PC Magazine Reviews i-Catcher Sentry

PC Magazine gave a very positive review of i-Catcher Sentry, focusing on surveillance applications. The reviewer talks the reader through the easy set-up process, and gives some useful tips for getting the most from your PC CCTV system.

See the original PC Magazine article here

Webcam Home Surveillance

Motion Sensing

Most people think of ultrasound or radar when they hear "motion sensing," but a webcam doesn't need either. To detect motion, all it needs to do is to capture two images. The webcam software compares those images, and if there are any differences, it automatically starts recording. When the captured images are identical to each other again, it stops. The images are saved to disk.

Why is this worthwhile? Imagine recording a room for 8 hours. With a VCR and a camcorder, you'll have to slog through 8 hours of almost identical video with your fast-forward button to see if anything happened while you were out. With motion-sensing–based webcam security software, you'll probably have just 10 or 15 minutes of video, with all of it showing activity.

A wide variety of motion-sensing webcam software is available for under $100. We used i-Catcher Sentry 2, from iCode Systems ($79 direct, http://www.icode.co.uk/icatcher/products/sentry.html), to investigate the possibilities of this technology. Its 21-day free trial should be more than enough time for you to get a feel of how the system works. Here are some tips to get you started.

Setting the Scene

Webcam security software can work only as well as the camera it gets images from, so start by cleaning the lens and ensuring you have the most recent driver. If you want multiple video feeds, you may need to use different models or brands of webcam to avoid conflicts. As they are USB devices, most webcams shouldn't be positioned more than 16 feet away from your computer or USB hub, but a USB active repeater cable set can extend this to up to about 80 feet.

Some consideration should be given to positioning, light, and shadows. Most webcams are fixed-focus cameras, so they'll sense motion both near and far. If the camera is positioned so that it looks down a hall or out the window, it may unintentionally sense motion that you don't care about. Similarly, a nearby window may allow beams of sunlight or shadows to appear on the floor or walls. This may be interpreted as motion too. If you can't position the camera to exclude these extraneous things, consider lowering blinds, closing doors, or placing items to block them from the camera's view. If you'll be recording into the night, turn on a lamp.

Configuring Our System

Once you install i-Catcher, double-click its desktop icon to start the program. You'll immediate see the i-Catcher console, and the live Video Stream window.

The default video resolution and frame rate depend on your webcam's abilities, but to change these, click the Video Feed button in the Console. Make sure your webcam is listed as "capture device," and click the Format button. From there, pick your desired resolution from the Output Size menu, and the desired frame rate from the Frame Rate field.

By default, webcam security software saves sequences of still images, at a resolution set by the webcam driver software. There's no need to set the frame rate higher than 3 or 4 frames per second unless you're also saving video files. In these cases, 10 fps is more than enough to capture fluid motion. If you plan to monitor your footage remotely, you should reduce the resolution to 320-by-240 or less, so that playing back your images won't overwhelm your broadband connection. Once you set the resolution and frame rate, click OK to accept.

You'll probably benefit from changing some settings, so click the Settings button in the Console. From the Wizard, select Motion Detection, then Next. Set the Sensitivity and Light Conditions sliders in the middle for now, and keep clicking Next to accept the defaults. When prompted to save the profile, give it a unique name.

Choose Start Monitoring on the console to start recording; when you do, a second Motion Window appears, with crosshairs pointing out detected motion.

Remote Surveillance

There are two ways to access your surveillance video; either after the fact on the PC it was recorded on, or by remotely logging on to view it on the Web. Most people will want to view it remotely on a Web browser. You'll need a broadband connection for that. To enable i-Catcher's built-in Web server, click Settings from the Console again, but then select Configure Manually. Click the HTTP Server tab, and then enable the server.

If, like almost all broadband users, you have a dynamic IP address (an IP address that changes each time you log on, as your ISP randomly assigns you one from its pool of addresses), you may need to set up an account with an IP translation service such as TZO ( www.tzo.com ) or DynDNS ( www.dyndns.com ), so your footage won't "move away" while you're on vacation. (See go.pcmag.com/dynamicip for more on dealing with dynamic IP addresses.) Also, be sure to open a port on your firewall (usually port 80) for the footage to get through. Most programs can be easily configured to send you an e-mail alert when motion is detected (often with an image attached); i-Catcher Sentry can even send you SMS alerts with the help of third-party software.

Finally, be sure to test the system for a few days before relying on it to work while you're away. The best settings for motion-sensing sensitivity, lighting, and camera angles are usually found through trial and error, and there's no changing them after you've left the house for a week. But once you have the system working to your satisfaction, you can rest assured that when you're away, you will be alerted if there is any motion, so that you can take appropriate action.