current firmware works just fine with BI. The caution related to the AD410 that I expressed was to wait and see on the new firmware when it comes out. There was concern the firmware could be patterned after the latest Dahua DB6I firmware which has been reported to disable the HTTP CGI API .

I don't know if the DB6I with this new firmware will still work exactly the same with BI if more than RTSP streaming is needed. Someone else will need to confirm that.

 

[cam26]

thanks @TechBill for this update. eliamcrest is a bonafide Amcrest support employee who has only very recently been providing assistance in the Amcrest Forum. It's sure good to hear it confirmed it was a developer mistake that will be corrected soon. And to clarify further - the only part of the AD110 API that was broken that I know of was event subscriptions - relevant to Home Assistant, BI, and others for detecting doorbell press/motion events.

Even then - I am sure not going to update my AD410 when the new firmware first comes out without closely watching these forums!

@cam26 - I don't use BI, but from all the reports from users in this forum that have, the AD410 with the current firmware works just fine with BI. The caution related to the AD410 that I expressed was to wait and see on the new firmware when it comes out. There was concern the firmware could be patterned after the latest Dahua DB6I firmware which has been reported to disable the HTTP CGI API .

I don't know if the DB6I with this new firmware will still work exactly the same with BI if more than RTSP streaming is needed. Someone else will need to confirm that.

Makes sense. Thank you for clarifying!

 

[cam26]

Just purchased, on sale for $119.99 on Amazon today in case anyone is interested. Hopefully I don’t get the reflection issue!

 

[waterside]

Just got another AD410 today from Amazon. Same 05-2022 date but no IR glare issue!

I received my third unit via RMA from Amcrest and it too has the same issue.

I never even installed this one outside and went straight to a dark room test. Unfortunately in all three cases the image was unusable when the IR is on. All three were the same 05/2022 date.

I am returning this last unit to Amcrest via RMA for refund. I don't feel like continuing to screw around repeatedly trying sample after sample hoping to find one that is usable, so I'm going to try a DB6i from EmpireTech instead.

 

[flynreelow]

I received my third unit via RMA from Amcrest and it too has the same issue.

I never even installed this one outside and went straight to a dark room test. Unfortunately in all three cases the image was unusable when the IR is on. All three were the same 05/2022 date.

I am returning this last unit to Amcrest via RMA for refund. I don't feel like continuing to screw around repeatedly trying sample after sample hoping to find one that is usable, so I'm going to try a DB6i from EmpireTech instead.

Why not order the reolink poe.?

 

[TechBill]

I received my third unit via RMA from Amcrest and it too has the same issue.

I never even installed this one outside and went straight to a dark room test. Unfortunately in all three cases the image was unusable when the IR is on. All three were the same 05/2022 date.

I am returning this last unit to Amcrest via RMA for refund. I don't feel like continuing to screw around repeatedly trying sample after sample hoping to find one that is usable, so I'm going to try a DB6i from EmpireTech instead.

Do you already have a camera in the area where you planned to install this doorbell?

It may already have built in IR and you can always disable the doorbell cam IR and use the ones from other camera or get an external IR Illuminator

I brought a couple IR Illuminator years ago and I haven’t install it yet. Life got busy. But I did test it one time by taping it on a ladder where I plan to install and disabled the IR onboard the camera. look awesome and more powerful than the onboard ones.

Cameras can use IR from other camera nearby or a stand alone illuminator.

I really like this doorbell cam because of the http API query that work great with my home automation.

 

[waterside]

Do you already have a camera in the area where you planned to install this doorbell?

Yes but the lighting from that one is not sufficient on its own (shadows too strong)

Yes I could always use external IR or other lighting for full color but that is getting more complicated than needed. This is simply a doorbell cam for that one purpose - to try to capture the face of someone standing at the door to supplement an IPC-E3541F-AS-M looking down the stairs leading to the door.

I have already returned the unit today. I've already spent more time on this item than I had intended.

 

[waterside]

Why not order the reolink poe.?

Because reolink?

I have a mechanical chime and the reolink doesn't support these.

 

[flynreelow]

Because reolink?

I have a mechanical chime and the reolink doesn't support these.

Still don't understand people that have to use their mechanical chime even though this new reolink comes with a digital chime.

 

[waterside]

Still don't understand people that have to use their mechanical chime even though this new reolink comes with a digital chime.

A matter of preference? I could say the opposite that I never understand people that like electronic chimes. It all comes down to personal preference and we don't all have to have the same preferences.

My mechanical chime has a very nice tone. I have never found an electronic chime with a sound that I liked, and most of them I really dislike. Again, personal preference.

 

[cam26]

My AD410 with date 5/22 has no IR glare, just info. Just received today. I feel lucky, but sorry to others who are still having issues.

Also, does anyone else notice that the video frame in BI is perfectly square? My AD110 was rectangular.

 

[atmelton]

Two returns. First one had the IR glare issue but I installed it anyways (mostly because I wanted to make sure the wifi reception would be okay). Ordered a second and just set it up plugged in using the microUSB to see if it had the issue, which it did, so I returned that one. Ordered a third one and it did not have the issue, so I just swapped it out with the one I had already installed and returned the original one. All three had the 05-2022 date.

Edit: FYI, it’s 20% off on Amazon right now as well. It’s one of those coupons you have to click to add.

Well I ordered another one from Amazon and it came in with a 6-2022 date and it still had the IR glare. My case with Amcrest is not going anywhere as they just said that if the one I have now isn't working properly to just return it. I guess for now, I will just live with the IR glare issue and hops that there is a solution soon.

