Soundy

From your description, it doesn't sound like the pins used conform to any standard DB9 wiring, RS-232 or otherwise. I'll take a look though, maybe it's wired for RS-422... which would eliminate a few pins. RS-422 uses pin 1 for TX-, 2 for TX+, 3 for RX+, and 4 for RX-. It doesn't specify on this page, but I would expect pin 5 is ground.

Welcome aboard! You left out one important criteria: what is your budget? My personal suggestion would be a Vigil DVR (www.3xlogic.com) with CNB cameras... possibly megapixel cameras, depending on the coverage and detail needed. That fits all your listed criteria (including audio), but you're looking at probably the $8000-$10,000 range once installation and everything is rolled in for a setup like that.

There's no good reason data should be looped to other pins, either, though, so that logic doesn't really follow. If anything I'd think maybe power would be, so it could be doubled or tripled up on the cable run... but even that is a wild guess.

Tailbone, the problem is, he doesn't know the pinouts that the camera uses - they aren't RS232. See this thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20917&start=0

This really is an industry where you get what you pay for, and what you're looking for won't come cheap if you want it to work well in all circumstances. A low-cost solution will work fine... during broad daylight when the vehicles are at a stop and assuming they're within a narrow area - in short, under ideal conditions. Unfortunately, conditions will be ideal maybe 10% of the time, if you're lucky... the less ideal they are, the more it will cost to address them.

If I had the camera in front of me, I could probably figure out the pinouts, but not much that can be done remotely...

That's a 16-channel machine... kinda overkill, isn't it? If this is for mobile, maybe consider a couple of megapixel cameras with on-board storage to SD cards. No moving parts and most can be powered off a wide range of DC voltage. You then don't need as tight a shot to get details.

Measure the voltage AT the camera... typical cheap 12VDC supplies actually output 16-18V, so the losses shouldn't cause a problem, but a regulated or switching-mode supply will output almost exactly 12V and the drop over longer runs may cause an issue. HOWEVER, 60-80' is not that long, and typically if the voltage is dropping to much, the camera will cut out when the IR comes on, so that's probably not your issue. You COULD run 24VAC, but if the camera doesn't support that (odds are that it doesn't) all you'll do is fry the camera. I'd look at whether it's not getting dark enough to trigger the IR - there's typically a light sensor in amongst the IR LEDs and covering it up with a finger should cause them to turn of, if everything else is working properly.

In no particular order: Provider B's cameras are not Sony-branded. They use fairly common Sony sensors that are used by probably the majority of camera makers. There's no guarantee the cameras themselves are of solid construction or have good optics (weakest-link theory: doesn't matter how good the sensor is if you throw a crap lens in front of it). This isn't to say these are junk cameras either, just that you can't go on the Sony name alone. WiFi is fine for this purpose, IF it's done right. Your concerns are valid for off-the-shelf products like consumer-grade routers and cameras, but good IP cameras using specialized directional antennas and high-grade encryption can do a great job. There's no reason a Windows-based DVR can't be as solid as a Linux-based one, IF Windows is installed cleanly and the machine uses good hardware. In fact, cheap hardware is probably a bigger issue than the OS used. As for the video feed to the cable system, it will depend largely on the DVR having the necessary output. The GeoVision will do it easily, but the NVR will need some sort of hardware to generate a standard composite video output. Do they want to view multiple cameras, or just one? One is easy... multiples could be tricky. You'd have to either give them a rotating view of the cameras, or a split-screen... giving them individual control would be highly impractical for this type of setup. For that though, either system should allow residents to access it via the internet to view whatever cameras they want (or whatever ones you allow). With the IP-camera model, they could also directly view the cameras... again, IF you set them up to allow that access. Or you could provide a simple web page that shows the specified cameras... lots of options there. Personally, I'd generally prefer Provider A's offer... EXCEPT the fact that they give you no details on the equipment is a red flag. A "wireless network camera" could be a $100 offshore piece of junk, or a $2000 multi-megapixel beast. I'd also want details on the WiFi system they intend to use, whether it's a proper professional-grade setup or if they plan to try to make it work off consumer hardware.

Sure it will.... but realize that you need to have a fairly tight shot to get that recognition. Realistically, a plate should be at least a quarter of the frame width to be clearly legible, especially if your DVR only records at CIF resolution (352x240). Faces may need to be even closer if you want evidence-quality recognition.

Hmmm, you're right... we musta modified the last one for external power. My bad. According to the spec sheet, you should get at least two years on an 9V alkaline battery.

