Reolink RLC-810A Homebridge 4K Configuration

Reolink RLC-810A Homebridge 4K Configuration.md

Prerequesites

• Reasonable amount of compute power (rpi should be fine). You do NOT need a GPU (unless maybe you want hardware acceleration?)

Notes

This is a working config as of:

• Date: August 7, 2022
• Homebridge Camera FFmpeg v3.1.4
• Reolink RLC-810A with software build 22041503

Homebridge

1. Install Homebridge Camera FFmpeg from Plugins tab

Camera Settings

1. Navigate to the IP of your camera to access the admin page
2. Press the settings icon (gear) at the top right

• Update your firmware if you need to under System>Maintenance

3. In Camera>Stream, set resolution to 3840*2160, FPS to 25, and Max Bitrate to 8192
4. In Network Settings>Advanced, select Port Settings

• I have them all enabled, but you can probably get away with just HTTP, HTTPS and RTSP
• Don't change the port

5. Be sure to set a strong password in System>User Management!

Homebridge Camera FFmpeg (No NVR)

1. Configure from the plugin config (wrench icon) > JSON Config

• Leave the first 2 items (name and platform), else it won't work
• Replace with the IP address of the camera (static IP or static DHCP lease is recommended), with the username (probably admin) and with the password you configured.
• Ensure forceMax is set to true, otherwise the video will fall back to 720p

{
    "name": "Camera FFmpeg",
    "platform": "Camera-ffmpeg",
    "cameras": [
        {
            "name": "Garage",
            "manufacturer": "Reolink",
            "model": "RLC-810A",
            "videoConfig": {
                "source": "-rtsp_transport tcp -i rtsp://<user>:<password>@<ip>:554/h264Preview_01_main",
                "stillImageSource": "-i http://<ip>/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=0&rs=wuuPhkmUCeI9WG7C&user=<user>&password=<password>",
                "maxStreams": 2,
                "maxWidth": 3840,
                "maxHeight": 2160,
                "maxFPS": 25,
                "maxBitrate": 8192,
                "audio": true,
                "debug": false,
                "forceMax": true
            }
        }
    ]
}

Homebridge Camera FFmpeg (With NVR)

{
    "name": "Camera FFmpeg",
    "platform": "Camera-ffmpeg",
    "cameras": [
        {
            "name": "Garage",
            "manufacturer": "Reolink",
            "model": "RLC-810A",
            "motion": true,
            "switches": true,
            "videoConfig": {
                "source": "-rtsp_transport tcp -i rtsp://<username>:<password>@<ip>:554/h264Preview_<channel, usually 01, 02, 03, etc>_main",
                "stillImageSource": "-i http://<ip>/cgi-bin/api.cgi?cmd=Snap&channel=<starting with 0.. 1, 2, 3... etc>&rs=wuuPhkmUCeI9WG7C&user=<username>&password=<password>",
                "maxStreams": 2,
                "maxWidth": 3840,
                "maxHeight": 2160,
                "maxFPS": 30,
                "maxBitrate": 8192,
                "forceMax": true,
                "audio": true,
                "debug": false
            }
        }
    }
}

I have the exact same configuration but homebridge fails to grab the snapshot for the still image. Have you ran into any issues like that?

[11/6/2022, 3:53:47 PM] [Camera FFmpeg] [Living Room] Failed to fetch snapshot. [Living Room] Snapshot request handler provided empty image buffer! [11/6/2022, 3:53:58 PM] [Camera FFmpeg] [Living Room] Failed to fetch snapshot. [Living Room] Snapshot request handler provided empty image buffer!

Try changing the channel ID. It starts with 0 and increments by 1. I've just added some details if using an NVR.

@soxrok2212 I think the URL has changed. When I perform a Snapshot in the camera admin panel the URL is like this:

https://192.168.0.43/cgi-bin/api.cgi?&token=<token>&encrypt=<encrypted>

The encrypted seems to change each time.

EDIT: If I remove the stillImageSource from the config it seems to work. :)

I managed to get mine working with the following:

"stillImageSource": "-rtsp_transport tcp -i rtsp://user:password@0.0.0.0:554/h264Preview_01_main -vframes 1 -r 1",

Am I correct in understanding that, with the NVR version, the NVR only records video while the RLC-810A is detecting motion?