CollinR

Might I suggest the Panasonic AE900U. Hook ups galore no problems there it will also do 1920x1080 or 1080p HDTV. If you have megapixel IP cams it might come in handy.

Not totally true, although thats going to work often. Any good video capture card should be able to do this. It's a software issue, if it is an MPEG stream it will probably get a keyframe at each camera change. The problem is software developers, if this had the demand that automagically removing commercials from captured TV does it would be a done deal. This is almost exactly what all the cheaper less then realtime DVRs are doing, most of the chips run at 30fps. They are recording in multiplex through one chip and pulling it back apart on the other side. It has a dwell time of 1/30th second so you don't loose as much data. Realtime doesn't get multiplexed unless the chip runs more then 60 fps for 2 cameras.

If you go with a Geovision combo card you get it all in just the DVR.

Many other devices won't rely on DNS, at this point thats what I am assuming we are dealing with.

Yup embedded linuxs are just a stripped and modified normal distribution basically it just has what it needs to function and an interface. Thats most likely not the kind of PC system that has upgrade potential. If the its all one board inside you can only update the software like a normal DVR. It should be stable though, probably moreso then the windows options but not by alot if you can keep the monkeys at bay. The geovision line of PC cards have an excellent bang for the buck value, in a properly configured PC (Hard firm and software) it'll be pretty damn stable. ALSO it won't wait for you to walk by and see a light, it can notify you of problems.

HIGHLY interested in the success of a dash mounted board cam. I would never put a PTZ in this app. I would put a good cam recessed in a hole in the garage door. Almost every theif is going to do it just about as he did, analize the height of the guy and the angle of his looks. The cam really needs to be lower and looking straight down between the vehicles. 2 more that capture the tags/traffic on the street. In a residence you can time the guy against a car not in the FOV as long as you can show them enter/exit it.

How good are you with computers? How about risk... Say ~$150. Basically I have a valid solution for you but it's partially untested, I see no reason for it not to work but until you try you don't know for sure. You can use one of the other 2 PCs for redundent storage, then you have doubled the chances of having evidence. Really though if you are cool with some risk, I'm going to tell you to install everything above the drop ceiling. Very low chance of it getting discovered. Especially if you use the TV out to TV with dummy VCR trick.

Nope AOL sucks. If you have Cox communications in your area, their basic business plan is like $40/mo and includes a static IP and 384k up. Not to mention they don't try to take over your PC with a new unneeded browser a screen full of toolbars on your existing browser or alot of the other things ISPs do. If you don't really needa static IP you can use a DDNS service like DynDNS.org but then you rely on DNS to function, and you should use a router that will supports it.

I guess there is some problem with people in the pain industry understanding that the crappy face masks are crappy and that the Kimberly Clarke "DuckBill" is far superior. So... It loks to me like these guys have decided to prove it once and for all by quantifing it with ACTUAL HUMAN TESTING. 3 mins of paintgun to the face! No prob. http://www.duckbill.tv (It's all safe and if you click the little link at the bottom labelled "AdOrganic" you will see this is about to explode into the newest trend in marketing.) [Mods note: Eyestrain is bad. -Thomas]

Those look pretty sweet, especially the last one... Interested to learn how they work.

Does the storefront have a drop ceiling? EDIT: Also how many other PCs are in the building?

Thats the difference between a hacker and a script kiddie. We learn from the past, problems don't get solved if they aren't pointed out. You'll have an issue with a hacker if you go looking for one or you are in tech support, your first interaction would be some kind of notice of the problem. If there is no responce or an offensive one there is a chance the problem will be demonstrated. A script kiddie on the other hand will use tools to find often random targets and exploit them without warning. They will almost exclusely be using tool they didn't create themselves. Not really much different from people who key random cars in a parking lot. Don't get me wrong there are a few disgruntled people who have alot of technical knowledge but if they act like that they are still script kiddies.

Nothing wrong with becoming hacker like, just don't become a script kiddie.

