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Sawbones

Pro DIY'er
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Posts posted by Sawbones

  3. Posted

    on every towerblock i see, they all have PTZ cameras hanging off at least one corner on the roof. they are never pointing in the grounds of the actual building, usually looking far out (they must have a monster zoom!)

    i am just wondering why? they are council flats so are they therefore council cameras used to monitor people from far distances?

     

    i'm just asking out of curiosity really.

     

    I assume "council flats" are your government-subsidized housing?

     

    Only asking because I'm not a Brit.

  4. Posted

    eWDR functionality is not as good as true WDR on analogs yet but its better than zilch. With the eWDR Vivoteks I've used, I'd rate them about 60-70% as effective as a true WDR on an analog. Oddly enough, Exacq's camera list lags behind. They don't support Vivoteks new FE8171V fisheye camera either. I suppose you could try pretending it was an 8161 though and see what happens.

     

     

    Hmm. That's unfortunate... but good to know.

     

    Anybody have an opinion on Acti's WDR?

  5. Posted

    Lower quality cameras (particularly those without sufficient dynamic range) WILL have a harder time distinguishing fine details in shadowed/darkened areas... including facial features... not to mention that virtually ANY camera will benefit from better lighting.

     

    That's not racism... that's a technical fact.

     

    I don't know if anybody else has noticed that, but some of the shadows and lines that we use to distinguish facial features are easier to pick out on a lighter background, and harder to see on some African Americans. The darker their skin tone, the harder it gets.

    What you said here is flat out bull****e. A low quality, poorly applied system won't do well to help identify ANYONE, dark skinned OR light skinned.

     

    If you don't want to be offended, than don't be offensive. If you can't see it, that's the real problem. I'm gonna leave it at that. You all can have the last word.

     

    Do you have a reading comprehension problem? I said the same thing, in two different ways. The only bull****e here is your knee-jerk accusation of racism. This is a technical forum, where we discuss these issue like adults.

     

    Any portrait photographer (if they have photographed different races of people) will tell you that photographing darker-skinned people can be more challenging than photographing lighter-skinned people, especially if the background/clothing is light, or there are high contrasts within the scene. You have to be careful with lighting, though sometimes you can cheat by overexposing the scene by an F-stop or two... but darker-skinned people are more difficult to photograph than lighter-skinned people, and that goes double for for security cameras, where you don't have the control over the scene lighting, F-stops, aperture size, etc to NEARLY the same degree as you have with a proper SLR.

     

    A WDR camera will help compensate for this. That was my point.

     

    And I think that's enough thread-hijack for today. Freakin' political correctness run amok... I swear.

  6. Posted

    This has not been my experience. IME, what you install and how good or bad you install it will provide the ability to help identify ANYONE, regradless of race, creed, or color. To suggest avoiding low light situations to better identify african americans is...I don't know, it kinda makes my head want to explode just reading it, let alone retyping it. I can't believe this notion would actually be considered by anyone.

     

    You apparently have something very inflammatory to say... so why don't you just say it?

     

    I'm not making a racial argument... in fact, I'm not sure ANYBODY was. You, however, rode in here on your high horse to make accusations.

     

    I despise racists, and as far as I am concerned, this is a technical discussion. I'll thank you to leave it at that.

     

    Lower quality cameras (particularly those without sufficient dynamic range) WILL have a harder time distinguishing fine details in shadowed/darkened areas... including facial features... not to mention that virtually ANY camera will benefit from better lighting.

     

    That's not racism... that's a technical fact.

     

    I'm actually pretty f*cking offended by your accusation.

  7. Posted

    Lets say I have 3 black dudes in my house and they are running around stealing my weapons and computers

    Amazing how quickly people reveal so much about themselves in one short sentence.

     

     

    I'm having a hard time even giving the benefit of the doubt here.

     

    It sounds like some guys have been robbing his neighbors... maybe somebody spotted them? I don't know that I'd call the guy a racist just yet.

     

    But he brings up an interesting point. Sometimes getting decent resolution of facial features in African Americans can be difficult, particularly with lower-quality cameras, or in dim light. I don't know if anybody else has noticed that, but some of the shadows and lines that we use to distinguish facial features are easier to pick out on a lighter background, and harder to see on some African Americans. The darker their skin tone, the harder it gets.

