A Samsung SDE-120 Security Camera with DVR System with four cameras was installed. The unit has performed as advertised and is a good system for home installation.
The system has several nice features. There is a single cable to each camera. It provides power and receives video. The Samsung system also is built with about an 18" pigtail at the camera so the actual connector can be stowed out of the weather. The cameras are very rugged and housed in a single piece of what seems to be Aluminum.
Web browser access is available and works well. However, viewing four cameras simultaneously or doing search and playback via the browser requires Microsoft Internet Explorer with an Active X plugin. Safari on the iPhone and on Mac OS X works very good for viewing one camera at a time. The mobile browser format is quite good.
Exporting video uses the IMM4 codec. That codec is not available for Mac OS X so the videos cannot be viewed on a Mac. The export process includes a setup.exe file that installs the IMM4 codec on Windows computers.
Email alarms have not performed as expected. There is no way to schedule alarms for only part of the day. So far, each time an email alarm is sent, it only sends the camera 4 image.
There is a converter for the IMM4 files that runs on Windows. After conversion, the video files can be played on a Mac and edited in iMovie.
Forum reference: http://www.techsupportforum.com/design-forum/graphic-design-digital-imaging-multimedia/312934-video-codec.html
Converter site: http://www.tmpgenc.net/
We installed the Samsung SME-2220 (which is a similar system, just has everything built into the monitor) in our business. Do you think Samsung is working on supplying the IMM5 codec to Mac OSX? We just had a break in and it is very frustrating that the system provides such an obscure video file. Thought we would be safe since it uses H.264 which is native on the Mac. Thanks for any info.
ReplyDeleteChad W.
Anonymous, I don't have any information on Samsung's plans. I have added references to a IMM4 converter to the post above. May be useful if you have access to a Windows machine.
ReplyDeletePaul, in regards to the IMM4 converter, would this work for IMM5? i have some video to convert and the IMM5 codec seems as rare as chicken teeth. Is there a direct link where the file can be downloaded?, as the download website is a bit of a maze of things to download. Thanks
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