Would depend somewhat on the usage, but it seems to me we get several months out of ours in normal circumstances. Both transmitter/sensor and receiver can be powered externally (AC or DC adapter, external battery pack, etc.)

Scorpion, I'm shocked! A DVR that you DON'T have a manual for?? I googled that DVR, it actually looks like a fairly advanced machine, and it DOES have a DVD burner in it, so it should be fairly straightforward to export events directly to DVD. http://www.genivtechnology.com/products-one/category-two/JS-4RTA-D1_2 BTW, Google showed up another hit on this site: about17843.html Apparently Shoreviewsecurity deals with these units, so to the OP, if you drop them a PM, they may be able to help you.

"WEB"server by definition implies at least HTTP. Vigil's client does not use HTTP, and no browser will connect and view it on any port. The client streams data directly from the server app; the HTTP server isn't even installed. Ergo, no webserver. Video Insight's standalone client app, likewise, does not use HTTP and does not require the IIS package to be installed at all. IIS is required if you want to use the Web Client, but not the standalone client. So again, no webserver is used for the basic client.

We've used the Areconts with the Vigil systems on several sites now, they work quite well once thing are configured. Just a word of warning though, setting up the Areconts in the first place is a bit of a hassle - they don't ship with a simple setup utility, but instead insist on installing their own mini-NVR program along with the setup utility - once you're done configuring the cameras, you have to uninstall the bundled utilities, or it will continue to start up with Windows. Once they're all up and running though, they do a good job. You might look at 3xLogic's own cameras, which are rebranded Hikvisions - they include a setup utility that automatically configures the server software. 3xLogic also has their own network RAID arrays for added storage, although you can use any external drive that attaches via USB, Firewire, eSATA, or iSCSI.

Video Insight will work with any browser, including most mobile browsers.

It doesn't need anything substantial, really - the cameras digitize the video internally and send it over the network. At the other end, you only need a DVR that can accept and store (and playback) that data - these are known as "hybrid" DVRs - or an NVR (Network Video Recorder), which can be a DVR-type machine, or just a storage unit that supports the cameras you've chosen. In the case of a Vigil system, for example, the Vigil Server software can run as a straight DVR (using an analog capture card), or as a hybrid (with the IP camera licenses added), or as an NVR without any capture hardware. Of course, a more powerful machine is preferred for quicker searching and viewing and such... and if you're building a hybrid, you still need the horsepower for the analog capture portion. You also need a lot more storage for megapixel - all else being equal (framerates, compression type, etc.), a 1.3MP camera (1280x1024 resolution) is approximately four times the image size of 4CIF analog capture (704x480, the highest common resolution used, and near the max limit of analog video resolution), and as such needs four times the storage space. As an example, on one site, we have 23 analog cameras, most recording at 704x480 (three or four at 352x240), and five 1.3MP cameras. All cameras record at an average 4fps (some at 5, some at 3, most at 4). Even with motion-detect recording, it still takes approximately 9.5TB to get the 90 days' retention they want. We're just quoting now on upgrades they want to another site, which will have six MP cameras (probably 3MP) and 24 analog cameras, and we're quoting about 14TB to store it all. The important thing to remember is that the DVR/NVR must have support for the cameras - you can choose cameras first and then narrow your choice of recorders down to ones that support them, but it's probably easier to select your recorder first and then look at the cameras it supports.

I don't know about this camera specifically, but generally, this feature means the camera will blank out the defined area of the picture. Without knowledge of the specific camera (you didn't provide a model number), it's hard to say exactly, but some have a relay output that can trigger a recorder when the camera detects motion. Do you mean this camera has four different motion-detect zones? Often this is done with each zone capable of having different sensitivity settings... so, for example, if you had a camera watching a parking lot and sidewalk, and you didn't want it to trigger on a person walking though the parking lot, you could set a lower sensitivity on that area. Stands for "On Screen Display" - it means the camera's settings are shown over the video so you can configure it through the on-screen menus... usually, this is instead of a bunch of DIP switches. Depends on your specific setup and how you're using it.

The "ground" connection is there mainly to achieve UL certification. In most instances, you don't need to use it - just connect your 24VAC supply to the 24V tabs.

That depends on the dome. I've worked with plenty of designs that can be mounted on a wall, and look straight back down the wall with no hacking or modding required. I wouldn't even say most of them are more expensive ones, because I've seen plenty of pricey, brand-name domes that can't do it properly (Pelco IS-90 and IS-110 models, in particular), and plenty of decent bargain cameras that can (unfortunately the ones we used to use the most are no longer made). You'll find CNB cameras are popular hereabouts for their value (great quality for the price)... and all their dome designs that I've worked with are capable of looking straight down a wall. Very few designs, dome or otherwise, will be immune to a blob of paint or a lead slug hitting it at the speed of sound, and those that are will cost a mint. "Vandal proof" should more properly be called "vandal resistant".

