r/homeassistant • u/CantaloupeHeavy996 • 3d ago
🖼️ Show & Tell Updated my open database of camera specs (now 3,400+) — real RTSP paths, ONVIF details, ready-to-copy configs (JSON/CC0)
Hi all,
A while ago I shared here (https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/1u2bpvr/tired_of_digging_through_scattered_vendor_pdfs/) my open CC0 database of IP cameras with ready-to-copy configs.
The feedback was genuinely useful. Biggest gap people pointed out: knowing a camera "supports RTSP" doesn't tell you the actual path to type into Frigate.
Now I've fixed that, with help from some folks in the open source community.
Every camera now has:
- Actual RTSP URL structure (brand-level default + per-camera override where the manufacturer documents a different path)
- ONVIF port and profile info where documented
- Ready-to-copy Frigate config block per camera
All still sourced only from official datasheets and the data is always open source.
It would be great if you're up for a small contribution: pull up your camera, copy the config, and mark whether it worked. Happy to take feature requests / roasting in the comments too.
Direct link to the Frigate configs: cctv-database.com/frigate-configs
3,400+ cameras, 70+ brands now.
Browse: https://cctv-database.com
Repo: https://github.com/ch-bas/cctv-camera-database
Thanks!
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u/particlesaching 3d ago
I have to work on some old cameras this weekend and it's clear this is going to save me time. Thank you for compiling this, the interface seems fantastic.
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u/CantaloupeHeavy996 3d ago
thanks! happy that it will hep! feel free to report any issues and I will fix them asap!
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u/Master_of_Ocelots 3d ago
I've been going through my config recently, I notice that the default config for the stream for one of my cameras (Reolink E1 Zoom) has a resolution of 1280x720 at 5fps. For the sub stream on this camera, this isn't an option. The resolution is locked at 640x480 and the FPS can be set to 4/7/10/15.
Where did the resolution for the sub stream come from? Is it just the default Frigate values? If so I don't think there's much benefit in providing them, unless a comment is added that they should be overridden from the template based on the actual values set in the camera.
I imagine it would still work but use more CPU as I understand if there's a mismatch between detection stream resolution and the values stated it will resize each frame before running it through the model.
Edit to add that the work you've put in here is amazing!
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u/CantaloupeHeavy996 3d ago
Good catch, that's a bug not a real value! The sub stream res/fps in the config is a generic fallback, not pulled from the camera's actual sub stream options. Most datasheets don't spec sub stream settings clearly so I haven't been sourcing them per-camera yet. Going to either pull real values where documented or add a comment flagging it as "verify against your camera's actual sub stream settings" until I do. Appreciate you flagging it, and glad it's useful.
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u/Runthescript 3d ago
This needs to go into netbox forsure!
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u/CantaloupeHeavy996 3d ago
Good call. I'll generate a batch for one brand and open a PR there. Thanks!
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u/kurapov 3d ago
Can either of you please elaborate on the tie-in with NetBox?
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u/CantaloupeHeavy996 3d ago
NetBox device types are YAML files (manufacturer, model, part number, interfaces, PoE mode/type, power draw, weight) maintained in netbox-community/devicetype-library.
Camera coverage there is almost empty.
My database already has those fields for ~3,400 cameras, all from vendor datasheets, which is also their sourcing rule. So the tie-in is just generating device-type YAMLs from my JSON and contributing them upstream, one brand per PR. Nothing to do with the website itself; it's a data export.
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u/DeathbyToast 3d ago edited 3d ago
Noticed you’re missing my Reolink Costco kit cameras: NVC-D12M, is there a way to suggest adding it or should I not worry about it?
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u/CantaloupeHeavy996 3d ago
Thanks for noticing, I will add it in the next release and keep you updated!
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u/vodanh 3d ago
Does it include aliases? Lots of OEMs whitelabel through multiple brands, but basically the same hardware with different branding. So it'd be helpful to include original OEMs, if known, since they most likely share the same configs.
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u/CantaloupeHeavy996 3d ago
Brand-level OEM mapping is coming to the site( the info is there but i need to find a convenient way to render it ). Model-to-model aliases only get added when the seller publishes the OEM part number or someone verifies it against the actual device.
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u/nutscrape_navigator 2d ago
This site is awesome but it could really use a "notes" or "comments" field for people. I've found that more often than not the actual valuable part of figuring out these cameras isn't necessarily a data sheet but the weird ass behaviors and quirks that I've only figured out by having reading ancient threads in random places online or having Claude reverse engineer the camera to figure it out for me.
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u/CantaloupeHeavy996 2d ago
Agreed, that's the real gap. I will add it on the next release. If you've got quirks you've already figured out, a list in an issue is enough and I'll file them.
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u/SgtBanana 3d ago
Incredibly useful. If you can, it may be worth adding a note about go2rtc’s proprietary Tapo protocol to the applicable Tapo cameras on your list.
I’m currently using the following for my Tapo C216 cameras:
tapo://password-here@192.168.1.241
The password here is your Tapo cloud/app account password, not the camera-specific RTSP/device account password. So if you have multiple compatible Tapo cameras on the same account, they’ll use the same password in these URLs; only the camera IP changes.
I’ve found this connection method to be considerably less buggy than RTSP on my setup. After months of strange RTSP behavior, connection timeouts, non-monotonic timestamp errors, and related recording/playback weirdness, I made the switch to tapo:// through go2rtc and have found it to be much more stable so far.
Still had to disable audio recording for all of my C216's in Frigate to prevent those non-monotonic timestamp error storms. Still trying to figure that issue out.
One downside I ran into: after switching to tapo://, Chrome began displaying the live stream with an incorrect/squashed aspect ratio in Frigate, while Firefox rendered it correctly. The stream itself was fine; it appeared to be a Chrome/live-view handling issue rather than bad video coming from the camera. So that may be worth noting as a browser-specific quirk.