The Camera

The actual TV-IP422W was smaller than I expected and much lighter. I was a little surprised that it is only available in white. To me white would stand out and be visible against most backgrounds. Of course this visibility can act as a deterrent. What I found during testing is that the color does not make the TV-IP422W stand out at all. It actually helps it to blend in, even at night.

(Click the above image for the large version)

Getting back to the actual construction and features of the TV-IP422W, I found it to be a pretty solid little device. The camera has an adjustable viewing angle; you are able to rotate it 330 degrees (165 left and right) horizontally and 110 degrees (95 up and 15 down) vertically. This gives you an excellent range and can save you some money in the long run as you will need fewer devices to cover the same area. You can also assign up to eight custom angles that allow you to shift the view point with a single click.

Taking a look at the front lens of the camera, you can see what looks like several small lights surrounding the lens. These are infrared LEDs that allow for greater range viewing in low light situations. There is also a sensor (the smaller opening) that allows the camera to detect the light level and turn these on and off accordingly. There is also an operation and power light on the front that can be turned off through the web configuration software. Right next to these lights is a tiny opening for a microphone. This allows you to record audio as well as video. Before enabling this function you will want to check the local laws covering audio recording and privacy. It is illegal to record audio without prior consent in some states and counties.

(Click the above image for the large version)

The back of the TV-IP422W is where all of your connectivity ports are. Here you have a 10/100 Ethernet port, a GPIO (general purpose input/output) port, speaker port, Wireless Antenna port and of course power.

With the GPIO port you can connect the TV-IP422W to other devices in an alarm system and set triggers (such as motion) that will send a signal to the connected device.

(Click the above image for the large version)

One more port to cover is the small USB port on the side; this actually serves two purposes. It can be used for direct connection of a USB drive and to use a USB Key for Windows Wireless setup. The direct USB connection can make the TV-IP422W a complete unit eliminating the need for a dedicated storage and control PC.

One down side to the TV-IP422W is that you will need to manually focus it on a fixed point. I would recommend you choose a point that gives you the greatest clarity for your viewing range. It does well for long range (in terms of clarity) in bright light, but night focus is a little off. However, that is to be expected and is not uncommon with low light cameras.