Separating the wheat from the chaff...

Most of the knowledgeable people I have talked to tell me that you can't really put together a decent B/W 2-camera digital CCTV system for under a $1000. However, I have seen a number of such systems on the web in the $500 to $1000 range. Could anyone give me some pointers on how to tell the good from the bad?

do you want the best cameras? What type of cameras are you interested in, Bullet Cameras, Pro Traditional Cameras, Fixed Domes, Wall Mount, Hidden, Other Discreet Type??

can you use a basic 4 channel multiplexed DVR, or want one with CD back up, great search features, etc?

Never say never. For example, you can get a BW quad for $100, 2 Decent BW Bulllet Cameras for $80 each, and a Video Digital Recorder for $400, no Lan or Audio, but it is digital recording at a VCR price ($660), or a 4 channel Multilexed DVR for $600 (low low end but with basic LAN software), and 2 BW Bullets, thats $760-800.

So it can be done.

That said, those are dealer prices generally, and the normal retail pricing for consumers would be more, but like you said, its available on the web at dealer prices anyway.

Rory

The room I want to monitor is about 30x30 ft. B/W cameras are fine, I want the cameras to be visible as a deterrent, so no covert cameras. I would like some form of motion detection, and infrared would also be desirable.

I would like a 4-channel multiplexed DVR with as few frills as possible. It would be nice if it were possible to upgrade the system to 16 cameras in the future, but the community college I am researching this for is operating on a shoestring, so that may not be possible.

My supervisor sort of has his heart set on a PC-based system, but I am unsure that the servers we have available (Pentium3's, 800Mhz) are good enough to do the job. I am also worried about how difficult it might be to get a video capture card to function properly on our computers if we do decide to go that route; my research suggests that troubleshooting these cards is quite difficult, although it would probably save us money. What do you think?

--JimB

ps. Most of the places I have looked say you can only have ONE video capture card in your computer, but I see at SuperCircuits they are selling FOUR video capture cards for their 16-channel video card system. What gives?

You could easily do that, but you would need a 4ch standalone, I could do it for that price, 4 B/W cams with Infa red, and a 4ch standalone with motion detection, there would be no way to expand to 16 though

With the one capture card you generally are looking at a design issue. Not all companies are using the same cards. You'll find that those PC's are probley a hair on the slow side.

Yep.. on that budget I would go the dodgy standalone, it may be more stable, but your features will be lacking

lacking is the right word with these cheap standalones, just tested 3 different ones, im at work right now, will post some reviews later on, they dont come close to the Kalatel units, or a high end PC unit, but if you can do without some features, lack of support, and just want recording locally with some limited remote video, then they are worth it.

Thank you, one and all, who have responded to my post. I have a further question about motion detection. Where is the most reliable place to include motion dection, with the cameras or the DVR? Which is cheaper?

Also, after researching a bit more, I realized that some video capture cards are "stackable," meaning if you want to add more cameras, you can just add another card to your PC. Are these cards as reliable as the "just one card per PC only" ones? I realize that with the PC's we have available right now (PentiumIII, 800Mhz) doing more than four cameras is unrealistic, but if the PC's were upgraded in the future it would be cheaper to put another card in the same computer instead of another card in a different computer.

most if not all DVRs come with optional motion detection recording.