Soundy

Is this something where it might pay to think back in a more traditional box and use a camcorder, perhaps with built-in hard drive or SD card rather than optical disc or tape? These all use standard codecs that should work with any editing software with no screwing around. For a better mic, a PZM placed above the main area of concern would probably improve on any built-in mic.

If you can connect, try telling VNC to send a Ctrl-Alt-Delete, then just issue the appropriate commands "blind". If memory serves, for XP, you'd hit Alt-S for Shutdown, the just tap R to select Restart from the dropdown list, and Enter to apply it. That assumes C-A-D calls the lock/shutdown screen, of course - on some XP systems it just pulls up the task manager. VNC should also be able to send a Windows key, which will pop up the Start menu... then tap U for the Shutdown dialog (or might be Alt-U), and R for Restart. This should also work for previous versions of Windows... not sure about Vista or 7 tho.

Before you go any further, you should look into the legalities of it - use of audio monitoring/recording is limited or outright prohibited in many jurisdictions. If it's not allowed where you are, that makes your job a lot easier: you simply tell the client it's illegal and you won't do it.

So maybe some of you more familiar with these things can offer some insight... Got a site - a lounge/restaurant kinda place - that likes to keep the lights dim... so dim that it's become nearly impossible to get clear ID shots of people coming in the door. I currently have a CP484 up there with the fastest varifocal lens I could readily find (an f/1.4 Pelco - tried an f/1.2 8mm Panasonic on it as well, that wasn't much better), and it really isn't great. I put a CNB VCM-24VF off to the side for testing, and it works... okay. So what I want to look at doing is putting an IR illuminator over the area - something with a short, broad throw. Expecting mounting location to the door is maybe 12' AT MOST... any suggestions on that, and maybe a rough price range (I've never had to actually buy these things before)? Our main supplier can get Raytec in for us. Should I be looking at a "smart" IR? I'm thinking just something low-power should suffice... Now here's the tricky part: they really want to still get some color under what ambient light there is, especially during the day. I have a Pelco CC3770 TDN camera here with a broken ICR servo, so it should be easy enough to modify for color+IR operation (I'll either leave the ICR out when I reassemble it, or just leave the mechanical servo connection out so I can switch it manually)... but what sort of results can I expect to see? Will this camera's AWB be able to get not-too-hideous control of the picture?

I haven't had the chance to implement it yet. One of my suppliers is getting me a Raytec illuminator to demo, but I still have to put the modified camera back together... and it's not a high priority at the moment. Plus we gave the customer a workaround they really like, by putting a camera outside on the street where it can benefit from the overhead lighting in the entrance alcove.

Keep in mind, if you're planning on finding a used transformer like this, that older versions of them may have used PCBs - hazardous chemicals - as a filler, rather than mineral oil. Most of these, in most areas, should have long since been removed from service and properly disposed of... but there's always the chance of coming across one.

You won't just have a problem with IR when viewing through glass: ANY light in the room (or in view of the window) will cause reflections that will show up in the camera. It should be alright during the day, but will get much worse at night. A balun is a device to run balanced video over a single twisted pair. Cat5e (or Cat3/5/6) allows you to run four cameras simply because there are four pairs. There are devices that can matrix four analog feeds over a single coax, but they'll be expensive. The other option would be to do away with the capture card, add an IP video server at each camera, run the network outputs of those into a switch, then use an IP-over-coax device (Veracity Highwire and the like) to connect the DVR to that network over the existing coax... but that's getting pretty complex.

Where in Canada are you? How much are you willing to spend? How much are you REALLY willing to spend?? What range are you trying to identify faces from?

^ +1

Which works great IF you can pre-gauge your FOV, know the exact distance a camera will be from its area of interest, and have some test targets set up at the appropriate range(s).

Good point... also note that if the camera doesn't specifically list SDHC, it may be limited to 2GB (SD spec). This holds true of card readers, too - a number of cheap readers still only do SD (2GB max), and a larger card will simply appear as unformatted or unreadable, if it appears at all. Make sure the reader says it supports SDHC or SDXC... whichever it states on the card itself.

Most likely because the output image started as low-res (640x480 or less) composite and was simply fed to an internal composite-to-VGA module. I've seen a number of cheaper units like this... as well as some that had a composite output and were supplied with a composite-to-VGA converter to connect to the supplied cheapie VGA monitor.

Really depends on the DVR. Certainly VGA, DVI or HDMI provide the best image, but many standalone units only have composite outputs, and most PC-based systems limit you to VGA or DVI for desktop/console output (many also have a composite spot output or two).

There are some really nice units out there, that can provide 12V power for cameras, have high-res 4:3 screens (most DVD/consumer units these days are 16:9 widescreens, meaning camera pictures are stretched), PTZ control outputs, signal generators, cable testers, and even "focus meters" (watches image sharpness and displays a "meter" showing when focus is sharpest). But yeah, those tend to be really spendy...

Baluns are used to run analog video (or audio) over twisted-pair; they won't do anything for IP or coax. You're probably thinking of IP-over-coax adapters, but those are more intended to make use of *existing* coax for IP installations... and with most of them, you still need to get power to the cameras. PoE (Power over Ethernet) provides power along with the ethernet communication on the Cat5e. It's seamless and will work with any standard Cat5/Cat5e/Cat6 cables - the whole idea is that you don't have to worry about extra wiring or weird splicing or anything. A PoE injector like Tom showed is designed to add PoE to a single run; if you already have a PoE switch, you don't need injectors.

