ACTi ACM-1231 Review

[jhonovich 0]

Bullwinkle, nice job on the IP camera reviews. I enjoyed them.

 

On the topic of testing, good testing takes a lot of time. Testing a broad range of products takes an immense amount of time (thousands of hours).

 

If you are going to test systematically, the costs mount up. One either takes funding from manufacturers/sponsors or charge readers a membership fee (We went the membership route to minimize conflict of interest with the vendors we test - that is, no ads, no sponsors, no testing fees, no consulting, no selling products). We have 4 full time people testing video surveillance products and have done over 70 tests in the last year and a dozen training series. We include video screencasts, video sample downloads and extensive analysis - see a free example - http://ipvideomarket.info/report/testing_trendnets_internet_camera_server_tvip110

 

As for testing analog cameras, we would but we do not receive many requests for that. It seems that most new purchasing decisions are looking at IP.

 

Finally, we are based in Honolulu and the location has not been an issue.

 

I think it's great what Bullwinkle is doing. I shared his site on my Twitter feed and will recommend to others.

[rory 0]

Finally, we are based in Honolulu and the location has not been an issue.

Yeah but isnt that still the US?

[jhonovich 0]

We are in the US but we are a 5 hour flight from the mainland.

 

I am not sure how important being in the US is. For example, over half of our readers and members are outside the US.

 

They say on the Internet you can be a dog. It seems similarly, that you can be based in many different countries.

 

I have obviously never lived in the Bahamas so I cannot understand your situation exactly. On the other hand, we are based in a very remote location and it has not been a problem for us.

[rory 0]

because not being part of a country such as the US or Canada, manufacturers especially those located out of the US, and distributors or reps are reluctant to send anything to this country unless it is paid for up front, in fact in many cases we have to have a US credit card or they wont take our money, most here dont have a US credit card as that means having a US bank account. Additionally not sure if you have the same there but we pay Customs duty on everything that comes here from the US, from 10%-85%, and it doesnt matter if it is listed as FREE, the customs here will look online and put "their" price on it. Then there is the cost of shipping, average $100 for a small item from miami using a freight forwarder which can take anywhere from 1-2 weeks to reach, so that would be 2 ways when we have to send it back. But once again, the manufacturers just wont send us demos like that to begin with.

 

So yes we could do it, but we would have to pay for the item and shipping and duty and then especially in the case of IP cameras have a really hard time trying to sell that down here due to the end user cost. Would need ALOT of money to do something like that and just sit on the products or throw them away when finished testing. Additionally IP cameras have their market but CCTV cameras is a much larger market and I would argue that most new purchasing is still geared towards that over IP cameras.

[jhonovich 0]

Hawaii is a US state so there are no customs. However, higher delivery charges and shipping delays are common.

 

That being said, only about 1/3rd of our tests use manufacturer loaners/samples. We tested over 20 VMS systems and all of them have been downloaded off the Internet. We also buy a significant amount of cameras and devices off of Amazon (though of course this is for lower end IP cameras).

 

While there are barriers, most tests and training for IP video surveillance products can be done without depending on manufacturers physically shipping items.

[rory 0]

I agree that the IP tests can be done as you mentioned, but when testing DVRs and CCTV cameras (non IP) it normally takes hands on physical tests, eg in the case of DVRs, most DVR server software wont run without a card installed.

 

Im just sad that more retailers and distributors dont test their products with day night comparisons, I have recently found just one retailer that is really pushing that now and even have alot of examples on their Youtube account, also it was good to find CNB, a manufacturer, with alot of samples and comparisons on Youtube also - but no real tests though with detailed info.

 

But with non IP cameras .. its going to be mostly people looking to spend less so doubt they would pay a subscription, unless perhaps dealers, but many would not mind ads either. I still feel that would be much easier done by someone located in the US though.

[Tinman55 0]

I was really interested in finding more information about this camera and a BIG thank you to Buellwinkle for his time and evaluation. BUT, DO I have to go through all these crap posts about who knows what or who even cares ?? It seems to me there is a lot of this going on in this forum. Can't you leave out all the BS and just stick to the camera info.

[rory 0]

I was really interested in finding more information about this camera and a BIG thank you to Buellwinkle for his time and evaluation. BUT, DO I have to go through all these crap posts about who knows what or who even cares ?? It seems to me there is a lot of this going on in this forum. Can't you leave out all the BS and just stick to the camera info.

 

This isnt a camera review website, this is a discussion forum.

For camera info please goto the manufacturer's website.

[Tinman55 0]

I thought you were suppose to stick with the topic.....instead of going all over the place. Isn't talking about a camera's performance a discussion ? I can't believe you are a moderator

[rory 0]

I thought you were suppose to stick with the topic.....instead of going all over the place. Isn't talking about a camera's performance a discussion ?

People WERE discussing the camera's performance, among other things related to the camera and reviews, so yes this thread was a discussion which pretty much stayed on topic. As I said if one wants exact info on a camera one should visit the manufacturer's website.

 

I can't believe you are a moderator

Believe it, accept it, or move on.

[Baylab 0]

Let's back to the camera itself

 

In order to get good result from an megapixel IP camera (actually, all most any kind of camera), decent optics is absolutely necessary.

 

The optics with this ACTi camera suffers at least:

 

1) Severe astigmatism at corner and edge area, A decent lens should be astigmatism free, and the resolution at at the corner area should not be worse than 50% of central area. for this lens.

 

2) Not fully corrected for IR illumination. Sure, it is quite difficult to find optics which can produce sharp image in the broad band from visible to IR. You may need put more element inside the lens barrel, and some elements have to be made from expensive low dispersion glass. Therefore it is nearly impossible to find the "affordable" well corrected optics to match this low cost IP megapixel camera.

[buellwinkle 0]

The ability to changes lenses would enhance this camera, but finding a high quality compatible megapixel board mount lens has been the challenge. I would imagine the equivalent bullet cameras from Vivotek and Messoa have the issue of non-changeable lenses. Also, the lens is set at it's widest angle setting, 3.3mm. It does have a lot of barrel distortion, so setting it closer to it's sweet spot, probably around 6mm would give you a better image, but for home use, most people are going to want a wide angle setting.

 

The best IR images come from cameras with a separate night sensor like Mobotix, albeit at a higher price.

[PeteCress 0]

Yeah but how much does a POE switch/router cost?

 

About $20 for the single-camera injector I have, more like sixty bucks for the 4-port switches that I use.

 

Much less per port for something called an "Injector Block" - which I never even knew existed until about 45 seconds ago: http://wifiqos.com/?adsource=injector

 

Next time I get the urge for a POE switch for where there is a router or switch nearby, I'll try an injector block. Certainly the single-device injector that I've been using for several years has been totally trouble-free - just kind of expensive when you start buying multiples of them.