INTRODUCTION
Largely thanks to the global crisis of the economy crime rate is on the rise around the globe and so it comes as little surprise that most people i know are either building complete security systems worth thousands of euros or just settle for a basic surveillance system. Of course there are always those who can afford to have a private security cruiser from a serious security firm check on their house several times a day but that's simply not possible for most people. Personally I’ve always chosen to build my own alarm/security systems using both motion/alarm sensors and IP Cameras, something which is possible for everyone without having to spend many of your monthly paychecks to do so. Today we are going to see such a device and more specifically the OD-2025HD 2 Megapixel Outdoor 30fps 25 meter IR IP Camera by Airlive.
The manufacturer of AirLive® products, OvisLink Corp. was founded in 1993 in Taiwan by a group of industrial experts who set out to provide the best combination of quality, service, technology and value in the industry. Today, OvisLink Corp. is an international corporation, total networking solution provider with over 200 products and with hundreds of distributors around the world. Our industry technology leadership is indisputable. OvisLink Corp. was the first company in Taiwan to introduce Fast-Ethernet NICs and Switches when IEEE 802.3u standard was established in 1996. Moreover, OvisLink Corp. entered the WLAN market in 2001 with the AirLive® series and became the major provider of wireless solutions. In 2004, Our WMU-9000VPN multimedia router won the Best of Computex award for its excellent multi-function capability. When you choose us as a partner, you can be sure that we will provide you with the latest innovative solutions.
Airlive was amongst the first manufacturers to release a Full HD (1080p) IP Camera roughly a year ago and ever since then the OD-2025HD is considered to be amongst the best around the same price range. What's somewhat strange however is that we have yet to see many 2 Megapixel/Full HD IP Camera models to hit the market and since normal 1.3MP models offer almost half the resolution i sure hope that changes soon. Now as you can see from the intro picture the OD-2025HD is a steady IP Camera housed inside an IP-66 weatherproof enclosure which can withstand pretty much anything thrown at it by nature (hurricanes excluded). What makes the OD-2025HD quite unique however are the 4.0mm wide angle lens used which allow you to pretty much see everything inside an 87 degree horizontal angle a number which is quite impressive since most IP Cameras cover less than 50 degrees. Finally as expected from such a high end model the OD-2025HD also features a quite impressive night vision mode with the help of 24 IR LEDs which can illuminate a distance of up to 25 meters. Time however to take a closer look and see exactly what you can expect from the OD-2025HD 2 Megapixel Outdoor 30fps 25 meter IR IP Camera by Airlive.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS
The OD-2025HD IP Camera gets shipped inside a large white box with a product image at the front right next to its list of features.
The main features are also listed at the right side of the box right next to a topology diagram.
The same list is also present at the left side of the box along with a product image pointing out the available connectors.
At the top of the box Airlive has placed the unit’s features and specifications in 13 different languages.
The OD-2025HD is safely placed between two thick Styrofoam spacers.
The bundle contents include the OD-2025HD IP Camera, wall base, 2 software CDs with surveillance software for up to 64 IP Cameras, quick setup guide, AC power adapter, DIDO alarm module and all the necessary mounting screws.
THE AIRCAM OD-2025HD
The IP-66 wheatherproof certified housing measures 97mm in length, 86mm in width and 81mm in height.
The 2MP (Megapixel) CMOS sensor can record Full HD (1080p) video at 30fps while the wide angle 4.0mm lens can monitor anything inside an horizontal angle of up to 87 degrees. You can remove the front cover and manually setup the lens (focus) for the best possible result if by default the unit is out of focus. Also the 24 surrounding IR LEDs can illuminate a distance of up to 25 meters.
The Airlive logo is placed on both sides of the top cover.
The top cover/shield is large enough to cover the entire camera however you will need to slide it towards the front to provide the best possible protection for the lens.
There are two positions (holes) you can use for the top cover, according to the angle you use the camera at.
Here you can see the top cover all the way retracted and extended.
Personally i think that the first position is also the best if you use the camera at an angle (facing down).
At the rear end the OD-2025HD comes with everything you'd ever need including a DIDO alarm connector, BNC connector, AC power plug, Microphone mini-jack, reset button, Audio out mini-jack and the RJ45 Ethernet port.
Turning the device over we see a large sticker with the default IP address, user name and password of the unit.
The holes at the bottom of the camera are used to mount the wall base.
As you can see the wall base is not very thick (would prefer it that way) but it gets the job done.
To mount the camera you will need to remove the small upper/front part of the base, attach it onto the camera and then attach it with the camera onto the rest of the base. You can also adjust the vertical angle from the small upper part (lower screw).
The screws found at the bottom of the wall base allow you to adjust the horizontal position of the camera.
WEB INTERFACE PART 1
Prior to actually using the OD-2025HD i really suggest heading over to the official Airlive support page and grab the latest firmware (updated quite frequently).
