Soundy

This is why cameras with built-in IR = FAIL.

Just for clarification: this fact is due only to the difference in voltage, not AC vs. DC. Current draw at 24VAC vs 24VDC would be effectively the same (there'd be slight differences depending on whether you're talking about a resistive vs. reactive load, and whether you're measuring the AC at P-P or RMS, but for real-world purposes, they're the same).

Factory-refurbished, includes 500GB HDD (and room to add another). Includes original remote and PSU. These are going on fleaBay for around $1000... I'll let this one go for $800+shipping (when I checked a while ago, I could ship to Canada and the US for around $50).

What sort of space are these video clips using? You could possible install something like Dropbox and then point the software at the Dropbox folder as its record destination... then your friend could install Dropbox to have the video sync to his machine automatically, or view it from anywhere from the Dropbox website. Dropbox gives you 2GB for free, or 50GB for $100/year. (https://www.dropbox.com/plans) There are several other similar services but I don't know if any of them would work as efficiently as this. You could set up a schedule with the Windows Scheduled Tasks service as well, and write a batch file or script that would upload the latest file to an FTP server at 7:05 every day.

OK, I'll bite. How can an encoder not be compatible with twist-on BNCs? Yeah, that's right I used them in my house and so far (5 years on) I've had no problems with them. Inside joke - rory tends to get bent out of shape when you diss them.

It sounds like it's letting him add more than three to the tour, but it will only loop the first three. But again, if there was a make and model, it would be possible to look up the specs and confirm whether this is the way it's designed, or if there's something wrong with it.

Nope, that's no help - that describes just about every piece of no-name crap PTZ out there.

I don't know if you'll do much better going direct from China - same crap, just a more direct route. Of course, this is one of the big problems with cheap equipment like this: there's no brand name, and no support, and when something goes wrong, the very generic model names don't yield any useful search results. I have a couple no-name PTZs I pulled off a site, they have a model number inside... same thing, googling that returns a variety of results, and indicates that at least two dozen different online stores are selling cameras with the same model numbers (not all of which even look the same), under at least half a dozen different brand names that you've never heard of... and finding manuals and technical info for any of them is nearly impossible. In any case, it sounds like a faulty firmware on this camera... if there was an actual manufacturer name, it might be possible to get an update, but since there's not... your best recourse might just be to take it back to the shyster who sold it to you, and tell him to support his own damn products instead of sluffing the job off on an internet forum Hmm, just looked that place up... appears to just be an eBay store (couldn't even be bothered to register his own website) selling all manner of generic crap. No wonder he sent you here, he probably doesn't have a clue himself.

Going directly to those links gives me "Unable to access the network Google Chrome is having trouble accessing the network." Strange, but trying to ping xmages.net gives me a "General failure" message - I have never, ever seen that message in reply to a Ping before. I dunno about anyone else, but for some reason, my system won't reach that site. You could try using something like photobucket, tinypic, flikr, etc. - tons and tons of image hosting sites out there.

Nope, pictures still aren't showing... if you re-uploaded them, you'll probably have to change your links in the first post.

Umm, well, I google "PTZ300" and get about a dozen different brand names, one or two of them actually recognized names, the rest all some sort of "no-name" brands. All that says is that both are very generic, probably cheap offshore junk, and it's not surprising there are problems... Sorry, but that's not enough information to be useful.

Nobody can help without at least knowing the brand and model of your PTZ, and possibly your controller as well.

Really hard to say without knowing exactly what camera it is, but insufficient current to the camera (whether due to an underpowered PSU, too-small wiring, too-long run, etc.) is certainly a possibility, depending on how the LED driver is designed. Also possible (though unlikely) is that the camera is automatically controlling the IR brightness in response to the ambient light and/or proximity (and thus brightness) of objects.

BTW, don't get too hung up on "lag time" (aka latency). Except in a very few specific circumstances, it really won't affect anything. Consider that most of the time you'll be more concerned with recorded video, which is "lagged" by design, by hours, days, weeks, even months.

Is that because of the lens's "higher resolution" though, or some other factor, like better construction, better QC, better coatings, overall better design...? High-quality "SD" lens > cheaply-made "MP" lens, in other words.

