INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   I remember a time when we used to leave the door of our house wide open and the keys of our car in the ignition because we knew and trusted everyone around our neighborhood (ah the good old days). Now things are way different/worse and so many houses near where i live have alarms, security doors and even metal bars on the windows and let’s face it who would want to put their family in danger when they can do something about it? Personally i don't think that bars are needed (not yet anyways) so i believe that a good surveillance/alarm system is more than sufficient to keep your family and possessions safe and that's why i have plans to even install such a system at my vacation house on the mountain just like i have done at both the lab and my home. COMPRO is one of the oldest manufacturers of surveillance equipment and although they may not be the most popular brand out there we've seen their solutions quite a few times in the past so when we were asked if we could test their latest TN1600P Cloud Network Camera we jumped at the chance.

 

    COMPRO Technology Inc., based in Taipei, Taiwan, has been an innovative leader in the design and development of consumer and industrial imaging application since 1988. Through innovative, reliable products and services, motivated and talented staff, responsible approach to the business, and collaboration with business partners and customers, COMPRO Technology is bringing an exciting new digital lifestyle to make the world a better and safer place to live in imaginative new direction.

 

   The TN1600P Cloud Network Camera is actually an POE (Power Over Ethernet) compatible outdoor IP camera model featuring an IP66 certified aluminum housing (in short IP66 means it's protected against dust and heavy water/seas), a 2.0 Megapixel CMOS sensor which can record video at a maximum resolution of 1600x1200 @ 15fps (also supports 1280x1024/1280x720/640x480/320x240/160x120p) and a total of 30 IR LEDs which can provide clear night vision for up to 20m (according to Compro that is). Along with the TN1600P model (the line includes the standard TN1600, the TN1600P which we have here today and the TN1600W which also features Wi-Fi connectivity) Compro packs a very useful POE injector which can be used to send power to the camera via the Ethernet cable if you don't happen to own a POE compatible switch (since the camera comes without a DC power connector POE is the only way). Also as the name suggests thanks to the C4Home Cloud service you can access the TN1600P from anywhere around the world through their mobile app or Internet Explorer. Overall it seems that Compro has released a very interesting IP camera but since it's our job not to trust specifications alone time to take a closer look.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compro ships the TN1600P inside a small cardboard box that has a large product image at the front right next to a smartphone, a sticker informing you about the POE injector in the package and the main product features.

 

 

The main product features are printed on both sides in 12 languages.

 

 

One of the good features the TN1600P has is that you can "expedite" the setup procedure just by scanning the QR code with your smartphone.

 

 

At the bottom we see the bundle contents and system requirements of the unit.

 

 

Compro has packed everything nicely inside the box so no problems during shipping.

 

 

So inside the box you will find the TN1600P Cloud Network Camera, wall mount with its screws, POE injector with power cord, Ethernet cable, software CD and a quick start guide.

 

 

THE TN1600P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The POE injector is by no means small but it helps send electrical power to the camera just by using the Ethernet cable something which is extremely convenient especially for outdoor installations.

 

 

For an outdoor camera model the TN1600P is not very large and measures just 147mm in length, 74mm in width and 77mm in height while it weighs 553g.

 

 

I have seen sturdier and much thicker wall mounts than the one Compro ships the TN1600P with but we had no problems with it during installation.

 

 

Compro has placed their logo at the rear left and right of the sunshield.

 

 

The auto-focus lens of the TN1600P have a 60 degree horizontal angle of view and 1/3" 2MP CMOS sensor of the TN1600P can record video with resolutions up to 1600x1200p at 15 frames per second (30 however would be ideal).

 

 

Adjusting the position of the sunshield is very easy since it's done via the screw at the top.

 

 

You can find the 2D barcode at the rear end of the device as seen above.

 

 

For good or bad the TN1600P is targeted mostly towards people who care not about hooking it with an alarm system, a microphone and a speaker so the only connector found at the end of the cable is the Ethernet one.

 

 

SETUP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can run the setup software from the bundled CD.

 

 

The setup wizard auto-detects any Compro cameras plugged into your local network and so all you need to do after that is set the name of the device and the time.

 

 

You can also enable the C4Home cloud service from within the same wizard which allows you to access the camera feed from anywhere around the globe (you will need to register).

 

 

Storing the settings takes just a couple of minutes and after that you're good to go.

 

 

WEB INTERFACE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although Compro offers their ComproView camera control software i always prefer the web interface since it requires no installation although you do need to setup the picture quality before you start using it.

 

 

Overall the web interface has a variety of video options you can adjust but i strongly recommend leaving most of them on auto.

 

 

Typically through the web interface you can allow more people to access the camera feed.

 

 

You can setup all network related settings (from IP to UPNP, DDNS and QoS) through the network tab.

