buellwinkle

If you got it from Alibaba, then it's not the USA version, it's the English version, not supported or warrantied by Hikvision USA but you get the day of week in English. Sort of a half way in-between China and USA versions. Also, I believe you can load English firmware but have not tried it. They cost a little more than the version made for the domestic market but still less expensive than the USA version. Still misleading even from some U.S. resellers not being clear on what is what. All depends on what's important to you if you are in the U.S., lower price or warranty, both are good choices, just know what you are buying.

You have to take heat and electricity costs into the equation. The i7 uses about 50% more power and gives off much more heat than the G630. Also, when using even 50-60% of an i7 24/7 the machine is going to run hot, meaning the fan will be on full speed most of the time, a problem I ran into. But consider more than CPU and money, consider functionality. For example, being able to view multiple cameras during playback. For example, recently I needed to view a sequence of events from multiple cameras where the suspect (my kid), parked her car (driveway cam), enter through the front door (front door cam), went to our guest bedroom (indoor cams). Trying to coordinate the 3 cameras by looking one a time would be very tedious in BlueIris, especially realizing that there's no timeline to scan. This is just one example of features that are lacking in BlueIris.

Is it a 2 or 3-axis dome. Also, says 10m IR range, which is about 1/3rd their other domes, has that been a problem outdoors? Did you get the 2.8mm or 4mm?

For those that loaded Hikvision firmware on their Swann/Lorex 1080P IR Bullet camera to take advantage of free 3MP resolution can rest easy knowing that there's no difference between the cameras that I can discern. I did the same test of overlaying the image from 1080P over a 3MP image and it's the same for a real Hikvision 3MP bullet vs. the Swann 1080P bullet. When it goes from 3MP to 1080P, most cameras do a crop but on Hikvision cameras, it appears to do a combination of resizing the image and cropping top and bottom from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio. It actually shows a more wider image, which means when it goes from 1080 to 3MP, it us cropping a little from the sides to make the transition to the 4:3 aspect ratio.

To cover that wide an area, try the Hikvision DS-2CD2632F, it can go to 105 degrees wide with 2.8mm up to 12mm, the less expensive bullets only do about 4mm. If you want a dome, try the DS-2CF2732F, also has the same lens, 2.8mm to 12mm so you can tweak the lens to what you want. 50' may be tough for built in illuminators. I know they say they can, but realistically, it's limited on how much power it can draw using PoE to power it and the camera, so it is what it is. I would just use porch lights at strategic locations, put the new LED bulbs in them and run them dusk to dawn.

To read a plate at 55' is no problem but not sure why you want to and it would cost you a bunch. What you are saying is you have a 55' long area and you can capture the plate anywhere along that corridor. It's not like a car can enter from the middle of that path. I would say try and get it within 12-15' and use a 12mm bullet and you'll likely have to supplement that with a narrow beam IR illuminator pointed at the plate area but try it without first. Resolution does not matter, we read plates perfectly with VGA resolution, kicking that up to 1MP does not make the plates more readable and using that 1MP to get a wider area just makes it that much harder to read the plates. The sole goal of the camera would be to read plates, it has zero other use. That's where most people fail, they try and use that camera for more than plates. Get a separate camera in the same area looking across the lane with a polarizer filter to see who's the car, you'll need that for the police if there's an incident. 3 things you need and each is a different camera; 1. overview to capture the crime 2. close-up of the persons face 3. close-up of the license plate

That's one of their older models and you know how fast technology evolves. Can you send it back and get one of their new bullets?

That's what worked well for me too. Look forward to the next firmware to get more stable support for smb/cifs as that's what typically use now with Mobotix and would live to go towards Hikvision.

There's a company near me that makes enclosures to make indoor cube IP cameras into doorbell cams. Very high quality cast brass and will cost more than the camera, but looks very sharp and is available in different finishes if you are trying to match the door hardware. Don't know if this camera fits in there, but when I get one, I can talk to them and see if there's interest. I convinced then a few years ago to make one for the Axis M10 series, so I know that works. Also, they sell the over-sized j-boxes, so you can fabricate your own front plate if you have one of those fancy 3D printers http://eholovision.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=210&Itemid=244

I would definitely go with non-IR domes. The problems I've had in the past with Arecont is poor support and not very good low light sensitivity. The Axis P33 series is very nice, good low light performance, remote focal length and focus adjustment, good warranty and support and just about all NVR software supports their cameras. The P3367 is my favorite, very good low light performance for a 5MP camera. Also, their Lightfinder cameras do very well with available light. Don't know how cattle feel about white light vs. IR. Some animals may have their sleep disrupted by IR as much as with white light so maybe check with a veterinarian in the area. If you can get away with white light, putting in some white LED fixtures is way less expensive than IR fixtures. I use Raytec products, they do make a PoE product but you'll pay a premium for it and you are limited in your choices. ACTi is a good choice too, about 1/2 the price of Axis/Arecont, and very good support and service and has a very good selection. You may even want to consider their new mini-PTZ that should be out today. They are relatively inexpensive, 10x optical zoom, small in size for a PTZ (a little larger than a regular outdoor dome) and run on standard PoE and come in various resolutions. It may be able to replace multiple cameras in locations where continuous monitoring is not critical. ACTi is supported by most NVR software solutions but also has a very good free solution that I feel would give Luxriot a run for it's money and now supports non-ACTi cameras. They charge for non-ACTi and cameras over the first 16. The Veracity extenders are very good, never had a problem with them and priced well.

