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I just ended up ordering a ZyXEL ptz camera for installation on a porch. The sample video on youtube looked ok and it will do , at the very least for a temporary solution to a neighbor problem at my sisters. Since I can't get there for a while this is a wireless camera so I can always use teamviewer to set it up for her. Is there any good open source nvr software. I figure I need about a weeks worth of recording at a time before data is overwritten. I think she has enough HD space for this. I have seen good reviews for blue iris, but are there any similar software solutions that are free?

My sister is not good with tech stuff and she is having problems with some drunken neighbors. I cannot get there to do any wiring. There is a computer in the living room near the front porch window. She would be able to run a wire out the window. Something to hold her over until I can get down next Oct. So what would be best for a camera and software. I have a wired network set up with an access point so if there was a wireless solution that could be done or I could send her a switch to add to the living room computer to connect to the camera. I didn't want to have to buy a card for the computer as that would be too difficult for her to set up. I can remote to the computer to set up the software. Any ideas? I was even thinking of a dash cam but they don't give great night vision and I would like to be able to record longer than 8 hours or so. The front lawn is about 25 feet from porch to street and I would like to be able to get a fairly good view of up to approx 40 feet The porch is sheltered so weather is not a problem and there is outside power. Did not want to have to invest in a PoE switch etc.. for this

any cameras under 200 that would be any good?

I am trying to decide which to go with next. I was debating ip cameras but it just is too far out of my budget and since I have an existing setup with analog that does ok, I will go the easy route for now and just upgrade the dvr. Dahua makes a nice DVR with D1 on all channels. Gen IV makes one that is almost a duplicate or maybe it is exactly the same but cheaper. I have an old JS series Gen IV that has worked flawlessly for the last several years. I take it Dahua and Gen IV are separate companies?

Is the picture from the camera that you see on the remote service through explorer going to be as good as it gets. Say I have a CIF quality dvr and upgrade to a D1 will the live image be better? or is that as much as I am going to get quality wise from the camera?

Is the quality of the picture affected by the dvr? I find there is not that much difference inbetween the picture I see of my CIF recording and that of the real time viewing. I was wondering if quality of picturwould go up all around as D1 is 4 times better. My cameras are 520 TV or above sony ccd's

I am away from home at the present but I believe I ended up back in 2009 with an lta-rt4 but not sure. It is a 4 channel. I do know I got it from the manufacturer and the girl said I would probably want more cameras later. She was right lol. Video is not bad for my purpose. I have 520 to 570 line cameras on it. It uses a program that I think is the same as the dahua dvr.. connect over the internet and it's a web access screen that looks the same. It needs to run in explorer in compatablility mode. I wish I could upgrade that but have no clue if that can be done. I would like to be able to use explorer without setting compatability. So I am now looking for a dvr with more cameras. Dahua full D1 16 Channel Security DVR with Real Time D1 Resolution, is one of the units on my intrest list. I have been looking around and it seems to be the most bang for the buck. Does it require the remote by internet to be run in explorer and compatability mode ? Second question is how big a HD should I get so I will get about a months worth of record for 8 cameras? I think I will end up with 8 now. I have six installed but can only use 4 now. I would like to put a few indoors also. I get over a month now for 4 cameras. I think i have a TB installed or could be 1.5 tb Can the unit I mentioned be run in less than 30 fps D! if it's a camera I don't need that on? I am guessing it would be a better picture than my unit which I think does just cif . Not really sure if it has one channel of D1 but I doubt it.Picture is not bad on mine but it's almost impossible to read plate numbers if the car is not within maybe 20 feet of the camera.

Thanks. My old unit is a GenIV JS-XLA4 so I would imagine the D1 will be much better. They don't make a firmware update for my current unit either and it can only be accessed by using explorer compatability mode. I will use it in the cabin and get a newer one for home. Prices have come down, that cost me 425 back in 09. Would 2 TB hard drive give me around a month with approx 6-8 cameras with two running in d1 and the rest in cif? I wish I could go network ip but from what I see they are really expensive. I will have to get some more cameras also. Are the nvr setups with ip cameras about twice or so the price of analog after all is done?

Looking at the 300 dollar range - can be more or less. I figure I will have less than 4 cameras, a 560 line one is on the way with a variable focus 3-9mm sony had lens. I figure 3 cameras total maybe four in the future, but at least two of them soon.

I am new here and just looking into cctv cameras. I found some 520 and 560 line units with varifocus lens that have adjustable zoom and focus from the 3mm wide angle to the 9mm narrower field. I was wondering if anyone knew a link or place to view sample images from this type of camera to compare the 3mm to the 9mm views?

First; Are they the same units? Second I have a question about remote access on these. Embedded web server just means I just run the unit at home hooked to my router with the rj45 plugged in and access it with my dyndns. Is this correct? I just have to open a browser on a remote computer and access the dvr box using my dyndns addy.My router has the option to update ip change to dyndns.

That h.264 compression seems to be the way to go. Is there a us dealer that sells avtech?

AVtech 792 any good for what I want and if so , where is the best place to buy in the US?

TYVM They were just what I was looking for