buellwinkle

The Dahua ESIP-MP2-DM1 has similar specs (does full 30fps@1080p, where the OpenEye does only 15), lists at $199, no scouring needed... note the banner ad to the left of the page Sorry, didn't know our job is to recommend solutions that advertise on this site, my apologies. I just never seen or used an Dahua camera but have seen/used an OpenEye CM-610, so I have to recommend what I know. What's been you direct experience with the Dahua camera?

Do you have a night shot, maybe a night video to show?

What's worked real well for me, great picture, works well in low light, 1.3MP resolution, microphone is the AVTech AVN801 (review on my blog). Comes with free smart phone apps (IOS, Android, Blackberry) so you can view remotely from anywhere. It's $128 here (I never bought from them, so it's not a recomendation, just a place that offers it for sale) - http://www.123securityproducts.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=AVN801&submit.x=0&submit.y=0

Many of you have asked what software to use to monitor their cameras and record events. Some of you asked what's available for free and I've responded with Zoneminder because it's open source and 100% free. But never really tried it until now, so here's my review to help you decide if it's right for you. http://ipcamnetwork.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/zoneminder-open-source-nvr-software/ If you use Zoneminder, feel free to respond here or on the blog with your experiences as I've only used it for a day for the purposes of this review, but it's good to hear from people that have used it long term.

4 cameras for under $1,000 is doable. Check out the OpenEye 1080P domes. The CM-610 can be had for $200 if you scour the internet. Add a 4 port PoE switch from Trendnet for $40, some NVR software and it's doable. This camera does not have any illuminators so it works with available light only. So at night, if you want it for security, keep some lights on.

I setup Ubuntu on my kid's Netbook and she loves it, better than Windows, better than the OS X hackintosh that I put on there. Maybe it's the tribal music it plays when it comes up. Pretty much all IP cameras have video motion detect features and many have external alarm inputs say for a PIR motion detector. That's sort of what seperates old cctv analog cameras which just had video out cables to IP cameras that are basically a computer inside the camera running some embedded version of Linux like TinyLinux that has a webserver. Mostly you setup the network configurations, tweak some video settings and setup motion detect zones or external alarm and setup email alerts if you want. They can operated 100% on their own. The purpose of the NVR software is to bring mutiple cameras together on one screen, manage the recordings, provide remote access.

I do like the vintage look of the analog camera, sort of like an old faded Polaroid.

Good idea, maybe just get a USB NIC that's just for license key purposes.

It's like people that do camera or car reviews. You only live with the car or camera for a few days, can't possibily know how it holds up in the long term or it's quirks, that's why comments from thewiredguys is allways appreciated. Good to know that you can't spoof your way to another PC should yours fail. How quickly can they get you a new key if your computer dies and you want to start it up on another PC? As for the Network Optix software, it has very limited camera support shown below and that's not enough of a comprehensive list for most people. Doesn't even support Avigilon and that won't fly with the top dogs •Axis •Arecont Vision •IQInvision •DLink •Digital Watchdog •Pulse •Brickcom •ISD

The best two cameras I've used in low light are the Mobotix 1.2MP B&W sensor cameras and the CCD based ACTi TCM-7811. They do a good job without fancy noise correction which to me lessens detail. I would put them up against an analog camera. A low end camera (under $300) that does very well in low light are the AVTech cameras. I'm always impressed how clear the image is in low light compared to cameras costing way more. I haven't tested their bullet yet, the AVN807A but I've seen it sold for under $200 so it's a good value. Plus you get their smartphone app for free and instant push video alerts, can't beat that. It's not PoE but you can 12V PoE splitter for fairly cheap and use it that way.

It appears to lock the license to the MAC address in your computer, I guess their way of keeping you from getting one license and using it on multiple PC. The MAC address is easy enough to change in Windows through the registry. On Ubuntu Linux, there's a program called MACchanger you can download to do this. As for cameras, if you have 4 camera license you can switch cameras all day long. I tested all sorts of cameras, not only the ones I have at home, but friends cameras, my cameras at my summer home remotely. You can download the software and use it for 45 days with 4 cameras so you can try and see if it works with your cameras. But because the cameras are configured automagically and it takes motion detect settings from the camera, I would image it's not likely just any camera would work as it has to send comands to the camera to retrieve and each manfucturer is different.

