Posts made by Crimp On_62210811129

Have been pondering "what is possible" in regard to the video resolution displayed by the Reolink Client. My computer screen has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. In full screen mode, that amounts to about 960x540 pixels for each of four cameras. My 4MP cameras have a resolution of 2560x1440 and the 5MP cameras are 2560x1920. What "magic" can Reolink use to display a 2560x1920 picture inside a window that is 960x540?

When the Reolink Client is not in full-screen mode, of course, there are even fewer pixels to work with.

My cameras FTP the "Clear" stream (2560x1920) and I often use the VLC player to look at them. And,they look plenty sharp. VLC has options to display in different aspect ratios, so converting a picture to fit a specific size screen seems like "something programmers can do."
I have not found a way to "shrink" the playback screen on VLC, but it is easy to do with 5KPlayer. When the screen gets drastically smaller, the picture begins to look a lot like "Fluent" resolution (640x480). i.e. "jagged lines".

Reading the entire post (above), I realize now that there may be a difference between "Preview" mode on the NVR and what the Windows Client is doing. Maybe this is something to ask Reolink support about? i.e. email to support@reolink.com

My Reolink cameras are not connected to an NVR. (I use the Windows Client directly.)
One of the things that I was not expecting when I first got Reolink cameras was the support for different simultaneous video resolutions. (Clear, Standard, Fluent). I had thought, "it's a 4mp (or 5mp) camera. That's what I should be seeing."

Just checked the new Windows Client software. In "one camera" mode, it allows all resolutions (right click). In 4-camera mode, only the standard and fluent resolutions are available. The default appears to be "Fluent", which I find dreadful.

(probably should not have responded since I do not have an NVR, but I just hate it when I ask a question and no one seems to notice.)

I want to make clear that not updating camera firmware to replace Flash is really disappointing. (My own personal guess is that Reolink buys the cameras from someone and that party has refused to make new firmware for that platform.) I do not understand the last sentence.

"Because I would have to throw away my camera, it doesn't allow recording either with the windows application or with the app."

I have an RLC-410WS camera, with IPC_3816M hardware. Motion recordings on the camera play back on the Windows Client and the Android "app", as do live video. It FTP's and Downloads motion recordings. What does NOT work is using a web browser to connect to the camera. (I deliberately removed Flash from my computer months ago, so even though browsers will not abandon Flash until Jan 1, I have already done so myself.)

Can you explain how videos are being stored now?
My RLC cameras have SD-Cards and FTP motion recordings to an FTP server (on my desktop computer).
I use a scheduled batch file to erase old files to keep the folders from consuming the entire hard drive.
A batch file could be used in a similar fashion to copy videos from many folders into one particular folder and then erase the original files.

What I find interesting about ONVIF Device Manager is that it detected both the main and the sub profiles automatically. (see screen shot attached). Preview Main is "00" and Sub is "01". It scanned my LAN and found all of my RLC cameras. This also validated the fact that the battery cameras do not "rstp", because it did not find them.

When I first learned about Reolink cameras, it was pretty clear that there is a distinct tradeoff: lower cost and only email support vs. higher cost and maybe "someone to call" (who may or may not have a Help Desk script that is useful). It takes 24 hours (They do not work 24/7 in Hong Kong), but I have usually received solid information.
onvif.jpg

You may have found a bug in the 820a. _main certainly works with VLC & 5KPlayer on my RLC-410WS, RLC-410-5MP, and RLC-420-5MP cameras.
I found that ONVIF Device Manager v2.2.250 (free) revealed a lot about my RLC cameras.
rtsp is a pretty technical area. It might be that an email to support@reolink.com will find "someone who knows."

Thanks for clarifying that the issue exists with the web interface. I have been able to duplicate that.
What I notice on the FTP parameters page is that the "Save" button is set to "disabled", which is why it appears grayed out.
I tried to edit the HTML code, which did seem to activate the Save button, but clicking on it did not update the actual camera settings.

The original Windows Client continues to update the FTP settings correctly, whereas my experience is that both the new 8.1.24 Client and the new web client do not.

What I observed just now when attempting to set the camera back to "clear video and images" was that clicking on the "Save" button appears to not do anything. I think that the "bug" is that the "Save" button does not work.

Regarding the Bug report: My experience is "mixed". I was able to set an RLC-420 camera to FTP "images only", and that is exactly what it did. My FTP server contains only jpg files. No MP4 files. None.
HOWEVER, the process was "confused". When I used the new Reolink client (Windows), it appeared that setting "Images only" did not "take". I tried the new Client, the old Client, and the web interface. So, (a) I am able to confirm that it IS possible to set the camera to FTP "images only", but I am NOT able to confirm that there is "no bug."
It would take more experiments to determine if one or the other camera management options does not operate correctly.
(i.e. is it the new Client? is it the new camera web access firmware? or....)

