Whether you’re looking to secure your home office or you just want to keep an eye on the nanny, having a reliable IP camera can be a very sound investment for many people. To this end, you might want to take a look at the COMPRO Technology’s IP70 network camera.
We had a brief encounter with the COMPRO folks during Computex 2010 in Taiwan, but now we’ve had a better opportunity to toy with this IP camera. Let’s see what it has to offer.
Features at a Glance
While it doesn’t offer the motorized movement of something like the COMPRO IP540P, the COMPRO IP70 is still a very suitable camera that’ll work over your home network. This is a fair bit more powerful than a simple webcam, to say the least.
Taking a trip down the feature list, we discover a 1/3″ CMOS megapixel sensor, built-in IR lamp with light sensor, real-time video compression (H.264, MPEG-4, MJPEG), dual stream support, up to 30 frames per second, two way audio, UPnP support, local storage via microSD slot, and snapshot functionality.
It also comes bundled with the complimentary ComproView software to help you manage all the different features and functions in real time. We’ll get into the software side in just a moment.
What’s in the Box?
Looking inside the box, you are provided with just about everything that you need to get started. You’ll naturally need to supply your own Internet connection, computer, and router though.
Along with the COMPRO IP70 itself, you get the necessary wall adapter for power and a network cable for connecting to your router. There is a USB port in the back of the IP70 for the optional Wi-Fi adapter and, given the relatively short length of the provided network cable, you may need it.
Rounding out the box contents are some mounting screws if you choose to place the camera on a wall or ceiling, the installation CD with all the necessary software, and a basic startup guide with instructions. The product retails for about $160US Online, but it’s availability is spotty.
First Impressions
The COMPRO IP70 is larger than you would normally expect from an ordinary webcam and the assumption there is that it contains some widgetry that isn’t involved with regular webcams. This does make it harder to conceal in rooms you want to monitor though.
The “soft touch” finish is definitely a nice touch and I’m digging the inclusion of two-way audio connectivity. The sound from the microphone is pumped through the stream, just as you can send audio out through the embedded speaker.
It’s also good that the ball-and-socket mounting bracket lets you put this just about anywhere… aside from the cable management issues. But a wireless setup is significantly more costly.
Setup and Configuration
The basic setup process is reasonably straightforward. You pop the provided CD-ROM into a network-connected computer and run through the wizard. It’ll ask for your preferred language, detect the camera on your network, ask if you want to make any changes, and so forth. These include the ability to change the name of the camera, and determine whether it should acquire its IP address automatically. I didn’t see the ability to send recordings to network attached storage, though that can likely be accessed through more advanced settings giving the IP70 a high level of versatility.
You can, however, set it up to stream video over the Internet, allowing you to access the video feed remotely. This can be great if you’re at the office and you want to check in on your house, for example. Or if you’re traveling overseas even.
Performance and Usability
Using the browser-based interface, I dialed into the COMPRO IP70 on my network. As you can see, you can switch between the real size and a full-size viewer (the latter is shown), adjust the brightness level, crank up the volume, and record for later viewing. There’s also a snapshot button if you want to take a quick picture of what you’re currently seeing. The video stream lags a couple of seconds behind reality, but that’s to be expected. It is unfortunate, however, that it has some exposure issues.
When you have uneven lighting, as is the case here with a bright window and dim room, much of the image can turn into a shadow. Even devices like the Flip UltraHD fall into this pit, but I would have liked to have seen this addressed better. We’ll try to post some video clips for you so you can see what we’re talking about on our YouTube Channel.
One of the more interesting features in the COMPRO IP70 is the inclusion of the infrared lighting above the lens. This infrared lighting “clicks” on automatically when the light sensor next to it detects a low-light situation. When the camera is in infrared mode, you lose color information, but you effectively gain night vision. The video feed starts to look like a scene out of Paranormal Activity, but it’s great for a wide range of applications. They don’t call this a day-night camera for nothing.
Final Thoughts
The Compro IP70 brings a fair bit to the table. You get megapixel-quality video feeds and the ability to see in the dark thanks to the infrared technology. That’s good. I also appreciate the higher-end build quality and soft touch finish. The browser-based user interface is reasonably easy to understand and, if you have more than one camera connected to your network, you can access them all from the same screen. It’s a shame, though, that many features (like recording) don’t work outside of Internet Explorer. An error message pops up otherwise in your favourite alternative browsers.
The video quality itself, particularly when it comes to exposure, could use a little bit of work, but you get more than enough detail for regular surveillance applications. In the end, the IP70 is a solid product, but at about $160US online, it might be a little too pricey for what you get. It’s sort of stuck between consumer and pro-sumer, but the price and features don’t match either market.
Pros
- Infrared night vision mode
- Relatively easy to setup and configure
- Remote access via the Internet
- Fit, finish, and build quality are good
- Two-way audio communication
Cons
- No included Wi-Fi connectivity
- Video quality could be improved
- Physically a little larger than expected
- No motorized pan/scan capabilities
Overall Rating: 8.0/10.0
Love This Review? Hate This Review? Leave a Comment or Hit The Forums!
COMPRO Technology’s IP70 Day and Night Megapixel/HD H.264 Network Camera – Photo Gallery
