Soundy

Normal lighting, I'd say they're pretty close... I haven't tried them with any sort of severe backlighting yet, though, so I can't say how they'll compare to the SuperDynamic function.

Why not just a single 32-channel card? Less space, less complexity, and probably lower cost. Vigil and Video Insight have them - I've used both and they work great. Vigil even has a 32-channel/960fps (full 30fps on every channel) system. Naturally, something like that will be spendy - for the card, AND the PC necessary to handle it. But as you've noted, even 10fps looks smooth in most cases, and you certainly don't need a beast like that. Here's another thought too: instead of assuming that you need the full 10-15fps on ALL channels... identify channels where you can do with less. Lots of times you may find something even below 5fps will suffice. Nobody says all channels have to use the same framerate, and when you're looking back at recorded incidents, rarely are high framerates NEEDED. Sure, they look nicer, but they don't necessarily give you any more information.

Okay, got those pics from the other VCM-20VFs. Same site, same DVR... I think I know what part of the problem is now with those patio cams, though: we used some ultra-cheap baluns (because that was all we could get on short notice), and the patio cams are a good 4-5 times the distance of any of the others (on the order of 250-300'). Now I'm thinking that the cheap baluns may not be faring so well on the longer runs (some of these are only about 30-40'). The shorter runs, however, seem to be just dandy:

That could be said of any camera position, though. One site, they had a camera on an 8' ceiling watching an under-counter safe... the cleaners rolled in a cart with a stack of cleaning supplies and neatly blocked the camera... very innocuously, of course. (We added a second camera with a reverse angle on the safe, from a 12' ceiling... hard to block BOTH and claim it's accidental!) The whole point is to get around guys who hide themselves from typical ID-shot positions with ball caps and hoodies.

Yeah, the camera itself doesn't have to be IP for this to work (unless they need megapixel, which doesn't appear to be the case): any analog camera can be plugged into any "video server" box that will allow it to be plugged into the network. Get one with an audio input if they really want to go that way. Frankly, if they're only listening and watching, and not recording, I see little reason to have a whole separate PC just for monitoring the feed. It adds a lot of expense and complexity (not to mention the extra power consumption and noise generated by yet another narrow-purpose PC) and provides almost NO benefit - the only possible reason to use a network(ed) camera and audio in this case would maybe be the ability to easily access it from any PC on that network, but I don't think that's a capability that would be desirable in this instance (from a privacy standpoint, would you want YOUR counseling session to be accessible to anyone in the building with the proper information???) This may be an instance where you need to put your foot down and TELL the client what's best for them, instead of letting them rely on what they think they WANT (as opposed to what they NEED). From the sound of it, someone wants to pretend like he's James Bond and be as high-tech as possible, with no real thought to the benefits or drawbacks involved.

I've tried different refresh rates, yes, but most LCDs only support 60Hz, and if they do have more than that, it's only 75hz, so there's not usually a lot to play with.

holy moly batman. LOL Also about the cat5 VGA extender, I saw one at a location and it was okay ... the client said he had nothing but issues with it. I didnt install it and I didnt change it. He was not my client. We've been using MuxLab VGA-over-Cat5e extenders (50010/50014 pairs, if memory serves) on a number of sites with the Vigil HD Viewer systems... they work well, but some resolutions can be a little twitchy, depending on the video card and the monitor. I did discover, though, that the MuxLabs at least are a LOT happier with 568A wiring than 568B - could be the way the individual channels are balanced for the varying capacitances of the pairs. Don't know if this applies to other brands. They do recommend SHIELDED Cat5e, but we've been fine so far with just standard stuff and crimping on our own RJ-45s.

Can't say that I've ever seen an S-to-component dongle like that. I know where I used to work, we had a line of Matrox cards that came with a VGA-to-S adapter; we almost never used those. I also have a number of ATI cards kicking around with S-video ports on the back. I'm just looking at two Nvidia cards sitting on my desk, one of which has DVI, VGA and composite (single RCA) outputs , the other with VGA, S-video and composite outputs. S-to-component would NOT be that easy without some sort of upscaling circuitry.

Welcome to the board! The first thing you need to do is find out (from the store owner/manager) what the "areas of concern" are - where do they have their most problems/losses/incidents? Do they experience employee theft from food storage, or from cash drawers? Is there a lot of trouble with shoplifters? In general, you want to start with a tight shot on the main entrance, to get clear facial shots of people coming in. This is usually the camera you want to spend the most on, especially if there's bad backlighting (bright sunlight outside) - you want something that can handle the dynamic range. Next, plan on at least two wide shots of the whole store are common, usually in opposing corners of the main floor area. On 1/4" or 1/3" cameras, something in a 2.8mm lens will get you close to a 90° field of view. Don't expect a lot of detail in these shots; the main idea for them is to get an overview of what's happening in the whole area. From there, you can concentrate on the particular areas of concern. If they have a high incidence of shoplifting of particular products, consider a camera or two near those areas, with views just tight enough to capture those areas with as much detail as possible. If there are issues with employees skimming from the till, perhaps a covert camera over the paypoint will be required. That should be enough to get you started.

