Soundy

It will depend on the bandwidth of the connection you're streaming it over, the framerate, and the type and level of compression used. Streaming out over the internet will probably be pretty "jumpy" unless you use really heavy compression. All of them that I've worked with do. Going to the IP with no parameters gives the basic interface, but you can generally add parameters to the URL to tell it to display with or without window controls, to set the window size, and so on. You don't need a capture card at all if you use IP cams; it's not special to Mobotix. Capture cards are used to digitize analog video. IP cameras digitize the video internally and stream it over the network. The DVR/NVR simply receives and writes to disk a copy of that stream.

We built Video Insight systems into Shuttle boxes for years, and installing Vigil DVRs built on them as well (in fact, 3xLogic is still using the Shuttle machines). Aside from a spate of older machines that died from the dreaded "capacitor plague", they've been pretty reliable (well, one really old model had a poor design for mounting a second internal drive that resulted in those dying from heat issues). All of these are using or have been using the onboard graphics, no problems. Your only issue will probably be whether the card fits, but the only ones we had any issues with with the older, VERY long Video Insight 240fps cards. That will depend a bit on the specific box as well, though.

Means it's not getting any video on those channels... could be bad cameras, bad connectors, bad cable, bad power...

With ESC, you always have the same amount of light hitting the sensor... the only thing that changes is the time period where the image is "read". If you open a manual iris all the way up to let more light in at night, it may be getting TOO MUCH light during the day, and the image will be washed out, since the sensor does have a limit on how much light it can handle. With an auto-iris lens (there's a "video" type as well, but "DC" is far more common), the lens iris is opened and closed automatically in response to changing lighting conditions, thus allowing a greater range of light to be handled properly. Think of it this way: assume your light can vary from 0 (pitch dark) to 100 (a white surface in direct sunlight). Now assume your sensor can handle a range of 0 to 80. If you put a lens that lets the full amount of light through, any brightness over 80 will just be washed out. If you close the lens's iris down so it reduces the 100-level light to 80, then anything below 20 is effectively lost, and everything else in between is reduced by 20, so as things get dimmer, you lose detail. (Note: this is HIDEOUSLY over-simplified, light levels and sensor response both being anything but linear, but you get the idea, I hope.) With an auto-iris lens, the lens can close down automatically in bright light to reduce the maximum light to whatever level you set, and then open again when it's dim to let the maximum through.

Done ... Thanks, Rory! " title="Applause" />

Alright, well, I'm currently testing a Panasonic WV-NP502 and a Pelco Sarix IDE20DN8-1 "2.1MP indoor day/night 2.8-8mm" dome. So far not overly impressed with the Panny's "Super Dynamic" - it actually does better just using the BLC and Black Stretch functions together. Still working on getting something usable out of the Pelco - first of all, its "finder" utility only finds it if it's on the same subnet... it defaults to DHCP on, and if it can't get an address, it uses 192.168.0.20... which is a pain since my netbook's LAN port is configured for 192.168.2.*. Every other IP cam I've used so far, the bundled utility will find it regardless of what IP it has, and let you set the IP from there. Not impressed with this. Pictures to come... once I can make sense of the Pelco's nutty java-based interface!

Agreed. I'm surprised at how well some auto configuration tools work these days (e.g. email, wifi) and something as simple and common and DHCP support should be a given. Umm, no, that's my point: as simple and common as it is, when setting up a device, DHCP support SHOULDN'T BE ASSUMED. The Pelco DEFAULTS to DHCP, and seems to assume that you'll have a DHCP server available. When you're putting together a few cams on an isolated network, or connecting it directly to a laptop for configuration, that's rarely the case.

DC refers to the DC-voltage drive for an auto-iris lens. If you dial down the lens aperture too much, the image won't get bright enough again for the camera to switch out of night mode. ESC is Electronic Shutter, which to put it simply, controls brightness by electronically adjusting how much light the sensor collects.

Hmm, that must be a similar unit to the TLS-4072 - I think of the few VCRs we still have in service, most are those model.

That's what almost all of them do - except Pelco.

I'm with Rory, your best bet is to insert the VCR into the VCR loop on the MUX. Some MUXes need to be configured for the specific VCR being used, but if they're the same brand, it may "just work". Can't hurt to try, anyway. If you're familiar with how VCRs record, this will give you a clue as to how it interacts with the MUX. Hooking a monitor to the VCR OUT jack will give you an idea as well - essentially the MUX just flips from one camera to the next, in sync with the VCR recording video frames, so in essence, each frame is one camera. On playback, it then reads each frame back and sorts each camera to its appropriate channel. The upside is that each camera is in full res... the downside is that each camera is recorded only every 16th frame, or only a couple of times per second. That's a little over-simplified, but hopefully it helps...

Oh yeah, and ACTi too!

Wow, starting to think I shoulda started a separate thread for this... maybe a mod can split these posts off and I'll just come back to this thread when I have some pics to post? One neat thing with the Pelco, the "Exposure" config page includes an RGB histogram!

