INTRODUCTION

   No matter in which area/country of the world you live in crime rates have almost certainly gone up in the recent months and/or years. Unfortunately, if you live in a part of the world where having a gun at home is illegal there aren't that many things you can do to keep your family and/or property safe. For example, where i live most people are using alarms to safeguard themselves, their families and their property while others (myself included) use both alarm systems and cameras. You see an alarm system is good but it's not that hard to disable prior to breaking and entering (if one knows how to do it) and so surveillance cameras are far more effective in catching/recording whoever is trying to illegally enter your property, at least in my book (they can also act as a very effective deterrent). This is honestly why i really enjoy testing IP cameras and today I’ll be testing yet another model, the TV-IP323PI Indoor/Outdoor 4MP H.265 PoE IR Fixed Turret Network Camera by TRENDnet.

   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.

    The TV-IP323PI is fixed turret (pan/tilt/rotate can be adjusted manually) indoor/outdoor IP camera model that features an IP67 certified (dust and water-proof with a temperature range from -30 and up to +60 degrees Celsius) enclosure inside which TRENDnet has placed an 4 megapixel, 1/3" CMOS sensor (4mm F1.6 focal length with an horizontal viewing angle of 78 degrees and a 4x digital zoom) which allows it to record fluid video with a resolution of up to 2560x1440p (2304x1296p/1920x1080p/1280x720p/640x480p resolutions are also supported - 3 available streams) at up to 30fps. Just like other IP cameras by TRENDnet the TV-IP323PI comes packed with a wide range of features including Η.265 (H.264/H.264+ and H.265+ are also supported) video compression, PoE (power over ethernet - 7.5w power consumption), WDR (wide dynamic range / 120dB), single IR LED (98 feet/30 meters range), motion, face 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. Basically, the TV-IP323PI may is not the top of the line model by TRENDnet and so all the more reason for me to see whether or not it delivers.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

TRENDnet has been using the same box many years now so again the main product features are listed at the front right beneath a large product picture and the company logo.

Both the features and specifications of the camera are printed on the right side of the box.

On the left side we find just the 3 main selling points of the TV-IP323PI, the Android/iOS app and the 24/7 support.

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

The camera is placed inside a piece of foam whereas the rest of the bundle sits in several plastic bags.

Aside the TV-IP323PI IP Camera inside the package you'll also find a plastic/rubber weather seal, torx Allen key, camera mounting screws, drill template, product catalog, registration paper, safety notes, Android/iOS app paper and the quick installation guide.

THE TV-IP323PI

The TV-IP323PI is a compact dome camera made out of aluminum (the lower part of the base is also made out of hard plastic).

To showcase its size i placed the TV-IP323PI right next to the TV-IP1318PI model.

The exposed lens and IR LED of the TV-IP323PI means this is not a vandal-proof model (still with a resolution of up to 2560x1440p with a vibrate of 16384Kbps it should produce good video quality).

A small compartment is located at the top of the camera (or belly, depends how you see it).

Removing the aluminum cover reveals the microSD card slot and the reset button.

Around the base of the TV-IP323PI we find several stickers (containing the serial and product numbers and barcodes) and the company logo.

The base is secured in place via 3 screws and also has a grounding screw.

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 the TPE-P521ES by TRENDnet.

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 all three 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, face and intrusion 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).

VIDEO QUALITY

As usual in this section I’ll be covering the maximum resolution of the camera at hand (2560x1440p for this model) with optimised image settings (same as with previous TRENDnet models). All pictures are at full resolution.

Video quality may not be the best I’ve seen to date but it’s surprisingly good, especially for a dome camera (top shot is with WDR off, bottom is with WDR on). Also, as you can easily tell WDR does work (unlike some older models) but the end result is a far less vivid picture.

The same applies for the night since the WDR feature works very well (the single LED also does a very good job illuminating most things up to 25-30 meters range).

CONCLUSION

   The TV-IP323PI Network Camera by TRENDnet is a mid-range, compact dome model with very good image quality, good night vision range and a plethora of features. Yes, it’s not perfect since for example it lacks a durable (vanda-proof) enclosure (still only very expensive models have this feature) and an audio input (something which most models current lack, probably due to privacy laws), two features that I always liked with outdoor IP cameras. Still the overall “package” is very balanced so all that’s really left is to see how much TRENDnet asks for it.

   Price is one of the strongest selling points of the TV-IP323PI model and so currently you can find it for just USD69.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 128.86Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). Yes, once again things on the other side of the Atlantic are vastly better but even here the TV-IP323PI by TRENDnet is priced ok (always compared to similar models). Overall, i have no serious complaints about the TV-IP323PI and so not only do i highly recommend it for people on a tight budget but it also gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- 4MP CMOS Sensor
- Supports Resolutions Up To 2560x1440p & 30fps
- Supported Features (H.265/H.265+/PoE/120dB WDR)
- IP67 Weatherproof Housing
- MicroSD Card Slot (Internal Storage)
- 30m Effective Night Vision
- Web Interface Settings
- Available Software (PC / Android / iOS)
- Compact Size
- Price (USA)

CONS

- Available Connectors (No Alarm, Video and Audio In/Out)
- No External Lens Cover (Also Not Vandal Proof)
- Price (EU)