Soundy

For wiring, pretty much a no-brainer these days, use Cat5e - you can run analog over it using baluns, and easily upgrade to IP for megapixel later. You might want to run power along with it, "just in case" - if you do go IP later, you'll need it, unless you get PoE injectors or a PoE switch as well. Cost-wise, it's a tossup: adding PoE later will add some cost, but running the extra wire will be an extra cost now. DVR-wise, keep in mind you'll want something that supports IP, if you plan to go that way in the future. Megapixel cameras eat a lot more disk space, so you want something with a lot of room to expand. PC-based generally makes both software and hardware upgrades easier

That sounds really odd, there's no reason that should happen. What happens if you power off the camera after the DSL goes down, does the DSL come back online? How about if you shine a flashlight into the camera so it turns off the IR?

Nonsense. Did you consider that it's the holiday season and not a lot of people are around? In any case, an RS-232/422 converter is not generally necessary - just connect pins 3 (data TX) and 5 (signal ground) on your computer's DB9 serial port, to RX+ and RX- (receive positive and negative) on the camera, and you should be good to go.

"480TVL Sony Super HAD" is decent, but not much more (at least not in and of itself) - just about all cheap cameras use these sensors. As far as a DVR card goes, you could also look at Vigil (www.3xlogic.com) and Video Insight (www.video-insight.com). They're not the cheapest players in the game, but you do get what you pay for. Both of these use near-identical hardware; the real difference is in the software. I suggest them mainly because they're the systems I'm most familiar with. Same goes for GeoVision - a number of systems use the same (or very similar) hardware, and what you're really comparing is the associated software. Personally, I don't like the GeoVision interface much, and I find the hardware has some weird quirks. But you know, see if you can get a demo, and try it for yourself. Vigil has a demo version of its server software available that will work on a number of different cards (including Video Insight's). I think VI will send you a demo as well, if you ask.

^And on that note, an SDK ("Software Development Kit") won't do you a whole lot of good either, unless you're a coder... and you have the SDKs for ALL the systems you're trying to integrate. And hiring a coder to do that sort of custom work will probably cost you more than it would to simply replace all their disparate systems with matching, ready-to-itegrate systems.

Like Joebo indicated (in a rather roundabout way), your question is pretty vague. "Integrate" how? What is the desired end result? What sort of systems are we talking about? Analog, IP, hybrid? Integrating IP cameras with MUX/VCR systems? Is this all on one site, or across multiple remote sites? Are you integrating viewing, recording, controls, management? If your boss wants you to learn ALL of it overnight... good luck. Assimilating this much new knowledge is probably better done a bit at a time, as it's needed - take an individual client's needs and learn how to fill them first. As far as the lost client... in my experience, there's a decent chance that your competitor's techs won't be able to cash the checks that their sales guys have been writing, and the whole project will fall on its face. If you can learn what you need to FOR THAT JOB SPECIFICALLY, you may be able to pick up the pieces later (be sure to tack an annoyance fee on the final invoice).

Always better? Well, according to me, your posts are nonsense. Best, Christopher +1

I live here in Fresno, I can go to the mountains near here and play in the snow... And then get away from it! Same here in Vancouver - snowboarding in the morning, golf in the afternoon!

Larry, feel free to email me at soundy106@gmail.com, or MSN me at soundy106@hotmail.com, if you need any help with the procedure. I have a fair bit of experience setting up and tweaking phpBB3.

Nothing wrong with being vigilant and aware of the technology available! Most of us around here LIKE to hear about extreme, "out there" technologies, even if we aren't likely to ever implement it ourselves. My comment was more directed at those trying to discourage the OP with the potential drawbacks to any solution here. As long as the client understands that there are no guarantees to any solutions provided, I stand by my assertion that doing SOMETHING is better than doing NOTHING. I suspect the client is thinking the same way.

Wow, this is getting WAY out there! Some nice toys there, Lolo, but probably a bit beyond an Indonesian hotel's means Guys, I think the basic concept here is, it's better to do SOMETHING than to do NOTHING. Obviously none of these systems will be 100% effective, but even something 20% effective will save some lives! I doubt wide-angle distortion will be a huge concern, either - basic vehicle underbody design and layout doesn't vary THAT much around the world, and someone watching on a remote monitor (particularly a trained security expert) will be able to tell pretty readily if something looks out-of-place enough to warrant stepped-up safety measures.

I can go back 10 more feet but wont I need zoom ?? Idea is to get recognizable face shot if needed... "Zoom" is kind of a nebulous term when applied to CCTV. Don't think of it the same way as you would with your pocket camera. "Zoom" is basically another term for a varifocal lens... such as 3-8mm, 2-12mm, 15-50mm, etc. Moving further back simply means you need a lens with a longer focal length. That could be a fixed-length lens, or a zoom/varifocal lens that lets you adjust the length across a range. Using the simplest lens calculator I could find... http://www.tamron.com/cctv/lenscalculator/index.php Your distance will be about 20'... your horizontal width of field should be about 4 (to get the whole door in, assuming again that it's a single door), and uncheck all but the 1/3" varifocal box. That gives you a focal length of 24mm. If Panasonic has a lens for that camera with includes that in its range (12-30mm, for example), then that's what you need, and you can fine-tune it once it's installed. Some cameras can record directly to NAS, but both must support it. If your NAS has an FTP server, some cameras may also be able to ftp to it directly.

