Video Insight vs. Geovision

[securitymonster 0]

Has anybody compared geovision and video insight? Any opinion?

[spicycomputerguy 0]

Hi, I'm new here and quite new to the world of CCTV.

 

I am researching a 16 camera CCTV system for my company. I have pretty much decided to go the way of a custom built PC (Intel Dual Core 3.0 Ghz CPU, 2GB Corsair XMS DDR2 RAM, ATI X850 GTO video card, WD 250 GB SATA II boot disk (2 X 250 GB in RAID 1) and a WD 1.0 TB SATA II data disk (3 X 500 GB in RAID 5)) and a GeoVision 1480 DVI DVR Card.

 

However, I've been reading a little about Video Insight and now I'm not sure which one to use in this system.

 

Could someone please shed some light on the similarities/benefits/drawbacks, of these two solutions?

 

Thanks,

 

Spicycomputerguy

[Thomas 0]

I'll be happy to answer direct questions about our product but I'd perfer not to do a comparison. I try not to do sales stuff on here and that kinda crosses the line for me.

[CollinR 0]

I'll be happy to answer direct questions about our product but I'd perfer not to do a comparison. I try not to do sales stuff on here and that kinda crosses the line for me.

 

I think I read something on your website about being able to map cameras to ports on the server. Is that accurate?

 

ie

http://serverip:1 = camera1

http://serverip:2 = camera2

[mfuzzy 0]

although i haven't used geovision, i do use video insight. a very user friendly interface for the end user.

 

as far as mapping cams to ports, not sure what you mean. they do have a facility map feature where you can load a pic of your facility (in about any format) and drag and drop cams to their locations. this creates your links for you so you can leave the map open. when set to motion recording, the cam icon on the map flashes red and you can quickly click on it to bring up a full screen of that cam. the map feature alone is a great seller (not to mention the easy search features), the end users love to see the system "customized" to their own building rather than just a view all page.

 

hope that shed some light on the VI system.

[CollinR 0]

I found it.

 

LiveWindow

LiveWindow is the fast way to start playing live video without concerning a developer with the details of streaming. Simply, create a LiveWindow with the server's IP address and camera number. However, the LiveWindow as part of your program should be managed. The demo program gives an example.

 

It's in the SDK area.

http://www.video-insight.com/Products/SDK.aspx

 

Bottom of the page.

 

 

Thats a really coopl feature if it works that way.

[rory 0]

I found it.

 

LiveWindow

LiveWindow is the fast way to start playing live video without concerning a developer with the details of streaming. Simply, create a LiveWindow with the server's IP address and camera number. However, the LiveWindow as part of your program should be managed. The demo program gives an example.

 

It's in the SDK area.

http://www.video-insight.com/Products/SDK.aspx

 

Bottom of the page.

 

 

Thats a really coopl feature if it works that way.

 

Sounds familiar ... with Geo .. you connect to an IP Address and then a Camera Number .. to create a multiview you need to do the hard work yourself .. connect to which IP numbers and Which Cameras to those IPs .. then create your image sizes and layouts ... in other words each camera view is a seperate connection.

[Thomas 0]

My understanding is that it's streaming it via our normal port for internal streaming rather then defining a camera to a port. I can ask the developers if you would like. It should define the camera number as one of the connections.

 

(Note that while I have a techincal background in both hardware and networking, I am not a programer. I'ved looked at some of the SDK info but if you're looking for code examples I am not the right person. )

 

However with the example you're looking state, I can do something simular without the SDK.

 

http://www.demovi.com/videoinsight/Pages/Camera.aspx?ServerID=1&CameraNumber=1

 

That URL would allow for an embeded view in an I-Frame on a site. Server ID is set by the server and the camera number comes from the server. So ServerID=6&CameraNumber=18 would be the 18th camera on Server 6.

 

If you want clarification on the ports question, let me know and I'll ask development

[CollinR 0]

Naw no need, either way I think it's cool that the camera realtime feed can be called from other applications.

[Thomas 0]

It makes it easier to work with access control systems for intergrators. And all cameras use the same port. (Noting they can all be streamed at the same time, it's just all traffic on port 4000)

[ncpilot 0]

On one hand, this is what some forums should be all about, product comparison. On the other hand, so many times, comparisons get into pissing matches... but it strikes me that the handful of people in this forum that have the expertise to answer this question, are pretty level headed and not prone to fighting over who's is bigger...

 

What if we tried to do this by asking specific performance questions, rather than a general comparison?

 

For example, I was wondering... without having to read all the documentation, which now is difficult to get for the Video-Insight because I believe they removed links to download the manual.

 

I assume both cards will allow motion detection (or combined with the software). Do both systems allow masking the frame for inclusion or exclusion of areas? Do both systems allow for some kind of alert when motion is detected? (email, sms text message to cell, etc?) Do both allow "shunting" of extra FPS to the motion detection camera?

 

Other comparisons are the requirements for remote viewing. Are there specific browser requirements? ActiveX?

 

Do they both have the same variety of compression formats?

 

I'm not suggesting anyone make judgements on which is better... but it sure would be helpful if those that have used either or both could give us some real world insight into the operation and performance.

 

If we could easily try each product, then return the one that didn't fit our needs, that would be great. But short of that, we have to rely on input from those with more experience to help us in our decision... For home use, which is my application, the cost is not inconsequential for either product...

======================

All that said, after my research, on paper only... I'm leaning toward Video-Insight because:

 

1) I like the software philosophy and the platform on which it is built (however I don't know how well it really works other than just watching the web demo).

 

2) I like the remote viewing capability that is not browser specific and doesn't require any plugins.

 

3) I like that it is a "local" company--i.e., US...

 

But these may be pretty thin reasons to make a decision... I'm not 100% sure yet...

[CollinR 0]

Geovision not having a corperate rep here is also an issue. It's not really fair to put Thomas on the spot just because he's a manufacturer's rep.

 

 

I don't have any Video Insight experience, yet...

[501 0]

I have installed over 100 Geovision systems, and have been 100% happy with the product. Never used Video Insight so I can't compare but I know you would be happy with Geo.