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Exciting New Features

We’ve been using the Panasonic BL-C131 for a while now and we have not been disappointed with Panasonic’s upgrade to their hugely popular BL-C30 model. It holds the same key features as its predecessor, i.e. it’s a wireless, pan/tilt network camera with a built-in web server meaning that you can view it remotely from any location over the Internet or call up the images using any browser-equipped mobile phone.

Let’s a take a closer look as what it offers:

1. What’s Included

The camera comes complete with indoor power supply, safety tether for when wall mounting, CDROM containing setup tools and manuals not, forgetting a free one channel license for Panasonic’s Network Camera Recorder software.

Other than a broadband subscription, a router and perhaps an ethernet cable to initially set up the camera, everything in the box is all you would need to set up a fairly comprehensive home security system.

2. Installation

Power

The camera achieves power using an indoor AC adaptor (supplied) which you would plug into any standard 240V outlet in your home.

Network

The camera comes complete with an IP setup utility which will allow you to locate and set up the camera on your local network quickly and easily. We found that this procedure was improved and is even more user friendly than before. Note that this is only compatible with Windows based PCs though.

DDNS

If you want to set up external access to your webcam then you might consider using Panasonic’s DDNS service, “Viewnetcam.com”.

This service does a couple of useful things. Your ISP will assign your broadband connection a unique public address and this is used to locate your camera over the internet. Unfortunately public IP addresses are not very easy to remember and they will often change.

The viewnetcam service will keep track of any changes your ISP makes to your public IP address and will also allow you to assign a more memorable name such as “johnscamera.viewnetcam.com” and Panasonic offer this service free of charge.

For more information about Dynamic DNS see our blog article: Dynamic DNS, or do I really need a Static IP address?

3. Wireless

The camera supports wireless networking to the normal IEEE 802.11b/g standards.

We are glad to see the inclusion of more wireless encryption protocols. The BL-C30 only supported WEP encryption whereas the BL-C131 supports the following:

• WEP, HEX, 10 Chars, 64bit
• WEP, HEX, 26 Chars, 128bit
• WEP, HEX, 32 Chars, 152bit
• WEP, ASCII, 5 Chars, 64bit
• WEP, ASCII, 13 Chars, 128bit
• WEP, ACSII, 16 Chars, 152bit
• WPA-PSK(TKIP), HEX, 64 Chars
• WPA-PSK(TKIP), ASCII, 8-63 Chars
• WPA2-PSK(AES), HEX, 64 Chars
• WPA2-PSK(AES), ASCII, 8-63 Chars

We found the wireless to work as simply as the previous model.

4. Viewing

The camera features a Pan-Tilt (PT) lens and 10x Digital Zoom

Pan: -50° to +50° (speed 50° per second)
Tilt: -40° to +10° (speed 50° per second)

Video Modes

The camera is capable of streaming images simultaneously in MJPEG and MPEG-4 modes.

With a faster frame rate, MPEG-4 mode is better for smooth motion while MJPEG mode is better for higher quality images but the frame-rate is reduced at the maximum resolution. In MPEG-4 you achieve a fast 30fps across all resolutions.

Full-Screen Mode

A feature which sadly does not live up to its name. The full-screen mode simply enlarges the view (probably to around XGA 1024×768 size) which is really just a feature to enhance the multi-view rather than provide a nice view which fills the entire computer monitor. This is also only supported using the ActiveX control so will only work on Windows machines using IE6.0 or above.

Viewing Technology and Compatibility

The camera comes with a new firmware version installed, V3.10R02.

Primarily supporting ActiveX and IE6.0 or above, the camera requires 2 distinct ActiveX plug-ins to be installed. One for viewing in MJPEG mode and one for viewing MPEG-4. The user will be prompted to download each the first time they log in and select the respective video mode.

On Mozilla Firefox the camera uses Java technology for both the MJPEG view and MPEG-4 view, and no downloads are requested from the camera if the customer already has Java downloaded. However, in MPEG-4 mode using Java you do not get the full 30fps from the camera as you would using the IE ActiveX plug-in.

Also a point to note is that the IP setup software and free one camera license recording software is not supported for Apple Macs.