     

    JoeLansing: If you're trying to get decent facial resolution on folks with darker skin tones, LESS LIGHT is NOT what you'd be wanting.

  9. Posted

    I got a dedicated black and white lens for night, makes a huge difference at night. Here is my mobotix d14 with dual lenses, left view is my color, which is OK because of the light, but look at the bushes to the right, you can't see anything.

     

    Take a look at the right image which is the black and white sensor / lens. YOu can now see into the bushes.

     

    Color will be OK if you have decent lights, but dedicated black and white is the way to go.

     

    mx109253342011111102533.jpg

     

    The Mobotix B&W imagers are excellent.

  12. Posted

    Thanks.

     

    It seems like domes might have more problems with IR reflection merely b/c their glass is curved. It seems that if the lens is not seated exactly right up against the glass, there could be greater risk of IR reflection versus bullets.

     

    Is there any truth to that?

     

    Yes.

     

    IR also attracts bugs... so it may increase the false-alerts on your motion-detection, as bugs fly into the lens.

  13. Posted

    Anybody having trouble getting cameras from ACTi?

     

    I'm looking for a megapixel zoom camera for an anti-vandalism application (and perhaps a second for a neighborhood entry to read license plates), but it seems like everybody I've contacted about a certain model is backordered until later December or early January.

     

    Am I just not talking to the right people?

  14. Posted

    I have mine in a small closet, like a sort of structured-wiring center for the whole home. I always try to hide it in a good spot, one where it will take someone some time to get to it.

     

    Mine has its own room as well, with a locked steel door and reinforced frame. It also sits in a rack-cabinet (also locked).

     

    Even if they get that, many of my cameras have on-board storage, and maintain images there as well as on the central DVR.

     

    They also send images to an external server off-site.

     

    I figured that was enough redundancy

  17. Posted

    There does seem to be a common thread there doesn't there?

    Some people are strange, why would you want to alienate your neighbours by doing such a thing? When I installed my system I took into account any neighbours that might be concerned and went out of my way to assure them there was no privacy issues. I used privacy screens where I didn't need to view and was open and friendly about it.

     

    To date I have only had one single complaint and that did not hold water, it was a guy that is out of my range and just wanted to make a point, I soon put him in his place, but politely.

     

    My neighbours are happy with my system as anti-social crimes have diminished considerably in my street since I've had it, (not 100%).

     

    Things like this fuel the fire that CCTV use is somehow motivated by sinister intentions.

    I am not prepared to upset my neighbours, so I am open and friendly and consider their comments and concerns carefully.

     

    My neighbors are actually happy about my system, since I've helped nab groups of vandals on several occasions. I've also helped a couple of neighbors with systems of their own (temporary, for when they went on vacation, for instance).

     

    It's all about being a good neighbor, and not a creepy, voyeuristic busybody.

  20. Posted

    You absolutely can mix-and-match cameras, particularly in an analog system. As long as it puts out a signal in your particular standard (PAL or NTSC), your DVR will not know the difference. It's plug-n-play.

     

    For IP cameras, you'd have to look at the compatibility list for your NVR software. I currently have Axis, Vivotek, Mobotix, Arecont, and several models of Acti in my home system... and my NVR software supports all of them.

     

    It's not a problem as long as you do your homework first.

  22. Posted

    some do, some don't. a lot look like normal mini domes now. stick it under an overhang on your house and you can barely tells its there.

    You mean the Turret domes? (AKA eyeball domes).

    Sure they are not as big, but they stand out more than the mini bullet, I have both here.

    Not saying I dont use them, I just like how much less conspicuous the mini bullet is.

     

    Talking about these?

     

    170202_1.jpg

     

    I don't like 'em... it's very hard to get them to look straight down a wall if you wall-mount them. I have trouble getting sufficient range-of-motion to make them look parallel to their mounting surface.

  23. Posted

    Don't get me wrong... I like the way the old man thinks... I think his heart is in the right place, even if his landlord is upset about it.

     

    From an aesthetic POV, I can see the landlord's point. If that were my property, I'd help him clean up the wiring, and consider it a value-add to the place.

     

    As for security, nothing beats having retirees as neighbors. They have all the time in the world, take interest in their property (and yours), and are not afraid to call you (or the police) if they see something's "not right." I love my retired neighbors... they don't miss much.

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