INTRODUCTION

   Nowadays it really seems that surveillance cameras are everywhere and by everywhere i mean everywhere and not just stores, hotels and banks like in the old days. According to some people however this is a double edged sword since on one hand cameras can provide proof of a crime when needed (not to mention that can act as deterrent for thieves) but on the other privacy concerns are indeed an issue for some people (especially with the latest GDPR laws passed in the EU). For example, my next door neighbour literally just installed cameras which record not only the entire street Infront of his house (to be honest one of my own also covers a tiny part of the street) but also his and my back yards (without asking for permission mind you). Still i do think that the benefits outweigh any drawbacks and that's why today I’ll be testing yet another IP camera and more specifically the latest model by TRENDnet, the TV-IP1318PI Indoor/Outdoor 8MP 4K H.265 WDR PoE IR Bullet Network Camera.

   TRENDnet is a global provider of award-winning networking and surveillance solutions to small and medium-sized business and home users. Building networking solutions since 1990, TRENDnet enables users to share broadband access, multimedia content and networked peripherals for true anywhere connectivity. TRENDnet's diverse product portfolio includes Wireless, Internet Cameras (IP Cameras), Switches, Power over Ethernet (PoE), Fiber, Gigabit, Home Automation, Network Video Recorders (NVR), Keyboard/Video/Mouse (KVM), Print Servers, Powerline, NAS Media Servers, Multimedia Accessories, and more. To learn more about TRENDnet, please visit www.trendnet.com.

   As stated by its name the latest TV-IP1318PI is yet another indoor/outdoor bullet type IP camera that features an IP67 certified (dust and water-proof with a temperature range from -30 and up to +60 degrees Celsius) enclosure inside which we find an 8 megapixel, 1/2.5" CMOS sensor (2.8mm F1.2 focal length with an horizontal viewing angle of 102 degrees and a 4x digital zoom) which allows it to record stream with a resolution of up to 3840x2160p (3072x1728/2560x1440/1920x1080p/1280x720p are also supported) at 20fps. Just like its predecessors the TV-IP1318PI is also packed with a plethora of features including Η.265 (H.264/H.264+ and H.265+ are also supported) compression, PoE (power over ethernet), WDR (wide dynamic range / 120dB), dual IR LEDs (30 meters range), motion and tamper-proof detection, QoS, UPNP, privacy masks, micro SD card slot recording (supports cards up to 128GB in capacity) and full ONVIF standard (S/G/T) compatibility. The TV-IP1318PI is clearly one of the top models in the entire TRENDnet lineup so without further delay let's see what you can expect from it.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Typically, the main product features are listed at the front of the box right beneath a product picture and the company logo.

Both the product features and the 24/7 support are printed on the left side.

You can check the features and specifications from the right side of the box.

The main product features are also listed in detail at the rear of the box in 7 languages.

The entire bundle is placed inside a piece of foam and several plastic bags.

Along with the TV-IP1318PI IP Camera you'll also get 3 long mounting screws, water and dust protection clips (for the RJ45 cable), Allen key, drill template, quick installation guide, 2 product catalogues and a safety note paper.

THE TV-IP1318PI

The TV-IP1318PI is a rather tiny IP bullet camera that measures 155mm in length, 70mm in width and 70mm in height and weighs just 400g.

TRENDnet has placed their logo on both sides of the enclosure (worth pointing out is that the base is made out of metal).

For this particular model TRENDnet has used wide angle lens (102 degrees) and two IR LEDs placed on the lower left and right (not visible ones when off).

Information about the camera is placed on a sticker located on its belly as seen above.

Right next to that sticker we find a small hatch inside which there's the reset button, 4pin alarm connector and the micro SD card slot.

As always since most IP cameras don't come with power supplies out of the box you will need an PoE injector or a switch as seen above.

WEB INTERFACE PART 1

Once again, the gray web GUI has remained the same and so from the basic tab you can see the live camera feed.

