TP-Link TL-SC3230

[speleo]

I bought a TP-Link TL-SC3230 1.3 megapixel camera and tried to use it via C-Mor.

Your web site states that "C-MOR is preconfigured to support all the major brands of IP video security cameras such as Axis, Level 1, Linksys-Cisco, Mobotix, Panasonic, Sony, TP-Link, Vivotek and many more." but I could only find the TP-Link TL-SC3171G in the list of supported TP-Link cameras within the C-Mor system. The path for the TL-SC3171G is /video.mjpg so I tried this for the TL-SC3230. All I got was a message stating "Unable to open video device since <date>".

To cut a long story short, the documentation for the camera offers no hints as to what path I should use and the C-Mor documentation is very brief. After much Internet searching and random trials, it seems that the correct path for the TP-Link TL-SC3230 is /video.cgi, not /video.mjpg.

I must stress that I only came upon the solution by trial and error. Since the camera is apparently ONVIF compliant, does anyone know a method to interrogate a camera so as to obtain the correct path?

[pump2]

I just read the manual and it's not too brief what C-MOR has documented in the manual about integrating cameras with a manual path. Look at page 45.

Can you recommend your TP-Link camera?

[speleo]

Hi pump2,

I just read the manual and it's not too brief what C-MOR has documented in the manual about integrating cameras with a manual path. Look at page 45.

Page 45+ simply contains a long list, dated June 2012, of supported cameras and those that should work. The information on manual configuration is brief enough to quote:

In case your camera is not listed but supported it can easily be connected under the item “Manual Path”
in C-MOR. Just enter the directory of the URL of the camera’s live image or the camera’s MJPEG live
stream, such as e.g.

/axis-cgi/jpg/image.cgi?resolution=640x480

That's it. It would be good to have an explanation, for example, of what parameters, eg resolution=640x480 are possible and when they might be used. Plus, as I asked in the first post, is there a way to interrogate the camera so that it will tell us what path to use?

As for the camera, I have nothing to compare it against, since it is my first megapixel IP camera. Nevertheless, the image quality (after I realised It needed a bit of focusing) is reasonably sharp and the price is very competitive. It's only for indoor use, but that is ok for me.

[pump2]

So... what is in the manual of your camera about the path to use it with systems like C-MOR?

It should be documented in the camera's manual, not in the C-MOR manual! At least you got the option for a manual path!

[speleo]

So... what is in the manual of your camera about the path to use it with systems like C-MOR?

Read my original post.

It should be documented in the camera's manual

Agreed.

not in the C-MOR manual! At least you got the option for a manual path!

You just moved the goalposts. You originally suggested that the C-Mor documentation was "not too brief" on the subject of manual configuration, which is clearly not the case. Now you fall back to suggesting that it's not a matter for the C-Mor manual. While it is clearly something that should have been documented in the TP-Link documentation, it would also be helpful if C-Mor had provided some extra detail about manual configuration. They have not done so, so I think it's fair to say that the C-Mor documentation is "very brief" on the subject.

It is also disappointing that nobody from C-Mor has provided any input to what could have been a useful topic for other users.

[michaelr]

It's not the job of C-MOR to figure out the camera path if the manufacturer of the camera is not even releasing such information.

Different camera models use different technologies and different paths for the live stream. Some manufacturer even use different paths between their camera models. So it's even impossible to tell the path for a brand and that's exactly the problem.

Some manufacturers even hide the path and do not release this information on request (in example up to today Grundig and Honeywell).

A lot of C-MOR users ask through the support form for the path and then we work on it. If you think C-MOR is lazy on this subject, than you are simply wrong! It cannot be documented how to figure the path in general.

[speleo]

With respect, michaelr, I think you are being a bit too prickly in your reply and have misrepresented my position.

I neither think, nor did I suggest, that you were being "lazy" when I described the documentation as being very brief on setting a manual path. It's a fact: the documentation is very brief on the subject of setting a manual path.

Equally, I never suggested that it was "the job of C-MOR to figure out the camera path if the manufacturer of the camera is not even releasing such information". That's simply putting forward a strawman argument.

Nevertheless, I think it is fair to state, as I did, that it would be helpful if the documentation provided a bit more detail on manual configuration where the path cannot be found in the manufacturer's documentation. Since it is your field of expertise, I feel sure you could provide many useful hints and tips, even if you cannot provide a solution to the problem. You may, of course, choose not to provide any helpful information on the subject in your documentation if you feel it is a matter better suited to the forum.

You might wish to add the TP-Link TL-SC3230 to your database of known camera paths.