NVR setup questions.

[riggz 0]

When my house was being built I prewired it for security cameras with both CAT5e and RG59 siamese at each location. I was going to use an analog Q-See DVR I just bought but now I am thinking of going digital with a NVR. I like how much cleaner and sharper the picture is with IP cameras.

 

I cant imagine that I would need more than 8 channels now but maybe in the future when cameras are cheaper I could add more. Max 16 channels.

 

 

How much bandwidth do the cameras use? I would probably use PoE for most of the cameras, so I am trying to figure out if I need a gigabit switch or would a 10/100M be OK?

 

 

It seems that Dahua is most recommended here. It looks like the DH-NVR3216 would fit my needs now. I have a question on the recording resolution. It says it can do 16@D1, 8@720p, 4@1080p. So if I ran 8 cameras at 720p, that would max it out, correct? Is D1 good enough and if so should I get 1.3MP cameras or would that be a waste if the NVR is only recording at D1?

 

Thanks in advance!

[buellwinkle 0]

Get the most resolution you can afford. I find a practical limit in terms of cost/benefit being 720P or 1080P. Going with D1/VGA with IP cameras is sort of a waste, might as well stick to analog. Going higher than 1080P sounds nice, but the higher pixel densities sometimes compromises low light performance and when you play it back on your monitor or TV, many times you are limited to playing back 1080P anyway, at least until the new 4K resolution TV's become a reality, if ever.

 

You can use a PC as an NVR and use NVR software, manytimes free from manufacturers and there's free or low cost solutions. Or use their NVR as you suggested with Dahua as one choice. Don't know what that costs, but as a comparison, the 16 channel ACTi NVR can be had for about $800 plus hard drives (up to 5 for up to 10TB of storage) and will support their cameras up to their 4MP cameras. Frankly, I run the free software on a PC, works great for me. If it breaks, either I can fix it or any computer nerd at Best Buy can fix it.

[riggz 0]

Hmmmm, the 3216 can be purchased for under $400, but free software on a PC sounds interesting. Would that eliminate the channel restrictions and quality restrictions? Any particular Windows based software that works with a web browser and a good Android app that you recommend?

 

I already plan on building a server for file storage and media use.

[tomcctv 187]

1.3MP cameras or would that be a waste if the NVR is only recording at D1?

 

 

Hi. yes it is a waste of money. this is a problem with the likes of dahua and CM. there units control the cameras ....... look for a NVR that takes what you have cameras set too.

 

if you want to use the dahua 16 the use 16 1mp cameras. but then you have to think if the extra cost from analog to MP is worth the extra money

[buellwinkle 0]

For the lower end, non-enterprise, I like BlueIris (I have reviews on a few choices on my blog). It costs $50, no limit on how many cameras, but clearly the more cameras you have, the more processing power you need. Also there's Exacq Start, $50 list price per camera, but very effecient, can use smaller server than with BlueIris and they have a free Android and IOS app. BlueIris said they are developing one but no ETA.

 

I believe, but not 100% certain that Dahua provides free NVR software, so check with them. ACTi's free software is really good, both in ease of use and very low CPU load. Of course the software provided free by Dahua or ACTi is only going to work with their own cameras. ACTi has a free IOS app I used on my iPad (no Android), but doesn't work yet with their latest NVR release but is being worked on and should be available soon, if not already.

 

Whatever you decide, make sure it works with the cameras you want as not all cameras work with all software. If you stick with popular brands, Axis, ACTi, Vivotek, Geovision Panasonic, Mobotix, Bosch and such you'll have a higher probability. Most software is available for a trial period so you can test it with the cameras you have which lowers your risk. Many times, the software vendor will add support for cameras they don't currently support if you ask for it and if you provide remote access to the camera so they can test it. Ken at BlueIris has added support for some of my odd cameras and did so in a few days.

[buster74985 0]

If you order the Dahua 3216 NVR you have full control of the resolution and framerate. I just received that info tonight since I was comparing the two models and was confused.

[tomcctv 187]

If you order the Dahua 3216 NVR you have full control of the resolution and framerate. I just received that info tonight since I was comparing the two models and was confused.

 

 

which is not a good thing.

[buster74985 0]

Why isn't it a good thing to have that control?

[tomcctv 187]

Why isn't it a good thing to have that control?

 

 

 

hi. the 3216 nvr. is very limited .... even to the point you buy a 16 way. the more MP you add the less channels you have.

 

 

if you buy a 16way and use 4 IP 2mp cameras thats the nvr limit reached............. so you turn a 16way into a 4 way

 

 

 

or you can use 16 1 mp cameras to use all 16 channels but it will save money if you go hybrid as the 3216 nvr can only record in D1 with all 16 channels used. which to be honest is a waste of money buying 1 mp cameras

 

 

16 channel@D1, 8 channel@720P, 4 channel@1080P realtime recording

[buellwinkle 0]

You know what they say about when something looks too good to be true. You have to be realistic. Many of these low end NVR's use atom processors, run Windows, maybe Linux and are painfully slow. The NVR is basically a PC and think to yourself, how can they sell me a working PC with their NVR software that can handle 16 cameras and provide me support for $400. I can shop all day long and not find a decent PC for that price. Sure, an entry level PC with a 500GB hard drive and i3 processor, but then no expansion for additional drives, no NVR software.

[riggz 0]

So I just went and picked up a 5 year old Dell PowerEdge 2950 rack server for $300. It has 2 Xeon quad core 2.33ghz processors, 16gb mem, 2 73gb 15k SAS hdds in RAID, and 6 more empty bays, 2 Gigabit NICs. OS will be Windows 2008.

 

This kills 2 birds as I was going to buy a server for my home media storage. So once I get it up and running I'll try out a few programs to make sure it runs well, and pick up 1 camera to try out.