ViscaCamLink – Camera control application for PTZ cameras • Hacker News Board

ViscaCamLink – Camera control application for PTZ cameras

#1

Post by yaman071 » Tue, Jul 01, 2025, 11:39 AM UTC

ViscaCamLink – Camera control application for PTZ cameras
github.com

Re: ViscaCamLink – Camera control application for PTZ cameras

#2

Post by ck2 » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 5:43 PM UTC

There is also OpenIPC which works with some of my cheap chinese cameras

https://github.com/OpenIPC/

https://team.openipc.org/ipcam_dms/ (note the english translated link)

Be sure to firewall your cameras on your router to only intranet, do not let them access internet or they phone home

(you can let them sync time by capturing ITP requests and running your own service on your router)

Re: ViscaCamLink – Camera control application for PTZ cameras

#3

Post by bitbasher » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 5:55 PM UTC

I worked at a video surveillance company many years ago. We built PTZ controls that worked on the desktop and over the network via a web page... this was in early 2000s.

We also got hammered by a patent troll because apparently, the math behind stitching fisheye lenses into a flat video plane is somehow patented.

Re: ViscaCamLink – Camera control application for PTZ cameras

#4

Post by DidYaWipe » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 7:11 PM UTC

bitbasher wrote: post #3

I worked at a video surveillance company many years ago. We built PTZ controls that worked on the desktop and over the network via a web page... this was in early 2000s. We also got hammered by a patent troll because apparently, the math behind stitching fisheye lenses into a flat video plane is somehow patented.

Gotta love the derelict USPTO.

Re: ViscaCamLink – Camera control application for PTZ cameras

#5

Post by sudobash1 » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 7:12 PM UTC

ck2 wrote: post #2

There is also OpenIPC which works with some of my cheap chinese cameras https://github.com/OpenIPC/ https://team.openipc.org/ipcam_dms/ (note the english translated link) Be sure to firewall your cameras on your router to only intranet, do not let them access internet or they phone home (you can let them sync time by capturing ITP requests and running your own service on your router)

It looks like OpenIPC is a replacement firmware. I would assume this means (as long as you trust the OpenIPC authors) that you don't have to firewall them off from the Internet. You ordinarily only have to do that for the sketchy firmware that they come with. Open firmware shouldn't be "phoning home".

Re: ViscaCamLink – Camera control application for PTZ cameras

#6

Post by ck2 » Thu, Jul 03, 2025, 7:23 PM UTC

sudobash1 wrote: post #5

ck2 wrote: post #2

There is also OpenIPC which works with some of my cheap chinese cameras https://github.com/OpenIPC/ https://team.openipc.org/ipcam_dms/ (note the english translated link) Be sure to firewall your cameras on your router to only intranet, do not let them access internet or they phone home (you can let them sync time by capturing ITP requests and running your own service on your router)

It looks like OpenIPC is a replacement firmware. I would assume this means (as long as you trust the OpenIPC authors) that you don't have to firewall them off from the Internet. You ordinarily only have to do that for the sketchy firmware that they come with. Open firmware shouldn't be "phoning home".

You never know when a zero-day is going to popup and whack your cameras as IOT, part of a DDOS or whatnot

But if you've hardened it even a little bit with something as easy as not letting it communicate off your intranet, well that can prevent ugly discoveries later

If you need offsite remote camera access you can always carve out a tunnel