Supported Resolutions

Single Camera View (in pixels)

• 640×480
• 320×240
• 192×144

Multi Camera View (in pixels)

• 320×240
• 192×144

Frame Rate

The camera supports a frame rate of up to 30fps using MPEG-4 mode and Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0+. Using MJPEG mode the frame rate is reduced to a maximum of 15fps, equivalent to a BL-C30.

Image Quality

The camera comes with a fixed lens. F2.8, Focal range: 0.3m to infinity

Sensor: 1/6-inch CMOS sensor, approx: 320,000 pixels

The image quality is fair for an entry level camera, can capture likenesses easily and is comparable with similarly priced models on the market. See below for an example snapshot:

Image Settings

Compression can be adjusted in MJPEG mode between the usual “Favour Motion”, “Favour Clarity” and “Normal” presets.

Brightness can be adjusted in the single camera page, exposure is automatic.

No other image/exposure settings can be adjusted.

Low-Light Behaviour

The camera supports a Colour Night View Mode which operates to a light level intensity as low as 3.0lux. This mode increases the gain resulting in a noisier image but keeps the image in colour mode. The camera is not IR sensitive.

5. Audio

The camera supports 1-way audio using its built-in microphone meaning that you can listen in on what the camera is viewing.

Audio spec: half-duplex 1-way, Compression: ADPCM 32kbps, Bandwidth: 300hz-3.4KHz.

Audio is only fully supported through ActiveX meaning that the user will need to run the camera through IE to get reliable audio functionality. There is a Java audio component but we cannot report its full reliability, only having successfully got it working once. Working Java audio *should* be possible in non-windows environments, but tweaking or manual install may be required.
6. Events

The camera can trigger events based on Motion Detection, Thermal Detection or Timer (essentially scheduled events), and transfer images by email or to an FTP/HTTP server.

I’ve tested FTP transfer and it worked first time beautifully. I also noticed they have cut down the lengthy event configuration to a maximum of two pages now. It’s much more streamlined and user-friendly. Oddly though, the camera supports the capture of MPEG-4 video but it seems to only store this internally in its buffer and there’s no way to transfer it via email or FTP etc.

7. Features Unique to this Camera

This model supports a thermal sensor which detects heat from a person in the room and can trigger events from it.

A good way to tell if someone is in the room is to set up 2 events. One event based on motion and one based on heat detection. Then if you get an event trigger from both you can be sure it’s a person in the room. If you only get a motion alert then it could be a false positive.

8. Supplied Extras

The camera comes complete with a single camera license for Panasonic’s Network Camera Recorder software. The version that came with our test camera had the feature-set found in BB-HNP11 Network Camera Recorder. This does not contain any of the advanced features such as megapixel or MPEG-4 recording.

9. Conclusion

Panasonic have taken their extremely popular BL-C30 IP camera and made it better. The MPEG-4 mode provides a much smoother stream than the regular BL-C30. The image quality seemed on par, if not better than the original BL-C30 and the microphone on the device is very sensitive.

The whole menu structure built into the firmware in this camera is much improved over the BL-C30. Event management in particular is far better done and much quicker to set up and understand and the whole menu system is far more responsive.

There seems to be a lot of emphasis on automatic set-up, shown by a new ‘Internet’ tab which helps setting up external access to the camera from the Internet.

On the negative side, Apple Mac users will suffer from lack of audio and no MPEG-4 mode meaning the frame rate of the camera will be capped to 15fps at the maximum resolution. They also suffer from the usual limitations with the included software being Windows compatible only.

These cameras would be ideal for home security, video entry systems, baby monitoring and small business video surveillance such as shops, restaurants and bars and it comes at the same price as the previous model, which can’t be bad.

Comparable Products

Axis 207W - Wireless IP Camera, Mini Static Audio

Take a look at the Axis 207W which offers almost the same functionality and a slightly better picture quality but is static and cannot be controlled.

Y-cam Black - Wireless IP Camera, Mini Static Audio Night-Vision

Alternatively you could look at another static camera which offers night vision and a competative price. The Y-cam black delivers images in complete darkness thanks to 30 built-in LEDs.

10. Links

You can read more about the Panasonic BL-C131 here:

Panasonic BL-C131 Wireless IP camera pan/tilt audio heat sensor

Or check out its sister product, the non-wireless version BL-C111:

Panasonic BL-C111 IP camera pan/tilt audio heat sensor

Please leave any feedback, comments or questions you may have below.

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