If Bill Gates had a penny for every time Win98 crashed.... Oh wait, I guess he does.

I only do PC stuff now so I can't help ya, there are plenty more here though. I also noticed that Nuvico is a PC with probably an integrated motherboard in a STB (set top box) style case.

This looks pretty good too, I have seen it use on TV (Court TV???) check out the overview presentation. http://www.oceansystems.com/dtective/features.htm This would be killer for you as it will do CCTV and camcorder, the specific things I like are the frame averaging and image stabilization. Those two features alone are sweet enough. You might return the favor and hit up some of your lab's guys and see what it is they like/use.

Cable modem should be plugged into internet port on router, switch / PC/ Laptop plug into the regular ports. Assuming everything previously mentioned is done, yes. If you go wireless on the laptop it will not have gigabit, when hardwired it will.

I think you are on the right track now, oh and preech the word of pro installed pro parts when you get junk video. Some of those installs aren't worth the power to run them.

Yup Hardy, it just isn't an all in one packaged solution. The router will be your firewall, NAT and DHCP server, it doesn't care if the stuff is directly connected to it or not. Hope not. Currently you aren't using all the wires so if one of that pair isn't connected... No gigabit until it is. If you are into wasting money. Yes should be a straight swap, if at all possible get a switch and PCI card made by the same people who built the on in the DVR. If thats not possible try to make as much the same brand as you can.

You also have to have ethernet adapters on every machine you want to it on, every pair of your CAT5 (or CAT6) has to be terminated correctly. I see alot of gigabit stuff running at 100 for reasons like that. IMHO gigabit is still kinda iffy, it will work if you stay with one vendor throughout but when you combine parts sometimes it falls back.

Might try this too. ftp://ftp.voyetra.com/pub/tbs/videoadv/powerdir.pdf Page 66.

Just got it again. Is the MySQL server local?

If I can get it compatable with Abit, I'll take one over anything else anyday for 15% more $. Just because they focused on customization and performance doesn't directly mean they left stability behind. The settings are in the BIOS, if you don't play with em you will have Intel reliablity IF you hardware is compatable. For about every DVR system I have ever seen Intel northbridges are the main restriction, Abit and Asus both have that covered assuming you can read the spec sheets. I hate answering questions exactly like this because non of us know jack about what other hardware is in the system and what his end goal is. Another thing he really wasn't too obvious about is this the server or the client machine, maybe its a server with a client for total demo. Heck if it's a client demo get the cheapest laptop you can find and call it good.

I'm not too familiar with turtle beach's stuff specifically but the concepts are pretty general. I assume the CCTV monitor (on their system) also displays it the wrong speed... Your capture card should record exactly what is on their screen. If you hooked this up to a regular VCR in your office you will have to reauthor the video and change it's display speed. You will be borked if you get on in thats multiplexed but that will make a boatload of the analog systems funtional for your needs. Thats also just part of time lapse, everyone is doing the robot. Keep in mind audiophile VCRs aren't good for much more then 320 lines after they have been used for any length of time. IT WILL look crappy when compared to HD video displayed on a PC. Hook it up to a DVD player and capture a few seconds of a decent movie, then watch it on the PC. If it looks okay then you know you are capturing good. If that looks crappy too (it will full screen on a 19" LCD, thats okay) at it's orginal size (720x480 WS or 640x480 FS) then you need to troubleshoot the turtle beach install first. This might help you. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/howto/PlayFaster_how_to.aspx I guess WMP can control playback speed if you just want to see it and capture stills, then no reauthoring.

Thats how I would do it, here is a USB capture device that I haven't personally used but I have used quite a few of their PCI internal hardware. Hauppage WinTVUSB http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/data_pvrusb2.html You'll need a BNC to RCA adapter often, just plug that in where their monitor does and do you best with their system to get unswitched full screen video. Then you'll have an MPEG2 copy that you can burn to DVD without transcoding so it will play in normal DVD players, also the USPS has deals on their "media mail" which covers DVDs. Also you never directly contacted the evidence.