I've generally used portable DVD players that have A/V inputs... my favorite was a 10" one I had that had a flip-around, fold-flat screen and a case with straps that would let me clip it to the top of a ladder or the railing of a lift. Alas, it died a quiet death... My coworker recently got one of these and it works great, so I got one too - can't beat the price! He actually used to have an Archos media player - little thing with a wrist strap that made it very handy for using on a lift or ladder, PLUS it had an 800x480 resolution screen, which made focusing a lot easier (most portable players are only 400x240 resolution). Rory should be chiming in here any second to tell you the only way to do it right is to lug a 14" or larger CRT up the ladder with you...

Largest you can afford? Flash memory is cheap, the more the merrier!

How about a 32-channel hybrid system, implementing analog and IP cameras as necessary and allowing later additions of more cameras or upgrades from analog to IP? Something like this: http://www.3xlogic.com/prod/599/pro-series-hybrid-video-recorder How large is this store? Are you certain you need that many cameras? If you could replace two or three analog cameras with a single megapixel cam in a couple places, you could reduce the total count to <16 and stick with a 16-channel hybrid system.

Pretty sure I've seen some cameras that have an option to set movement speed between presets during a tour... couldn't say which ones, offhand. The other thing it should have is a "Pattern" function, which is essentially a macro recorder for your keyboard controls: you start the pattern recorder, drive the camera around - panning, tilting, zooming, etc. - then save the pattern. When you call the pattern, the camera will then repeat those movements at the same speed and timing you performed them.

That depends on the dome and the joystick. Some support "proportional" control, whereby the speed is lowered when zoomed in and under manual control, so things don't zip by so fast. A good joystick should have some sensitivity to how far you push it over, too, and control the camera speed appropriately. Typically, a Tour is just a series of Presets run through in a defined order. You could, for example, have presets for the driveway, the front door, the petunia garden, the dog's regular potty spot, and the neighbor's bathroom window... then create a tour that goes to each one for, say, five seconds before moving on to the next preset. You could then program the camera to automatically run that tour at startup, or to return to the tour 'x' number of minutes of inactivity (since whenever you take manual control, it will normally stop the tour, you want it to resume the tour after you're done running it manually).

The reason? Pretty simple: onboard storage reduces or eliminates the need for other storage (at additional cost). Or provides backup storage in case primary storage or network fails. Or allows you to remove the storage from the camera for offline viewing. I'm sure others can come up with a dozen other examples... Put simply: it just gives you more options for installation and operation. "Best use" is whatever fits your needs.

There is no such thing as "universal" DVR software. In addition to the crappy software you (or your client) got with this card, you also probably got crappy drivers cobbled together by a half-assed programmer from an SDK for the chipset used... drivers which may cause other software to crash or not work properly, either. This says to me that they're either stupid, or they're lying through their teeth to avoid having to refund your client. If they're telling the truth, and they're not stupid, they'd be keeping a record of what other software their customers have reported as working, as this is apparently an issue that comes up regularly. Your most viable solution is to tell your client to return the thing for a refund and put that towards a good name-brand card that comes with decent software.

The SIMPLEST option is a "real" CCTV monitor, which should have looping inputs (meaning, one BNC in, and a level-balanced BNC out), so you would just run the camera into the monitor, and the loop-out back to the DVR. If you're cheaping out by using an LCD TV or something, well.... Sure they cost more, but compare the cost of a proper CCTV monitor to a cheap TV + active video splitter + additional wiring for splitter power...

Sounds reasonable - there are a number of IP cameras with on-board storage that will simply write to internal SD card or even HDD. Minimizing equipment count this way (vs. external recording) will help keep power requirements down. If there's a concern about the camera itself being stolen, you could also look into any of a number of low-power mobile DVRs or NVRs (which can be powered off 12VDC, which is what your solar system likely provides), or a very basic NAS (something that can use SSD or laptop drives, again to keep power requirements down, although most of these will need 120/240VAC, so you lose a little power stepping the voltage up). Naturally, you'll need to have some sort of battery backup or alternate power source, to keep things running when there's no sun...

Well, you'll probably find that cameras that can write direct to the NAS will cost a bit more than cameras that don't, but building a separate NVR will offset that price difference through software licensing - ie. four write-to-NAS cameras might cost $500 each, while four that can't might run $400 each, but you may pay $100/camera license on the NVR software... so either way, you end up at $2000 total. Just rough figures for illustration, mind you - actual prices range widely, and there are some free NVR packages out there, although they tend to not be as well-featured or easy-to-setup-and-use as the commercial bundles. Using an NVR setup may simplify video management and playback, as you're only connecting to a single server... although some cameras that have on-board storage and can write to NAS also provide a VMS that will let you manage multiple cameras in one interface...ultimately, I suppose, it's more a matter of personal taste. No idea what the pricing would be, but something you might want to look at are VideoIQ cameras - on-board storage and built-in video analytics so you can configure very fine-tuned and accurate motion-triggered recording and alarms (you could set it up to send an email or SMS if someone is detected lurking around after-hours, for example), as well as (I believe) the ability to record to network storage.