Sorry... I was working up some angles for you on a lens calculator, but ran out of time and then was out of town for the weekend. Roughly, though... at 11-12', assuming a standard single 3' wide door, you're probably looking at something in the 8-9mm range for tight shot covering little more than the width of the door. How far back CAN you go?

Depends mainly on the distance to the door... the farther you can mount the camera back from the door, the better the angle you'll get. Lens choice will depend on that distance and the width of the door.

Those ExirView cameras are standard analog output, they'll work with any existing analog-video system.

That Panasonic would be fine for either position, depending on the lens length and resulting field of view. For the front door, you may need to place the camera farther back (to get a better angle) and use a longer lens to get a tight shot. It would help to know what, if any, budget you have available for upgrading cameras. Something like this might be worth considering as well: it avoids the angle-of-view issue, as well as backlighting issues you normally get pointing a camera at the door: http://www.honeywellvideo.com/products/cameras/sp/37779.html

"Popularity" is meaningless. The camera used should be the right one for the given situation. No one of these types is perfect for every purpose. I agree with you. we always choose cameras for different purpose. But everything has a trend to forward. For example, with the day & night and high resolution technology, cameras with the IR function or high resolution is get more popular in the market. So i want to know in the future which kinds of camera will be the main trend, not only for the style, but also for some new technology, CCD sensor or lens. You didn't specify any of that, you asked us to choose from camera form factors (box, bullet, dome, etc.). Honestly, I don't understand the point of the question. Are you planning to invest in a large supply of cameras and want to make sure to get the ones that are most likely to sell in the future? Why would it matter? Sure, the "high resolution" (megapixel) segment will continue to grow, as the technology gets cheaper... but that goes back to rory's statement, the cheapest cameras will always sell the most. Beyond that, I don't see why there would be any substantial changes in the market for any one form factor or technology. There's nothing happening in the world that would make domes suddenly gain popularity over bullets, for example.

Does it power up at all? Make any beeps or anything? If it has a "Spot" output, do you get video from that?

"Popularity" is meaningless. The camera used should be the right one for the given situation. No one of these types is perfect for every purpose.

Pretty hard for anyone here to do anything with the limited information provided... What make and model of DVR? What do you mean by "can't display the 16 channels"? Can it display fewer channels? Single channels? Is the screen always blank, or only on the 16-channel layout? "What is causing the problem" could be dozens of things, not the least of which is user error.

How about a low-light camera WITH IR illuminators?

Keep in mind the bandwidth you have available - the poor redraws may be more a function of your phone's data rate than of implementation of the client, and there may be no way around it. The upstream speed of the internet connection the DVR is on comes into play as well: I don't know if any still do, but I know some DSL providers used to limit upstream to 128kbit. There may also be settings in the DVR to accommodate different connection feeds, with the DVR adjusting framerate and/or compression when re-processing for the internet stream. A NAS has the added advantage of being useful on your home network as a file/media/music server; some also have web/ftp server functionality with MYSQL/PHP support. The one important thing to remember, if you do go that route, is that just as not all cameras support it, not all NAS systems support direct camera capture either.

IP cameras will allow you to view the cameras directly, but most DVRs (which you would use to record the analog cameras) have network-viewing support, some via web browser, some via remote client application. It sounds like you have at least a basic knowledge of networking, so that makes it a lot easier: just think of each IP cam like another network device, be it computer, printer, etc. Just plug it into the network, configure it, then aim it. Most of them, you use a provided utility to give the camera an IP (or tell it to use DHCP from your router), then do the more advanced setup through a browser. Yes. Well, you'd have to tell the NVR the IP addresses of your cameras, and configure it with your record parameters, but yeah, that's about all there is to it. Personally, I'd suggest a separate PC for recording - they tend to be a lot more flexible and upgradeable than the homogeneous little black boxes you can get. The answer is, "it depends". Some cameras include some very basic recording software. Others can record internally (SD card or internal flash memory). Some can also send images and via via email or ftp. Or, you can get a NAS box ("network attached storage"), which is just a box with a bunch of drives that you connect to your network - some cameras will support saving directly to some NAS devices, and then you just access the saved footage from your PC. NVR = "Network Video Recorder". Its primary purpose is to record the video from network cameras. It can be a standalone box, or a PC with NVR software on it.

I tried using the "screw-able" zip ties once, thought it was a cool idea... problem I found was, if you need to adjust or add to, or worse, remove from your bundle, or for whatever reason need to cut the tie... then you have to remove the old stub and re-screw the new tie. They're more expensive, so you don't want to just use them for EVERYTHING, so now you need to carry two different types... and they tend to twist out of place when you tighten the screw down. I have two bundles of these things, black and white, that I haven't used in years. I MUCH prefer these sort of anchors: The top row in particular, are clean and solid, and extremely useful - I've often used them to attach equipment to the wall by placing them in a sqaure pattern matching the outline of the gear (within the outline, so the stand it off from the wall), then zapping the gear down to them. Best part is, if you need to cut your straps, your anchors are still there for re-use.

Whether you capture to BMP or JPG won't make a significant difference - what he's saying is that the video is already compressed (probably HIGHLY compressed) and as such you're inherently starting off at a fairly low quality image... there's no way around that.