Calaos displays the pictures from your IP cameras in its interfaces: on the touchscreen, in the mobile applications and in the web app. A camera picture can also be attached to an email sent by a rule, so you receive a snapshot at the moment of an event.
The stream used is MJPEG, a simple format that virtually every IP camera can produce.
Calaos knows several camera families directly, and knows how to ask them for a picture:
| Family | Note |
|---|---|
| Standard MJPEG | Works with any camera exposing an MJPEG stream |
| Axis | — |
| Foscam | — |
| Gadspot | — |
| Planet | — |
| Synology Surveillance Station | Goes through the surveillance server rather than the camera |
| Reolink | See the dedicated section below |
If your model is not in the list, try the standard MJPEG type: all you need is the stream address, which the manufacturer usually documents. Many unlisted cameras work this way.
In Calaos Installer, Add → Camera, then choose the family matching your model. Fill in its network address and, if it asks for them, its credentials.
Change the default password on your cameras. They are the first device targeted on a home network, and a camera left on its factory credentials is accessible to anyone who reaches your network.
Do not expose it directly on the Internet — see Dynamic DNS for controlled remote access.
Two parameters let you adapt the picture to the display, without touching the camera’s own settings:
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
rotate | int | no | Rotation of the picture in degrees. For example 90 for clockwise, -90 for counter-clockwise |
width | int | no | Desired width in pixels. The picture is resized keeping its proportions. Leave empty to keep the original size |
width is useful on wall screens: shrinking a 4K camera picture to the width actually displayed noticeably lightens both the network and the display.
Reolink cameras go further than the picture alone: they can report what they detect. Calaos can turn these events into an input, usable like any switch in your rules.
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
hostname | string | yes | IP address or name of the camera |
username | string | yes | Login for the camera |
password | string | yes | Password |
event_type | list | yes | Type of event to listen for. Defaults to motion |
The available event types:
| Value | Detection |
|---|---|
motion | Motion |
person | Person |
vehicle | Vehicle |
pet | Pet |
cry | Crying |
face | Face |
package | Package |
visitor | Visitor / doorbell |
These specialised detections are far better than plain motion: a rule triggered on person ignores branches moving in the wind and the neighbourhood cats, where motion will send you notifications all night.
A Reolink input is then used like a conventional detector: switching on outdoor lighting when someone arrives, sending a notification for the doorbell, recording the event in the history. See Create rules.
An email action can attach a camera picture at the moment the rule triggers. It is the simplest way to receive a snapshot on detection.
Email sending must be configured beforehand: see Email.
If the picture does not appear:
See Logs for server-side errors.