Calling all tech geeks - high tech baby monitor?

[MyNewDroidX]

Hey guys,

So I'm going to be having a kid and my wife wants a baby monitor with video. Now the IT guy in me says, wait we gotta be able to hook up a camera and stream it over computer, droid x, and my wifes black berry.

So I was thinking something where I stream video to a computer and then VPN into that computer from our mobile phones.

I'm looking for any ideas? I'm in IT but not to familiar with streaming video or using my mobile phone with VPN. as with all projects, learning is expensive and I don't want to waste a bunch of money learning.

So start throwing out ideas please!

 

[steeveegee]

get an ip camera like this one

WVC80N

then goto the android market and try tiny dvr or search for ip camera viewer and you should be able to view it anywhere
hope that helps

 

[cpjr]

Being able to stream the video to your PC or phone is really basically useless.

We have a 22 month old and have a video monitor, the handset is about the size of a thick cellphone and works great and ours can also do video out, so if you really wanted you could connect it to a computer or even the tv...thats all you really need.

And why....because if you kid is asleep in his bed, your not going to be farther than inside or very close outside the house anyways.

Its a cool sounding idea....but really not very practical.

 

[sjohn902]

An app called Seedonk lets you stream video from a computer to another computer or Android phone (not sure about BB). However, I'm not 100% sure whether it has audio or not, I only used it for a minute. It is free, however.

 

[Technoman]

Do not waste money or time with the "HOME" IP camera's unless you intend to only have it streamed locally. They do not have enough resolution to be able to transmit a decent picture past your local lan.

I work in security based technology everyday. If you really want to stream video of any quality, you need a DVR attached to a camera that has the ability to access it via IP.

As far as any APP's to access DVR's remotely, I can't speak of any. There are however some APP's that allow access to "professional grade" IP cameras.
Below are a few APP's...
IP Cam Viewer - Android app on AppBrain
Tiny DVR - IP cameras viewer - Android app on AppBrain
SuperCam - Android app on AppBrain

 

[MyNewDroidX]

get an ip camera like this one

WVC80N

then goto the android market and try tiny dvr or search for ip camera viewer and you should be able to view it anywhere
hope that helps

Thanks! that looks really good. My quick research shows my wifes blackberry bold might have problems with video...i need do more researching. (It also might not be a problem, she would probably use her mini laptop)

 

[MyNewDroidX]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses. Looks like I have some good data to research!

Thanks to TechnoMan for the good information.

 

[habitatman]

remote viewing with your droid

I reviewed the applications, what i would like to know is, a good DVR, and IP Camera so I can setup a quick test from my home..Could you recommend a cost effective solution? Thanks

Do not waste money or time with the "HOME" IP camera's unless you intend to only have it streamed locally. They do not have enough resolution to be able to transmit a decent picture past your local lan.

I work in security based technology everyday. If you really want to stream video of any quality, you need a DVR attached to a camera that has the ability to access it via IP.

As far as any APP's to access DVR's remotely, I can't speak of any. There are however some APP's that allow access to "professional grade" IP cameras.
Below are a few APP's...
IP Cam Viewer - Android app on AppBrain
Tiny DVR - IP cameras viewer - Android app on AppBrain
SuperCam - Android app on AppBrain

 

[Technoman]

I reviewed the applications, what i would like to know is, a good DVR, and IP Camera so I can setup a quick test from my home..Could you recommend a cost effective solution? Thanks

Hey,
Take a look at this device at Sam's Club. If you are not a member, you probably know someone that is. Looks like it might be a low cost solution for what you are looking for. Sam's also has some low entry DVR's with camera's. I am not sure about the method of access to the one's that Sam's Club sells, but if they are web based you may be able to support it with your Android and Blackberry.

Here is the link for the device I was referring to:
Sam's Club-ASTAK Mole WiFi IP Night Vision Camera

 

[jntdroid]

Being able to stream the video to your PC or phone is really basically useless.

We have a 22 month old and have a video monitor, the handset is about the size of a thick cellphone and works great and ours can also do video out, so if you really wanted you could connect it to a computer or even the tv...thats all you really need.

And why....because if you kid is asleep in his bed, your not going to be farther than inside or very close outside the house anyways.

Its a cool sounding idea....but really not very practical.

agree 110% - and our son is almost 3, and daughter almost 2... it's nifty to be able to do, but not really worth the cost/trouble...

UNLESS... you just really want to keep a close eye while you're out on a date with your wife once a year.

 

[Dan_08]

Been using the summer baby monitor for the past 2 years and got another kid on the way we'll be using it for. Well worth the money for piece of mind. You can get pretty decent range too. Good luck and congrats BTW.

 

[hobbes105]

I'm the owner of a CCTV surveillance company and have worked in the field for the last 12 years. I agree that this may be over-kill to just use it as a baby monitor, but I do have customers that do want exactly this.

You have some different ways that you could accomplish this. Like some of the previous posts have mentioned you could use a DVR that is network capable and install an analog camera. The camera would be connected to your DVR and your DVR would be connected to your network router for viewing the video on your home network. If you want to record the video and would maybe like to have other cameras around the house this may be the way to go. DVR's typically come in 4, 8, and 16 channels - meaning that you can connect 4 cameras, 8 cameras, or 16 cameras.

There are many choices for cameras and many options. It really depends on what you want. You can have a day/night cam with infrared illumination so you can see in a dark room. Varifocal lenses will let you set how much the cam is zoomed in with out have to actually move the camera. The resolution of the cam will determine how sharp the image is.

Another option is to go with an IP camera. The IP cameras are generally more expensive than the analog cameras that you would use with a DVR, but you do eliminate the cost of the DVR itself. Normally the image from a megapixel IP camera is much better and you can zoom in with much less distortion.

If you would like to be able to view the camera from outside of your local network, (Android phone over 3G, another computer at work, a laptop, etc...) you would need to open ports on your router to allow access from outside of your local network. To do this you will also either need a static IP address from your ISP or you will have to use a service that tracks your changing dynamic IP address (DDNS (Dynamic DNS)). Many DRV manufactures provide this service free with their product.

One app that hasn't been mentioned yet is:
Total Control App
I use this one myself for a 6 camera system that I have at my house. They sell a single camera version and a multi-cam version and have support for a lot of different manufactures of DVR's and IP cameras.