Could be you have a special one, meaning the PoE is not working, but the ds-2cd3332-i I reviewed was power by a ZyXel ES-2108PWR PoE switch.

Audio is a mixed bag because you have to find a microphone that works for you, like an outdoor one, amplified with 12V power source and mounted near where the people will be which may not be where the camera is. Also, if you live in the U.S. and in one of the 16 states that prohibits recording of conversations without all parties consenting, your evidence in court may land you behind bars at worst, at best your video may be thrown out as evidence. If you are in the other states, typically the laws dictate that one person in the conversation consent to being recorded, but if you are not part of the conversation, that may also be not be allowed. I would consult with an attorney in your area before recording audio.

Let me give you the wrong answer first since it most directly answers your question. The Axis P3367-VE is an excellent 5MP camera, works well in low light with minimal noise. I would use it with a Raytec RM100-120 illuminator to provide nice even light across wide angle view. You are using resolution ineffectively and 5MP won't help you much. You have to change your way of thinking into two types of cameras, an overview camera that captures the activity that is wide angle camera and just shows what's going on in the area, like someone trying to break into a car. Totally worthless for ID'ing anyone. Then you need to strategically place close-up cameras at various choke points that show cars driving up and the camera needs to be less than 10-15' away, don't set it to wide angle, trust me, trees and sky does not help you ID someone. For example, a car drives into the entrance, I would put a camera with say a 6mm lens pointed at their door so you get as much detail as possible. If you want to capture his plate, maybe a 12mm camera 10-12' away pointed straight at the plate so all you see is the front of the car. Resolution is not important, heck, we turn our 1MP camera we use for license plates down to 640x480 and I can read plates very clearly, 24/7. I provide evidence to police on a regular basis and what you are planning to do, they would not have enough evidence to even pursue the case because they want to see the crime progress but also want very clear detail on plate and person. What do you think will happen when you give them 5MP video and they play it on their laptop or even a 1080P monitor? Why do you think they will see more detail than a 3MP camera?

Funny you ask because LPR has been stressful source of much fun for our installers and me. First I selected IPConfigure, runs as an app inside an Axis camera and costs about $1,500. Conceptually very cool, no PC required. Does not work well at all. Accuracy was lacking, would not trigger an event on a plate match and it took about 15 seconds per plate, and occasionally locked up the camera requiring a reboot. Would not recommend, LOL. Next I tried Milestone LPR. Cost about the same, it's like $300 for the LPR Base license, and $1,295 per camera. This worked a lot better. The plates were recognized, has been stable for 2 weeks and it triggers events on plate match and you can maintain multiple lists. I would recommend this as it's industrial grade from a known vendor and support has been very good. Next I tried home grown. Of course the advantage is that it's free, but clearly there's more effort involved. I'm using open source LPR scan software from www.openalpr.com and it's pretty accurate. You give it a picture and it finds the plate. They have a demo on their site - http://www.openalpr.com/demo.html where you can give it your picture and it will return the plate number. I have it running on my PC, and I can take pictures captured by Milestone and put them through this and I get similar results. I'm working on a VB script on Windows that takes snapshots from the Axis camera and passes it openalpr and just in the early testing stages as I just wrote it today. The only problem with VBS is that it triggers all sorts of virus warnings, oh no, the sky is falling. So it's more for prototyping but I'll probably have to take the VB script code and create a program in VB.net. Nothing is perfect and sometimes all of these pick up printing on the side of a car or a bumper sticker as a plate, but for the most part they get the plate number. Q's seem throw it off because it may have trouble selecting from a zero. Also, thick license plate frames may throw it off. All three solutions work with plates from the US or Europe but have region specific settings. For example, if I chose California, I get better accuracy than if I just pick all of the U.S. but may suffer a little on plates from other states. Camera settings make a big difference. Set sharpening way down and contrast a little up. Setting resolution lower makes for faster plate recognition. I use 640x480. Also, most seem to recommend 4fps and that works well for us. Also, don't use h.264, it's not as clear per frame as mjpeg for this purpose.

Yes.

