Soundy

Thanks... so the bead isn't required for "proper" operation, just to fit the rules. Good to know

Silly thing is, it probably does... at least, the finder utility DOES work with Win2K... but the INSTALLER won't let you install it without XP. How dumb is that? do you need the installer though? maybe just extract the required files, and put together your own installer? if i can help let me know. Well, I've done that NOW... but the full package including NVR has to be installed on something first to extract those files; you can't just unzip the included installer and have the files there. At least, that's the case with the software that Arecont makes readily available, both on the bundled CD and on their website. That's what 99% of the world is stuck with. They don't even tell you that there's a smaller "stand alone installer" finder/configuration utility available that will run without needing installation, which ak357 sent me. Why wouldn't an intelligent company include that on the CD or on their website?

The big advantage of the Super Dynamic series has traditionally, of course, been their dynamic range and handling of widely dynamic scenes - that's a big part of why a CP484 runs $600+ compared to about $250 for a CP414. From what I'm seeing, this thing carries on the SD tradition quite well. Granted, the windows are obviously tinted (look outside when they open the door), looks like a 20%-30% tint, but even then, the highlights outside should be blown out on most other cameras given the inside lighting level. And please, barrel distortion? Really? This is a major issue? It sounds like some people have never seen it before - you'll get it on 99% of all cameras, including $8000 DSLRs, when using wide-angle lenses. Correct it? Who cares? cglaeser is right, no cops are going to reject an ID because of it, and no court will toss out evidence because of it. Keep in mind what the PURPOSE of this type of video is, people - this is for security and identification purposes, not high art or making movies. We have a client who wanted an MP camera for an ID shot on their flagship store a couple years ago, and we talked them into a CP484 instead because no MP cameras at the time would handle the severe backlighting. They'd still love to use MP for that purpose - if this lives up to the Super Dynamic name, they'll want to use it, for no other reason than it gives them the high resolution in extreme lighting conditions.

Maybe you can measure the difference with VLC and some random USB adapter... (I'll go sit quietly in the corner now...)

Wow, a lot of people having trouble with reading comprehension. Did anyone actually pay attention to the original question, or is it just the usual wave of spammers with their "MY PRODUCT IS PERFECT FOR ANYTHING YOU NEED!"? Hint: "If I wanted to mount cameras on a race car..." PoE is not going to work well. You'll either need a PoE switch or injectors that run off 12VDC, or you'll need an inverter or some other source of 120VAC in the car. Most race cars do not have such luxuries. "Professional" level cars like stock cars and open-wheel cars are pretty stripped-down. And yes, if he wants something suitable for viewing sponsor logos on underbody parts, he WILL need to eliminate "cheap" from the equation - anything that will stand up to that kind of beating will be pricey, and anything cheap won't last through a dozen laps, let alone an entire race.

Silly thing is, it probably does... at least, the finder utility DOES work with Win2K... but the INSTALLER won't let you install it without XP. How dumb is that?

Well so far with these Areconts, I've found a lot to complain ABOUT. Or maybe I've just been spoiled, because the IQs we've been installing have been solid and easy to use and don't clutter things up with additional software. Seriously, Arecont has NOT made a good first impression around here, and I have a feeling we won't be using any more of them anytime soon.

I don't use the bead, or the foam... just makes the dome more cramped. I also use a right angle connector for the network port to avoid sharp bends in the cable within the dome. Right-angle crimp-on RJ45s?? That would be handy! Never seen that! Hey, here's another one for the rant list: the position of the network jack on these 3155s makes it unnecessarily difficult for anyone with even marginally thick fingers to unplug the cable, the gap between the locking tab and the housing is so narrow. How hard would it have been to rotate the thing 90 degrees?? I'd hate to try it with a patch cable with the rubber shroud over the tab. This whole product line looks like a classic case of engineers slapping things together with no clue as to actually USING the product.

