Soundy

Looks like a photo of a failing CRT.

Huh? The term "VGA" has two common uses: Generically, "VGA" is a type of video signal produced by most computer video cards and accepted by most computer monitors, typically using HD15-type (15-pin high-density D-sub) connectors. In this context, VGA resolution is 640x480, period. "VGA recording framerate" refers to the framerate it can record at, at that resolution.

Exactly. I had that happen to me a while back as well. Customer told me he was looking for a system which will meet certain specifications, I put together a quote after visiting his business, called him back for feedback, was told he is still "thinking about it", drove by a couple weeks later and he had cameras up. Big deal. It happens all the time for one reason or another and all I can do is make sure the people who pay me for the equipment I sell and install are happy with what they get then maybe they will pass on my name. Next! The problem is more the ones who DON'T tell you they're getting multiple quotes, but instead get you to jump through all sorts of hoops and go to extreme lengths, wanting all the fine details, only to take that and buy everything themselves from eBay or something... basically making you do all their legwork while doing nothing to discourage the impression that they actually want to give you the business.

Oh yeah, something to keep in mind if you're shopping for $65 DVRs direct from China or somewhere... http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=19541

Yeah, but how many times? I could set up all 16 channels on this machine to record the same camera with different parameters I don't normally use time-lapse either, but this is just a wide shot of our back yard, and I wanted a time-lapse progression of the changes in weather. But I found setting that up precluded using motion-record of events... unless I set it as a separate motion-alarm recording... but then that messed up my smooth time-lapse flow (steady minute-by-minute progression, interrupted by blocks of slow progression during motion events)... so it occurred to me, I could just record the two separately from the same stream. And I'm not limited to two recordings - I could set one channel that records motion on the railroad tracks in the background at 2fps with low sensitivity, one that does motion in the driveway at 10fps with high detection sensitivity, and yet another for my time-lapse... and so on. I know some others allow you to stack different sensitivity zones for triggering, which Vigil doesn't, but I haven't yet seen one that lets you assign different record settings to each zone within one channel using analog cameras. True. I'm dealing with a Vigil here... motion-triggered clips aren't fixed-length, they'll go as short or as long as motion is occurring, with the specified pre- and post- tailings. Extending this concept, IP cams also make it easy to record a single camera on multiple DVRs, no splitters or signal loss needed... something that can be handy for off-site recording and so on.

...I can have my DVR record it on multiple channels with multiple settings For example, I have one channel with a regular masked motion record at 10fps... and another set for a time-lapse, one frame every 60 seconds. Sure, I could do that with an analog camera... using a splitter and losing some quality. I like this way better Plus I can add as many different variations on the concept as I want!

Would probably help to know what your budget is. There are options ranging from $500 to $5000 that fit your criteria, just for the DVR. Cameras to go with it can range anywhere from $20 to $1000 apiece.

You get one camera to record on multiple different channels with multiple different settings, without splitting the signal? Really? Here's a case in point: I set the DVR up to record 60-second time-lapse constantly, jumping to 5fps when motion is detected in a certain area. Pretty standard, right? Except those motion records really mess up a nice smooth time-lapse playback. So now I can make two completely independent recordings: one dedicated time-lapse, one motion-triggered. Not something that you're going to use every day, but still something different that could have specific uses.

We installed a number of cameras on a tower about that height. Unlike your instance, the tower was installed specifically for the cameras, but it does have lightning protection: there's a lightning rod that extends a good meter-and-a-half above the highest camera, and is bolted directly to the steel tower. The tower itself is then grounded at the base (heavy-gauge copper wire clamped to the tower, and to a plate buried 7' deep beside the concrete base). Three years in service now, not a single fried camera... good thing, too, since three of the four are FLIR thermal cameras worth a combined $50,000.

Just offhand, I'd suspect most standalone DVRs don't support this. Nevertheless, if this one has an "external HDD" option, it just might. The trick, then, is probably needing to format the drive properly: most new drives come either unformatted, or formatted as FAT32. If your standalone is *nix-based, it may want to use a native format like ext3. Then again, it's possible "external HDD" is there simply as a backup/export option...

I know the URL for LinkedIn, I have a profile there... this still doesn't tell me the name of the particular group. There are a few dozen that come up on a search for "CCTV"...

"Sorry you are not a member of the group you are trying to access." - but it doesn't tell me what group that actually is!

-50F is about -58C -40 is where the two scales meet up. I dunno, we've been seeing news reports about that kind of cold out there, too... looks like it's warming up quickly midweek though!

I'd be surprised if the software version *must* match the firmware on the DVR. Software updates tend to come regularly... firmware, usually only to address bug fixes and major feature upgrades (speaking generally for almost all types of upgradeable hardware, not just DVRs). Of course, this is the difference between cheap offshore multi-branded junk, and buying professional gear from a reputable vendor...

rory's here all the time. We try to chase him away, but he keeps coming back.

You don't specify whether you want remote-controllable zoom or not. Many dome/IP/D-N cameras come with varifocal lenses, which provide optical zoom, but require direct access to the camera.

Good stuff, but you might not want to leave it that way - that essentially leaves that machine wide-open to the internet, and with a PC-based DVR (particularly a Windows-based DVR), that means it becomes a LOT more hackable.

Router ports should have nothing to do with it. The GV software communicates directly with the PTZ via the RS-485 port, the signal doesn't go through the router. The web client (via IE) allows you to control the software. If you can access the software remotely, your ports should be fine. Only thing I can think of is if the remote client sends camera control on a different port, as I know some remote clients do... but I wouldn't think that would be the case with the web-based client. In any case, you can test it by finding the "DMZ" section of your router, and setting your DVR's IP as the DMZ... that will forward ALL otherwise-unassigned ports to the DVR.

Need a little more info before anyone can even think about answering this... What make/model of PTZ? What make/model of DVR (if any)? How was it connected before - modem, router, etc.? What remote software or viewing method (browser) are you using?

That machine is bare minimum for GV's listed specs: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c00045799 It's an AthlonXP 2600 (2.1GHz) and ships with only 256MB RAM and a 40GB HDD. The DDR RAM will be pricey to upgrade (to 1GB max). It would work, but you won't run anywhere near 15fps/camera, and you WILL need a larger hard drive for video storage. Frankly, I could get a brand-new system for under $300 that would walk all over that machine: http://a-power.com/product-2513-457-1 On the fps note, however... bear in mind that for surveillance purposes, you don't NEED anywhere near 15fps. It looks nicer, but it takes more power and eats more space and is rarely necessary. 1fps is plenty to see "what happened" in most instances.

You'd specify that if you want/need the DVR to look up internet domain names.

If memory serves, the Seagate firmware issue was with the 1TB drives when they first came out, and caused the drives to sometimes not spin up, which would cause them to disappear from a system. What codec are you using? MJPEG, MPEG4, H.264? Try a different codec?

okay, those are definitely artifacts from either the analog-to-digital conversion process, or the compression codec. either way, it's the DVR's problem. the fact that it shows up on YouTube pretty much eliminates your computer's video card.

What people, who said pixels? Nobody "said" pixels. The way MANY (even MOST) people ask about "lens resolution" indicates that they equate it with image resolution. The way manufacturers market lenses doesn't help matters. Resolving power? Who said "resolving power"? We were talking about lens resolution, which is about the ability to resolve detail. "Lens Resolution: The ability of a lens to resolve detail is usually determined by the quality of the lens but is ultimately limited by diffraction." I realize that. Sorry, in photographic jargon, this measurement is often called "resolving power". Not at all. As I've mentioned before, I come from an extensive background in photography; I understand these concepts quite well.