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Now that I'm thinking more about it, I don't think it will work with a DVI (with vga adapter) to single rca for video. You may need a converter as you're going from digital to analog? That's probably why you won't be able to find a DVI to composite RCA cable. Don't confuse composite with component cables. Composite has yellow (video), red and white (audio). Component has red, green, blue rca (all video), as Soundy stated. Unless you have RGB inputs on your tv, you'll need a converter. For audio you'll need a separate cable from your headphone jack to an audio in on the tv. Before we really confuse each other into oblivion, let's start over. List the outputs on the vid card and your tv inputs. I'd like to figure this out as I'll be going through the same thing shortly.

You said you have a DVI output on the card. Is that IN ADDITION to the VGA now going to the monitor? If so all you need is a vga to dvi adapter. See here http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/307815-REG/Belkin_F2E4162_DVI_I_Male_to_VGA.html. Then get the VGA to RCA (red,white, yellow) cable from s-video.com. You can then setup dual monitor in windows. Note, I've never used a pc connection to tv so I don't know the quality you can expect to get. Above is the cheap way. If you want to spend more, have a look at the D-Link MediaLounge series. In work, we use the DSM-510 to stream picture slideshows from a switch to a remote monitor over cat5. The DPG-1200 can be used to control your pc, i.e. stream video to the remote monitor. When my DVD player fails (and they always do) I'm getting one of these to stream movies from my pc. It's wireless but a wired connection over cat5 is recommended. As for multiple cameras, it may create a bottleneck. I don't know, maybe someone with more experience will chime in. For multiple tvs this would be very expensive for you as you'll need one unit for each tv, plus router/switch plus cat5e running to each location.

I'm planning on doing the same using shielded cat5, a vga balun on each end and a kvm switch. For your application it depends what the tv has for inputs. Try this site http://www.svideo.com/ and click the pc to tv connection guide. DLink also makes a wireless unit that clones your pc screen to your tv.

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The 1231 is listed on the website as a megapixel ip dome. It has a megapixel lens so I'm assuming it also has a megapixel sensor? The 1431 is not megapixel but I just want the best solution for my application, megapixel or not. I need cams with low light capability, with minimal noise and integrated IR. Your link was to a discontinued product page I think but thanks for trying to help a newb. I'm now looking closely at ACTI 3511 and 1511. I also found a vendor to demo Avigilon for me, but I have a sneaking suspicion they're out of my price range. InscapeData was also brought to my attention. I'll probably go with the first demo I see with low noise in low light setting. that picture looks like the DVR`s compression is too high That's MJPEG at 30 frames/sec. I might be wrong though because I was playing with settings from a remote pc and recently realized the changes were not saving. I'll have to change compression on site. do you leave the lights on all the time? no, the picture you see is the only location with motion sensor lighting. All others will need integrated IR

I double checked the Axis datasheets. You're right, all they give is the shutter speed range. I see what you're saying. It would be more useful to cite Min. Illumination @ ??? shutter speed.

Thanks. That is a BIG help. Why won't vendors show you pictures like that??! I have a Vivotek fd7132 loaned to us for testing. In that picture I wouldn't be able to see the creases in the coat. I think that image would be fine for my purposes. But if I looked at it from a security surveillance point of view, you can't see what the man on the left is holding. I'd also want to be able to see the writing on the poster. Maybe with zoom? Still a pretty good pic.

Good point. And it does make a BIG difference. We have a Vivotek loaner that doesn't handle low light very well. When tweaking the settings, changing the shutter speed was the only thing that cleaned up the noise noticably. Still not to an acceptable level though. I imagine there's a lot of false advertising going on with all the competition out there. Many companies just sell the product on marketing and hope people won't try and return it when it doesn't stack up. However I did notice many of the more reputable names do cite the shutter speed, namely Arecont, Mobotix, Axis. Those that do, do so probably because they know they're selling a superior product, and their sales and prices reflect that.

Nice, thanks for those. For the 1231, How are the color night images at dusk?i.e, before the IR kicks on. The reason I'm asking is I'm researching cameras for a low light application in a restaurant.

Since there were no suggestions, can anyone pick the best one out of these two for a low light install. ACTI ACM-1231 megapixel 1/3" Micron Progressive Scan CMOS Day and night with mechanical IR cut filter ACTI ACM-1431 1/3" Sony SuperHAD CCD Day and night with mechanical IR cut filter *lux rating is not given for these cameras, it just gives you the 0 lux with IR on. I find that suspect, so I wouldn't buy without a demo.

Thanks for the reply. Nice explanation. To help me understand it better, the amount of light the sensor can collect is fixed based on sensor size and number of pixels. That answers my next question, which was, can you lower the resolution of a megapixel camera to VGA in order to get a better low light image? Answer: No It looks like with the current technology we'll stay away from megapixel, unless I can find one with 1/2'' sensor, integrated IR, under $800. If any suppliers read this and want to let us demo a unit that might work for us, feel free to pm. Thanks again Soundy.

I'm having a debate with my boss about our system design. Here's the question. Would you rather have cameras out in the open for the deterrent factor or somewhat inconspicuous (or hidden if allowed by law), so maybe you have a better chance of catching a would-be workplace thief. I say let them try and steal so you can weed out the bad apples. I think it could also do the neighborhood some good by getting a criminal off the street, instead of just warding him off your property, only to hit the next victim. Opinions?

Hello. I'm setting up an ip based system for our business. The infrastructure is in place for gigabit networking. Right now I have a gigabit router wired to a 10 port gigabit/poe switch. The control station is a core 2 pc with a gigabit lan card. We haven't decided on the cameras. We have a Vivotek FD7132 on loan for testing. My question, first of many, is if the cameras are 10/100, as most are, will that essentially make the network incapable of gigabit speeds? Thanks in advance for any info.

"I'm a little concerned about this. Where will the cams and nvr in your topology?" The cams and nvr pc are wired to the gigabit switch in the remote location. The router across the bridge just assigns ip addresses and provides internet access for wan viewing. The switch we're using is a 3Com 3CDSG10PWR, bought for $375. I can't post a link as I'm a newbie here. I haven't tested network speeds yet but the green lights to the router and nvr confirm 10/100/1000 on those ports. The amber light on the camera port confirm 10/100.

"Also keep in mind if our using POE switches they are only 10/100 for the camera ports and depending on the switch they have a couple of gigabyte ports for the server and linking to other switches." The switch has 10 ports, all POE, all gigabit capable. All I really needed was 1 gigabit port for the server but it was hard to find a switch with more than 8 POE ports in the sub $400 range.

Excellent, that's the answer I was hoping to get. The plan is for 8-10 cameras. Right now we have the one Vivotek FD7132 set up. For 10 of these I don't think we'll need gigabit speeds but I wanted to future proof the network in case we decide to go with megapixel cameras. A local Mobotix vendor offered to let us trial a 3mp camera to compare the two. I'll get some pics up once we do. Thanks for the info.

ok so other 10/100 devices, i.e. print servers, can run through the same switch without affecting the gigabit speeds from the cameras to the nvr pc?