When I was at training Arecont admitted to these problems and said they have since been rectified. Which ones? The bad domes? The "missing" yaw adjustments? The mis-installed screws? The more I read, the more concerned I get about their QA/QC - what other problems can I expect to run across with these things? They're already installing software I don't want, without even asking permission... wonder what's next?? My coworker has a few more rants about these things after today... not the least of which is the use of stainless-steel bolts to mount them to their pendants - when you're supporting a camera 40' off the ground and trying to balance the mounting screws on your driver, it would be really nice if they would actually hold to a magnet. All manufacturers who use stainless or other non-magnetic screws for this sort of INTERNAL location should be lined up and shot. BTW, I'm interested in others' experiences with those ferrite beads as well - we've been putting them on, JUST IN CASE, but man, what a PITA to cram them inside the housings! Never needed them on any other IP cams, so I'm wondering what the deal is with these?

It's not hard to miss - with this arrangement, the camera itself flops around pretty loosely in its mount. You can't adjust the "tilt" movement at all without it being painfully obvious something is amiss.

Well, back (somewhat) to the original bent of the thread... I've just finished bench-testing the last of the seven AV3155DNs, and found a little QC issue... This is how the mounting ring for the "yaw" control is supposed to be attached, using four screws around the upper ring, looking something like this: And this is how three of the four screws look on this camera, out of the box: It appears the three screws were inserted BEFORE the top ring was in place... an easy fix - take out the one screw holding it all together, remove the ring, remove the other screws, put everything back in the correct order - but still troubling. The holes were NOT stripped, mind you, or broken; the screws were NOT pulled through them... they screws were simply installed before the ring was in place. Normally this would be cause to send the camera back to the factory, but it's supposed to be installed tomorrow on a job that's already been delayed three weeks because the cameras took so long to get shipped... and another delay would probably give the contractor a heart attack! (On a side note, these snaps were taken with my phone's camera under a 20W halogen desk lamp... pretty damn impressed with the picture!)

Wow, the spam level is ramping up around here...

^Cut'n'paste fail.

Not "usually". Sometimes, only. A larger sensor can also mean the same number of larger pixels, which equates to better low-light performance.

I think in that instance, you might be better to just use cameras with their own built-in recording - small camcorders, for example... depending on where you want to mount them, of course. If you're looking for things like the underbody cams you see on NASCAR and F1 racers, showing sponsor labels on the struts and whatnot, you need to remove the word "cheap" from your requirements before you go any farther.

Seriously Beyond Hope in Spuzzum. LOL! heheheh, we used to say, "If you ain't been to Spuzzum, you ain't been nowhere!"

Most cameras I've seen with an analog service jack actually use an RCA rather than a BNC... but aside from that, you can just use a crossover cable to plug a laptop directly into the camera as well.

Maintenance for a DVR? Not much... clean the dust out now and then, make sure it's in a low-dust, well-ventilated area. For PC-based ones, you can run HDD and RAM diagnostic utilities from time to time to make sure everything is hunky-dory. Replacing a fuse tends to be fairly easy in most devices - easy replacement IS half the point of a fuse, after all. Look at the power supply above - there's a master fuse in the AC feed of each transformer, then there's a main fuse on each distribution board, and a fuse for each channel - just pop one out and pop in another of the correct type.

I'd be worried that your "testing" of applying power to different pins may have damaged something. The vast majority of professional PT(Z) cameras and platforms use RS-232/422/485 serial data to control their movement - this is generally only a +5 or +12VDC low-current data signal applied to a single pair of pins, and it carries only command instructions for the various operations. In other words, there are no separate pins for up, down, left, right, etc. Now, there are some cameras that do use individual pins for each control direction, but they tend to be either on the cheap side, or the really old side (before the industry more-or-less standardized on serial communications). Problem is, without standards, they can operate in a variety of different methods. I think the last one I dealt with, the camera had remote zoom and focus functions, whereby zooming in or out, or focusing in or out, was controlled by the appropriate wire being connected either to ground or to +Vcc. For example, connect the zoom wire to ground, and the camera zoomed out... connect it to the power line, and it zoomed in.