 

 

As you can see the TN1600P web interface allows you to add up to two motion trigger regions on the feed.

 

 

Through the web interface you can also setup the time, configure the OSD (on-screen-display) and add more cameras to the feed (however they need to be by COMPRO as well since the interface was unable to connect with the ones we use by Airlive and iMege).

 

 

Finally you can also check the information overview table, perform FW updates, save your settings to a file and reboot the camera.

 

 

The main interface screen is mostly taken by the live feed as you can see from the above screenshot.

 

From the main screen you can also disable the video feed entirely if you want your "privacy" and remove the controls if you want the video feed to take more of your screen (unfortunately you can't zoom-in via the web interface).

 

 

THE COMPROVIEW SOFTWARE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also use the bundled ComproView software by Compro which allows you to control up to 32 compatible IP cameras. However i do recommend checking their support page for new program versions.

 

 

Just like the wizard the software detects any available IP camera models which in turn you can control through the program.

 

 

Aside recording and playing recorded video files the ComproView software offers extra functions like pan/tilt and zoom but unfortunately those are not for the TN1600P.

 

 

THE C4HOME CLOUD SERVICE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you decide to create an account with C4Home (i don't see why anyone would skip on doing that) you can access the camera feed by logging into their website with your user name and password.

 

 

The C4Home Cloud Service web interface gives you the same pan/tilt/zoom functions as the ComproView software.

 

 

This time however although pan/tilt are for other models you can actually zoom-in (digital zoom however is never that great).

 

 

ASUSTOR NAS COMPATIBILITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The COMPRO TN1600P is also fully compatible with NAS servers by ASUSTOR so if you're out in the market for a IP Camera and you have an ASUSTOR NAS (or vice versa) this could be the model for you.

As you can see the surveillance center detected the camera model and it only required from us to enter the user name and password.

 

 

You can also adjust the preferred quality settings from an very easy to use menu.

 

 

Under the recording tab you can choose between continuous or motion triggered recording.

 

 

VIDEO QUALITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By default the TN1600P comes with the quality slider at the middle but i do recommend moving it all the way to high quality spot (the above screenshot is from that).

 

 

I decided to cut a small part of the picture in medium and high quality so you can see the difference in quality (mostly a tiny difference in sharpness) for yourselves (top is medium, bottom is high).

 

 

As for night mode well the tree leaves in the above picture are approximately 3m away while the houses at the far end are 40m away (the illuminated area even further is roughly 70m away). You can't see the effective range of the 30 IR LEDs here but after further testing we found that you can see easily up to 15m away (20m is also visible just not as good).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   It's been a while since i last had the chance to test an outdoor IP camera model so it was a good change to move from PC peripherals and hardware to something entirely different after so long. Of course after testing FullHD (1920x1080) IP camera models even as far back as well over 2 years ago i have to say that i was a bit skeptical about the 1600x1200 resolution of the TN1600P but in the end the difference in quality is not really that big. Long story short although we weren't really impressed with the image quality of the TN1600P we weren't disappointed either since it's actually quite good for its price range always. Image quality aside we also liked the 2D barcode hassle-free setup feature and the C4Home Cloud Service since it simplifies things quite a bit although i need to point out that we would like the zoom functionality to also extend to both the web interface and ComproView program. The lack of the usual alarm and audio in/out connectors is somewhat strange since this is the first time we've gotten our hands on an outdoor IP camera model that doesn't have them so if you want to have two-way communication (listen and talk) the TN1600P is obviously not for you.

 

   With a current recommended retail price tag set at USD339 inside the USA and a price tag of around 280Euros inside the EU the TN1600P Cloud Network Camera by COMPRO is not really expensive for a 2 Megapixel 1600x1200 outdoor IP66 IP camera especially since it comes with one of the easiest to use Cloud features to date. There are certainly cheaper bullet IP camera models in the market as we speak some of which offer even higher resolutions (we have some here which we will be testing in the coming weeks) but their features (and even customer support) may not be the same as the ones of the TN1600P so in the end you should really think about what you need and how much you're willing to pay for it. Overall however COMPRO has released a very good IP Camera model and although it still has a long way before we can call it perfect it's well worth our Golden Award.

PROS

- 2MP CMOS Sensor
- Support up to 1600x1200 @15fps
- IP-66 Weatherproof Housing
- 20m Effective Night Vision
- H.264/MPEG/MJPEG Support
- POE Injector Included
- Easy Installation (2D Barcode)
- C4Home Cloud Service
- Web Interface
- ComproView Software
- Fully Compatible With ASUSTOR NAS Servers

 

 

CONS

- 15fps (30fps Is Ideal)
- Available Connectors (No Alarm and Audio In/Out)
- Current Availability