I tested the recently released D-ViewCam mobile
android app. I'm glad they finally developed it; sorry to say it does not work properly though
.
I wrote a review
TestbedServer: Dviewcam DCS-100 v3.3 DP1.4.2, Win7 x64, 1x DCS-2130 (1280x720 res), 1x DCS-2230 (1920x1080 res), H264 video and G726 audio codecs configured.
Mobile device: Samsung Galaxy S, Android 2.3
It was released as version v1.1 but the truth is it looks like in alpha or beta stages.- The live streams do not work (there is a little workaround to somehow see it partially works I explained below, but it's not permanent).
- The interface is really ugly, it certainly looks like a bad old port from another OS.
- There is no way to view the streams in true fullscreen: the buttons take up a lot of space and do not fade out (e.g. they could be hidden and shown by hitting the android "menu" button). Switching to landscape mode does not help, the displayed video size is small compared to the screen of the mobile device.
- There are no parameters to config nor a settings menu.
- Rotating the mobile phone and therefore switching from portrait to landscape mode or viceversa makes the feeds to unnecessarily reload when they shouldn't.
- You cannot choose which network connection (3G or WiFi) to use/allow.
- Languages: English-only.
- User preferences like which grid view type you want are not saved/remembered.
-
Most of the features like grid view, sound, view saved recordings do not work.
It's getting nothing but negative or poor feedback in Google Play market, I guess they should put some real work into it ASAP.Let's have a close look at the promised features:
- View your surveillance cameras’ live video
Not really working in grid view, appearing as "Disconnect" or "Format Error". Switching to single view still does not get you an image, but after hitting the "L/Q" quality button at least once you'll be able to get a live feed working, with no glitches nor delays but switch back to any kind of grid view or reload the app and you'll get the same "disconnect" or "format error" warning signs. So you can't get it working permanently
- Listen to audio picked up by your cameras
No sound here in any of the cameras. There's no way to switch it on/off so I guess this feature was never developed.
- Get a quick overview of what’s happening with a grid view of your cameras’ live video
Not getting anything in grid view, no picture at all, only the warning signs "Disconnect" or "Format Error". The last version release notes "H.264 codec Support (Mainstream, single channel)", so I guess it does not work in grid view.
- Use pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) controls to adjust your view for supported cameras
The button is there, but I did not test it because I don't have PTZ or ePTZ configured. Pinch zooming works, but does not work as it is supposed to work in the android environment: the zooming gets limited to the original viewing window instead of opening up and little by little spreading the zoomed image finally covering the whole screen .
- Supports camera view preset points to quickly view specific camera angles
Not tested, do not have PTZ nor ePTZ configured.
- Take snapshots of live camera video and save them to your Camera Roll
Tested and working. However, you can't choose where to save them, you aren't told in which folder they're saved in and cannot edit the filename. I browsed and discovered they are saved in /root/Pictures/ folder
- View saved recordings from your cameras
Could not find a way to access the recordings. I don't think there is any as you are not asked to enter the Remote Playback service port when setting up the D-Viewcam server you want to access.
- Send DI/DO signals to trigger devices such as alarms or lights
The menu for this is there, and the DI/DO are shown right. It might work.
- View cameras from multiple servers
Just have one server, so can't say about this. I'll assume it works
I hope this helps.
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Topic: D-ViewCam Mobile App - Comments & Observations (Read 41878 times)