Comparison Xiaomi Smart Camera C300 vs TP-LINK Tapo C210

The case type describes not only its shape, but also some layout features that can affect the functionality of the product.

— Dome. In accordance with the name, on the body of such a camera there is a characteristic transparent dome, inside of which there is a lens — and, usually, controlled by PTZ (see "Camera capabilities"). The dome not only protects the optics from various adverse factors (such as dirt or moisture), but in many models it also hides the position of the lens; for this it is darkened. Thus, the object of observation does not know where the camera is pointed, which is useful in some cases (for example, when observing a suspicious visitor in a supermarket). At the same time, for a number of reasons, this option is poorly suited for advanced optics with large dimensions.

— Directed. Directional cameras are called cameras in which the lens "looks" along the body. This arrangement allows the use of powerful lenses with good aperture and optical zoom (see below), but the cameras are also quite bulky.

— Directional ( without a lens). A variation of the directional cameras described above, which has interchangeable lenses; The lenses themselves are usually not included in the kit, they must be purchased separately. The meaning of such a configuration is that the user can independently choose optics for specific needs. This categor...y includes mostly fairly advanced models.

— Hidden. This category includes cameras of a small size, which allows them to be installed discreetly — for example, in a wall niche. However, even with an external installation (this option, usually, is also allowed), such devices are also very inconspicuous due to the mentioned compactness. By itself, the body shape of hidden cameras is most often close to directional (see above), although there may be different options.

— Desktop. Cameras designed to be mounted on a tabletop or other flat, horizontal surface. For this, an appropriate stand is provided in the design; it can have movable mounts that allow you to tilt the camera and rotate it from side to side. The main advantage of such cameras is the utmost ease of installation; this, in particular, makes them almost perfect for home use.

— Portable with fastening. In fact, it is a kind of desktop cameras (see the relevant paragraph), in which the stand can be used not only for installation on a horizontal surface, but also for wall mounting. From other "wall" varieties — hidden and directional (see relevant paragraphs) — cameras of this type differ in layout: their body is usually flat, rectangular or oval, and the lens is located on the widest edge (similar to how it is done in mobile phones ). The mount is often made movable, to adjust for tilt and/or rotation.

Compatibility of the camera with one or another cloud storage. This paragraph may indicate the very fact of compatibility or specify the specific service (services) for which the device is designed — usually it is Google Drive or Yandex Drive, and often both at once.

Recall that cloud storage is an information storage system located on remote servers. Data is transmitted to such a system via the Internet, and the owner can also access them via the World Wide Web, regardless of their own location. In addition, modern "clouds" allow you to share selected information with other users. The basic functionality of such services and a certain amount of disk space are usually available for free, but for advanced features and increased storage, payment is required (one-time or regular subscription, depending on the specific service).

Specifically, in this case, compatibility with cloud storage means that the camera is able to directly transfer footage and other information to such storage. This provides two important advantages at once. The first has already been mentioned — the ability to work with videos (view, copy, share, etc.) from almost anywhere in the world where there is access to the Internet. The second point is additional reliability and security: even if the surveillance system's own storage device (recorder, local server, etc.) is damaged or destroyed, a copy of the footage will still remain in the "cloud".
<...Br> Note that cloud storage support is also found in registrars with network capabilities. However, the purchase of cameras with such functionality is convenient because such cameras do not need additional equipment to work with the "cloud".

Active protection methods implemented in the camera.

By itself, this function is intended to cause discomfort to the attacker and scare him away, as well as draw attention to the situation. It can be activated both manually and automatically (for example, by a motion sensor or a signal to the alarm input of the camera). There are two main types of active protection:

— Light (strobe). A bright light source that flashes at a rate of several flashes per second. Immediately after turning on, the strobe is capable of disorienting a person for several seconds, and even after that, the flashing light makes it difficult to coordinate and move quickly; all this can give security officers additional time to react to the situation. In addition, flashes are clearly visible not only with a direct look, but also with peripheral vision, and in the form of reflections.

— Sound (siren). A loud beep that is almost guaranteed to attract the attention of people nearby. In some models, the volume of the siren reaches 110 dB — this is comparable to the engine of an old tractor and only slightly below the pain threshold of a person.

Each of these options has its own advantages, and it is not difficult to combine them in one device. Therefore, most modern cameras with active protection use both methods described above at once.

Operating range of the backlight (see "Design and capabilities") installed in the surveillance camera. This term usually means the maximum distance from the camera to the observed object, at which it is able to provide a relatively high-quality and legible image in the complete absence of other light sources. Of course, the actual backlight range may differ from the claimed one, and these differences are most often in the direction of increase (for example, due to the presence of the same additional light sources). However, if the possibility of shooting with backlight is important for you, you should focus on the claimed range.

Functions that automate the process of video monitoring, analysis and response to events, which helps to minimize the human factor and increase the efficiency of video surveillance systems.

— Perimeter protection. This option is used when deploying complex video surveillance systems with a recorder and cameras, combining the expanded functionality of intelligent video analytics capabilities for monitoring boundaries. Perimeter protection can cover various functions, for example, tracking the intersection of virtual lines, the appearance or disappearance of objects in the frame, setting up protected zones, if the boundaries of which are violated, an alarm will be activated, and so on. The full list of features should be specified separately. It is important to note that for the listed functions, analysis of objects in the frame can be used - detection of people, classification of vehicles, etc.

