buellwinkle

Depends on the situation. In my vacation properties, I have indoor cameras with PIR motion detect with push video notification that alert me. I prefer to not alert the thief and call the local police that are more likely to apprehend the thief in the act. Around me, they respond very quickly if you tell them you have them on camera. If you want to stop them in their tracks, there are fog systems you can trigger than will fill a large room with blinding fog in a few seconds. Now how great would it be to see the guy on camera, talk to him over the camera's 2-way audio. Tell him that if he doesn't leave at the count of 3, you will release poisoned gas. He will laugh until you reach 3 and poof. Me thinks he will hold his breath until he's completed out of the house, maybe longer....

Some of the low bidders don't take into consideration call backs, training, configuration and such. So if it's just a simple put a camera, aim it, do minimal configuration, that's one level of service. Setting up a complete security system, training, making sure the cameras meet the customer's expectations, providing a security survey takes time. So one bid may be for say $100 an hour to install camera, takes 2 hours, $200. Another at the same rate may be a more comprehensive install with warranty that uses up 5-10 hours overall, configuring the NVR, coming back when the customer says the image is too dark, not aimed where he wants, teaching them how to export video. I typically see bids in the $1,000/camera range not including hardware on commercial installs. Many installers are not that good, so it takes them 10 times longer to do the same job as someone that knows what they are doing, so they have to charge 10 times as much to do the job. I had a guy spend a month, 8 hours a day on a job trying to configure one camera and after that month, time was not set, it was not recording, no motion detect zones created. They were more expensive than the replacement installer that did it in an hour and charged less but I'm pretty sure the guy that charged less made more money per hour worked. I only act as a consultant, I don't bid the installs.

Each 4K monitor can view 4 1080P at full resolution, how cool is that. Didn't know the OP had a budget, didn't say. I don't even have a monitor on my NVR, so I'm in awe of someone that does. To me having a monitor on your NVR just makes it way too easy for a thief to steal the NVR when he's taking the monitor. So if you are going to have a monitor, go big or go home, LOL.

Good feedback and don't forget, limited to 12fps at 5MP. I'm not sure why not 128GB cards as the big tech hurdle is at 64GB where it's the smallest of the SDXC. Maybe nobody at Hikvision could afford the $100 for the 128GB card, LOL. You can certainly try it and see. When I reviewed the Bosch, it said 32GB max, but worked fine with a 64GB card, the very same card that would not even work in a Hikvision that claimed to work with 64GB. How was the image quality at 5MP. Was it comparable to their 1080P/3MP cameras but more pixels? How was low light performance compared to the 1080P/3MP cameras?

I can only speak from my experience with Q-See. As most know, they use Dahua manufactured cameras, but the problem I had is they quickly stopped supporting the cameras soon after I bought them at Costco. When Windows 8 came out, I was not able to get video via a browser. On my Dahua branded cameras, I was able to update the firmware and they worked fine. With Q-See, they refused to support the camera with firmware updates even though they were still under warranty, so I had no choice but to return them to Costco. I also had a very similar issues using OEM Hikvision. Seems like these cameras only work with the OEM firmware, not the manufacturers firmware. With the bad experiences behind me, I now only buy camera brands sold by the manufacturer, not OEMs.

Hikvision is trying to differentiate it's own brand from OEM's and that was their first attempt. They did it about a year ago. From what I understand, it runs OEM firmware, so you can't install Hikvision firmware. The seller would be violating his OEM agreement with Hikvision if they sold them as Hikvision.

Some of the trail camera will take higher res snapshots on motion detect and you can specify the amount. For example, the Bushnell Trophy HD is 8MP and costs under $200. It can do video, but who wants the lame 2MP.

See, you can't name one 5MP that is 30fps, LOL.

You can buy say a Nikon camera that is 16mp for $99 and one for $1,500, does that mean Nikon is overcharging me when I want the $1,500 camera? I don't think the market would support 7-10x markup on a camera. You can count how many companies make a 5MP camera with 30fps on one hand with 4 fingers cut off, so if it's so simple, why doesn't Dahua or Hikvision do it? Heck why don't the other high end companies do it?

