Soundy

On the other hand, a PTZ camera is great to impress your friends and make them think you're a super-hi-tech guru!

They come with the smoked domes by default... not sure if the slotted masks or clear domes are available as options.

Up to 60m, if you use 24VAC, you shouldn't have a problem, except maybe if you want to run a PTZ. Remember that for any given power rating, 12V requires twice the current of 24V, and thus will see greater voltage loss over distance - 6W, for example, is 500mA at 12V, 250mA at 24V. Here are a couple of calculators that should help: http://www.netkrom.com/voltage_loss_over_cat5_calculator.html http://www.nvt.com/content.php?func=distcalc

That you should seek professional help?

Were they cute??

^loop is probably the closest to noting the actual differences... One of the big ones, to me, is that "professional" equipment is usually directly supported by its manufacturer... and you usually know who the manufacturer is. As Rory points out, Q-See just re-brands other makers' DVRs, and those makers may change from time to time. Features is a big one... "pro" systems will tend to have features that are applicable only to "pro" applications... like POS integration, and to some degree, even PTZ support (consumer models may allow you to drive PTZs... pro versions will give you controls to access the menus and advanced features like preset programming). Pro units tend to have more flexibility overall... consumer machines are meant to just be plugged in and left alone, usually with little support for expansion or esoteric installations. The other big one, as loop says, is reliability, and this one in particular applies to almost any type of equipment and tools: pro equipment is typically well-constructed from solid parts and will endure a lot of abuse (be a harsh environment, heavy usage, etc.). Compare a "pro" cordless drill to a "consumer" unit that sells for less than 1/4 the price, for example.

I'm not from New York, but in most cities, you could get that kind of info from City Hall... city planning department, or the inspectors' office. Any library would probably have a copy as well. Of course, you could also try the City's website... a quick google search yielded the following with the first hit: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dob/html/reference/code_internet.shtml

Wow, two completely opposite opinions... both right The fact is, in MOST cases a PTZ is of limited utility for recorded video. Yes, most allow you to program a "sweep" (just left-to-right and back), a "pattern" (where it records the movements you run it through, then repeats them), and "tour" (where you store a number of preset views and then have the camera step through them), but as Toaster says, even if they do pan across something of interest, they'll just keep on going according to their programming. Where they're really useful is, as Sean suggests, for live viewing... but unless you're a security guard or pit boss or someone who needs to spend a lot of time watching what's going on, it's not much more than a neat toy.

You can probably do it with active at one end (I would guess the sending end would be preferable... frankly, I've never done a run long enough to require active). GEM, GVI, MuxLab and NVT are all brands of passive baluns I've used and trust...

Cameras don't generally need to be updated on a recurring basis... it's usually just done to address specific issues. Since it's probably something you'd be doing to all the cameras (of the same make and model, anyway) at the same time, it's something that can usually just be done with a site visit, or by remoting into the DVR (VNC, RDP, RAdmin, TeamViewer, etc. etc.). I wouldn't bother giving direct outside access to the cameras unless you need someone on the outside to be able to view them directly.

Just go with the biggest one you can afford... once again, the actual space used will vary with the complexity and contrast of the scene, and the amount of movement in it (even if you're recording constantly). If you find you have a lot of wasted space, you can always put a smaller card in and keep the big one for something else.

Alright, here's the word back from 3xLogic: BTW, my experience with the regular Vigil systems is that the maximum record rate can be split across cameras by the user... so for example, you could have four cameras (in one "group" that's alloted 30fps, depending on the hardware) using 7fps each... or one at 15fps and the others at 5fps... or whatever other combinations you might come up with. At least, that was the case with the ComArt-based hardware... this hardware, I'm not sure, but I know the software has the capability. So it sounds like a similar principle to Rory's Atom-based Exacq servers - it CAN be used as a local client, but with possible performance hits. I'll see if I can get ahold of a test unit.... knowing you lot, I'm sure there will be more questions coming.

