Final words and conclusion

What about ? Image quality

The overall video quality with the IP70 is good. Though you get a nice high resolution we do feel that the quality is a little 'common', and that has everything to do with the lens of course. The camera uses a 1/3in CMOS sensor and a fixed 4mm (32mm equivalent) f1.5 lens.

Sharpness at the highest resolution sharpness is good enough but just that as well. Colors are again okay, but due to compression (even at lowest compression/bandwidth settings) the image detail looks a little washed. This however is common for IP camera's, but anno 2011 with a Megapixel camera we had hoped it would have improved.

The camera has a hard time competing with the better webcams, (even a Microsoft Lifecam HD at 50 EUR is superior) but for a security camera really, we can't complain either. You may either record in 30 fps (limited to a resolution of 640x480) or 15 fps (resolution up to 1280x1024). You chould choose the 15 fps/1280x1024 for better quality obviously

I've setup the camera in front of a windows in my house, pointing outwards on a rainy day. Below you can download and view some content. Mind you that the glass window is reflecting back at the lens a little, but that is the maximum quality you'll gain.

Download here (10MB) - view with Windows Media Player

Final words and conclusion

So initially when we got the request to review the IP70 admittedly I figured, oh heck .. it's an advanced webcam. Well, I did change that opinion about the IP70. Don't get me wrong, there's many improvements that could have been made for this product, the overall image quality for outside usage is fairly good, inside not ranging too far away that image quality is pretty okay. For SOHO usage, surely good enough but security camera standards, quite good.

The device is static, meaning no PTZ control (x/y axis and Zoom control), so it will be fixed at one viewpoint. Last but not least, the camera needs WIFI. Especially in a SOHO environment you don't want to lead cables towards a camera. Do you see your baby room equipped with a long CAT5 cable for just a small camera ? Nope. There is a USB port on the IP70 that allows for Wireless devices, though only Compro selected devices will work and yeah, you need to spend more money with a wireless dongle sticking out of the product. That's a bit impractical we think.

The IP70 software suite is good. Both the web interface and PC software are handy to use and to setup real easily. With detection software your camera is found within seconds inside your network, startup Internet explorer (Chrome/FF needs a VLC codec installed btw) and there again after installing an ActiveX expansion or two, you have a working camera.

The camera does lack top features such as a motorized control (PTZ) or a proper zoom, but it does come with an IR LEDs for night-time viewing, motion detection, two-way audio and dual video output streams.

Very handy remains of course the fact that you can monitor remote through web browsers, including mobile ones so you can check things out using your phone (we have not tried that feature though).

The ComproView Windows utility is actually really good, it allows you to manage, record and view streams from up to 32 separate IP cameras with up to 16 feeds on screen simultaneously. With a camera like the IP70 however you should stick to a maximum of four. Huge plusses are the very good scheduler that can trigger on several events. The motion detection works quite good as well. The flipside of the coin, audio and video quality is only decent to good enough at best.

The biggest downside then, in many countries distribution of Compro products is limited to one distributor. Here in the Netherlands that's the same, pretty much one webshop, that means one single distributor is in control of the product available in one webshop. And that drives prices up. At the time of writing this article it is listed for 230 EUR (incl VAT), and that's just too much money for a consumer product that should probably cost not more than 125 EUR.

That aside, the software suite is seriously good, the functionality is nice and the overall image quality is certainly enough for an indoor IP camera with night-vision and two-way audio. We can certainly recommend it, but pricing will need to be cut in half to roughly 100~125 EUR before it can become a viable option really.

• Leave/read comments on this product
• Sign up to receive a notice when we publish a new article
• Or go back to Guru3D's front page