I don't speak for this site, but I've been around long enough and seen enough similar types of boards to give some reasoned answers I don't believe they are directly affiliated with any one vendor. The forum sells advertising space to vendors, via their banners (see http://www.cctvforum.com/advertise.php). To be affiliated themselves with a specific vendor would present a potential conflict of interest, and most likely drive away many advertisers. The "Why advertise" blurb includes this line: "Members and visitors come to CCTV Forum to discuss and get unbiased recommendations on CCTV equipment and components." I've seen this done on vendor-related forums, but it's pretty tricky to do, and always leads to accusations of bias. The best way to avoid it is to simply avoid any direct affiliation - everyone pays the same amount for their ad slots, and everyone gets the same coverage. Being a private operation, they don't HAVE to follow any rules of "fairness"... but they do try to be fair to all, which is one of the major benefits of this site over others I've seen. Now all that said... if you're looking for a reliable supplier, a lot of the members here are installers and resellers in the industry, and have their own list of suppliers they use and like to recommend (or warn against, as the case may be). If you mention what area you're in, someone else can probably offer some suggestions of suppliers to try. It's usually pretty easy to tell the difference between them, and mouthpieces for the suppliers themselves.

I mean, what's the difference between using a wall outlet and buying a power supply? I think that answers my question though. Only information I found is that it makes a friendlier install. Imagine you have 16 cameras, each with its own wall-wart... you get messes like this: Compare that, to this: It makes installation cleaner and easier, and it makes troubleshooting later FAR easier. Most of these supplies use fused outputs... finding and replacing a blown fuse is a damn sight easier than tracking down and replacing a bad adapter in spaghetti messes like those pictured above!

Again, the important thing to look for is an auto-iris lens. In the case of a bullet camera, look for what appears to be a small motor attached to the side of the lens... similar to the picture below (in fact, the innards of most bullet or "lipstick" cameras are usually a simple baord camera similar to this): With "box" cameras there will usually be a wire coming out of the lens that you plug into the camera. With this type of system, as the scene gets brighter, the iris in the lens closes down, physically reducing the light opening to lower the light level. When it gets dark, the iris opens up again to allow more light.

Being strictly semantic, a NVR is a DVR... however, the important difference to remember is that you need a DVR if you have or plan to use standard analog cameras*, or an NVR if you're using network (IP) cameras (since the N stands for Network). Don't worry about which costs more, worry about which will fulfill your needs, since TOTAL cost of a system needs to factor in the cameras as well - IP cameras in general cost more than analog cameras, but analog DVRs require some sort of capture hardware, whereas NVRs require only the proper software... in the view of a complete system of recorder AND cameras, the cost differences aren't that great. *side note: analog cameras can also be used with an NVR with the use of a "video server" device, but that's something for a different discussion.

IMHO, IR illumination is a "cheap fix" in most cases - it's used to provide a measure of low-light coverage for cameras that really aren't capable of proper low-light performance, where getting that performance is substantially more expensive. It's like the old workaround we had in car audio, guys slapping in overblown EQs in an effort to compensate for a poorly-designed system of cheap components, rather than just spending the money to design and build a proper system in the first place. Since I've generally avoided IR, I can't speak authoritatively for the 900nm models, but I suspect the reason you don't see them used more is because they're not as effective, and they're more costly - if you're going to spend that money, most times you're better off simply buying a better camera. If these are bullet cams, chances are they don't have auto-iris lenses, which is what you really need to address your exposure issues. A camera's sensor and electronics can only handle so much dynamic range; beyond that, you need to physically control the amount of light entering the camera, which means auto-iris. The benefit with security lights is that they themselves help provide a deterrent - if someone is creeping around the property and a motion-triggered 500W floodlight snaps on, it's as often as not going to startle them into simply leaving. Place the lights near the cameras and they won't be able to see the cameras without being blinded, and if they do look straight up at the light - as a startled person is likely to do - you'll get a nice clear, well-let shot of their face. Unfortunately, the only real solutions to your problems - good quality low-light cameras without IR workarounds - require money. Not necessarily a LOT of it, but it's not something you can cheap out on. You might do better to start off with a lesser DVR and put your money into better cameras; the DVR can always be replaced with something better down the road when or if it becomes necessary.

So, do you think the above images are a result of simply being out of focus or a lens issue as I speculate? I hope it is that simple. Well, considering both are sharp in color, but the IQ is then out of focus in B&W and IR... yeah, I'd say it's pretty clear that's a lens issue, unless the camera is changing its own back-focus.