ONVIF support for wire-free cameras (C400/C420)
Do any of the wire-free cameras support ONVIF protocol to integrate with an NVR? I have reviewed all of the technical documentation available and it appears they only support RTSP which is not an option for my current setup.
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No, neither of the cameras support the feature as it places an extremely heavy load on the battery of the camera. This is why it is extremely rare to find cameras that support RTSP and ONVIF on any battery-operated camera. To integrate a Tapo device with an NVR, you would need to look toward our powered cameras.
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Your comment that ONVIF isn't supported because it's power-hungry makes sense. However, I've got my C420 plugged into A200 solar panel, so I'm not worried being power hungry isn't a worry. Any chance that ONVIF can be added?
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Hey @gebjeff,
The solar panel only technically adds daytime charging to the device, so it would likely still struggle at night if not during the day. I think that our teams had explored the possibility of having RTSP and a Solar Panel / Constant Power; however, the feature's performance was less than expected and didn't make it to the current version.
Do not forget that the entire camera is built around being a battery camera, and using some of the more advanced functions, such as AI detection, throughout the day places a heavy load on the camera.
As it is something that our team has explored, we can hope that similar features are already being worked on for future releases.
Out fo curiosity, were you looking to have the feature for NVR recording for 24/7 footage, or simply wanted another platform to manage the clipped footage?
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Even though designed for battery-powered usage, there is still the option of using a C425 with a USB power supply. I feel like this is something where perhaps the user could decide what makes sense for them rather than having the decision made for us. Please add my name to the list of people that would like to see RTSP/ONVIF support in the battery-powered cameras.
Alternately, some way to automatically download captures directly from the SD card each day would be a good intermediate solution.
Chris P.
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I was looking for battery cameras (we hate wires around here) but as soon as I saw RTSP isn't supported, this is a big turn off. As Chris P. said, customers might just find a way to give sufficient power to the camera for that function. If the camera can handle it of course. Just add a notice on the page about that function and requirements before customers purchase it. So, if it's not to store videos on a server and have possibility to stream, battery cameras are only for SD cards and cloud usage? Can't monitor live?
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I completely understand your concern. If we integrate C420 directly with NVR via ONVIF / RTSP, the battery of C420 will be consumed too quickly.
And now I also have a new question, lol.
I know that C420 has an optional HUB component. If I want to integrate this Hub with NVR via ONVIF / RTSP, is it possible?
I already have 3 Tapo cameras from TP-LINK family at my house. I am currently considering buying some new C420 cameras to put outside of the house.
However, it seems that C420 does not support ONVIF / RTSP, so I would like to confirm it is possible to integrate this Hub with NVR as an alternative solution.
Kind Regards,
J Walker
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I do not believe so. As far as I understand, the hub only acts as a proxy for the cameras' storage, meaning the hub will not be able to enable features the camera does not support. I also believe that it is a requirement to have one H200 hub on your network for your camera to be configured with.
Unfortunately, there is no perfect solution for an NVR-connected battery camera, but I would keep an eye on our announcements coming over the next few months as we have more than a few exciting things that may affect this, we just do not have enough info to confirm.
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While full RTSP support is not considered a viable option for battery-powered cameras, there are still other useful enhancements that could be considered:
- Allows users to have local/direct login to the camera for accessing videos stored on SD.
- Blackout RTSP feed unless camera detects motion (reduce total data transferred).
- Just give users the control because you can still run a battery operated camera with a permanently connected power supply, they don't actually have to run battery-only.
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