This is a plate capture at 200' at 1080P with the sd59230. Click on the image to make it bigger and click on the four arrows in the lower right of the image to see it in 2MP mode. As you can see, the plate is readable even in the small version below. You don't have to worry about plate reflection because it has HLC that compensates the exposure for bright objects like headlights and reflective plates.

16 port PoE switches are not that common but there's lots of 24 port switches. I use the Netgear gigabit desktop switch with 24 ports (12 are PoE) and it's one of their semi-smart switches and priced well considering the features at about 250ish. They do sell a 24 port PoE switch but I think it's 100mb with a pair of gigabit uplink ports that we use on one project and that should work too, about the same price.

Not that I know of. The motion tracking does not have to be part of the same solution, and I've briefly tested it with iSpy Connect, for the purposes of helping that community with the commands needed to control that specific camera. It's free NVR software with a pay for features model and tracking is free, but it does track with iSpy albeit I've yet to see motion tracking with any product that intuitively does what you want. Basically they tend to follow the largest object with any analytic processing. The idea is you can have it track using one software and record with the other. iSpy also has an LPR add on for $50, but never tested it.

If your are not doing LPR, then you can go higher resolution. At 100', you should look at the Dahua SD59230 PTZ. It has the IR LEDs to go that far and capture a plate. I show a plate at 200' in my review of the camera. Dahua has HLC for compensating for bright objects like headlights, reflective plates. It may be cheaper than a low light box camera + lens + IR illuminator.

To view them all at full resolution you would need two 4K monitors. When I review video, I use my desktop monitor, 27" 1080P.

The compression decoding is what takes CPU and graphics card won't help. Spend the money on a faster processor.

Actually the contrary, another article says the suspect had images from another Hangzhou-based manufacturer. There's only two in that city I'm aware of, Hik and Dahua, so maybe both were compromised, although Dahua must be better because they were able to catch the guy with their technology, LOL. I think it must have been Mobotix trying to learn how to make cameras.

The image is from a Bosch 8000 Starlight camera would cost 4-5x what the 5MP Dahua would cost but at least gives you an idea of the detail potential. For outdoor use, you are looking at $1,600ish for camera, lens, housing. At least this give you 30fps, most 5mp cameras, including the Axis P3367 and Dahua you are looking at are only 12fps. Also, most 5mp cameras are 4:3 aspect ratio, what's cool in the Bosch is you can choose 16:9 for what they call 3K or chose 4:3. Hard to put a direct value on it because for me, having say three 1080P cameras to get the same resolution (Bosch has a 6.1mp sensor, so comparable to 3), you would have to wire 3 cameras, 3 PoE ports, 3 windows to watch so there's a value beyond comparing solely on camera price. If there was NVR software that stitched 3 images into one, that would be cool. I know Maxicon is doing this at the front of his home, 3 cameras, each one covering 1/3 of the area. I'm actually in the process of setting this up, have 2 now, need the 3rd to provide the panorama view I want. But I'm doing something a little different, two 12mm looking off to the sides, a 4mm down the middle. I think he has a trio of 4mm cameras. Yes, all IP cameras have some latency, especially compared to analog HDCVI cameras, but has never a been a problem for me.

