Software

It is clear that AirLive is aiming this camera at the home audience. The wizard setup system works like it should and leaves very little to be desired in terms of ease of use. If you are an experienced user you might find it a bit annoying that you have to enter the web based application afterwards to configure the last details. In my opinion all the basic features should be covered in the software package.


The camera has lots of features and allows you to customize all the network related settings.


This little IP-camera also does PPPoE.


Dynamic DNS is likewise also something you can configure in the firmware.


As a little treat you can also install language packs on the device, which is great if you are not comfortable navigating through the English menus and settings.


The only thing missing before you can use the camera is to install an add-on from OvisLink which is the company which owns AirLive.


In the web application you can adjust everything. The web based controller software allows you to control every little aspect of the camera. You have your motion detection, and light settings. If the camera detects movement you can have it start recording to a shared drive or network attached storage. You can even get it to upload the files to your FTP server which is really neat. This is a bit of hassle to setup because the settings needed are hidden in several different submenus instead of just one labeled "Alarm" or something like that.


The integrated motion detection system works alright after you tweak the threshold and detection area. The WL-2000CAM allows you to setup three different zones. This is really nice if you want to use it in a place where there is a lot of motion, since it allows you to focus the surveillance on a small subject.


Another interesting feature on the WL-2000CAM is the six high power LEDs on the front of the cameras. These deliver just enough light to make something barely visible sort of clear even in a dark room. They will not do miracles but can help a bit. You have three different settings for the LEDs, you can have them on or off or automatic. If anyone or thing triggers the motion detection and it is dark they will light up.

Performance

The image quality is alright at 640 x 480 resolution. The image has a fair amount of noise on it which makes it look a bit busy at all times, quite annoying actually if you are looking at it for a while. Considering that it is a surveillance camera I would say the picture quality is satisfactory. One of the things that surprised me a bit was the camera's ability to produce smooth looking motion. I guess this comes down to the fact that the camera produces a full 30 FPS rather than around 18 which most normal webcams do. This means that you can see faces even when the person is moving. Of course it is not blazing fast at tracking motion like a real camera, but it does not have to. If used to monitor a room or area I think the camera will produce satisfactory results even in tricky lighting situations. On the picture above there is very little light in the room, but it still produces a relatively good picture quality without over or under exposing the image dramatically. I also tested the camera with the curtains aside, this meant that there was a bright light source in a dim room even that did not trick the camera into doing some funky metering, which is really nice.


The six LEDs placed around the camera are enough to illuminate what is closest to the camera. It cannot light up a whole room or anything like that, but it does have its uses in low light situations.

Video Sample
Above you can see the general image quality that the WL-2000CAM can produce. The film was made with the LEDs on and with the client settings being high. You can also set it to auto and have the camera decide which settings are suitable for the connection you are using. This will most likely mean that it downsizes the image or increases the compression level.