You can then access the web interface by logging onto the default IP address of the unit with the default user name and password. Once you do that you will also have to accept the installation of the required ActiveX add-on by Airlive as seen above.
The main page of the web interface is also the live feed page and here you can finally see the combined result from both the wide angle lens and the Full HD/2MP resolution (unfortunately i installed the camera with a small angle to the right).
Night mode is quite impressive/strong since the distance between the OD-2025HD and the houses with the multiple tents is well over 40 meters.
WEB INTERFACE PART 2
Inside the network tab you can manually set/change the IP address of the unit, enable/disable HTTPS, use a DDNS service (dyndns.org/no-ip.com), enable/disable PPPoE, set the port for streaming, enable/disable UPNP, enable/disable the Bonjour service, enable/disable the ONVIF function, set IP filtering and also enable/disable SMTP/HTTP notifications.
The Camera tab includes almost everything related to image quality so you will certainly want to spend time here in order to get the best possible outcome.
Under the system tab you can read the camera logs, turn on/off the network/power LED, enable/disable the dynamic IP service (DIPS), adjust date and time, restore the factory settings, backup your current settings and also perform firmware updates.
The second most important tab inside the settings screen is the video tab since here you can switch between 720p and 2MP (1080p) modes, adjust the screen overlay options (date/time/color) and also set different parameters (resolution, video type, frame rate, multicast, ROI) for a total of 20 profiles.
The rest of the tabs are very easy to use and allow you to switch between one/two way audio, add/remove viewer accounts, bind an email account (SMTP) with the camera, enable/disable motion detection windows, setup the SAMBA server function, enable/disable continuous recording (through the SAMBA server), play/delete saved recordings, add/modify/remove various FTP/TCP/HTTP/SAMBA server events and finally schedule events triggered by specific preconfigured events.
CAMPRO HD SOFTWARE
Airlive also bundles their CAMPRO HD software with the OD-2025HD but since you may have an older version i suggest checking their official support page for the latest one.
The very first time you start the program enter as default user name admin and leave the password blank (until you set one yourself).
As you can see by default the software starts in 4-window mode and since it's still not configured all 4 windows are empty.
You can setup your camera(s) by heading inside the System Setup tab and clicking on the search button (if that fails you need to enter manually the user name, password and IP address of the camera).
Once you setup your camera(s) you can switch between the various window modes from single and 4-way up to the highest 64-way mode.
You can also use your own emap (house/office/company drawing) to know where each of your IP cameras is located (quite useful if you have lots).
CONCLUSION
After testing the Airlive OD-2025HD for almost 3 months (and with 3 different firmware updates) i can say with certainty that it's perhaps the most impressive and complete IP Camera model i have used to date not only because it features a 2 Megapixel CMOS resolution and can record Full HD video (1080p@30fps) but because it also comes with an IP-66 weatherproof housing (withstood heavy rain, hail and direct sun during testing and still looks like brand new), night vision effective up to 25 meters (although from the web interface snapshot you can see it's a lot more effective) and wide angle lens (4.0mm/ 87 degrees) allowing you to record everything that happens inside an 24m wide area from just 20 meters away. The web interface is also extremely complete and has everything even the most demanding professional would ever wish for, however that also means that you will have to spent quite some time playing/adjusting with all the various settings until you find the correct ones suitable for your needs. Last but not least you can use the OD-2025HD with one of the many free android apps out there such us the IP Camera Viewer Lite/Basic/Pro (those are the ones i tested it with) if you want to have access to it from your smartphone. With all these in mind i have to say that had Airlive also added a Pan/Tilt function with the OD-2025HD i' quite certain that it would be the perfect IP Camera in its price range but i guess we just can't have it all.
Currently the OD-2025HD 2 Megapixel Outdoor 30fps 25 meter IR IP Camera by Airlive retails at around USD490 inside the USA and 370Euros inside the EU a price tag which is not really much, not for an Full HD IP Camera model with such an array of features. Certainly in the end it all comes down to what use you want the IP Camera for and how much you are willing to spend so for many people (for example people who only want to monitor their front door) the OD-2025HD may just be a bit overkill in terms of features, viewing angle, resolution and price. However if your goal is to monitor a large area and you need a wide angle lens IP Camera with a very good resolution then i really doubt that there's a sub USD500/500Euros one that can compete with the OD-2025HD (at least not currently) and that's why it's on the receiving end of our Platinum Award.
PROS
- 2MP CMOS Sensor
- Support up to 1080P@30fps
- Wide Angle Lens (4.0mm/87 Degrees)
- IP-66 Weatherproof Housing
- 25m Effective Night Vision
- H.264/MPEG/MJPEG Support
- ONVIF Compatible
- Two Way Audio
- Support For Samba Server
- Works With IP Cam Viewer Lite/Basic/Pro For Android
- Web Interface
- CamPro HD Software
CONS
- Price (For Some)