If you are going to use Milestone LPR and that's what I use, you have to have the video set at 640x480 and about 4-6fps. Regardless of resolution, for it to find the plate, at least 5% of the image has to be plate with 12px minimum for each character on the plate. To accomplish this, your field of view has to cover about 8' wide or less. Lanes are about 12' wide, so it would cover the center part of the lane. To do this at 50', you need about a 30-35mm lens. I've used 25mm lenses, but for shorter distances, never work for 50'. The camera should be about 30-40 degrees off center from the plate and height should be lower, maybe 10' high at most. I take it your lot is sloped and hence the height. That absolutely won't work, so you'll need to find something at the edge of your lot that will. Once person hid his camera in a mailbox post or maybe inside a mailbox with a false back so the postman doesn't notice or a small decorative column. Since bullets and domes are out (nobody I know makes one with a 30mm+ lens but someone here will prove me wrong), get a nice box camera. I use an Axis q1604, but there may be cheaper ones that will work as well. Get lower resolution as higher resolution really does not help, that will cut costs. See if you can find an old Bosch NBN-733V box camera, they had awesome low light capability. Also a Samsung Wisenet III SNB-5004 will work and a little cheaper than the Bosch. Then put something like a 15-50mm varifocal lens on it, about $100ish. I like Fujinon for this for quality and price. So then comes lighting. You have two choices here. To do it right, you'll need to light-up the area well and have a very good low light camera like the ones I mention. That will not only give you a clear plate, but will show you what the car looks like and reduce noise that will hamper the LPR. You can get a weaker IR light, then rely on the reflectivity and then set the minimum exposure fast enough to read the plate, but all else will be dark and you'll only see 2 headlights and a plate number. Another option is to capture rear plates as they are typically lit, combined with a good low light camera, the plate will be readable.

Yes, you can do better than 1080P with 5MP, 2.5 times better. Here's a 5MP image from a camera I recently tested, way better than any 1080P camera I ever tested. To see it full size, you have to click on the image, the hover over the image and click the 4 arrows in the lower right. I've very impressed that you phone can do 12MP video. My Samsung S4 can only do 1080P.

What is your goal? Are you trying to do LPR and record plate numbers for later search or to create an event based on a plate number match? Do you want the same camera to also view the entire scene or dedicated for plate capture? Bullets and domes are tough. The trick is finding a low light sensitive dome for LPR. The issue is lens. We need to capture plates for LPR at 35-40' and need a 20-25mm lens and not many domes or even bullets come with that level of lens. At 50', you would need about a 30-35mm lens. We use a 50mm and that's marginal at 70'. 20' high is going to be a problem.

Dahua goes in/out of production on different models, hard to say what is discontinued or not, but the 'lite" series 2MP (1080P) using 3MP sensors are still on their website and they are still making them. They did discontinue it for a few months with no explanation, then they brought it back a few months ago. The ones you speak off are more expensive and actually use older technology, because I reviewed Dahua with Sony Exmor sensors 3 years ago. What you think is new is just the square form factor they introduced a year ago. What I don't like about that sensor is the narrow dynamic range that gives too a high contrast. Makes for a better looking picture, but loses detail in the shadows. Who at the Dahua factory are you in contact with?

Trying to do math is totally worthless for this because the focal length and sensor size are not the only things that determine the field of view with M12 lenses are there's no standard for things like backfocus. I can buy a few 3.6mm lens, stick them in the Dahua camera and each one will have a different field of view. In addition, some camera companies put in higher resolution sensors to provide different field of views depending on if you choose a 16:9 or a 4:3 format. For example, Bosch uses a 6.1MP sensor in their 5MP camera to provide 5MP at 16:9 or 4:3 so you could get a wider FOV in 16:9 vs. 4:3, same lens, same camera. Hikvision does to with their sensors that are closer to 3.3MP to provide a wider view in 16:9 (1080P) than with 4:3 (3MP). Dahua I believe just crops their 3MP sensor to make 1080P, even in their 1080P only cameras.

The Pi solution is not a cost saving effort, it's a way to possibly get PIR motion detection to a camera that does not have alarm inputs like the ds-2cd2732f-is.

Sensor size and just variances in the M12 lenses is why you get different field of views. I can show you a 4.1mm lens on a camera that is wider than most cameras with 2.8mm. For example, this is 4.1mm from Bosch camera I recently reviewed, 5MP but 16:9 format like the 1080P cameras. It has a bigger sensor than most cameras at 1/1.8" and uses CS lenses vs. M12 lenses on less expensive cameras. This is from a Hikvision ds-2cd2132-i mini dome with a 2.8mm lens. Not as wide as the Bosch This is from a Dahua ipc-hdbw2200e that is 1080P and 3.6mm, about the same width as the Hikvision 2.8mm, a little less wider, yet both are mini-domes

I would leave in color (day) mode if it doesn't make much of a difference. At night, colors get muted when there's not enough light, but never hurts to have color as a reference if available.