The bandwidth needed for a given framerate/resolution/codec won't vary substantially from one manufacturer to the next; any bandwidth calculator should give you a fair approximation. As far as storage, there are just way too many variables for a generic calculator to give you a truly accurate estimation - besides just the above, there's the "compressibility" of a given scene to consider - something lower-contrast with less complexity will compress better than complex, higher-contrast scenes. The amount of motion in a scene will affect how much it will compress, besides just its effect on motion-activated recording. All that said, there's a pretty good "generic" calculator available from www.jvsg.com... give it a try, but take the results with a proverbial grain of salt. Figuring out real storage requirements is as much a voodoo art and will always vary with a specific installation.

Welcome aboard!

Yeah thats what I mean, you can still change it, write to the OS drive? Well, it works fine on the full-size DVRs/NVRs... those typically use a 80-160GB drive for OS (20GB partition) and exports/backup data (the remainder, ie. a target for emergency video recording if the main data drive fails). I don't know what the MVRs use for a system drive, I would think maybe an SSD or even CF... I have seen some of their HD Viewer machines that used a CF card for the system drive. The tweaks work on those too, though; the drive is fully writable.

I like control of XP .. size isnt the issue, theres other things that makes the GUI faster and not everybody tweaks them that way. I've found it about as tweakable as most XP installs... I have a script that disables various unneeded services (Windows Audio, WZC, etc.) that works just fine on it.

I've used steel EMT, PVC pipe, and PVC ENT... all depends on the situation. PVC and ENT tend to be quicker, cheaper, and easier to work with, as well as being water-tight, but sometimes EMT is preferred for security reasons, or required by electrical code.

Customized how? "Embedded" XP, AFAIK, is just a distribution that allows the builder to more extensively customize the XP install, essentially configuring it from the ground up, rather than the typical "subtraction" method using things like nLite - the Vigil build, last time I checked, takes <800MB. Ive never used XP embedded so thats why I ask. According to Microsoft: "Whip cable". aka breakout cable, octopus cable, splay cable... yes, some even call it a dongle. The spec sheets for the Pro Series and DRX systems list it the same way: "ANALOG CAMERAS 4 / 8 / 16 / 32 BNC Camera Inputs (included whip cables)" Looking at the picture, there does appear to be a single ATX card slot in the back... it looks like the pictured unit is an NVR only, and from the specs, it seems the DVR/HDVR versions would use the same cards as the Pro Series machines (I believe they're HikVision cards). But I'll ask and confirm... Hmmm, checking the actual PDF spec sheet (http://www.3xlogic.com/files/3xdoc_lib/3xLOGIC%2520MVR%2520Series%2520Spec%2520Sheet%2520V2.00.pdf) it looks like they have a wall-mount bracket, a 12VDC power kit for mobile use, and an option to install a 4-port PoE + 1 LAN port internatl switch for straight NVR use. Neat!

I'll ask a couple of the guys at 3xLogic about the differences and limitations. I suspect it will relate mainly to the more processor-intensive stuff like the video analytics. We use the DRX and Pro Series systems with USB, firewire, and iSCSI-connected external drives and NAS for additional storage all the time, and 3xLogic also has their own proprietary network filesystem (so you can attach to storage in other PCs) and their own line of network-attached arrays... I can't think of any reason the MVRs wouldn't work with the same outboard storage.

We use the full-size Vigil systems all the time... AFAIK the MVR units run the same server software on the same Windows XP Embedded, it's just built into a really small PC. I should see if I can get ahold of one to test... I know the full-blown systems are great value for the price tag, but they ARE still a little spendy for a lot of people. I'd love to evaluate the system for a lower-priced alternative.

What camera is it? Someone may have spares kicking around... I know I have access to a ton of bubbles for Pelco IS90 domes - they all came with both a clear and smoked dome, and we used the smoked ones, so there are a bunch of clear bubbles for IS90s in storage on a customer's site...

Vigil has built-in analytics and people-counting support as well. Haven't had much chance to work with it, but I know it's there

If it's just scratches, not physically cracked or broken, can you just turn the dome to a non-scratched area?

I haven't been able to find any info on URL command-line options for a Hik camera... things like displaying a single still image or just the raw stream, without having to go through the whole iView interface. Anyone have any info? Thx.

Wow, I used to work with a number of those... don't know if I have any of them still in use. I have a couple non-working ones sitting around here Do you have all the logins? Are you using the administrator login?