— Definition of a person. Cameras with this function can detect the presence of people in the frame by the characteristic outlines of their silhouettes. Once a person's presence is detected, an alarm can be activated, and moving PTZ cameras can follow people in the frame.

— Definition of a car. The ability of a video surveillance camera to automatically recognize and highlight objects in the frame that are vehicles. This can be useful for monitoring t...raffic, controlling parking, or ensuring the safety of roads within a controlled perimeter. A more advanced implementation of this function is license plate recognition (see below).

— Definition of animal. The function of identifying various “living creatures” in the frame: pets, neighbor’s cats and dogs, alien wild animals, etc. Video surveillance systems with this functionality can be used to minimize false alarms, monitor pets to make sure they are safe and in order, and to solve other similar problems.

— License plate recognition. Special tools that provide additional capabilities for reading license plates. The specific capabilities of such tools may be different in different models; they should be clarified separately. So, some cameras only read letters and numbers and transmit the information to the recorder for further processing. Others have built-in databases, so they can compare the read number with the base and provide various actions depending on the result - for example, send a signal to open the barrier if the number is “allowed”. However, in any case, cameras with this feature are well suited for objects where it is necessary to control the movement of cars - for example, parking lots (including closed service ones).

— Facial recognition. Cameras with this function are able to at least recognize the presence of faces in the frame; but the further use of this data and the special functionality of such cameras may be different. Thus, relatively simple models react only to the very fact of detecting a face, but even this provides quite extensive additional capabilities: focusing on a face, tracking a person in the frame (in moving PTZ cameras), etc. And more advanced cameras can recognize characteristic features faces by which a specific person can be identified. This functionality, among other things, allows the surveillance system to compare the faces “seen” by the camera with the stored database and take various actions based on this - for example, allow or deny access, warn about an unwanted visitor or unauthorized use of a key card, etc. P.
Note that face recognition tools can also be found in recorders to which cameras are connected. However, the presence of such functions in the cameras themselves can also be useful - especially if the existing recorder “does not shine with capabilities” in this regard, or the system does not have a recorder at all (for example, it consists of IP cameras connected via a router to a PC).

— People counting. A function that allows the camera to count the number of people in the frame; the received data is stored in its own memory and can be sent to a recorder or other external device. Note that in most models this feature is combined with the face recognition described above, thanks to which the camera is able not only to count all people in a row, but to recognize tech who are in the frame again. However, people counting can be used for both statistical and security purposes. For example, at large facilities such as office and shopping centers, it allows you to determine whether all visitors who entered the premises left it before the end of working hours.

The size of the matrix installed in the surveillance camera (diagonally).

In general, larger sensors (with the same resolution and sensor type) are considered more advanced: they get more light, which has a positive effect on image quality (especially in low light). On the other hand, increasing the size affects the cost of the entire device; and in some cases (for example, if the camera is not planned to be used in twilight and darkness), a relatively small sensor may be quite suitable.

As for specific dimensions, the most modest cameras in terms of this indicator have matrices of 1/4 "or less. Models with sensors of 1/3.8" - 1/3" and 1/2.9" - 1/2" are very popular, these values can be called average. And in advanced devices, diagonals and more than 1/2 "(up to 1/1.7") are found.

The maximum frame rate in the video captured by the camera.

The higher the frame rate, the clearer the image, the less noticeable blurring when moving in the frame (especially fast). On the other hand, this indicator affects the amount of information recorded during shooting, as well as the cost of the camera itself. Therefore, it makes sense to specifically look for a video surveillance camera with high-speed shooting(45 fps and higher) only if a clear recording of fast moving objects is important to you.

Aperture of the lens installed in the camera.

Aperture characterizes the degree of attenuation of the light flux when passing from the front lens of the lens to the matrix. It is denoted as the ratio of the diameter of the active aperture of the lens to the focal length, while the size of the active aperture is designated as f and is taken as a unit — for example, f / 1.4 or f / 2.0. Moreover, the smaller the number in the designation, the higher the aperture (in our example, the second lens will be darker than the first). And for lenses with a variable focal length (see "Focal"), the actual aperture, usually, changes with a change in focal length; for such models, either the range of aperture values, or its maximum value, can be indicated.

By itself, this parameter characterizes, first of all, how light the image taken through the lens turns out, all other things being equal. High values are important, first of all, when shooting in low light conditions: a fast lens allows you to get a fairly high-quality image without increasing the sensitivity of the matrix, which is fraught with noise and “blurring” of the picture. On the other hand, the actual quality of camera operation (including in dark conditions) also depends on many other factors — the type and size of the matrix, signal processing features, etc. Therefore, aperture in most cases is more of a reference than a practically significant parameter.

Focal length of the camera lens.

The focal length is such a distance from the lens to the matrix, at which a clear image is obtained on the matrix (when the lens is focused to infinity). The viewing angles of the lens primarily depend on this indicator (see below): the smaller it is, the wider the viewing angles and the smaller the objects in the frame (and vice versa). At the same time, it should be noted that the actual viewing angle is determined not only by the focal length, but also by the size of the matrix (see above). In fact, this means that with different sizes of matrices, lenses with the same focal length will have different working angles. Therefore, only cameras with the same matrix size can be compared with each other according to this indicator. Among CCTV cameras, lenses with a focal length of 2.8 mm, 3.6 mm, 4 mm and 6 mm are considered popular.

In models with a variable focal length (see above), in this case, the range from the minimum to the maximum distance is indicated. Also, using these data, you can derive the optical magnification factor of such a lens: for this, the maximum value must be divided by the maximum (for more details, see below).