What IP cameras "just work" in modern browsers ?

adaviel

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I'm looking for a wired HD POE PTZ camera that I can view with any device, probably a smart TV, essentially as a "window" in a windowless room. I may also wish to use it as a security camera, and record events.

I bought a Lorex LNZ32P4 that is fine physically but isn't viewable. I'd assumed it was as in their list of compatible devices it said it worked with Firefox.

I thought we'd moved on from Internet Explorer dependence and plugins, seeing as browser vendors are deprecating plugins as a security risk and websites have moved to W3C compatibility. Modern videoconferencing solutions work in-browser using HTML5 video and WebRTC camera/microphones.

What I'd envisioned was having say 4 cameras on different IP addresses, and say 3 TVs on the same network. Any of them can see any camera just by choosing a bookmark. Same for any computer, tablet, phone etc. without having to install software or apps.

I'm using Linux on my desktop and who knows what OS on the TVs - I haven't bought them yet. I managed to get a picture from the LNZ by running Windows XP in a virtual machine, or using a video player to access the RTSP stream. Not really practical. If the camera would generate HTML5 video with a webm or I think H264 codec, it would be fine - the PTZ controls and setup look good, though the video is a bit laggy.
 

mat200

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I'm looking for a wired HD POE PTZ camera that I can view with any device, probably a smart TV, essentially as a "window" in a windowless room. I may also wish to use it as a security camera, and record events.

I bought a Lorex LNZ32P4 that is fine physically but isn't viewable. I'd assumed it was as in their list of compatible devices it said it worked with Firefox.

I thought we'd moved on from Internet Explorer dependence and plugins, seeing as browser vendors are deprecating plugins as a security risk and websites have moved to W3C compatibility. Modern videoconferencing solutions work in-browser using HTML5 video and WebRTC camera/microphones.

What I'd envisioned was having say 4 cameras on different IP addresses, and say 3 TVs on the same network. Any of them can see any camera just by choosing a bookmark. Same for any computer, tablet, phone etc. without having to install software or apps.

I'm using Linux on my desktop and who knows what OS on the TVs - I haven't bought them yet. I managed to get a picture from the LNZ by running Windows XP in a virtual machine, or using a video player to access the RTSP stream. Not really practical. If the camera would generate HTML5 video with a webm or I think H264 codec, it would be fine - the PTZ controls and setup look good, though the video is a bit laggy.
Welcome @adaviel

Expect to see more development towards html5 standards from security camera OEMs. In general from what I have noticed is that they often are a bit slower than others in the tech industry to have their dev teams on top of the browser standards.
 

alastairstevenson

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Dahua and Hikvision are improving but still mixed support
Hello John,
A useful report - many thanks for opening it for non-members.

On the claimed Hikvision Plugin-free range of cameras, I wondered if in testing you came across the new Windows 'helper program' LocalServiceComponents.exe
I'm wondering if the purpose is to mitigate the rather hefty CPU processing power needed to render video using the websocket (s) protocol?
Also - for reasons I've not explored, the same browser (Firefox, Chrome) works a lot less well in Linux than in Windows when playing video.
 

adaviel

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We (IPVM) have a report on this that I've unlocked - IP Camera Browser Support: Who's Broken / Who Works
The Western commercial brands are mostly there now while Dahua and Hikvision are improving but still mixed support
Thanks. Seems there are a lot more cameras out there than I was aware of. I just found the ispy database with a hint of an undocumented MJPEG URL on my Lorex. That works for me on my Firefox on Linux, but the quality could be better - definite pixellation in some areas, not as good as the RTSP stream I can connect to with a video player, and the controls for tuning the framerate don't seem to affect it.

I found the user manual for the Bosch FLEXIDOME IP starlight 8000i, which from your list should use HTML video. It's not at all clear that it does; the manual talks about RTSP and an ActiveX plugin.

The MJPEG from the Lorex is better than nothing, but I'm still looking for something that will work nicely with a smart TV using HTML <video> tags. I don't really need the fancy security camera features like alarms, motion detection etc., at least not enough to pay a premium for them.
 
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