Hi all,

my girls are finally old enough we need to do something about watching them now that they are done with their crib(s), room size is appx. 13'x12' . Was looking for the following : 720P minimum, H.264 or MP4, Good night picture, Wired or Wireless, hopefully minimum 2 stream feed and hopefully under $500. On device storage isn't a big thing to me, but guess would be a potential benefit. Audio would be a near must have, definitely doesn't need to be 2-way, they can hear daddy from anywhere in the house viewable from Android devices would be a necessity . The price isn't set in stone, but just trying to start at a reasonable level. at another site, Buellwinkle gave me this advice :



I hope that covers everything, please let me know if I forgot something or misstated something. I looked at the AVTech, I'd be concerned to use the white LED as they would probably disturb the girls...and that would not be good! The TCM-3511 does have promise though, looking for more opinions on any IP cam that fits the bill.

thank you in advance and hope all is well

Picture of reason leading up to no crib :

I'd take a look at the Axis M1054 as it has two way audio and a LED light. It's not the greatest in lux but the spec from Axis is HONEST. The Axis P1344 with AXIS T90A21 has really impressive low light performance from the videos I've seen. I'm very new to this and I don't know a lot of product yet. The ACTi TCM-1511 might also perform well but I haven't seen sample video of that one yet.

Now that I've looked at the PQ of the cheap ACTi's I'm shocked that the CHEAP UBNT outdoor cam has on par PQ at 30fps with the unoptimized encoder.

I think he preferred not to have to use a model with white LED for night time viewing, which the M1054 uses (and it's "scorching" bright).

There are many decent models for around $500 and under that have been mentioned on the board, but I have to say, in my experience I have yet to find a camera that has decent built in audio (mic) at that price point. Even a $500 Axis M5014 has crappy audio. As buellwinkle mentioned in the quote, to get decent audio, you'll probably need to use a separate mic. Panasonic BL-CXXX series has excellent audio, and a decent day time picture, but no models with BW mode and/or IR LEDs. On the cheap end, the Loftek 3200 offer an average day image, good night image, but not so nice audio (one-way). Just about any of the hundreds of iOS/Android Apps out there can access the Loftek cameras.

The Panasonic cameras are probably the way to go, but they only offer VGA in most models, and one problem that I've encountered is that my Panasonic PT cameras only offer G.726a audio which is incompatible with iOS and possibly android as well.

Yeah the Axis solution isn't the greatest advice. Actually I found better cameras that are very similar in the AVTech product line.

Check these out OP.

http://www.avtech.com.tw/product_series.aspx?psid=PS06

I use IP Cam Viewer Pro on my Android phone and connect to BL-C131A and BL-C230A cameras and the audio is crystal clear. It is true that these home use cameras only offer VGA, but in a child's room, I found that going to MP really doesn't give you that much greater detail or coverage. Unless of course, your kid as a 500 sq foot room The only deal breaker for the OP is that the Panasonic cameras do not have any night capability, so as a baby/kid monitor, it's not that useful in this scenario.

+1 to IP Cam Viewer. I love it. I've used TinyCam Free as well. It's solid... I'm not sure which one I like more just yet. They seem to have similar features.

In regard to the microphone, I used to have a microphone for my computer. It was literally 3 inches long, 3.5mm jack, and that was it. Flexible head, no wires, nothing. Would something like that suit as an acceptable microphone?

I'm asking based on my own curiosity, plus if it's an acceptable option for whymeintrouble, it'll at least be a cheap/low profile upgrade, mic wise, for the camera.

Another to look at in your price range is the Logitech Alert 750n. Works with Blue Iris for android viewing, 130deg wide angle lens, powerline networking, IR and a mic. The older version (this one just came out from the looks of it) had a pretty good quality mic. Should work fine for a kids room monitor.

Y-cams all have mics and WiFi. I have two Y-cam knights in my kids room watching each crib and my wife has her iPhone on all night in the dock watching them using a baby monitor app that plots audio over time on graph below the video stream besides hearing it.

The Y-cam knight are relatively cheap at $250 but only VGA rez and no IR cut filter so reddish picture during the day. They have a outdoor megapixel bullet with IR cut in the $500 range with a mic too.

Pretty sure there are Android apps that support the audio on y-cams as well.

http://www.y-cam.com

The AVtech cameras I've reviewed actually do fairly well in low light even without their crazy Axis M10 series style white LED turned on and have good audio.

Compared to the Panasnoc BL-C230a, it's not not even in the same league. The Avtech's are way better. Look at my review where I compare it to an Axis M10 series, then imagine the Panny is not as good as the Axis in low light. I have one here to review, just haven't gotten around to it yet. It is cute though, specially when the tiny motors start whirring for no reason.

Just want to say thank you for everyones opinion and ideas.

to answer some questions, I already have a mic, so that isn't a big thing. again, 2-way audio is not a must, but would be nice. as long as I can hear them, that is what is important. Also, no LED lights, girls need their sleep.

So far, I'm considering the following cameras :

ACTi TCM-3511
AVTech AVN808
Y-cam Bullet HD YCBLHD5


I think these all qualify for what I would like to use it, been a long week with the wife sick and the girls getting more teeth in, not to mention wife being sick, so I'm not 100% sure I looked at everything correctly..LOL

just want to say thank you to everyone again for giving me ideas and help! hope you have a great start to your week.

The ACTi does work very well with the built in IR illuminators. I have the ACM-3511 and another one it's way. It has 2-way audio but you have to supply the microphone and speaker.

One nice thing about a dome vs the other two is that can't be easily pushed out of the way or if they throw something at it, it won't get knock over.

buellwinkle, thanks for the reassurance. The ACTi is pretty much the one I'm going with unless I hear of something convincingly better. It isn't perfect, but definitely is the best I can find for my current and foreseeable future needs. The AVTech, has my attention but I'm not sure if it is as high quality with only a 1/4" sensor vs 1/3" on the ACTi.

The dome is definitely nice, although it will be relatively high of a mount, it helps to reassure that the kids don't hurt it if they use it for target practice.


I'm figuring on buying Wednesday sometime. depends how busy things get at work, but tentatively it is a go for Wednesday.

is there anyone who can recommend a supplier for this camera?

thanks