The Tuya platform is powered by hundreds of millions of smart sockets, light bulbs and fixtures from many brands, but this platform supports not only device management, but also work with systems video surveillance.
I’ll tell you how Tuya differs from other popular platforms, what are the pros and cons of the cameras on it.
First of all, about why you need a cloud video surveillance platform at all. Thanks to it, it becomes possible to view the image from the cameras and control them from anywhere in the world, while the Internet to which the cameras are connected may have "gray" IP addresses, is located behind NAT, may have restrictions on the ports. Each platform has its own applications for mobile devices.
There are many such platforms, but mostly they are manufacturers' platforms (only devices from a specific manufacturer can work with the platform and application). There are several universal platforms on which devices from different manufacturers work.
The most famous platform on which Chinese cameras and recorders work is XMEye. Another platform that mainly uses Wi-Fi and 4G cameras is CamHi.
Tuya is unusual in that it allows manufacturers to release their own applications, so in addition to the two "own" applications "Tuya Smart" and "Smart Life" there are hundreds of twin applications from different manufacturers (for example, "Navigator SmartHome", "Hiper IOT", "REMEZ Smart", "EKF connect"). Applications may differ in colors, design of individual items, but in general they are similar. In addition, some large brands write their applications using the Tuya API (for example, Yandex and Sber).
The main thing is that Tuya devices can be linked to any of these applications, regardless of the manufacturer (for example, if you have a camera Navigator, Yandex bulbs, Hiper sockets and EKF lamp, you can use only one application to control all of these devices).
Let's get back to video surveillance. I’ll show you how it all works, using the Navigator NSH-CAM-01-IP20-WiFi home PTZ camera as an example (read my detailed review of the three cameras of this brand here).
Adding a camera to the application is made as simple as possible: no need to think about IP addresses, create a password, or enter serial numbers. All you need to do is enter the Wi-Fi password and show the camera the QR code generated by the application (even a child can handle it).
It is very convenient that you can create a separate shortcut for the camera on the main screen of your smartphone. When it is launched, the camera control screen will immediately open and live video from it will be displayed (no other platform has this).
On the control screen, everything is quite traditional - you can take screenshots, record video, view recordings from the card memory installed in the camera, switch to full screen mode (auto-switching when turning the smartphone, alas, No).
From the unusual - if the camera is rotary, you can move it by swiping your finger over the image.
It is possible to display video from 4, 9 and 16 cameras on one screen.
Unlike other platforms, Tuya has paid cloud storage, but due to sanctions for Russia, it is not available.
An interesting and useful feature of the platform is the feed of events with photos. If you turn on motion detection and allow the formation of this tape, in the "Message Center" subsection section "Profile" a log will be kept of all motion detection triggers with frames at the moment triggering.
These frames are saved on the smartphone and it works even if there is no memory card in the camera. Even if the camera is stolen, the photo tape will remain.
Today, the minus of the Tuya platform is not very convenient viewing of records. The timeline is narrow, and in some themes it is also very low-contrast (gray on black). Saving records is done in an unusual way - you need to start viewing and press the record button, and then stop (not everything will be recorded, but only what was selected by pressing these buttons).
The Tuya platform is focused on "housewives", everything is made as simple as possible (geeks will not like it). Now you can find a lot of cameras working on this platform (the cheapest Tuya cameras on Aliexpress are already 750 rubles, and the cheapest rotary from 1000 rubles). There were also registrars working with Tuya.
In our difficult time, the undoubted minus of any cloud platform is that it can be turned off or blocked for use in our country. There is already a precedent: in the spring, Tuya blocked the ability to add Sber light bulbs and sockets to the application when sanctions were imposed against it (the devices added earlier continue to work). However, the devices are inexpensive and it is very likely that devices from other Russian manufacturers will not be blocked, and in general, the Tuya cloud will continue to work in Russia.
Peace for everyone!
© 2022, Alexey Nadezhin
For twelve years I have been writing about technology, discounts, interesting places and events. Read my blog site ammo1.ru, in Learn, Zen, Mirtesen, Telegram.
My projects:
lamptest.ru. I test LED lamps and help you figure out which ones are good and which are not so good.
Elerus.ru. I collect information about domestic electronic devices for personal use and share it.
You can contact me in the Telegram group @ammochat.
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