Some NVR software like BlueIris depends on the CPU to analyze every single frame from every single camera for motion detection. So clearly, 30 cameras would take 15x more CPU cycles than 2 cameras. But some software relies on the camera's abilities and the server only accepts requests to record or view live video. Also take the stream directly from the camera and doesn't process it internally. So yes, it's possible to have the same workload with 2 vs. 30 cameras but that depends on if you are viewing 2 cameras or 30 at a time remotely, are you getting 15x as many motion events or the same. But consider that some NVR hardware uses Atom procesors to support 15-30 cameras. Also, seperating the server from the client helps termendously. BlueIris displays all cameras at a time, it acts as the client and server, but other software has server software and clients are run remotely. As for operating system. an OS written specifically to handle server type functionaly like Linux is going to win over Windows which was written primarily as a desktop OS that is riddled with safeguards for a wide variety of consumer workloads. I've done benchmarks over the years (and have been using Linux since version 0.9 the early 90's) and for a workload that's primarily write and I/O bound like capturing video would be, Linux is significantly faster than Windows, maybe 30-50% faster. So if you can run the NVR server workload on Linux, I would say that's a wiser choice. Linux these days is not that hard. A free Ubuntu or CentOS install is no more complex than a Windows install and the desktop GUI is no harder to navigate than Windows or OS X. If you were to buy an Atom processor nettop as the server for a home environment, running Linux as an NVR server for 2 or 30 cameras is feasible with the right software.

Check the reviews on my blog. The image quality on the TCM-1231 and ACM-1231 are the same. The TCM-7811 very good in low light, maybe double the contrast, half the noise of the 1231 but no WDR if that's important to you. I did a review on the Vivotek IP8362 which is higher end Supreme series than the IP7361 so you can see that image quality of their sensors. If we are ignoring money, check out the review on the Brickcom camera I did. Very nice camera, good image quality both day and night. About $800ish for the OB-130Np.

Korgoth Of Barbaria, Have you heard much about their 1.3MP version, the AVN807a. Looks like it's priced well. Would probably just have to get a 12V PoE adapter to make it work like a POE cam.

To me, the #1 advantage of a software solution is it separates the hardware investment. So later you can buy faster, newer hardware and maintain your software license investment or the opposite, if you find better NVR software, reuse the hardware. Also allows a home or small office with a spare computer to get started for lower cost. I haven't tried Zoneminder but i will. Ideally, if they had a downloadable VM that someone can run on Windows with the free VMWare Player, that may get greater acceptability.

It's packaging for integrators that can easily sell and deploy an NVR to a customer. It's different when you are a home user and have time to select hardware and deploy the software.

BlueIris worked great for me when I had VGA cameras, but as I replaced them one by one with megapixel cameras CPU use skyrocketed. In contrast, the ExacqVision I just started testing picked up immediately on the camera settings for motion detection, allows me to change them from within their software without having to go back into the camera's web interface, so that's cool. The CPU use is minimal on my PC considering I'm running photoshop, IE, Outlook and Windows Mail along with the Exacq server and web server with 4 cameras (megapixel), it's in the 10-15% CPU range. I have not been able to get the web interface to work, won't take my password so I've asked support for help. I've installed the Android software and will test that soon too. Will also test their IOS software (I have both Android and iPhone so I can test both). Once I can connect to the web software, I can test on Mac and PC. Also, the software is not as cheap as BlueIris as they charge per camera but it's not crazy expensive. I'm going to try and get pricing as this is their low end "Start" version. I think it's $50/camera.

Some of you guys are funny. What's my background? Who cares, if regular Joe has trouble with it, what's the point. But heck, I'm not a regular Joe, been in the software business since 1976 (ouch, shows my age), Been an operating system software engineer developing device drivers, windows software engineer, system admin, database admin and ran major projects for very large companies, ie. Verizon Wireless, Union Bank with over 100 people as manager, tech lead and architect. Also worked for several high tech software startup companies, one bought by Microsoft. Me thinks I can handle installing an NVR GUI and commenting on it. But you don't have to be an electronics engineer to operate a TV and comment on the pretty picture. So yes, maybe I am overqualified but I won't let that get in the way, promise. Also, I've setup other forums that are in current use today for other topics and have moderated one of the largest MB forums for years. If I really wanted to compete against CCTVForum, I could have a duplicate of this site running in about 4 hours work. But that's not my intent, I do not compete with this or any other camera forum. I provide a site to go to get camera reviews just like CNET provides reviews on tech products. To me that complements the forums and I direct people to the forums so it's a two way street. If you never owned a forum, then you have no idea what's involved or had lawyers send you C&D letters because a forum member you have no control over says something they should not have said or a constant burrage of hackers trying to seed your forum with spam. I also were a very high tech flame proof suit when I go on forums so I can take it Actually have BlueIris and loved it. I stopped using it because as I added over 4 cameras with megapixel resolution, the CPU load got out of hand and couldn't add more. The problem is they rely on the PC to constantly monitor the streams for motion detection and that slows it down. Other software can take motion detection events from my cameras. When I only had VGA cameras it worked very well. As for Exacq, finally got that working. They sent me a new key and that worked. Also, added several brands of camera from Panasonic, Axis, ACTi. It's not as easy as BlueIris for me to setup and use though, but we'll see.