Actually just published the review on this but here's my take. Bullets are easy to install and work well, but not very vandal resistant as you can move them many time with just a broom stick. in the business, they call bullets piñatas. Domes are vandal resistant but have a multitude of problems. For example some are 2-axis so typically has to be mounted level and facing down. The dome is curved plastic surface and that leads to several problems, the worst is light bleed from the IR because of glare from the curved surface. To say there's zero effect from this is wrong, all IR domes are affected, just some are not as noticeable as others. I know I'll say a particular camera does not suffer from this, but that just means it's not noticeable. The other problem with the dome is the curved surface reflects light in bad ways, like the sun blinding the camera from more angles than a bullet or streaks and stars from reflections. Also, the cheap plastic used on domes even on Mobotix domes tend to create distortions and some even have seams near the edge (had this with top of the line Axis and Mobotix domes) making it hard to use near the limits of adjustment. Also domes are harder to install because you have to remove the dome cover to install, aim and focus the camera and sometimes putting the dome cover back on can knock the lens out aim or focus. To me, many more trips up and down the ladder. One upside of a dome is it's more discrete if that's the right word, meaning it's harder to tell what it's pointing at. People even use smoked domes to enhance this effect. Eyeball cameras have the flat glass of bullet, so the clear picture and none of the dome issues noted above. They are easier to install because you don't need to remove the dome cover, usually just a trim ring around the base. Some are more vandal resistant than others. For example, the Dahua eyeball can be moved more easily than the Hikvision eyeball because the Hik has a set screw to lock the camera in place. So semi-vandal resistant, but the glass is exposed so hitting it with a baseball bat will damage the lens, but in a dome you have that extra layer of protection. So yes, just another choice. This is also a basic camera, so hard to compare to Hikvision's higher end domes that have alarm io, varifocal lenses, sd card slots and audio. Also, price wise, seems to be priced like the bullets so a little less expensive than the domes.

Don't know why they call it a turret, it's just an eyeball camera, pretty common. You control it by removing the ring around the base, loosen the screw, move it to where you want, tighten the screw and put the ring back on. I think what you want is this bad boy - http://www.hikvision.com/en/Products_show.asp?id=8372

Maybe that's not a good company to buy cameras from if there is no way to contact them.

SDI cameras are sort of 1080P analog, uses coax like analog, requires an SDI NVR, not compatible IP cameras they used to have on there.

Sure any of the commercial NVR software solutions will do this. For example Milestone XProtect, ONSSI, Exacqvision, Luxriot, Avigilon Control Center. Most of them cost about the same and the easiest way to see which suits you is to download and try them. I personally use Milestone XProtect and it has their SmartClient which is a Windows program you can run on to access the cameras or they can use the Web Client that works with just about any browser and their Smartphone Client that works with IOS or Android to access the cameras remotely. With 32 cameras, HD resolution, multiple clients, I would recommend a commercial grade server with a current processor equivalent to an i7 in the consumer world, maybe an HP DL380 with a RAID controller, probably in the area of 8 hard drives for storage but the new DL380's can hold up to 24 drives I believe. All rack mounted with a 48 port PoE Gigabit switch or a pair of 24 port PoE switches. Also, a rack mounted UPS in the event of a power loss. Sounds like a fun project.

First, not quite sure how total cost is $1,300 when the RM100 can cost that much by itself, but I concur with the setup, but the RM100 940nm may be underpowered for this. I would recommend the RM100 850nm as it's at least twice as bright and it costs less. At 50', the RM100-30 with 850nm would be at it's maximum distance for this purpose. Also, I would go with a varifocal lens, say Fujinon 5-50mm so you have more control over it, costs is cheap, maybe $100. It's not effective to capture an entire scene, you need to zoom in on the plate area, at most capture the front of the car or rear from edge to edge. If you try and capture a large area, you'll need to get a much brighter illuminator, maybe the RM200-50 and wider illuminator to make the scene evenly lit because the plate will be so small relative to the scene, it won't get the correct exposure for it. I would say make sure the plate represents at least 5% of the image. For 40', our lens is set to about 30mm, so 25mm used above would be the minimum. We don't use a filter of any kind other than the IR Cut filter in the camera. Any decent low light performance cameras will do for this. We use an Axis Q1604 (not the -E because it can't fit a longer lens) which I believe is only about $800USD but you may be able to use a good ACTi box camera for a fraction of the price if you want an IP cameras but you can use analog. I would not go for more than a megapixel. We run our Q1604 at VGA resolution because it's zoomed in on the plate, that's more than enough resolution. Also, it's set for MJPEG because it provides a clearer single frame shot to me than h.264. Also turn down any sharpening and kick up contrast. Shutter speed, this is where it gets interesting. Milestone LPR recommends like 1/500th as the max exposure for a car going 30mph, but we run it at slower speeds and it's good enough, maybe 1/60th or 1/120th of a second. Also, we run the camera at 4fps, that seems to be sweet spot for capturing the plates without too much excess. Also, angle of view makes a difference. I would recommend no more than a 30 degree angle from the camera to the plate at least in the US where many states use embossed plates. With our setup, we can read plates up to about 40mph 24/7, very sharp and clear distinct numbers. Having software to convert the plate numbers to text is more awesome than you can image because say there's a crime that has been committed. With a list of plate numbers, you can determine how many times and when the suspect has passed your camera in the past, maybe tie it in with past crimes. You can set alerts to text you if they return.

Is the N silent?

Do they sell under their own brand name?

Messoa has been around a while, reviewed one a while back. Makes a nice product has good WDR. KT&C you should have never seen in the past because they make cameras for other brands, so you may have used their product without even knowing it. This year they are coming out with their own products. They have a cool tiny HD camera I saw at the last trade show. Have not seen or heard of Huviron.

The network menu on your camera, not SADP.