Browncoat

We have been using VMS 14.10 for a while now. Just a few quick thoughts; -The Good Free 32 Channel (Geovision Cameras) and up to 64 for a small fee. Does not appear to be just a "re-skin" of old (8.59 and previous). "Live" & "Recording" selection are more seamless. Custom matrix is great, and Fisheyes can be broken-out into multiple camera feeds. Seems to load faster. Finally has a look & feel of more modern management systems. USA Vision support is responsive. Timeline search is awesome, with a "mouse hover" preview window. New app (GV-Eye) adds features that weren't available with old app (Gv-Iview, Gv-Aview), like higher camera resolutions, audio, Fisheye de-warp, on mobile devices. H.265 and VMS 15 are set to fix some of the "Not So Good" -The Not So Good No backwards compatibility with legacy analog. "DM Multiview" & "Remote Viewlog" still have an old, clunky interface look. (neither of these complaints are set to be addressed by VMS 15) Use as VMS only...if you need I/O device integration, LPR, POS, etc., you'll have to wait for VMS 15. Doesn't seem to play nice with Windows 8, so Windows 7 64-bit may be a better choice. 3rd party cameras work fine, but there's still a license fee, (okay...not Geovision's fault, since the entire industry seems to do this, but ONVIF was supposed to make IP devices more Plug N Play...I'll get off my soapbox now). Just my observations.

Your questions are simple...the answers...not so much! 1) Try not to pay much attention to spec's, since manufacturers often inflate spec's to a meaningless point. Look for cameras with good DSP chipset solutions; PIXIM, Sony Super Had II or Effio, Eyenix Mona Lisa, etc. 2) Look for features you may want like; 1 TB+ of hard drive storage, DVD burner (?), recording in at least D1 (720 X 480 pixels) resolution (maybe 960H...960 X 480) at 30fps on all channels, remote viewing on smartphones, etc. 3) Is a Porshe better than a Toyota? If you don't need IP Megapixel cam's & just want something that will do the job reasonably well, you may want to stick with DVR (analog). 4) Technically yes, since NVR's can work with multi-megapixel cameras. IP is great, but unless you are comfortable working in the IP world, you may want to stick with analog DVR's 5) We don't use analog in corporate security anymore, but some of the cheaper new ones I've seen, (Dahua, Revo) seem pretty good. Some of the cheap ones (ZModo, Night Owl, Digital Watchdog) seem pretty God-awful to me, (IMO)... check some out in person before you buy... also, definitely look on these forums on how good tech support is. The last thing you want is to install your system & not have a way to make it work. Good luck in your search!

It may help us to know some general information. What is the main goal of your system, (stop theft, general security, employee productivity, etc)? Any must-have features? Will you be installing yourself? Do you have a specific budget in mind? There are some really good lower cost systems out there, but there's also a lot of junk that may seem like a good deal at first, but once it's installed, may end up costing more than you bargained for. Also, if you are going the analog camera system route, for the most part, you are not restricted to brands of cameras mixing with the DVR.

Please read my entire post, and maybe even the Original Poster's questions "Bucki" is new to the forum and asking advice...nothing more. I didn't want to get into a spitting contest with you "SunnyKim", and I think we may have a language barrier, so I'll leave it at that. It's disgusting that manufacturers are confusing/misleading customers w/ bogus "3 Jigawatt TVL" numbers...or some such nonesense... There are some great articles available, both here on the forums & the internet in general, that may help explain TVL, how it's measured, signal propogation, NTSC, PAL/SECAM & ATSC, etc. "Bucki" you asked for an inexpensive (EBay-purchased) type DVR recommendation, and FOR THE MONEY, it seems a lot of the actual users here like the Dahua setups.(I never said anything about "market penetration") We don't use them at my company, so I'm not a shill for them. I hope this is helpful, and keep coming back to these forums...they are a great tool, and most of my tech's come on here to exchange information & help one another out. Take care!

Hi Bucki, and welcome to the forums. (Not really sure where "SunnyKim" got his info on "all cam's output D1 or 960H"... NO...they don't!) So... -You are correct that upgrading your cameras to only record in CIF is a complete waste of your money. -700TVL, 800TVL, 960H...those numbers are mostly marketing gimmicks, and there's basically no quantifiable standard on manufacturers spec's...kick around these forums & you'll see certain camera brands/models mentioned a lot. -EB@y...pretty hit-or-miss. -Most pro's on this forum like Dahua, (or any re-branded Dahua's) for DVR's. They're cheap and pretty decent. Good luck!

