knighty

I'm only running 4 cameras right now (slowly upgrading from old dvr) but... with 4 cameras recording at 4mp 24fps 24/7... CPU use is about 2% (i7 @3.3gig) it's been running for months 24/7 now, no problems so far, don;t really expect any I looked at other software, but all the others seamed to use a lot of CPU, so stuck with smart pss HD allocation is a little iffy, max hard drive size (or partition size anyway) is 2tb... I had to split my drives into smaller partitions to use all the space I've got (~50tb) apparently the new version fixes that, I tried it, but the older version didn't seam to like connecting to it... I didn't really investigate, just stuck with old version

storage isn't really a problem, I have 14 TB already and can easily add a lot more real sticking point is I want a system which will let me remotely play back recorded footage easily - hopefully of multiple cameras at the same time current system lefts me do that, but the 16 camera limit will be too small soon I'm still a little undecided, I've ordered a single IP camera and I'll try out the hikvision software and see how it is

hi it's time to upgrade our cctv system to add more cameras current system pc running 2x 8 channel dvr cards and idvr4000 software (cards and software came together years ago) currently have 12 cameras, recording 24/7 at D1 resolution and 20fps Boss likes the 24/7 recording. 20fps is overkill but have 14Tb of storage so might as well use it cameras are a mix, the important ones are nice Samsung cameras, there's 3 not so important ones which are just cheap ebay cameras system works great - but it doesn't have to do much, just record 24/7 and let us playback/view as needed they're expanding the factory so I need to add more cameras, more than the 16 limit we have right now can anyone give me advice on the best way to go ? I can't see many DVR systems that support more than 16 cameras, or which let me have so much storage it would be nice if we can keep the old cameras running could change to all IP cameras but worried about the software running on the server, a lot of bad reviews coming up when I google

you guys are awesome, I've been googling my ass off but you've told me more in a few posts than I've learnt in a week of google! (probably is a lot of people talking about just 1 camera at home etc..) do either of you have any experience with hikvision software ? it looks like if I use hikvision iVMS-4200 I can connect to multiple sources/servers/storage etc.. systems all from one PC for remote view and playback ? it also has separate server software and storage software etc.. if that works, I could get a hikvision tvi type dvr for the new cameras and a normal (cheap) type dvr for the old cameras let those record to a storage server add a couple of high quality IP cameras for important places have normal remote view screens running where needed and then be able to view / playback all cameras from one PC in office ?

hi thanks for the replies looking around, it looks like hd-tvi is more popular than Hd-cvi ? so I figure I should go with hd-tvi, more cameras/systems available etc.. HIKVISION dvr looks good, but the best I can find is with 4 sata ports and 12b max (not sure if they don't like 4tb or larger drives, can't find any info) even if 6tb drives are ok, that limits me to 24tb, which might be a bit tight with 20+ cameras recording 24/7 ? I can run a few at lower quality, but most need to be decent quality (watching entrances, street, till etc. etc.) any ideas ? or know if they will record to a server etc.. ?

my current system is 2 x RX7000 cards, 18 channels each 200fps each (iirc) core2duo at 3.3Ghz 4gig ram 5tb hard drive space only have 4 cameras connected right now, 4 more to be added soon I don't like the iDVR software much at all.... playback isn't great, and it lags when streaming over the net.... after 5min of viewing the cameras can be running a couple of min behind... and out of sync with each other.... remote playback of recorded footage is no good at all, it won;t let me skim through the recording, I have to watch each hour from the start (can't jump to middle) I had a different dvr system before this with the diginet software, it was a bit buggy, and the save files for the cctv footage were massive.... but wan playback was ok and I liked that it could be set to search through the recorded footage and run motion detect on it, saving my having to skim hours of footage can anyone recommend me any better software ? (I'll buy new dvr cards if i have to) I've been reading over the forum for about 3 hours now but haven't found what I need.... maybe there should be a thread of software reviews/features to go along with the GUI screen shots ? I'd really like a recommendation from someone before I go and buy anything.... had a good google but it's hard to tell what's good and what isn't.... I don;t want to have to keep buying new software/cards just to find the right software for me !!! thanks Alan.

