cglaeser

The 1/10 second enhancement is a great feature for weather station cameras. Perfect for slow moving clouds. Best, Christopher

For that same reasoning, I also prefer to use wireless access points attached to the router rather than using a wireless router. In summary, I select the router based on VPN specs, add a large gigabit switch for LAN bandwidth, add a POE switch for POE, and add access points for wireless. It's an easy way to roll. Best, Christopher

I have discussed IR distance specifications with several camera manufacturers and IR manufacturers. These distance specs are quite arbitrary. They can have some meaning within one manufacturer's lineup of IR illuminators (e.g. comparing a RayMax 50 with a RayMax 100), but can't really be compared across different manufacturers (e.g. RayMax versus supercheap bullet IR source). So, don't attach too much meaning to that "50M" figure. Some of those figures are dramatically inflated. Unfortunately, with no industry standards for IR sensitivity for camera manufacturers and no industry standards for IR power for IR manufacturers, in the end, you really don't have much to go on except personal experiences. How well will camera A work with IR source B? You really can't tell from the specs. You have to try the combination or ask someone who has tried the combination. But all that aside, better IR sensitivity means you will be able to see objects at a greater distance for the same IR source. Best, Christopher

What does that mean??? Let's assume the camera and IR source are more or less co-located and the majority (or all) of the light comes from the IR source. The lux value measured at some distance from an IR illuminator will decrease as an inverse function of the distance squared. For example, if the lux value of a light source is 0.04 at 50', the lux value will be 0.01 at 100' (double the distance means 1/4 the lux value). If camera 1 is rated for 0.04 lux and camera 2 is rated at 0.01 lux using the same testing criteria, then camera 2 will have comparable images to camera 1 at twice the distance. Call it "image quality" or call it "it's too dark to see that far", cameras with poor low light / IR sensitivity will not be able to see objects as far as cameras with better low-light / IR sensitivity. This means that if the camera has poor IR sensitivity, you will have to buy a much bigger IR source compared to a camera that has excellent IR sensitivity. The Axis 223M can see objects reasonably well at 50' using a RayMax 50 with a 1/50 shutter speed, but can't see objects at 100' at 1/50. To see objects at 100' would require 4x power output. A RayMax 200 should do the job. On the other hand, you could get a better low-light camera. I have not tested the 3130, but I expect it could easily see objects at 100' using the lower power RayMax 50. Best, Christopher

I'll leave it to someone else to address the use of a night vision camera, but to illuminate 100-150' with IR for a day/night security camera requires one of the better IR illuminators. I have a RayMax 50 combined with a Axis 223M. The 223M night sensitivity is not that great, and the RayMax 50 manages to illuminate to 50' with 90 degree coverage. The distance could be significantly increased if matched with a better low-light camera. The RayMax 50 costs about $500. To achieve 100-150', you could narrow the coverage angle, get a more powerful IR illuminator, and get a better low-light camera. Best, Christopher

I prefer to select a router based on other features such as firewall and VPN. To add POE, get a POE switch and add it to the LAN. They come in various sizes, including 4, 8, 16, and 24 ports. Best, Christopher

Let's start with the requirements. How many feet do you need to illuminate? Best, Christopher

Do the Bosch license plate cams take a single image of each plate, or is the video continuous? Is the IR continuous or does it flash when the vehicle is at the correct distance? Does the software include OCR capable of creating a list of identified plates? Best, Christopher

Crow PIR is another excellent choice. Optex can be wireless. Crow is typically wired, but alarm signal could be wireless. Best, Christopher

What is the typical markup for a high-end security camera (e.g. $1,000 range) sold by online retail outlets? Best, Christopher

I'd be happy to take the discussion there. Best, Christopher

Yes, sample images will help, but keep in mind that focus relates to a plane of focus and depending on the DOF (depth of field), you can't necessarily focus everything in a frame. Some areas in focus and some areas out of focus is consistent with the characteristics of focus. Also, OOF (out of focus) IR looks a bit different than OOF daylight. Post some photos for us to review and that should help. Best, Christopher