My latest review took some time because the dome was damaged in shipping. Once the new dome was in place, the camera performed well. We did encounter some bugs that Axis jumped on right away and these fixes should be in the next firmware release in about a month. Since I don't have a practical use for the camera at my locations, it was installed in New Jersey courtesy of Axis and with the help of John, a forum member at networkcamerareviews. The camera was mounted side by side with an Axis P5534-E to compare a 1080P speed dome vs. their 720P model. http://ipcamnetwork.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/axis-q6035-e-review/ Here's the Q60 as viewed by the P55 (yes, the stripe dome defect I complained about during that review still exists, Axis promises a new dome soon and the Q60 did not have this issue). This is the P55 when viewed from the Q60

Poor Vivotek support and buggy software is something that's been echo'ed on both CCTV forums I participate in as well as from distributors I worked with. I have one Vivotek review on my blog, one of their top cameras and I'm not impressed, especially for the price. During the day, you'll be happy, nice image, at night, not so much. As an example, check out iTunes for Vivotek iViewer, you can see from this how well the rest of their software works. Also check out the problems people are having with their cameras at networkcamerareviews forum.

Yes, tall pixels, don't like using short pixels It's easy to take a nice posed photo with perfect lighting but that's a lousy example. Take a real world shot from a surveillence camera and use that to make your comparisons. I have video clips from Jersey in my latest review on my blog, place where quality surveillance is well appreciated.

My blog has a few reviews in your price range. I use ACTi in my house. The TCM-1111 is a basic 1.3MP bullet, IR illuminators, outdoor rated, about $300. The next step up is the TCM-1231, about $500, adds varifocal lens, 2 way audio, more powerful illuminators and alarm input. Next step up is the TCM-7811 dome, uses a CCD instead of CMOS for better low light capability, again, more powerful illuminators, costs $600+. ACTi provides NVR software for free that works quite well and a complete new version is due in a few weeks that's killer. They also provide an IOS app for free in the iTunes store. What I like about ACTi is good support, supper quick RMA, cameras that last for years (oldest one I have is an ACM-1231 that's 4 years old). Vivotek I would avoid. buggy, poor service. Messoa makes a nice camera, but buggy, support not so great. Geovision is an unknown, but well priced. OpenEye is also well priced, but unknown. Brickcom makes an excellent camera, not sure you will find one for $600, maybe a VD-130Ae. Brickcom, Geovision, Vivotek provide free NVR software, not sure about Messoa or OpenEye. I keep hearing CNB, request demo cameras from them, haven't heard back.

Actually the Axis course I took said the head should be 40 pixels tall to recognize a known person, 80 for others but consider this, there are shadows, odd lighting, cameras have sharpening and noise reduction artifacts that dimish effective resolution. Then add noise at night and focus may not always be where you want it for the subject so 80 pixels tall is a bare minimum.

The Q60 PTZ will give you 1080P resolution and with a wide shot, you can use the Gatekeeper feature that will zoom in and track any movement. You can have it patrol say between 3 presets that may cover the entire parking lot at wide angle. This would give you the coverage you need but automatically zoom in on the detail you need. Every 180 camera I've seen is good for about 10-15' max to ID someone, even with 3-4MP 180 degree cameras. With the Mobotix at 6MP, maybe 15-20'. There is one other possibility, but it's not outdoor ready yet but soon. Using a 180 degree camera like the ACTi KCM-3911 you'll get a wide panoramic view of the lot, but clearly not be able to ID someone. But, on a motion event, it can trigger their PTZ dome to zoom in on the action all without a PC or NVR. Was very effective as they were demo'ing it at ISC in a crowded convention center and was working quite well.

Find software that lets the camera do the motion detection. This way the software is not constantly evaluating video from many cameras for video motion detection. I use ACTi NVR which does this but only works with their cameras. It's why I stopped using BlueIris, it was just sucking the CPU dry.