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lewsterr's profile

Monday, April 13th, 2020 7:55 PM

Confused about how the Simplicam works and appropriate settings

I just purchased three of the Simplicams and am really confused about how they work and the best settings to use to achieve maximum security.  Getting the answers to my questions below would certainly help. I can probably think of more questions, but understanding these may help me figure out the rest.

1. In Home or Away modes, with the privacy shutter open, will movement trigger an alarm?  
2. In Home or Away modes, with the privacy shutter open, will movement start a recording?  If so, how long will the recording continue for?
3. Will the camera automatically start recording when the alarm is triggered by a sensor or does the camera have to detect the motion first?
4. What does it mean when an open shutter lets you capture a few seconds of footage before an event?  This is displayed when you click on the question mark next to Privacy Shutter in the Devices screen.
5. If the Privacy Shutter is set to 'Open' in Home mode in the basement, where there are a lot of windows, and I go down to the basement, will this record my actions?

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1.2K Messages

5 years ago

If you have motion sensing turned on within the app it will record any time it sees movement and the shutter is OPEN.  You can decide which modes have the shutter open.  Home Away or Off Mode.  It will record for as long as it sees motion and several seconds after.  In my experience I would guess 30 seconds to a minute after, it seems like it varries slightly.  

The cameras will ALWAYS record when an event happens and this cannot be turned off.  Events include an actual alarm, arming the system in home or away, and turning the system off.

To capture video before an event the shutter must already be open.  So for example, you have the shutter set to OPEN for away mode and your alarm goes off, the camera is always buffering a few seconds so when the alarm goes off it uploads its buffer and keeps recording so you can see the few seconds before the event happened.  If the shutter was closed it would not open and record until the even happened.  For example if someone threw a rock through your window.  The shutter setting would decide if it ever recorded the rock coming through or not.  If the shutter was closed, you'll still get after video which might include bad guy climbing through the window, but won't see how he broke it.  Does that make sense?

43 Messages

That is very helpful.  I had no idea that, in the OPEN mode, it buffers.  I also wasn't aware that arming and disarming the system were considered events.  That explains why, after disarming the system one morning, it recorded me going into the kitchen.  So, if I understand you correctly, with the shutter in OPEN mode, it is always buffering but will not start recording until an event.  If an event does occur, it will include in the recording the last 15-30 seconds (or whatever it is) of images it buffered.

1.2K Messages

5 years ago

Exactly.  With shutter in open you get some before, during and after footage.  With it closed you get during and after footage, no before.

43 Messages

5 years ago

That makes sense.  I appreciate your help.
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