What I'm saying is that different wavelengths of light have different angles of diffraction. That's why a prism makes a rainbow. The same principle applies to lenses. High-end SLR manufacturers deal with this all the time. The more expensive lenses have exotic multi-element lens designs to ensure that the red shirt is focused with the green grass. However, red and green are relatively close compared to IR. Some SLR lenses have special markings to focus IR, which is different than the markings for visible light. The same principle holds for security cameras. There are several ways to try and solve the problem, including more expensive lens designs and a back focusing system that focuses differently for daylight and IR. In cheaper cameras, you are pretty much on your own. If you have focused for daylight, then the camera will not be focused for IR. In addition, if you have focused for daylight but more to the UV side, IR will be even worse. You have several options. You can focus somewhere between daylight and IR and compromise both, or decide which is more important, sharp daylight images or sharp IR images. My suggestion is focus for IR and see what you get. If you get relatively sharp images, you will know your options. Best, Christopher

Yes, that 1/2" BW sensor is hard to pass up. Just wish it came with the Axis or Panasonic feature set. Given that the Axis is 1/4" CMOS and the Panasonic is 1/3" CCD, that's an easier decision for me. Would be great if someone could post a 3135 vs 502 low light shootout. Best, Christopher

At night? Best, Christopher

How many pixels are on the faces? The lens appears to be set to the widest angle to cover the entire front of the office from just a few feet. Zoom the lens to cover jsut the door and many more pixels will cover the faces. The coverage area and pixels on the faces is no different than any other security camera. However, if you compare this camera with another 1.3 mp camera using the same lens settings, you will really begin to see the difference of WDR in this bright parking lot / less-bright office setup. Best, Christopher

How do you know the focus was set for IR? Best, Christopher

They decided to use the 3 megapixels of the sensor to significantly increase the dynamic range of the 1.3 megapixel H.264 video stream, but setting aside whether that actually produces better security or not, what company builds a 3 megapixel H.264 decoder and 3 megapixel monitor and how much do they cost, and most important, what is the market size for 3 megapixel H.264 video streams? While most companies are transitioning from CIF, 4CIF, and NTSC, you expect companies to address a 3 megapixel H.264 market? Will the Arecont 3135 support 3 megapixel H.264? Best, Christopher

Could be OOF (out of focus). The focus for day light is different than IR. More expensive cameras either try and correct this in the lens or support auto back focus. It's more difficult to do on the cheap. If you can adjust the focus, you might try focusing at night and give up some of the IQ for day images. Best, Christopher

I don't understand your preferences for a security camera. You consistently berate cameras that don't support H.264 while at the same time favoring the 3130. Why? Best, Christopher

It's a relatively common property of a wide angle lens for larger sensors. Zoom it in a little and the distortion will straighten. It's easier to solve this type of distortion with cheaper cameras because the sensors are much smaller which means less glass, which of course, means less sensitivity and more noise, which are far more important properties than barrel distortion. A $6 pin hole camera may have straight lines in bright sun light, but good luck getting a burglar's ID in dim light. Could you ID those two men in the 502 images? That's what is really important. I've seen images from cheap security cameras. No barrel distortion, but it was hard to tell the gender of the burglar, much less ID them. Best, Christopher

So, by your logic, the 3130/M12 are 0 megapixel cameras, because neither has H.264, is that correct? Best, Christopher

It's a 3 megapixel sensor capable of producing 3 megapixel jpeg images. To create the video stream, neighboring pixels are combined to increase the dynamic range, resulting in a maximum 1.3 megapixel H.264 stream. That is why this camera could have great potential. If the extended dynamic range of this sensor works as well as advertised, the results could be impressive, particularly for scenes with uneven lighting. Best, Christopher

In the first place it is easy to correct images with barrel distortion, and in the second place, it's not that important. Are the police going to reject a positive ID because the image has barrel distortion? The bright sunny sky, the white lines in the parking lot, and the shiny chrome bumper are not blown out, and yet we can see good images of the men while standing in the shadow. Amazing. Just a guess, but I'm willing to bet that's at least ten stops. Too bad the night images are from within the building. Would love to see a dimly lit parking lot at night. Best, Christopher

It's difficult to judge without comparison images, but the dynamic range looks very impressive. But the most important test for me is moving objects in low light. Best, Christopher