i-Catcher Console is designed with a high degree of compatibilty in mind, both towards operating environment and use of CCTV hardware. Its is a 32-bit application designed for the Windows platform, supporting Windows 2000 and later, including their variants (e.g. 2000 Server, XP Media Center Edition, etc) and the latest Windows Vista operating systems.

i-Catcher Console uses established standards for interfacing and image format to capture live images. Almost any network camera or video server that provides a live JPEG image file, or a live MotionJPEG video stream can be used with i-Catcher Console, even if it is not listed in the manufacturer/model lists when adding a camera.

The latest version of i-Catcher Console is also able to utilise MPEG4 video from a limited number of video device types. MPEG4 is emerging as a standard for low bandwidth network monitoring.

Traditional composite video cameras are also supported either via network video servers, or by the more conventional capture card route. i-Catcher Console uses the Microsoft WDM Video Capture standard for receiving images from video capture cards. This includes a large number of DVR and "TV" cards.*

The same capture system allows i-Catcher Console to make use of any device that provides a WDM-compliant driver, including simple USB webcams. This means that many people may already have camera hardware ready to use with i-Catcher Console as part of a professional CCTV system.

Compatibility is extended to the remote access features of the web interface. i-Catcher Console does not use ActiveX controls that limit use to one platform or web browser, but instead uses the widely available and cross-platform Java system that is compatible with Mac and Linux browsers, including the popular Mozilla Firefox browser.

i-Catcher's own video streams are provided in the standard MotionJPEG format that can easily be used by other applications capable of receiving and decoding MotionJPEG streams.

* Not all DVR cards are compatible as some are supplied with proprietary drivers that can not be recognised by i-Catcher or any other capture applications (except that supplied with the cards). Most of these DVR cards can be used by installing a generic driver, however please check compatibility with the trial version (see below) to ensure your card can be used with i-Catcher.

You can try out i-Catcher Console 3 free for 21 days by registering for a free trial.

To see the web view in action, take a look at our live images.