I have also heard that Pelco cameras require a lot of processing power to decode there H.264 streams. I can attest to that. I've rebuilt my old laptop as a "test NVR" with the Vigil software... now granted it's only a Celeron M (1.8GHz, I think), but man, the "High" 15ips, 1920x1080 stream is just KILLING it. Switching to "Low" at only 5ips at least keeps things usable. The JPEG stream is SOMEWHAT more manageable. And bpzle: Please let me know what these others are so I can avoid them. So far this Pelco is the only one I've seen that does this - IQ, Arecont, Hik and Panasonic all have their "finder" programs that can configure the cameras' IPs from any (routable) subnet.

That's a great tool, and it MIGHT tell me that the camera is THERE (then again, with the camera, it may have fully choked on not having the gateway set) , but it won't let me CONFIGURE it to a usable IP. I've got it going; I'm just saying, this is a serious drawback on Pelco's part, not having a utility that can find and configure any of their cameras on any subnet. One shouldn't HAVE to reconfigure their PC or provide a DHCP server just to set up the camera.

It is. It has a default of 192.168.0.20 but it looks for a DHCP server and pulls and address from that, if it finds one. That doesn't work so well, though, when you're connecting it directly to the computer, or into a network that doesn't have a DHCP server. This is the stupid thing: EVERY. OTHER. IP. CAMERA. that I've worked with so far, has some sort of utility that communicates the camera, I assume via ICMP or other such protocol, that can find the camera and let you configure its IP, netmask and gateway, regardless of the subnet you or it are on, usually whether the camera already has an IP or not. The Pelco doesn't. Like most other Pelcos, it seems to be a camera designed by engineers who've never actually had to install a camera in the field.

I was simply referring to " NJD " post about Aver He sugest to use TV Out from 6240 my point I don't think TV out will display IP cam What works with what I don't have any problem All depends whether the "TV Out" provides a rendered display, or simply switches one of the analog inputs. If it will do split-screen/multi-screen, my guess would be that it's rendered and will likely do the IP cams as well.

My thoughts on it thus far aren't suitable for posting here. Let's just say this thing better turn out to have f'ing STELLAR picture, after all this. It better be able to f'ing see through women's clothing to make it worth what they want for it.

I encounter this issue with other types of devices from time to time. I change the PC to something like 192.168.0.2, connect to the device, change the device to something like 192.168.2.20, then change the PC back to 192.168.2.2. But yeah, it's a bit of a hassle given the broad support for DHCP. Best, Christopher Well... I changed my netbook to 192.168.0.*, changed the camera from 192.168.0.20 to 192.168.2.20, then changed my laptop back... and noticed the camera's config page was complaining that I didn't have a default route set (duh, shouldn't need one if I'm staying with the subnet). Ever since that I haven't been able to connect with the camera, not even with the utility, not with the netbook on either subnet. Fak. Finally just did a factory reset (BTW, they provide a recessed button for that... but not just a slightly recessed button that you can push with a pen or screwdriver tip, noooo... it's recessed a good 1/8" through a pinhole, so you have to actually find a pin, needle, paperclip, or something else of the sort. And of course, Pelco yet again uses a 2.5mm submini TS jack for the service monitor output... but doesn't actually include anything to plug into it to provide a more common RCA or BNC connection. So far this thing has been hooked up for a total of an hour and a half and I've only very briefly had a (very tiny) window showing its Quicktime output...???

I think the point is, most video cards don't have RCA out, and still not all TVs have HDMI or VGA input. Plus, that would at best just allow you to run a clone of the desktop, or maybe extend the desktop and move the camera windows there... but then you don't have them on the main desktop. None of these are solutions for a dedicated "spot" type display of cameras only.

Yeah, never heard of it before... good find though, looks pretty slick!

Congrats! Hope the customer likes that...

$400 each, you could probably find some ACTi megapixel domes for that. If you don't mind buying from fleaBay, something like this would be within your budget: http://cgi.ebay.com/ACTi-ACM-3601-ACM3601-IP-Camera-Vandal-Proof-Outdoor-/230464783446?cmd=ViewItem&pt=BI_Security_Fire_Protection&hash=item35a8c58456#ht_1456wt_964 (note: NOT a recommendation of this product or seller, just something that fits the spec that came up on a search).

It's likely the only thing that would make the customer "happy" is better DVRs... *ahem* but notwithstanding that, if the web client will work with Firefox, there ARE a number of add-ons that will tile multiple tabs in one window. Here's just one: http://www.firefoxfacts.com/2010/05/25/tile-your-firefox-tabs-in-the-browser/ I couldn't find anything for IE... if the viewer only works in IE, you might be able to combine a tiling extension for FF with the IE Tab extension...

Size concerns mainly, I suspect, needing to keep things compact to fit everything within a tight form factor, and light to allow fast reaction. Cost issues, too - since PTZs inherently cost more, using the 1/4" sensor helps keep the overall cost down. A smaller sensor allows a smaller lens to provide the same zoom factor, as well. There are 1/3" PTZs out there, but they tend to be a lot more expensive (check out the Pelco Esprit line).