Review: EZVIZ DB1C

murphys_law

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should be

MAIN --- r t s p:/admin:<Enter password>@<Enter IP Address>:554/Streaming/Channels/101 (ignore the spaces)

SUB Stream --- r t s p:/admin:<Enter password>@<Enter IP Address>:554/Streaming/Channels/102 (ignore the spaces)
I assumed that, but wanted to confirm. I couldn't remember if the RTSP address was the same for all the various firmware's available on the DB1.
 

silencery

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Ah, thanks for the reminder! I'll check the feed again to see if there's any low light activity. It's been pretty quiet around here at night.

Otherwise I'll do a manual walk test.

Just to clarify, from the live viewing and testing I've done in our environment, it doesn't perform any better or worse than the previous model for nighttime.
 

biggen

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Thanks for this thread! I just ordered one of these from Bestbuy. Should have it by next week.

Not keen on a wifi camera at all, but the choices are slim when it comes to doorbells and at least it has an RTSP feed for BI to use.
 

planetix

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My quick post install impressions:

Video quality (color and sharpness) is improved from the DB1 (I had the Hikvision variant)) and as usual a little tweaking with the Batch Config tool goes a long way.

Night vision I can't really tell since I don't normally use it (with the DB1 either) but I do think the low-light performance is a little better than the DB1. I have a downward firing porch light that my automation turns on and off so there's always a decent amount of light but this cam seems sharper when the ambient light is lower (or maybe that is just a byproduct of being sharper overall). Anyway, for a fish-eye doorbell it's pretty good, gets the job done and I can see a pretty wide swath of my porch to cover packages, etc.

Annoying you have to drill another hole for the mount since it doesn't match up with the DB1 mounts but, it is what it is and if you've installed any of these things you know the drill already (pun intended).

Hope you like white doorbells. On the plus side - the cover neatly pops off and the non-gloss finish looks like it would be simple to sand and paint, as the OP guessed. And you'll lose the EZViz logo which is a plus in my book. On the minus side it's just the very top, you'll still see the silver body - which doesn't look like something easily painted, though no doubt patience and skill would win through there, and also part of the white mount will still show unless you paint that as well.

The door chime is exactly the same as the DB1 - if that didn't bother you this won't either and vice versa.

RTSP stream/substream with BI or Shinobi is simple. Hoping that as more re-branded models hit the channel we'll start getting alternate firmware options for this one like the DB1 has so Onvif, etc. can be added, though for my purposes RTSP is fine.

The EZViz app is what it is. I don't mind it, works, people have a love/hate thing with it and the various flavors of it, no change there. I'll get around to maybe going DYI for rings and notifications after I get my bell relay installed and hooked up to Konnected and Hubitat.

And last, what is for me the biggest change, and the one I like the most: No giant PIR sensor in the middle that seemingly everyone I know thinks is a button to ring the bell on the DB1. Doesn't matter that there's a big lit up ringer button right under it, people are gonna try and push the PIR sensor. Awful design decision for a doorbell. Especially since I run Deepmind with BI and thus don't really care about PIR for motion anyway. I know for some the lack of PIR is a drawback of this model but it is a plus for me.
 

flynreelow

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My quick post install impressions:

Video quality (color and sharpness) is improved from the DB1 (I had the Hikvision variant)) and as usual a little tweaking with the Batch Config tool goes a long way.

Night vision I can't really tell since I don't normally use it (with the DB1 either) but I do think the low-light performance is a little better than the DB1. I have a downward firing porch light that my automation turns on and off so there's always a decent amount of light but this cam seems sharper when the ambient light is lower (or maybe that is just a byproduct of being sharper overall). Anyway, for a fish-eye doorbell it's pretty good, gets the job done and I can see a pretty wide swath of my porch to cover packages, etc.

Annoying you have to drill another hole for the mount since it doesn't match up with the DB1 mounts but, it is what it is and if you've installed any of these things you know the drill already (pun intended).

Hope you like white doorbells. On the plus side - the cover neatly pops off and the non-gloss finish looks like it would be simple to sand and paint, as the OP guessed. And you'll lose the EZViz logo which is a plus in my book. On the minus side it's just the very top, you'll still see the silver body - which doesn't look like something easily painted, though no doubt patience and skill would win through there, and also part of the white mount will still show unless you paint that as well.

The door chime is exactly the same as the DB1 - if that didn't bother you this won't either and vice versa.