Going to the advanced tab first here is the system menu from where you can change the device name, enter a location, set the time, perform firmware updates, reboot the camera, save/restore settings, enable/disable security features (like RTSP, SSH and login hack) and add/remove users.

Everything related with the network is placed inside the network menu and so from here you can set the NIC type (10/100M speed), MTU number, IP address, enable IPV6, DNS, DDNS (remote access), enable PPPoE internet connectivity, setup SNMP, enable/disable UPNP, use port mapping, enable/disable HTTPS (secure web access), use QoS (quality of service) and enable/disable IEEE 802.1x authentication.

Video quality can be primarily controlled from the Video Format tab so from here you can adjust the following settings for both streams such as encoding compression, resolution, bitrate type, video quality (only for variable bitrate), frame rate, maximum bitrate, I frame interval (the number should be the same as the selected fps) and video smoothing.

WEB INTERFACE PART 2

From inside the display settings tab you can adjust settings that has to do with image quality including brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, IRIS mode, exposure settings, day/night settings (we suggest turning smart IR off), backlight settings (WDR works fine in most scenarios, not all), white balance, image enhancement (digital noise reduction), scene mode (indoor/outdoor), orientation (standard/mirror) and video standard (USA 60Hz / EU 50Hz). Of course you can also adjust/setup the OSD (on-screen display) sub-menu (from here you can choose what information you'd liked displayed on the camera feed), text overlay (works almost the same way as OSD) and the privacy mask features (allows you to hide several "sensitive" areas from the camera feed).

You can also enable motion detection, video tampering and email alert features again on several parts of the feed from the event menu.

Aside the built-in micro SD card slot the camera can also record to a NAS connected to your local network (from the storage menu you can also set FTP access).

MIRA ANDROID / IOS APP

The new Mira app allows for very easy setup of your TRENDnet camera as seen above.

Once you finish adding your TRENDnet compatible camera(s) you will see it on a list in the main tab.

From inside the settings menu you can adjust several settings about the camera (minus detail ones).

The video detail can be adjusted from the live feed tab (clear equals to HD, fluent to SD and custom well you can choose a more "middle" approach).

VIDEO QUALITY

As usual in this section I’ll be covering the maximum resolution of the camera at hand (3840x2160p for this model) with optimised image settings (same as with previous TRENDnet models). All pictures are at full resolution.

Video quality is pretty much the best I’ve seen from a bullet camera to date, not excellent (not for an 4k 8MP model) but pretty good (top snapshot is with WDR off, bottom is with WDR on). Also, as you can easily tell WDR does work but the end result is a far less vivid picture.

Unlike other models even at night time the WDR feature works well and as for the two IR LEDs well they do seem to illuminate everything in a distance of up to 25-30 meters.

CONCLUSION

   TRENDnet has a long history of releasing hi-performance IP cameras (some with Hikvision as their OEM) and the IP-IP1318PI doesn’t disappoint neither in terms of image quality or features. True it may not be the highest performance 4k IP camera out in the market today (colors especially don’t look vivid enough) but for an affordable and compact model it actually does very well. The latest Mira software by TRENDnet is also quite improved (easier to add cameras and use) compared to their previous one so that also is a plus.

   So just how affordable is the latest TV-IP1318PI 4K 8MP IP camera by TRENDnet? Well with a current price tag set at USD149.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at 162Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) it’s actually very affordable. That also means that if you’re willing to climb higher there are many models able to outperform it. The only question is whether or not you’d need something better and honestly, after using it for over a month I really think that the TV-IP1318PI will easily cover the needs of 90% of the consumers out there currently and that’s why it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- 8MP CMOS Sensor
- Supports Resolutions Up To 4K 3840x2160p @ 20fps
- Available Features (H.265 / H.265+ / PoE / 120dB WDR)
- IP67 Weatherproof Housing
- 30m Effective Night Vision
- Web Interface Settings
- Mira App (Android / iOS)
- Compact Size
- Micro SD Card Slot (Up To 128GB)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Available Connectors (No Video and Audio In/Out)
- Color Accuracy / Reproduction