Home Assistant

Amcrest IP Camera

The amcrest platform allows you to integrate your Amcrest IP camera in Home Assistant.

To enable your camera in your installation, add the following to your configuration.yaml file:

# Example configuration.yaml entry
amcrest:
  - host: IP_ADDRESS
    username: USERNAME
    password: PASSWORD
    sensors:
      - motion_detector
      - sdcard

 - host: IP_ADDRESS
   username: USERNAME
   password: PASSWORD
   resolution: low
   stream_source: snapshot
   sensors:
     - ptz_preset

Configuration variables:

  • host (Required): The IP address or hostname of your camera. If using a hostname, make sure the DNS works as expected.
  • username (Required): The username for accessing your camera.
  • password (Required): The password for accessing your camera.
  • name (Optional): This parameter allows you to override the name of your camera. The default is “Amcrest Camera”.
  • port (Optional): The port that the camera is running on. The default is 80.
  • resolution (Optional): This parameter allows you to specify the camera resolution. For a high resolution (1080/720p), specify the option high. For VGA resolution (640x480p), specify the option low. If omitted, it defaults to high.
  • stream_source (Optional): The data source for the live stream. mjpeg will use the camera’s native MJPEG stream, whereas snapshot will use the camera’s snapshot API to create a stream from still images. You can also set the rtsp option to generate the streaming via RTSP protocol. If omitted, it defaults to snapshot.
  • ffmpeg_arguments: (Optional): Extra options to pass to ffmpeg, e.g. image quality or video filter options.
  • authentication: (Optional): Defines which authentication method to use only when stream_source is mjpeg. Currently, aiohttp only support basic. It defaults to basic.
  • scan_interval (Optional): Defines the update interval of the sensor in seconds. The default is 10 seconds.
  • sensors array (Optional): Conditions to display in the frontend. By default, none of the conditions are enabled. The following conditions can be monitored.
    • motion_detector: Return True/False when a motion is detected
    • sdcard: Return the SD card usage by reporting the total and used space
    • ptz_preset: Return the number of PTZ preset positions configured for the given camera

Note: Amcrest cameras with newer firmware no longer have the ability to stream high definition video with MJPEG encoding. You may need to use low resolution stream or the snapshot stream source instead. If the quality seems too poor, lower the Frame Rate (FPS) and max out the Bit Rate settings in your camera’s configuration manager. If you defined the stream_source to mjpeg, make sure your camera supports Basic HTTP authentication. Newer Amcrest firmware may not work, then rtsp is recommended instead.

Note: If you set the stream_source option to rtsp, make sure to follow the steps mentioned at FFMPEG documentation to install the ffmpeg.

Finish its configuration by visiting the Amcrest sensor page or Amcrest camera page.

To check if your Amcrest camera is supported/tested, visit the supportability matrix link from the python-amcrest project.