RTSP stream/substream with BI or Shinobi is simple. Hoping that as more re-branded models hit the channel we'll start getting alternate firmware options for this one like the DB1 has so Onvif, etc. can be added, though for my purposes RTSP is fine.

The EZViz app is what it is. I don't mind it, works, people have a love/hate thing with it and the various flavors of it, no change there. I'll get around to maybe going DYI for rings and notifications after I get my bell relay installed and hooked up to Konnected and Hubitat.

And last, what is for me the biggest change, and the one I like the most: No giant PIR sensor in the middle that seemingly everyone I know thinks is a button to ring the bell on the DB1. Doesn't matter that there's a big lit up ringer button right under it, people are gonna try and push the PIR sensor. Awful design decision for a doorbell. Especially since I run Deepmind with BI and thus don't really care about PIR for motion anyway. I know for some the lack of PIR is a drawback of this model but it is a plus for me.

In regards to the EZviz app, how are your notifications to your phone? I have only used the RCA app or the La view, and seems to be hit or miss when someone presses the bell with my older RCA doorbell.
 

planetix

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In regards to the EZviz app, how are your notifications to your phone? I have only used the RCA app or the La view, and seems to be hit or miss when someone presses the bell with my older RCA doorbell.
So far so good but only been a couple days and I don't plan on using it long term (the app, I mean)

I actually don't care much about the whole "watch a live video of the person who just rang your doorbell" aspect. The important parts to me are:

Accurately record who comes up to the door, (with little to no false positives), whether they ring the bell or not
Have the ability to monitor the doorbell camera as part of my regular security cam system
and
Be notified when the doorbell is rung. Not necessarily so I can answer it right then and there; the times I've needed to actually talk to someone when I was away from the house or otherwise unable to get the door are almost nil (couple appointments I was running late for). People who I'd care to answer in the first place usually have other ways to get a hold of me/family if they ring the bell and no one gets the door.

What I've, and I am sure many others, have discovered is a lot of people shy away from ringing video doorbells these days (about 1 in 10 package/Doordash/etc. deliveries do) so it's really the motion detection that is important and no video doorbell does a good job on their own with that, that is why I started using Deepmind with BI. Still, I do like knowing when someone pushes the button, which is why I bought a relay - this one:

Current Sensing Switch, Normally Open Current Sensing Relay Adjustable AC 0.2A -30A (SZC23-NO-AL-CH Model): Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific ($20 on Amazon, half that if you are willing to order from and wait for Aliexpress) . It works really well, even momentary presses get captured by it.

You wrap the wire coming from the bell right before it connects to the transformer around the inner hole of the switch, and connect the binary outputs to either your alarm system (I use Konnected, which integrates with Hubitat, HA, etc. ) or you can use a simple reed-based door sensor that has inputs (the Ecolink Zwave switches) and have that be your smart switch.

Then you can have your home automation system handle notifications. I've found Hubitat + Pushover to be rock solid for notifications of all kinds.
 
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David L

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I can't speak for outside the US, but if you are US based don't order this from Amazon, as it's only 3rd party drop shippers selling at the retail $99 right now. It's popping up all over other retailers online shops (Kolhs, Lowes, BestBuy) for cheaper - usually $69 but I found it at Best Buy for $59 with free shipping.

$60 sounds like a steal for this thing. I was about to mount my DB1 when I saw this review. I'm using it with Blue Iris and a current sensing switch (this one: ) to send bell ring alerts to my security system (I'm using Konnected but it's a simple binary output so it will trip a sensor on any alarm panel).

Konnected, in turn, notifies my HA (Hubitat) that the doorbell has been rung.
Wow now your talking my language, I too have a Konnected system, just upgraded to the new Pro board. I need to check out the switch sensor you linked...It looks like it has many uses...
 
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biggen

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I can't seem to add this camera to BI. I can confirm that I can open up the main stream and substream in VLC with the following:

rtsp:/admin:password@10.200.200.17:554/Streaming/Channels/101
rtsp:/admin:password@10.200.200.17:554/Streaming/Channels/102


However, if I try to put in Streaming/Channels/101 for the main stream in BI I get a no signal. I've tried multiple combinations and can't make it work. Anyone mind posting a screenshot of their BI Video Configuration menu for this camera?
 

flynreelow

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I can't seem to add this camera to BI. I can confirm that I can open up the main stream and substream in VLC with the following:

rtsp:/admin:password@10.200.200.17:554/Streaming/Channels/101
rtsp:/admin:password@10.200.200.17:554/Streaming/Channels/102


However, if I try to put in Streaming/Channels/101 for the main stream in BI I get a no signal. I've tried multiple combinations and can't make it work. Anyone mind posting a screenshot of their BI Video Configuration menu for this camera?
Try channel as 1 or 2 not 101 and 102?
 

biggen

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Is a network issue. Just confirmed I can't ping any wireless client from within that BI VM. I can talk to all wired clients from within the VM but something is blocking that VM from talking to wireless clients. Probably a simple firewall setting on Proxmox. I'll run it down.
 

biggen

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Alright I was able to correct the network issue add it to BI but can't get the substream to display for some reason.

