What our experts say …
As recently as a couple of years ago equipping an IP camera with a 1.3 megapixel sensor would have seemed somewhat extravagant, to say the least.
No matter how good the image coming off the camera chip might be, by the time it’s been through the digital mill and squeezed through a computer network and displayed on a old or sluggish PC what emerges at the other end tends to be a bit ragged around the edges.
In side-by-side comparisons with analogue cameras, IP products almost always come off worst, but with ongoing improvements in digital processing, data compression and PC graphics things are changing fast.
IP camera technology still has an image problem, in all senses of the word, but with products like the Panasonic WV-NF302 fixed dome camera coming on to the market, long held perceptions could be about to change.
To demonstrate this camera and the worth of a megapixel image sensor, all an aspiring salesperson has to do is click the snapshot button on the camera’s PC viewer window, and if the resultant still picture doesn’t impress, nothing will. Quite simply the quality puts many dedicated digital still cameras to shame, but pin-sharp stills are only a small part of the story.
The WV-NF305 has a feature list as long as your arm so we’ll confine ourselves to the highlights, which begin with that 1.3-inch progressive scan image sensor and its 1280 x 960 pixel array. Although it’s billed as a day/night camera, low light performance is fairly average, rated at 1.5 lux (colour) and 0.9 lux in black and white, and there’s no active IR filtering and colour/monochrome switching is purely electronic.
Adaptive Black Stretch (ABS) helps improve image quality in difficult lighting conditions by tweaking gamma correction to bring up detail in darker areas of the image; the auto exposure system has presets for indoor and outdoor operation and there’s a 2-stage electronic zoom. Focusing is manual but there’s an interesting feature called Focus Assist (FA), which we’ll be looking at in more detail in a moment.
MPEG4 and JPEG compression provides two simultaneous data streams with frame rates of up to 30fps, there’s a 4-zone video motion detector, 8-zone privacy mask, camera title, time and date display, event, scheduled and off-line recording to a SD memory card, bi-directional audio, FTP upload and email notification, alarm and recording log and the whole caboodle is protected by a ruggedised housing.
On the underside there is a recess with sockets for the Ethernet cable, power supply, external microphone and speaker. There’s also a 4-way spring terminal for any external alarm connections. Mounting is a breeze and the camera attaches to a mounting plate using a simple bayonet fixing.
The case design is a little unusual and the tough metal body and polycarbonate dome are effectively a single assembly that slips over the camera module. This comprises a plastic shroud over a sturdy steel chassis, with the actual camera mounted on the top, attached to a lockable three-axis mount that allows it to tilt, pan and rotate. The camera is fitted with a 2.8 – 100mm lens with independent and lockable focus and tele/wide adjustments.
Setup and operation
Once the camera has been powered up and connected to the network the first job is to use a PC to check that it is there and ready to use by loading a configuration utility that’s included on the supplied CD ROM. If all’s well ,the camera’s IP address is displayed and if required this, and several other key network parameters can be changed. The small Active X Camera Viewer applet can also be loaded from the CD, or downloaded from the camera on first connection.
Unfortunately it’s all rather Windows-centric and in addition to only running on relatively high spec XP and Vista computers, it also depends on Internet Explorer v6 or higher.
Providing those criteria are met, all that’s needed to display a picture and access the camera’s setup menus is to open Internet Explorer and enter the camera’s IP address. All being well the viewer window opens, displaying the live image.
At least that’s the theory… Hopefully it will happen that way for most users but true to form, we ran into a brick wall using the suggested default IP address in the 192.168 range. The usual rigmarole of disabling and reconfiguring firewalls, changing address ranges and much pinging of IP addresses ensued, but all to no avail. Fortunately we’ve been here many times before and after running Windows ipconfig we determined that it should be possible to use the 24-bit block 10.0.0.0 address range and after a couple of minutes changing the camera’s IP address full two-way comms were established. The fun and games weren’t quiet over and the Active X viewer had to be re-installed a couple of times before a picture appeared – the browser displayed it momentarily but then insisted the installation was repeated – but eventually it settled down and we got there in the end.
By default no password protection is needed to access the live streamed image, and the main viewer window allows the user to change the compression codec, alter the zoom setting, take snapshots and change the display layout. A username and password is required, however, to open the Setup menu. Once entered this opens a new two-pane browser window with the menu options down the left side. From top to bottom these are: Basic, Image/Audio, Multi Screen, Alarm, User Mgr, Server, Network, Schedule, Maintenance and Help.
Selecting a menu item opens a tabbed window on the right of the screen. The Basic menu covers setting time and date and camera onscreen displays, which include a resizable and positionable title and time and date stamp, status display, alarm status and switches for the automatic viewer download. Two other tabs provide access to the SD memory card controls and file settings and locations for the various alarm, system and communications logs.