 

[GaryOkie]

My AD410 with date 5/22 has no IR glare, just info. Just received today. I feel lucky, but sorry to others who are still having issues.

Also, does anyone else notice that the video frame in BI is perfectly square? My AD110 was rectangular.

Thanks for posting you had some luck!

Are you sure the image in BI is perfectly square? It will definitely be much squarer than the AD110 but should be slightly wider than tall. The AD410 resolution of 2560x1920 equates to a 4:3 aspect ratio. The AD110 has a 16:9 aspect ratio so it will indeed be a much wider rectangle.

I believe the main purpose of adopting this 4:3 aspect from what is normal for HD/UHD cameras is simply to see more pixels vertically which helps with (tall) human recognition. It will also help to see more of the ground below the door, but other doorbells that flip the aspect to a portrait orientation do a much better job of seeing packages.

This website allows you to visualize what various aspect ratios should look like on various screens. At first glance, a 4:3 image does indeed look square, but it's not "perfectly square".

Aspect ratio calculator · toolstud.io

Aspect ratio calculator: simulate letterboxing based on HD, flat, scope, square canvas

toolstud.io

 

[cam26]

Thanks for posting you had some luck!

Are you sure the image in BI is perfectly square? It will definitely be much squarer than the AD110 but should be slightly wider than tall. The AD410 resolution of 2560x1920 equates to a 4:3 aspect ratio. The AD110 has a 16:9 aspect ratio so it will indeed be a much wider rectangle.

I believe the main purpose of adopting this 4:3 aspect from what is normal for HD/UHD cameras is simply to see more pixels vertically which helps with (tall) human recognition. It will also help to see more of the ground below the door, but other doorbells that flip the aspect to a portrait orientation do a much better job of seeing packages.

This website allows you to visualize what various aspect ratios should look like on various screens. At first glance, a 4:3 image does indeed look square, but it's not "perfectly square".

Aspect ratio calculator · toolstud.io

Aspect ratio calculator: simulate letterboxing based on HD, flat, scope, square canvas

toolstud.io

You're absolutely right, thanks @GaryOkie !

Side note, to do the API calls to change the iFrame and remove Amcrest logo, do I just input those URLS into, like, Chrome or something? Unfamiliar with all that.

 

[GaryOkie]

do I just input those URLS into, like, Chrome

Yep. That's it, except you will also be prompted for camera credentials.

 

[cam26]

Yep. That's it, except you will also be prompted for camera credentials.

Thank you!

 

[cam26]

Calls worked, got the iFrame to 1... BUTTT

Holy cow- messed with sharpness in Amcrest Pro and that messed the picture up big time- so noisy could barely make anything out. Factory reset and reinstall got it going again. Slightly disappointing.

Also, noticed WDR (turned on through the Amcrest Smart Home app also makes the video pixelated/noisy, guess I'm leaving that setting off too. I saw a sliding scale in the Pro but I don't think I'll mess with anything in there again! Hopefully not using WDR doesn't have a negative impact. Cranked up the bitrate on both main/sub, hopefully to just increase video quality.

 

[GaryOkie]

Yeah, AVP is known to do that when messing with video settings on the doorbell. The configs just aren't in sync somehow and additional settings get added that can screw up the video quality. Ancrest really doesn't want you to use anything but SmartHome app to change settings, although if you ever need to install a manual firmware file, configtool is what they have you use. I find that using the HTTP API to change specific settings is safer. In the early days of the AD110, this wasn't the case.

I understand that one of the improvements with the upcoming AD410 firmware is that WDR wil be "fixed". This was the case for the lastest AD110 firmware but that broke event processing, so be very wary of firmware updates.

 

[cybermage]

In case anyone was wondering, here's what the IR glow looks like. For me it doesn't interfere with human detection or seeing the person at the door, but it is annoying.



I've integrated it nearly completely with my HASS setup, and set it completely offline and everything is working great. I get instant notifications when the button is pressed or a human is detected in frame. I just don't see a way yet to have HA be able to extract the stored video from the sdcard on the camera so I might just tie it into my Zoneminder setup for 24/7 recording. And yes, it's completely offline from the Interwebs on a VLAN.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled the sun shining directly into it this morning. I expected it to wash it out or otherwise cause grief, but it was still a very good image and human detection still worked.

Here's a shot I just took with the sun in frame. None of the other surveillance cameras I have do this well.

 

[GaryOkie]

Hi @cybermage - your IR glare pic is among the worst I've seen posted. Do you plan on returning it or just live with it?

Nice example on your 2nd pic of how the AD410 handles direct sunlight. Do you have WDR enabled?

My Ad410 is recording 24x7 to a Dahua NVR along with motion event timestamps. Home Assistant is also recording snapshots and motion clips and sending them to phones via Telegram. I haven't had a real need to access the recordings on the SD-Card, but there is a way it can be done outside of the SmartHome app.

Per the HTTP API Guide:
4.1.2 Get Playback Stream:

rtsp:/<username>:<password>@<ip>:<port>/cam/playback?channel=<ChannelNo>&starttime=<starttime>&endtime=<endtime>
EXAMPLE:
rtsp:/admin:password@10.44.200.8:554/cam/playback?channel=1&starttime=2012_09_15_12_37_05&endtime=2012_09_15_18_34_14

I've attempted to create a lovelace card to provide an "NVR-like" interface for selecting various cameras and displaying an inline frame of either live video or recordings from and SD-Card (or even the NVR). I've had limited success with this, but have not spent any time on it lately to iron it out.

EDIT: I don't believe you need exact timestamps to access SD-Card recordings in my limited testing, although it seems to be more reliable accessing NVR recordings than specific SD-Card recordings. Not sure why yet.