Diddly

As DVR_Expert_Australia said, the GeoVision 1 port, 2 port and 4 port cards use BNC connectors. But when using the 6 port, 8 port, 12 port, 14 port or 16 port cards there will be 2 x D-type (DB15) connectors on them. Fly leads then attach to these which end in numbered BNC connectors. There is a different lead for cameras 1-8 and 9-16. The older style cards used to use expansion BNC boards which would connect to the main surveillance card but that is now a thing of the past. As GeoVision is converting most of their other components ie. GV-Net and GV-IO to PCI it will make the whole system much more concise keeping everything locked away internally. Include that with some of the new features that GeoVision is working on and you'll have a far more safe and secure surveillance system. Although, with PCI-X and a whole plethora of computer hardware changes in the works shortly expect major changes in the composition of surveillance sytems as everything moves into 64 bit.

Interesting discussion here, and to throw in my few cents.. Being from a PC based background, I find myself tending to sway towards the PCI card surveillance option. Have never had any major issues with my personal computers, since if something does go wrong, and it will.. guaranteed at some point, because that's electronics and they are never likely to be perfect. But I can troubleshoot the issue, replace components that are faulty and the system is running again. Unfortunately, the same does not go for the Standalone DVRs. Having said that though, I can see that Standalone are less likely to have problems.. the less something can do, the less can go wrong. With the embedded OS the system is only running what it requires for its security system. Unlike a PC based system which is using a generic OS, windows primarily, and loads a whole pile of useless services and hence can be more prone to issues. Performance out of a PC will likely always be better, there is so much money put into developing the computer chipsets/components that any security manufacturer can tap into this potential and utilise it on their PCI card. Whereas, a Standalone DVR system will generally have to code their own embedded OS system, so of course the GUI will be less pretty, but the system will likely be more stable. Both systems though are essentially computers of some description.. will all be based on similar infrastructure, using memory, hard disks, CPUs, CD-RW drives, whatever. So they will both suffer from similar problems.. try putting either in a totally air-proof, secure locker and watch them overheat. A PC based system will always likely run hotter, and there are ways to solve this.. can always get into the extreme water cooling processes if you are really concerned. And like someone mentioned, some people will not just use the PC based system as a security system, they'll think because it's a computer running windows they can use it for other purposes. Bad idea. If you put a Standalone next to a similarly priced PC based system they would basically be identical because they basically are the same thing. One may have better network support, the other more stable, one might have slightly better compression, the other may have a prettier GUI. I find it's whatever suits you the best, and what the customer wants inevitably. Personally speaking, i'll stick with the PC based systems cause with my knowledge base I find them easier to troubleshoot since if a Standalone goes down fully there's little I can do. I can upgrade the systems and know more about what's in them myself. Their increased performance, better networkability and remote abilities, cheaper costing will always lead me towards such systems. But, I believe it's important to "idiot proof" these sytems from the customers.. or at least stress upon them how to maintain the systems effectively and not use them for other purposes. Lock up a PC with a capable cooling system, with dust filters and you should find it'll run fairly stable for a long while. But, like I say.. that's just my personal preference.

This was only briefly touched on before in a previous forum.. http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=279 Although that's probably from where you got the link. AVCONSULTING might have some more info on it. They claim that NVR is superior to DVR, and they list their reasons on this page, saying that NVR can have 1,000 cameras linked to their system. No comment here myself yet since I haven't seen anything further yet than their page, but will look into it further. http://www.softsite32.com/DVR_VS_NVR.htm

Having said my speel about LCD.. back to the Plasma issue. Plasmas also use phosphor technology the same as CRTs. Pixels each contain a red, green and blue light source. So when a pixel remains on the same image for a long time and is continually activated the blue light source begins to age prematurely due to its shorter life span. This then generates a yellowish tinge which gives the "etched" or burnt-in appearance. So should you have a stable image for long periods of time, then unless you have money to blow on beautiful flat screens on Plasmas then I would definately recommend against them. LCD will be the future of displays as the technology becomes more widely used and cheaper. But if you are intent on using plasmas, then find a DVR with a non-blue gui software to at least try to extend the life of your screen

LCDs don't burn-in at all due to the way they are manufactured and their technology, although the CRTs these days don't offen suffer from burn-in much either. The main issue with LCDs are "dead pixels". These are pixels that don't function and can not be repaired. Often these are not even covered under warranty and are just something that any user must accept with an LCD. Apart from that drawback, LCDs are almost supreme in every other way to CRTs: lower power usage, lack of magnetic interference, no screen flicker and obviously size and weight. Give LCDs a short time longer and all the other issues relating to slower update times, colour capabilities etc. will likely be equal or supreme to CRTs. Having said that, some LCDs can still suffer from being used for extensive periods of time, especially on the same image. Though this comes down to LCD quality, not burn-in or anything like that which CRTs suffer from.

The ATV V-200 is a 2-camera video IP server. It can act as a Stand Alone Webserver or Add-on to DPX Multiplexer. Rather than posting all the info here i'll instead leave these 2 links for anyone interested to check out. http://www.vsscctv.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=187 http://www.cctvproducts.com/v200.html