The likely cause is the will be the codec issue? So it has nothing to do with the processor in the camera itself? It has a lot to do with the processor. "Codec" stands for "compression/decompression" and simply refers to the method/format/algorithm used to compress the data for transmission, then decompress it for display. That compression is done by whatever processor (DSP, CPU, etc.) is used in the camera. If it's a low-power or poorly-designed processor, then compression will take longer. If it's a poorly-designed or poorly-implemented codec, the compression will take longer (think of an instruction procedure that's 100 pages vs. 2 pages, for example - both might get you to the same point, but one will take a lot longer to complete). Two things: first (and most obvious), the higher-end camera will use a more powerful processor, and thus be able to compress the video faster; second, they may not necessarily be using the same codec - one camera may use MJPEG and the other H.264, for example. Related to that second issue, and as noted above, some codecs are not well-designed, or the version a manufacturer uses may not be well-implemented. An example might be (not saying this is the case with your cameras) that the manufacturer licenses (at a cost) a better, more efficient, more streamlined H.264 codec for their higher-end camera, but uses a less-efficient but FREE open-source version for the cheap camera (combine that with a weaker processor, and yeah, you've got lag). Sometimes the problem can be on the receiving end as well. H.264, for example, doesn't really take a lot of work to compress at the camera end. On the viewing end, however, a crappy codec can take a lot more of the computer's CPU to decode. Classic example was when I was bench-testing two H.264 cameras, one a Panasonic, one a Pelco: watching the 3MP Pelco's display on my older Pentium M laptop was painful in the extreme - slow, clunky, poor refresh, actually caused the laptop's Windows desktop to freeze now and then... the 5MP Panasonic played back cleanly with no stuttering.

Welcome! Avoid wireless like the plague. It should be used only as a last resort, and even then, the only reliable way to do it is with IP (using quality WiFi gear), or high-end analog systems designed specifically for the purpose (NOT cheap). Storage requirements will depend on a LOT of factors, but 1TB is a good starting point. This is a tricky one: the one major issue with doing this, especially on residential broadband, is that upstream speeds tend to be fairly limited (your connection may be 30Mbit receiving, but only 1Mbit sending). Most ISPs also have bandwidth caps, a maximum amount of data you can use per month, and offsite storage will eat that up FAST. Rather than worrying too much about this, I'd think more about just securing your system, as ljarrald suggests - hide it, lock it... if you use a PC-based DVR, you can have it do all its recording to external storage (network-attached array, etc.) that you can hide away, so even IF they take the DVR (unlikely), the video stays behind. Probably neither. IP cameras require a different type of system to record to - an NVR (network video recorder) or hybrid DVR (records both analog and IP). Wireless cameras come in both analog and IP flavors; again, you generally want to avoid both unless there's no other option. Keep in mind that none of these cameras are really 100% wireless: you still have to power them. None of these NEED to connect to your computer. Something that will work with iPhone via browser, will work with Mac as well. There are lots out there; however, I don't really deal with small standalone systems, so I can't suggest anything. Others will have some ideas.

The picture isn't showing up. Any details you can give on the unit? Are there any labels on it at all? Model/serial/part numbers?

Assuming the DVR uses standard analog inputs and not a multi-pin connector with proprietary pinouts.

But then if your storage goes down, you lose all recording as well. There aren't many ways to completely eliminate the single point of failure while still keeping things cost-effective.

Most lenses I've used, once they seat on the lens mount, will turn at least another 180 degrees clockwise (some up to 270 degrees) to put the zoom/focus locks into a more accessibly position.

Also commonly called simply "composite video".

Just get the focus close, then fine-tune it when the camera is in place by adjusting the back-focus ring.

And yet, experience shows otherwise... note that most NAS manufacturers don't recommend them for RAID usage beyond basic home systems.

Keep in mind, "hybrid" refers to a DVR that can record both analog and IP, so you wouldn't need "IP adapters" - you'd just drop the DVR in and connect your old cameras to it, then add IP cameras as needed. Take a look at Vigil systems (www.3xlogic.com) - they're hybrids up to 32 channels, excellent remote client with great multi-site support, and a powerful central-management system.