If you go to the Geovision, N. America website (Usa Vision) you'll find the list of compatible MoBo's & chips, even the Intel Haswell stuff. Geovision had troubles in the past with ATI graphics not playing well with Geovision, but a glance at their list shows that they have used non-Intel solutions with their video capture cards. http://www.usavisionsys.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=74 Hope that helps!

"Johnair" you may be confusing "VGA resolution" with the "VGA connector" TomCCTV is correct in stating there shouldn't be any difference in this instance for video quality, all else being equal. DAC bandwidth, PI filters, connector/cable quality & cable bandwidth limitations CAN have an effect on VGA quality, though. Many computer video cards have a 400MHz DAC on the VGA connector, which appears to be suitable for 2048x1536 resolution, or so. To the OP...the only difference (again, with all things being equal) is that HDMI can pass audio to your monitor if it's equipped with speakers. ... I've connected smallish (20-inch to 23-inch) monitors via both cable types with no noticeable difference...and you won't see any major difference in your system either until you go to better cameras. Just my thoughts!

It may be helpful to explain your planned system in a bit more detail, (i.e. total number & camera description, desired features, etc.) The GV-800 you bought is probably a used card-or-gray market. Version 8.32 is from a couple years ago, if I remember correctly, (restricted to 32-bit systems) You probably spent several hundred dollars for it...correct? Your Pentium 4 wasn't free, so there's more money spent. Is there a particular reason you want to go this route, instead of something like a Dahua standalone DVR? (Not a criticism...just asking) The question you asked "Why Geovision?" is simple to answer. (IMO) Geovision offers the most bang for the buck in the pro market. It's scalable, has some excellent features that integrate with business (LPR,Face detection, POS, SMS feed, traffic counting, missing/unattended object, etc., etc...) Their 32-Channel software is free with purchase of capture cards & cameras. There ARE better software solutions (Avigilon comes to mind), and even free software (Blue Iris is free, iirc), but none that do both better. (This is my opinion) The downside is when you get into licensing for other brand IP cam's, the GUI is pretty dated for the end user, getting your camera feed remotely CAN be more difficult than other solutions, etc. The Geovision website for North America (www.usavisionsys.com) lists authorized channels for purchasing on the "Where To Buy" tab. EBay is specifically listed as not approved, so don't expect any support or service. If your card goes bad, game over! Hope that helps.

Thanks for update, "mom" It's great when users on this forum keep us informed of new products on the market! If you're considering using this switch, though, just a few thoughts, (take it for what it's worth) -Although we love Trendnet's cheap 4-port 10/100 POE switches (they can be had for about $65 U.S.), our installers don't seem to like their GreenNet switches. Adding an unnecessary layer of power management for cameras may be the reason...may be better suited to VOIP, etc. -Several companies; Geovision, D-Link, etc., already have rack-mountable 24-Port POE Gigabit managed switches on the market with QOS, VLAN for +/- $495. ...just something to think about...Cheers!

I'm no software expert, but this is from the Geovision website; Minimum System Requirements GeoVision IP Camera 3rd-party IP Camera Up to 32 Channels 1 - 4 Channels 5 - 8 Channels Up to 32 Channels OS 32-bit Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 64-bit Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 CPU 2nd Generation Core i3, 3.1 GHz 2nd Generation Core i3, 3.1 GHz 2nd Generation Core i5, 3.3 GHz 2nd Generation Core i7, 3.4 GHz RAM 4 GB Dual Channels VGA HD Graphics 2000 HD Graphics 3000 Note: 1.For the users of 32-bit Windows, the memory limit of GV-NVR is 1.7 GB with 2 GB RAM. For the users of 64-bit Windows, the memory limit of GV-NVR is 1.7 GB with 2 GB RAM and 3 GB with 4 GB RAM. If the high memory issue persists, the GV-NVR will become unstable. 2.To apply GPU decoding, the recommended RAM for 64-bit OS is 8 GB or more, for 32-bit OS is 4 GB. With your system configuration, you may want to let your outboard GPU handle the processing...just a thought...