The Image/Audio menu deals with image frame rate (0.1 – 30fps in 12 steps), image capture size (QVGA, VGA or 1280 x 960), image quality (super-fine to low in 9 steps) and MPEG 4 and JPEG configuration. Two other tabs on this menu have controls for image and exposure (black stretch, light control mode, backlight compensation, privacy mask AGC, slow shutter. Colour/B&W mode, white balance, chroma gain, aperture and pedestal levels), and setup for the 8-colour coded privacy zones.
The third, Audio tab has switches for enabling the audio link, microphone input level, output volume and permission level.
MultiScreen is used when viewing multiple cameras and determines camera position on the selectable 2 x 2, and 4 x 4 layouts. The Alarm menu covers motion detector setup, alarm image capture, compression level and quality, output terminal setup and on-screen displays.
The Notification tab is used to setup email addresses and image attachment. User Management is the camera’s security centre, responsible for setting up user access, passwords and access level (Administrator, Camera Controls or Live View only).
The Focus Assistant feature turned out to be unexpectedly helpful, though it is by no means infallible. Pressing the button on the unit brings up a horizontal bar showing what the camera determines to be the optimum focus setting, based on an unquantified measurement called Peak Hold.
The idea is to align a couple of arrows, by adjusting the focus and tele-wide levers on the lens; when the two arrows meet, ‘Best Focus’ appears on the screen. What makes it so useful is that it helps to overcome network delays, which can make setting focus from a remote PC screen a real chore.
If the camera gets it right – and it’s quite obvious from the image – then it’s quick and easy, however, occasionally, in poor light, it gets it horribly wrong and you can waste a lot of time chasing your tail, at which point it’s time to switch to the traditional method of twiddle, wait and watch.
Performance
We weren’t expecting to be saying this anytime soon but under ideal conditions, and all other things being equal, the image from the WV-NF302 is actually better than some mid-range analogue cameras.
Of course that needs some qualification, and crude comparisons like this can be misleading but with the PC screen viewer in full screen mode, sat alongside an similar sized video monitor fed by an analogue camera, it takes a practised eye to tell the difference when it comes to the basics, like the amount of detail, colour accuracy and contrast balance.
Needless to say it’s not too difficult to tell which image is coming from a network camera, occasional artefacts and the inevitable lag are all easy to spot but when it comes to plain and simple picture quality, the NF302 is definitely well inside the analogue camera ballpark.
The does have a few shortcomings, and low light performance is one of them. When light levels fall the image rapidly deteriorates with increasing pixellation and motion artefacts, and the automatic switch to black and white mode doesn’t really do much to improve the situation. It needs light, and lots of it!
The exposure controls are all a bit basic and may even contribute to the camera’s lack of sparkle at lower light levels.
There are no problems over construction and build quality, though and it didn’t flinch during the customary beating with the Security Installer rubber mallet.
What the manufacturer says …
A new addition to Panasonic’s leading line of i-Pro network video systems, the WV-NF302 features a 1280 x 960 megapixel image sensor with MPEG/JPEG digital output at a VGA image size up to 30 ips, and dual streaming capabilities for optimum surveillance.
The unobtrusive design of the WV-NF302 is complemented by its heavy duty metal body and polycarbonate dome cover. This is a high-performance and durable camera, suitable for demanding applications.
The innovative camera features PoE and built-in video motion detection (VMD), providing progressive output for clear moving images. Adaptive Black Stretch (ABS) enhances visibility of dark areas without compromising possible bright areas in the same scene.
A RGB filter is also incorporated for superior colour reproduction along with focus assist, an in-screen optimal focus adjustment. The SD memory card slot located on the camera provides backup of possibly crucial footage, in case of a network failure.
In addition to its impressive image quality and features, the WV-NF302 has been designed for easy installation with an analogue monitor output allowing quick verification of camera adjustments.
A three-way hinge with both horizontal, vertical and swivel rotation adjustments provide flexibility of footage from a wide angled frame. Various options for either surface and embedded mounting as well as mounting in a standard electrical junction box are available in the package.
Overall assessment
Given the opportunity, there are a couple of things that we would change, and they include the initial network setup. If our experiences are anything to go by, it could prove quite challenging. The SD card reader is a great idea but having the slot inside is a bit of a pain; an access door on the side or even on the base would make life much easier.
On the plus side, IP camera picture quality comes of age with the WV-NF302, with the proviso that it needs plenty of light. But no doubt they’re working on that and when it happens one of the oldest and most compelling arguments in favour of analogue camera systems is going to disappear.
