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Thread: Samsung SmartCam SNH-P6410BN: A Review and How-To for the Dashboard

  1. #1
    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    Samsung SmartCam SNH-P6410BN: A Review and How-To for the Dashboard

    The Samsung Smartcam SNH-P6410BN is a HD network camera with Ethernet and dual-band wireless connectivity. I haven't seen many network cameras with dual band support, I this is what first made me want to look further at this model, as I prefer to use the 5GHZ/IEEE802.11a/n as much as possible rather than the more-commonly used 2.5GHz/802.11b/g/n band. I delved into the capabilities a bit more, and found that the camera, while intended for home use, is built on the same software platform as Samsung's commercial security camera products. I was intrigued by what appeared to be overall ease of use in combination with powerful control over the MJPEG video stream.

    cameraimages.png
    Quick specs:
    • HD video up to 1920x1080 pixels
    • H.264 and MJPEG video
    • cloud-based viewing from anywhere using a web browser through Samsung's SmartCam web site
    • cloud-based viewing from anywhere using smartphone apps for Apple and Android devices
    • Direct-to-camera viewing through a web browser
    • IR (infrared) capability for nighttime viewing
    • wide field of view (128 degrees)


    Click here for full specs and more pictures

    Setting up the SmartCam is fairly easy. You connect it to your network via a wired Ethernet connection, or use WPS if you have a WPS-capable router. After that, it can be setup using PC, Mac, or the smartphone app. You must create a www.samsungsmartcam.com account as part of the setup process. If you started with a wired connection, the setup routine will walk you through the process of connecting the camera to your home Wi-Fi if desired. Part of that process, if done on a PC or MAC, involves downloading and installing a browser plugin. I was unable to get the necessary browser plugin to load into Chrome in Windows or Chrome in Mac, but it worked perfectly in Firefox on both platforms. It also worked fine in Safari on Mac. I don't use IE, so I didn't try that.

    PROs:
    • Very good video quality - smooth, clear, jitter-free
    • The IR video is the best I've seen in a consumer-grade camera
    • The MJPG video stream is highly-configurable right in the URL - you can specify easy resolution and frame rate. There are 11 resolutions (video size) available, more than I've seen in any other camera so far. This is a great feature - it means that the video stream can be tailored specifically for viewing in the dashboard tiles without watsing bandwidth.
    • The camera streams video to the Samsung SmartCam cloud only when actually being viewed, unlike some other cloud cameras (like DropCam), which stream video continuously, wasting Internet bandwidth. This is really important for those with lower-speed Internet connections.

    CONs:
    • The camera is not inexpensive: street price is $170-$190
    • The camera supposedly has the capability to turn off authentication for the raw video stream, but I could not get that to work. Also, the camera supposedly has the capability to create view-only user accounts, but I could not get that to work either. This means that you must embed the admin/full-access username and password in the URL used in the Dashboards.
    • The camera's MJPG URLs cannot be used directly in the classic Dashboard; a URL shortener must be used.
    • There is no dynamic DNS support in the camera.

    MIXED:
    • The wide field of view is both a blessing and a curse. First, there is a slight fish-eye effect. Second, finding the right position for it could be a real challenge for some, especially for those with smaller tanks like me. On the flip side, the wide field of view might be perfect for those with large tanks or for use as a fishroom or sump 'cam. The excellent IR video & wide field of view makes it an especially good choice for installation in the sump area.
    • The mount seems a bit flimsy, but it does allow for good flexibility in mounting. Additional mounting options can be obtained by reversing the mount. Just unscrew the large knob, flip the mount, and reinstall the screw.


    Here is a medium-res snapshot:

    Capture.jpg

    And a IR image:
    UV.jpg

    Here is how I have it mounted temporarily (if I decide to keep it here, the power cord will be come invisible). As you can see, the camera is mounted only about 8 inches above the water line. The tank is a IM Nuvo 38 (heavily modified by gutting the AIO part and making a new back wall and external overflow). The open area is about 24" wide by 17.5" deep. You can really see how wide the view angle is.

    cam.jpg

    - - - Updated - - -

    Setup in the APEX Fusion Dashboard:

    The simplest / basic URL to be used is in this format:

    Code:
    http://username:password@ip-address-or-dynamic-dns-hostname:port/cgi-bin/video.cgi?msubmenu=mjpg
    The above URL will give max resolution, which is not ideal - the Fusion tile will scale it down, with a resultant loss of quality. Additional parameters can be specified in the URL:

    Code:
    http://username:password@ip-address-or-dynamic-dns-hostname:port/cgi-bin/video.cgi?msubmenu=mjpg&resolution=X&frate=Y
    In the above example, X = a numeric value corresponding to the desired video stream resolution/size and Y = a value for the desired frame rate in frames per second (fps). The possibilities are:

    parameters.png

    The frame rate parameter is entirely optional; if not specified, the highest frame rate supported for the designated resolution will be used.

    For use in the Dashboard tiles, I suggest a resolution setting having a 4:3 format; if you use a HD/widescreen format, there will be gray bars above and below the video image. I think 1024x768 or 800x600 are the best choices. For frame rate, I suggest 15 - a good mix of update rate vs bandwidth consumption.

    Additional examples:

    1024x768 @ 15fps:
    Code:
    http://username:password@ip-address-or-dynamic-dns-hostname:port/cgi-bin/video.cgi?msubmenu=mjpg&resolution=4
    No frame rate is specified in this example, because the max frame rate for resolution #4 (1024x768) is 15fps.

    800x600 @ 15fps:
    Code:
    http://username:password@ip-address-or-dynamic-dns-hostname:port/cgi-bin/video.cgi?msubmenu=mjpg&resolution=6&frate=15
    Optionally, still images can be grabbed with your choice of image size/resolution:

    Code:
    http://username:password@ip-address-or-dynamic-dns-hostname:port/cgi-bin/video.cgi?msubmenu=jpg&resolution=X
    The on-screen time/date display is optional.

    As mentioned earlier, the classic Dashboard video tile will not work with the URLs listed here. But it works fine if you use a URL shortener service like goo.gl or tiny.cc


    For those who are technically savvy and like to tinker: I found a detailed http API document for Samsung's commercial cameras; many of the advanced commands I tried work do with this camera. Through http commands, you can do things like adjust the saturation and gamma, white balance settings, NTP settings, etc. PM me if interested in this API.
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

  2. #2
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    This is a great write-up, thank you. I couldn't help but wonder though, if products like this one require that the video is sent to the respective company's website/server? At first glance, you mentioned that the video feeds to the Samsung Cloud. Really? I'm not sure that I would want my video feed sent out to the World, for any reason.

  3. #3
    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    Samsung SmartCam SNH-P6410BN: A Review and How-To for the Dashboard

    As mentioned, the video is only sent to the cloud when actually being viewed. So if you aren't watching, no video is sent. There's no capability for anonymous viewing through the Samsung camera website, so there's no privacy issue.

    Once the camera is setup, you can delete it from your account. But you'd lose a lot of functionality such as using the Apple or android app and viewing the video through a browser from anywhere (unless you setup port forwarding to access direct access from the Internet to the camera)
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

  4. #4
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    Hi Russ,

    Thanks for clarifying. Any video sent to someone else's server is not something that I'm personally comfortable with, that's all I was getting at. I have used IP cameras in the past for security / monitoring, and couldn't imagine video of my home and/or property being sent out to the cloud on someone's server. I'm comfortable with setting up web-based access directly to IP cameras, so it's great to know this camera has a web server built-in for that purpose, which makes it very attractive, but only if the stream up to the Samsung site can be completely disabled of course. Thanks again for the post.

  5. #5
    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    I hear ya. If I had cameras in other places besides my tank area where family could possibly be seen, I'd be much more concerned.

    My wife and I don't go skinny-dipping in my tank, (or wouldn't even if it were big enough) and I have all three of my cameras positioned so that no one can see anything but tank stuff, even if they found the video stream. One camera has no authentication for the video stream, but that's Ok with me; it's mounted 8" from the side of the tank and therefore has a relatively small view zone - if someone wants to watch my clownfish "get it on" they are welcome to so
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

  6. #6
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    Ok, so that made my day! *grin*

    This camera seems to be one of the best on the short-list of candidates. Thanks again for bringing awareness to the forum!

  7. #7
    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    Bad news! I have been advised that Samsung has removed or disabled MJPEG capability in the latest firmware, v1.07.
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

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