Need help with my current CCTV situation

[car_wash_guy 0]

First post here, and this place is amazing the wealth of information that is available.

 

I know there is much debate over the various formats - HDCVI,HDTVI, IP, etc. I'm somewhat in tune to all their strengths and weakness, at least from reading here.

 

Was wondering if some of you could give me some suggestions to my personal situation.

 

I bought a business that included a 16 camera analog system with EyeMax DVR pc based. Everything works, but as you can imagine, the video quality from 2008 is just abysmal compared to todays tech. The car wash was built and the CCTV company ran all the siamese at construction time.

 

I'm wanting to improve the system, and ran into the guy who installed it originally. He's more inclined to simply upgrade the current camera's to HD-TVI along with a stand alone DVR. I'm not sure what to do.

 

My concerns are:

 

1. How much improvement will I see on the best HD-TVI camera over what I have now? He thought my cameras were, IIRC, <1mp.

 

2. I really like the interface of the EyeMax DVR - will a standalone DVR have as much controllability?

 

3. I need good-very good night time capability as this is when most of the criminal behavior occurs. I need to pick plates at distances of 20-40' Is that even possible?

 

With this all said, it wouldn't be more than a few hours for me to pull cat5/6 cable and do a complete switch over to an IP system. I'm sure most of the cost associated with converting an analog system to IP is in the running of the cables, no?

 

With that said, with me eliminating the cost of running cat5/6, is it even worth considering HDTVI, or is IP the only logical way to go from here? From a cost standpoint, what kind of difference would I be looking at for 16 cameras and a DVR/NVR for the HDTVI versus IP systems?

 

Thanks for any help!

[BillyCam 0]

1. up to date, the HD-TVI cameras have 2MP = 2000TVL.

 

2. The HD-TVI DVR interface is from HikVision. It is very easy to control after you spend few mins to learn.

 

3. The best of HD-TVI camera in nighttime technologies is called Matrix IR.