I'm thinking of adding some extra cameras and hard drives to my cctv system... I'm thinking of upgrading with a new cpu and more ram at the same time... I'm using the diginet software before I buy a new cpu... does diginet software use more than 1 core ? if it doesn't, I'll be best of with 2 cores as fast as possible (nearly all chips are dual core now - handy as 1 can run os and 1 can run cctv) but if it does, I'll go with 4 cores - each core will be a little slower, but because it uses all of them it'll be faster overall I might upgrade the dvr card at the same time.... (for more fps because of the extra cameras) is THIS CARD a legit one ?

I have a 3 camera system setup and work, I'll be adding more cameras soon so I'll have 8 I can view the cctv footage of work with the diginet software at home but what I really want is to have it set off an alarm (play loud music etc..) in my home if it picks up motion detection between certain hours like 11pm to 6am that way if motion is detected, I can remotely view, see what's going on, and phone the police if needed... we had 6 break ins a while back, all in a row... they stopped as soon as I installed the cameras... but I'm worried they might try to break in again.... does anyone know how i can setup this remote alarm ? I have the diginet emergency monitor software, but I can't or access any kind of options ? I'd be happy to leave the remote viewing software running 24/7 on an old computer in the corner... but I can't any way to have it make noise on motion detection ?

I have some of each, some indoor cameras and some outdoor.... and I'm happy to add a pir sensor and the card needed for it for the outdoor cameras after you guys have recommended them.... but I still can;t work out how to have it set an alarm off on my home pc ? even if I could get it to play a song loud that would do ? - I could set it up on an old laptop with nothing else on and a couple of speakers turned right up......... but I still have no idea how to get it to work ?

sorry I must be missing something I'm struggling with how to get the signal from the motion detector thing that's at work, to set off an alarm on my home pc ?

ok.... but then how do i get them to set off an alarm on my home pc ?

won't the motion detection be good enough ? I'm not worried about a few false alarms as long as it's not all of the time.... I can log in and check the live footage from the cameras before I phone the police / race into work etc. etc.

hi I've read through the forum a LOT... but there's a hell of a lot of information here and I think I'm just digging myself into a hole (I'm good with PCs, but this stuff is new to me, I've been building/water-cooling pcs for years etc. etc.) I have a PC based dvr cctv system at work currently runs 4 cameras, but have more I'd like to add the system is a 1.7 P4, with 512ddr, 1TB hard drive I bought they card on eBay (before I found this forum) and I've had non-stop problems with it recently, it was ok at first only running 1 camera... but now it has 4 attached I've had problems... sometimes when the system restarts some cameras will work and some won't.... unplugging the power to the cameras (all of them) and putting it back on sometimes fixes it... or makes no difference at all.... or fixes the 2 cameras that were off, but the 2 that were working then stop working I want the system to record 24/7 at work, and I've just ordered a dsl connection (1.3mbit upload) so I can check the cameras from home.... the most important thing is... I want to set up motion detection to run between certain hours (when we're closed) and if it picks up motion, I want it to set off an alarm on my home PC.... (could be a bonus to add a modem and have it phone/text my mobile too) I found this card... Geovision 800 PCI Card and Software on a reputable website here in the UK... the 4 camera card is £275, the 8 camera card is £500 and the 16 camera card is £540 (can I post links, or is that now allowed?) I'm on a budget here and £500 is a lot more than I want to spend... but by the time I've bought the 8 camera card, I might as well pay the extra 40 for the 16 camera card and future proof it ? will this card do what I want ? 100 fps and I only need 10fps so should be fine for 10 cards will it run ok on a 1.7p4 with 512ram? I can easily add more ram... but if I need a faster cpu I'll need a new m/b ram psu etc. (basically a totally new system) will it's software let me watch the cams from home? will it set off an alarm on my home pc when it detects motion ? will it phone/text my mobile phone ?

don't casinos already have pretty good face recognition systems already ? so if you're banned from one casion, you're banned from them all because they share a db ?

also.... does the card do any processing onboard ? I could buy 2 Geovision 650 4 camera cards cheaper than 1 800 8 camera card... would this be better or worse ? thanks again Alan.