What is the point of this hight strip camera. you need the hight in the image. why not have a normal hight strip and a good camera looking at the door way You won't get accurate with a "regular" setup anyway, unless the camera is at the 5-6' level and the subject is standing right beside the strip - perspective throws everything out of whack. The idea with these cameras isn't to get a person's height... it's the have a covert camera that gets a picture when the person is on the way out. Quite often, if a "perp" knows there's an ID cam on the door, he'll hide his face by wearing a hat or keeping his head down. Most won't expect a camera looking back at them on the way out, and being at or just below eye level, it's harder to hide one's face without bumping into things. An added bonus with these is that there's generally no backlighting problem, as is common with cameras pointed at an outside door. The models I've seen (no manufacturer name, sorry - they were prototypes) were in an angled casing that gave counter staff a better straight-on view of the strip itself, compared to a sticker on a standard door jamb.

\ Vigil and Video Insight cards have composite out - older ones have an output that can have one of the analog inputs, or a sequence of them, routed to it; newer ones have a software multiplexor as well (two separate outputs). I installed a number of cheap-cheap standalone DVRs for a sub-job a couple years ago, they all had composite out... SOME models had a VGA out as well, but that was just provided by a separate internal VGA card that just converted the composite signal. Many (most?) TVs with component input will accept RGB in addition to Pb/Pr/Y on their component inputs... a VGA-to-BNC/RCA cable will provide that from any VGA or DVI-A video card, doesn't need to be PCIe. My old AGP Radeon 9800 All-in-Wonder card has component output in addition to DVI-A.

Hey bantham1, sorry, I haven't had a chance to get back to the site yet, and my remote access isn't working. I'll get them though!

Pelco Spectra series have always been solid performers. You might be able to find a used Spectra III for a good price on fleabay. We've also use Capture Fastrax domes on a lot of sites and found them to be excellent (avoid the Minitrax mini-domes though).

The quality is also terrible compared to a proper VGA signal into a VGA monitor.

Your a Mac, aren't you? Heheheh, nope Camera TVL has *NO* relationship to DVR FPS limitations. None, nada, zilch, zero. Some systems do have an interdependence between CAPTURE resolution and framerate, but that's not at all connected to camera resolution. That should include the software for that price, I would hope... as Rory notes, the cards are largely commodity items; it's the software you're paying for. Do keep in mind, when you're watching over a remote connection, and particularly a phone connection, you probably would never notice the difference between 60 and 120fps total - bandwidth is a much tighter bottleneck.

Noted... my bad.

I've been dealing mostly with Vigil for years (and a bit of Video Insight)... we recently took on a client that had mostly GV, started replacing them with Vigils... don't even get me started on the things about GV that drive me nuts The answer is a definite, "it depends." The GeoVision software, AFAIK, will only work with GeoVision-branded cards. Ditto with Video Insight. In most of these cases, the cards' firmware is "branded" for the integrator, and the software is coded to look for that branding, and simply report that there's no supported hardware if it doesn't find it. Vigil software, on the other hand, will AFAIK work with any cards that use a supported chipset - case in point, I had a Vigil system with a 60fps card that died, so I pulled the 60fps card out of a Video Insight box (both use the same ComArt chips), plugged it into the Vigil machine, and was back up and running in minutes. The same software can also be installed without capture-card drivers, and simply run as an NVR. I don't know about "most". Rory notes that GV requires an add-on card for it. Vigil and VI both have it built-in - older cards simply route a selected input back to an output jack (both packages support sequence switching). Newer Vigil and VI cards have both the same switched analog output, and a built-in "software MUX" output that will generate a split-screen display, even allowing you to mix analog and IP cameras. "Stable" and "constantly updated" are usually mutually exclusive. That will narrow the list substantially - the vast majority, IF they have a web client, use ActiveX... that eliminates iPhone viewing right off. Video Insight, however, DOES have a very good web client that doesn't use ActiveX or Java - take a look at www.demoip.com (there a mobile-optimized version as well, but I don't have the link handy).

BTW, btown, have you tried contacting Sanyo for a manual?

Um, guys... Port forwarding doesn't (or shouldn't) come into play here - you shouldn't have to do anything with the router. Btown, the first thing you need to do is make sure the DVR has an appropriate IP address - if the it wasn't already plugged into the network, chances are it's never been properly configured for the network. If it's set to use DHCP, it should get an IP from the router. If not, you'll have to configure one on the same subnet as the attached PC. Of course, this will mean using the same crappy monitor to navigate the DVR's menus, so you may need to upgrade the monitor just to do that (or at least plug in a better one temporarily). The software will then have to be configured with the DVR's IP address.

See my reply over here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20134

What's your budget? From my own experience, I can recommend Vigil or VideoInsight as having solid hardware (both use the same card) and excellent software. They're not cheap, especially compared to eBay junk, but in this business, you really do get what you pay for. Many others here will recommend GeoVision as well - I don't like them, personally, but they're pretty popular for the mid-level systems.

Actually, it refers to the way two normally separate cables are joined into one. Think "Siamese twins".

Welcome!

Even at 100'/30m you should only see about .3V drop, so you're probably okay, depending on how sensitive the cameras are to under-voltage. Three pairs of Cat5 is about the equivalent of 18ga.

Crown is the most common name in PZMs. Radio Shack used to carry one that was basically a re-branded Crown, dunno if they do anymore. We have a pair in our studio, they make stellar overhead mics for drums. Any pro-audio shop should be able to help you out with this. For a small mixer, take a look at Alesis or Behringer.