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Third Stream and audio on T3/T4


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I have some Luma 510 Turret cams, and they feed into my Synology SS. I have them set up to offer Third Stream, which is used by the T3 and T4 touchscreens in the house. The streams are set up like this, with "Video&Audio" chosen:

1255709284_ScreenShot2022-01-09at9_17_19PM.png.91030585fca505109c0259850e91bd14.png

I get audio on main stream on my NVR, but nothing from Third Stream on the C4 hardware. Any thoughts on how to make this work?

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30 minutes ago, DrGonzo65 said:

Interesting. Is there really not a customer desire to have audio support on video streams? I mean, every tablet I have can do it, this isn't a hard problem.

I've been asked once...a few years ago.

A lot of pro surveillance camera models don't even do audio, so I would say any desire for it is minimal. (here the mic would be frozen and useless half the year, assuming they'd recover for the other half)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just wanted to express my solidarity with you on this, OP, ha. I wanted audio on all my cams given we use them as baby/kid monitors. Accomplished that on the TVs and the NVR recordings, but it still annoys me I can't natively hear the audio in C4's app or on the T3s. Doesn't feel like too much to ask in 2022!

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Keep in mind, that In the majority of areas and countries, security camera audio (particularly for recording) violates wiretapping laws, as no consent has been provided to record or listen to the conversation as a 3rd party without permission from those involved in the conversation.

In most cases where it is legal, you need clear signage to declare that audio is being recorded, and there are still restrictions of what it can record. Here in Australia for instance, it's totally banned. 

This could potentially be part of the reason why it isn't included. In fact, in Utah where control4 HQ apparently is based, apparently it's illegal to do so there too: https://www.upcounsel.com/audio-surveillance-laws-by-state#:~:text=Utah law (Utah Code Ann,where privacy cannot be expected.

Unless there is a strong use case (like Baby monitor would make sense), ensure you FULLY understand the relevant laws. Violating the laws potentially invalidates the evidence in court, and even if the recording is accepted without audio (and doesn't get thrown out because evidence was gathered illegally), the party being recorded can countersue (and in fact, it's a criminal violation, not a civil one).

In practice, it's rarely worth doing imho.

In cases where cameras have been useful for gathering evidence I've seen, in no circumstances would audio have been useful in my opinion. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/19/2022 at 4:07 AM, Andrew luecke said:

Keep in mind, that In the majority of areas and countries, security camera audio (particularly for recording) violates wiretapping laws, as no consent has been provided to record or listen to the conversation as a 3rd party without permission from those involved in the conversation.

In most cases where it is legal, you need clear signage to declare that audio is being recorded, and there are still restrictions of what it can record. Here in Australia for instance, it's totally banned. 

This could potentially be part of the reason why it isn't included. In fact, in Utah where control4 HQ apparently is based, apparently it's illegal to do so there too: https://www.upcounsel.com/audio-surveillance-laws-by-state#:~:text=Utah law (Utah Code Ann,where privacy cannot be expected.

Unless there is a strong use case (like Baby monitor would make sense), ensure you FULLY understand the relevant laws. Violating the laws potentially invalidates the evidence in court, and even if the recording is accepted without audio (and doesn't get thrown out because evidence was gathered illegally), the party being recorded can countersue (and in fact, it's a criminal violation, not a civil one).

In practice, it's rarely worth doing imho.

In cases where cameras have been useful for gathering evidence I've seen, in no circumstances would audio have been useful in my opinion. 

 

Great points/knowledge -- hadn't even thought of that. (And talk about archaic -- the distinction between A and V.) Thankfully, here in Tennessee it's cool.

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34 minutes ago, booch said:

Great points/knowledge -- hadn't even thought of that. (And talk about archaic -- the distinction between A and V.) Thankfully, here in Tennessee it's cool.

With video you can use a privacy mask or angle the camera to limit it exclusively to your property, and do so in a very easy manner. However, with audio, there is no good filter available. Therefore, a malicious actor could equip a camera with ultra sensitive mics which is capable of recording audio from other properties. Even if a less sensitive mic was used, there would be no way to easily validate that it wasn't recording neighbours.

 

Imho.. these wiretapping laws make a lot of sense still, as they also enable recording in cases where consent has been provided  

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/29/2022 at 1:44 AM, Andrew luecke said:

With video you can use a privacy mask or angle the camera to limit it exclusively to your property, and do so in a very easy manner. However, with audio, there is no good filter available. Therefore, a malicious actor could equip a camera with ultra sensitive mics which is capable of recording audio from other properties. Even if a less sensitive mic was used, there would be no way to easily validate that it wasn't recording neighbours.

 

Imho.. these wiretapping laws make a lot of sense still, as they also enable recording in cases where consent has been provided  

So wanted to follow up on this (with good intentions/for healthy debate)...

  • Ring is all over this -- tons of my neighbors are posting cloud vids. of stuff from their doorbells, with audio
  • Snap owns Luma, and Luma's native app./NVR does audio functionality both real-time and recorded
  • Could make the same audio argument you give with video -- what about reflections, implied sensing, etc.

Pretty sure this is just a feature gap in the C4 app. vs. legal stuff...

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