IP8M-2493EW-V2 snapshot image resolution different using webui vs http

[fredshef]

When I sign in to the webui and go to the LIVE view I can click the camera icon in the upper right to get a 8M snapshot image.

When I use my browser and the http://<camera address>/snapshot.cgi command I get a much smaller image (~800K).

What do I need to do to get an 8M snapshot image from my browser?

[GaryOkie]

This is the same issue as to the default AD410 doorbell snapshot resolution being much lower than expected. You may want to review this thread:
https://amcrest.com/forum/ip-cameras-f1 ... tml#p37999

I don't have this camera, but first confirm how the snapshot "Video.resolution" parameter is defined for each stream (main, sub1, sub2)...

<camera_ip>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=getConfig&name=Encode[0].SnapFormat

If the snapshot resolution for the main stream isn't the highest resolution, it can be changed via the API or Amcrest Surveillance Pro (assuming the app still doesn't crash in the snapshot menu).

The snapshot.cgi command should default to the SnapFormat[0] (main stream) resolution that is defined. It is possible for the snapshot command to specify a different stream by appending &subtype=n -> <camera_ip>/cgi-bin/snapshot.cgi&subtype=1

[fredshef]

Thanks for your reply. Here's what I get from <camera_ip>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=getConfig&name=Encode[0].SnapFormat :

table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Audio.Compression=G.711A
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Audio.Depth=16
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Audio.Frequency=44000
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Audio.Pack=DHAV
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].AudioEnable=false
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.resolution=3840x2160
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.BitRate=5120
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.BitRateControl=VBR
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.Compression=MJPG
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.FPS=1
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.GOP=60
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.Height=2160
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.Pack=DHAV
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.Profile=Main
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.Quality=6
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.SVCTLayer=1
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].Video.Width=3840
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[0].VideoEnable=true
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Audio.Compression=G.711A
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Audio.Depth=16
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Audio.Frequency=44000
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Audio.Pack=DHAV
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].AudioEnable=false
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.resolution=3840x2160
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.BitRate=5120
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.BitRateControl=VBR
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.Compression=MJPG
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.FPS=1
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.GOP=60
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.Height=2160
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.Pack=DHAV
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.Profile=Main
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.Quality=6
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.SVCTLayer=1
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].Video.Width=3840
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[1].VideoEnable=true
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Audio.Compression=G.711A
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Audio.Depth=16
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Audio.Frequency=44000
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Audio.Pack=DHAV
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].AudioEnable=false
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.resolution=3840x2160
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.BitRate=5120
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.BitRateControl=VBR
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.Compression=MJPG
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.FPS=1
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.GOP=60
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.Height=2160
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.Pack=DHAV
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.Profile=Main
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.Quality=5
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.SVCTLayer=1
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].Video.Width=3840
table.Encode[0].SnapFormat[2].VideoEnable=true

Maybe I am not explaining the problem correctly. The file that I get from a web request (http://<camera address>/snapshot.cgi) is downloaded to my browser as "snapshot.cgi" and it is about 800KB. When I use the webui and click on the camera icon, a PNG file (e.g. 20230223_105415.png) is downloaded and it is 11MB.

The webui app must use a different command to get the large PNG file and that's what I'd like to know.

Any other thoughts?

[GaryOkie]

Hi Fred,

Your question is a lot clearer to me now. This is not at all the same issue reported with the AD410. I rarely log into the webui of the camera for normal viewing and had never noticed the snapshot from live view it creates is a PNG file. Huh, interesting.

The Snapshot.cgi API command can only create JPEG files. This image format has a much higher compression than PNG which explains why the file sizes are so much smaller. There is no HTTP API or configuration option to create any other snapshot format, at least not documented or reported that I've seen.

Here's a good article comparing JPEG to PNG tradeoffs, if interested: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/jpeg-vs-png/

And if you are technically inclined, here's an article how to use ffmpeg software to create PNG from a live stream:
https://matt.coneybeare.me/how-to-gener ... ng-ffmpeg/

[Revo2Maxx]

Yeah I don't know. Might want to look at your saved image from WebUI.. When I just took one of my 8mp camera it is saving it in BMP and that format is crazy low compression and the file size at this hour is 23mb. From a Snapshot command as GaryOkie said it has higher Compression and is better for transfer over network.

Also keep in mind that working with IP cameras there is only 1 type of size that can be taken. Unlike the DVR where you can take a picture from main or sub channel and might be able from NVR as well however most cases the NVR might choke on a snapshot taken from a subchannel because unlike the DVR there is only 1 size Snapshot offered by the recorder and that is full main channel size. Normally one can change the Quality from 1 to 6 and that could effect the size of cgi saved file but it will lower the quality as well.