Yes, I should have been more careful and documented each step. (sigh) "Is there actually a "bug"? Beats me.

The cameras require Flash ONLY to access them with a web browser.
The Reolink Client software and the Reolink iPhone and Android apps do not require Flash.

If your only method of viewing these cameras is a web browser, then you are in deep s**t.

One of the features of the new Windows Client that I LOVED was that it would check for new software when opened. This saved me from having to check the Reolink support web site (day after day after day) looking for new software.
Today, one of my "Is your software current? programs announced that Reolink's Windows Client was now at 8.1.24..
"Surely not", I said, opening the Client. Even clicked on "Update". FAILED.
Went to the support web site..Damn. There is 8.1.24

Someone needs a "Cone of Shame" (or a Dunce Cap) for letting this happen. Either they put the new firmware version in a place that the app is not looking or have named it incorrectly (or something).

I am absolutely thrilled at the quality and price of the Reolink cameras. PLEASE take this person to the woodshed.

Just in case the question comes up again...

5KPlayer apparently is not as 'smart' as VLC and ONVIF Device Manager. Both of those programs attach to Reolink RLC cameras and prompt for user name and password. 5KPlayer just seems to stall.

The solution is to include the user name and password as part of the rtsp connect URL, as follows:
rtsp://username:password@<IP of camera>:554/h264Preview_01_main

Camera immediately begins streaming Clear Live View.

Of course, this is no help for someone who wants to view older Reolink cameras with a web browser, as web browsers do not support the rtsp protocol.

Thanks for responding. I was hoping one of those folks who experiment with other software might have stumbled across the correct URL for 5KPlayer. The URL for VLC was posted in the forum. (There is NO WAY that I would have come up with "rtsp://192.168.1.52:554/h264Preview_01_main" on my own.)

My guess is "no". Their communication will probably be through the ethernet cable, which instead of going to "the network" will go to the Reolink NVR and "go no further".

I believe you will find that the RLC-410-5MP and RLC-420_5MP have TWO methods of power:
(1) through PoE, which is typically 48 volts through the ethernet cable, or
(2) with a 12v (DC) power supply through a separate power connector.

If you already have the cameras, please take a look at the connectors which "break out" of the pigtail cable that comes from the camera. I believe you will see three:
(1) ethernet jack
(2) "reset" switch
(3) 12V power connector.

I think you are "good to go"

I have enjoyed streaming video from my RLC cameras using VLC (Windows, Linux).
The "internet" claims that 5KPlayer is "more better" than VLC, so naturally I want to compare the two.
On VLC, I use this URL: rtsp://192.168.1.52:554/h264Preview_01_main
It pops a login box for the user name and password and then streams the clear video and sound. Perfect.
(I confess that I have not searched for how to stream recorded videos. That's a question for another day unless someone has already figured it out.)
Alas, the same URL in 5KPlayer simply "does nothing".

Can you explain a bit more about how these cameras are viewed?
The BIG issue with regard to camera firmware is when using a web browser to view video (both live and playback) because Adobe Flash will not be supported by major web browsers after Dec 31.

My only remaining IPC_3816 camera is a RLC-410WS. (I haven't replaced it because Reolink doesn't make a 5MP WiFi camera yet.)

I can view live video on this 3816 camera with the Reolink Windows Client, with the Reolink Android "app", and and also using the (free) VLC Video Player app (rtsp://192.168.1.52:554/h264Preview_01_main) on Windows and Linux.

Since I have deleted Flash from my computer, what I CANNOT do is open this camera with a web browser that does not have Flash.

How many of the 100+ cameras are viewed with web browsers rather than one of the other methods?

p.s. I am not trying to defend or excuse Reolink. Seems (to me) that once HTML5 had been incorporated into the newer firmware, it would not be too difficult to "back port" it to the earlier models.

I think the UID feature is the key question. UID is what sets up the information in the Reolink "cloud" for the iPhone and Android apps to connect to cameras remotely. Every "Internet of Things" device that I own does the same thing. (The device opens a connection to the cloud for the app to be able to reach the device.)

If remote access will NEVER be used, try turning off UID.

Perhaps it would be helpful to clarify the issue Flash in regard to Chrome and Firefox.
a. No browsers will support Flash after 12/31/2020, including Chrome and Firefox.
This has caused frustration for customers who want browser access to the older cameras,
as it appears Reolink does not intend to update older camera firmware to support HTML5.
b. Using Flash with Chrome requires "activating Flash" (Google search).
Not sure about Firefox, as I deleted Flash from my computers months ago.

Most of the forum posts are about issue (a).
Is this Chrome/Firefox question about (a) or (b)?

Would love to take credit, BUT.... This question came up several weeks ago and "Double Click" was the answer.
There are days that I move the mouse around the screen clicking to see if anything happens.