Edit: Alright I figured it out. For the main stream I just used a foward slash "/" but for the substream I needed to add it like this "ipaddress:554/Streaming/Channels/102".
 

biggen

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How is everyone’s human detection doing with this doorbell? I’ve found that painting the area orange I want to include doesn’t exclude the remaining areas. It still alerts to people outside the painted orange.

I switched it to “Image Change Detection” and now it properly restricts motion detection to just the orange painted areas. Using the latest build listed in the review OP.
 

tommyd75

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Yes mine is set for human detection and I have drawn the orange lines but it’s picking up humans farther away from my drawn lines. I don’t think that “motion detection area” works when we are using the human detection option. I have it at the lowest sensitivity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

flynreelow

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Yes mine is set for human detection and I have drawn the orange lines but it’s picking up humans farther away from my drawn lines. I don’t think that “motion detection area” works when we are using the human detection option. I have it at the lowest sensitivity.


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maybe email EZviz and see what they have to say, or if its a known issue. i'll install mine tomorrow and check it out.
 

planetix

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Wow now your talking my language, I too have a Konnected system, just upgraded to the new Pro board. I need to check out the switch sensor you linked...It looks like it has many uses...
Yep, I have a Pro board too - I was one of the first backers of it and it took a full year to get it, but it's been worth the wait.

Integrating all my hardwired door/window/motion sensors and sirens to my HA system (Hubitat) was only the tip of the iceberg. It makes a great bridge for hardwired binary switches of all kinds and automation. This current sensing relay is one example. I also bought smoke and carbon monoxide relays (matching ones for my combo alarms, Kidde) and wired those up too, so now if my smoke/carbon detectors trip when we're out of the house I'm immediately notified.

You can do all this with a regular alarm panel too of course - that is what a lot of relays were built for - but the Konnected board makes it a snap to expose those to your HA for other purposes.
 

kklee

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maybe email EZviz and see what they have to say, or if its a known issue. i'll install mine tomorrow and check it out.
I just switched over from the RCA version of the DB1 to the EZVIZ DB1C. I'm finding that the AI detection is also picking up motion outside of the marked area, set on either human or image change detection (running latest firmware). I'm still playing around with the settings to see if I can get it tuned properly. I'll turn it off if if it gets too annoying, the doorbell is monitored by Blue Iris.
 

Jessie.slimer

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Yep, I have a Pro board too - I was one of the first backers of it and it took a full year to get it, but it's been worth the wait.

Integrating all my hardwired door/window/motion sensors and sirens to my HA system (Hubitat) was only the tip of the iceberg. It makes a great bridge for hardwired binary switches of all kinds and automation. This current sensing relay is one example. I also bought smoke and carbon monoxide relays (matching ones for my combo alarms, Kidde) and wired those up too, so now if my smoke/carbon detectors trip when we're out of the house I'm immediately notified.

You can do all this with a regular alarm panel too of course - that is what a lot of relays were built for - but the Konnected board makes it a snap to expose those to your HA for other purposes.
What alarm system do you have Konnected hooked to?
 

biggen

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I just switched over from the RCA version of the DB1 to the EZVIZ DB1C. I'm finding that the AI detection is also picking up motion outside of the marked area, set on either human or image change detection (running latest firmware). I'm still playing around with the settings to see if I can get it tuned properly. I'll turn it off if if it gets too annoying, the doorbell is monitored by Blue Iris.
Motion detection is working OK for me in the orange painted area only. It seems to properly exclude the area outside of the painted area. However human detection is broken for the painted areas. It definitely includes the entire scene. I've disabled it for now and am just using the MD.

I've also noticed that lots of settings with the Hikvision Batch Config can't be changed. I'm not able to turn WDR on at all using the Batch Config tool. I also can't change the exposure settings. The batch config tool throws an error and crashes when trying to change these items. I was able to remove the EZVIZ overlay logo on the top left of the image with the Batch Config tool however and add the name I wanted as an overlay ("Front Door").
 
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