Give that man a cigar-oni! Best way around it is to use separate IR illuminators. Worst case (read: cheapest client), you could remove the illuminator from inside the dome and mount it somewhere near the dome (inside something clear if it needs to be weatherproof).

Well... imagine the difference between a pocket digital camera from ten years ago and one from today. Take a browse through this thread: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=11322 For a couple of my own examples: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=11322&start=164 (note: click each picture to get a full-size version - the MP images are a lot larger than they display there!) Also.... this is from a standard analog dome cam at CIF (352x240) resolution (and granted, it is a CHEAP dome cam): This is from an IQ511 1.3MP camera mounted directly above it (you can see the cheap dome bottom-left in the frame). The IQ has a non-megapixel 2.8mm lens on it, so it's not as sharp as it could be with the proper lens. Again, click the picture for a full-size version: From the same store, a similar analog camera at 4CIF (704x480); the text visible on the left and bottom right is provided by a text-inserter box that reads data from the paypoint and overlays it on the video: And again, a 1.3MP IQ511 at the same position (I don't think the lens on this one is a proper megapixel lens either):

Well, $2-$3k would get you into a basic Vigil (I think about $3500 for a 32-channel, 120fps system) with 1TB internal drive. You won't get into megapixel for that, not if you're replacing your DVR as well. What kind of POS systems are you using? Many of them can be interfaced to some DVRs and the DVRs will then log the POS data synchronized to the video. Can you maybe do up a quick sketch of the floor layout and current camera positions? 20 cameras is a LOT for a simple retail floor plan, it's possible with good positioning of the right cameras, you can get away with a lot fewer. Be sure to note if there are outside windows/doors that present strong backlighting, as that will affect camera selection as well.

I'm not familiar with GV's product line, but that model number suggests to me that it IS a 32-channel card. 960fps would give you 30fps on each of 32 channels (the storage for that would also be ridiculous). We've been using RAID arrays from QNAP and been very happy with their performance and ease of installation. Load it up with drives, configure as RAID5, and you're good to go - as I said, with RAID5, any one drive can die, and you can hot-swap it without shutting down and without losing data. The drawback is that you lose the capacity of one drive (that space is used for the redundancy data), so four 2TB drives, for example, would give you 6TB of actual capacity.

Good choice, especially with the amount of storage you're likely to need. You've left out one very important criteria, and that is, what's your budget? I'll work on the assumption that you want to spend a fair bit on a good system. The most powerful one you can afford. Sounds trite, but with the level of cameras you're dealing with, you'll want as much future-proofing as possible. Ideally, enterprise-grade. Realistically, just about any brand-name SATA drives should do. The real trick, if you want reliability, is to go with a RAID setup, ideally RAID5 or RAID6 - with that, even if a drive fails, you can replace it without shutting things down and without losing data (RAID6 allows two drives to fail without data loss). If you're building your own, GeoVision is a popular way to go. Not my favorite, but there are certainly worse out there. If you want an excellent turnkey package, Vigil is a great choice for a 32-channel hybrid system. No. You're not dealing with 3D graphics or anything advanced like that. Any good modern PCI-e card should do nicely. Most of the systems I build just use the on-board video chip. Depends on the card... there are 32-channel models out there. No - that's what the DVR card is for. (MIDI, by the way, stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface - unless you're hooking up MIDI-capable synths or something, you don't need MIDI). That's good thinking. More importantly, a PC gives you far more options for expanding drive space. Tom's suggesting of a PTZ or two is a good one, IF you have someone who can be sitting watching the system to control it. If not, you might want to consider a 360-degree panoramic megapixel camera, such as those made by Mobotix or Arecont. Instead of only recording what the lens is pointed at at any given moment, they record continually in a 360-degree radius, and you can zoom in on any area of the scene either live OR on the recording. On that subject, you might look at replacing some of all of your existing cameras with megapixel IP cameras - they'll not only give far more detail, but in some instances, one megapixel camera can take the place of two, three, or even four old analog cameras (depending on the store layout, of course). If you go all-IP, you can do away with the need for a DVR card and just build an NVR machine (all the video data then comes in over the network). You could also go this route, and use video servers, small boxes that digitize the video from analog cameras and put it on the network. As for the 15-year-old wiring, there's no reason it shouldn't still be fine, as long as it hasn't been exposed to weather or anything.