flyeye

Hi, I have a project involving IP cameras with a somewhat unconventional usage, perhaps. I hope someone here can advise me on the best way to do it. This is what I need to do: 1) using 4x wifi-enabled IP cameras 2) start recording all of them at the same moment (exact same moment) 3) record highest quality video for one hour, for each camera, onto a single hard disk a normal "avi" or "mp4" type file 4) the program should be really simple - i.e. double click on an icon to start the recording. maybe there can be a monitor for the cameras also, but this is not a requirement in the beginning. only recording. Can anyone advise on the best way to do this? Do I need to buy an IP camera that has an SDK? If so, what make/model should I get? I currently have a couple of ip cameras from lesser-known chinese manufacturers. they are WDR 1.3 or 2MP IP cameras. thank you!

No, use the alarm inputs or send URL commands if your cameras support that to start/stop recording. As for software, that's easy, get a C++ compiler and start writing code. Hi, I don't want to use the alarm inputs (I want to avoid any GUI and especially not use IE) What do you mean "send URL commands" ? something like this? http://IPAddress:port#/videostream.cgi?user=username&pwd=password yes, I (or someone I can hire) needs to start writing code. do you have any insight into which IP camera has a good SDK ? What about root access - wouldn't it help me to have root-level access to the linux system on the camera itself, where presumably I'd be able to configure all the IP address stuff and set video parameters such as white balance, frame rate, bitrate? thank you!

Hi, Neither VLC nor VirtualDub can open the file. If I do an RTSP capture using VLC, then it does output a usable file which can be opened in both VLC and VirtualDub. As for muxing 4 videos into one - is there a way in software to do this? I can't buy a $6500 box to do that. Another question - Can i connect the 4 IP cameras to one router, and then have them recognized on the network as a single IP device, and start/stop recording simultaneously?

Hi, OK, thank you very much for the replies. Now, I have two problems: 1) My cameras record to some awful kind of file that I can't open in *any* player. Except youtube - I can upload it there, and it works ok. But I need to be able to open the files locally. 2) Yes, if it would be possible to mux the files into one single huge file with 4 videos in a single picture, it would be great. Is this even possible? thank you.

Hi, Newbie here I have a hikvision 4008 hci which i'm using with 4 cameras. The videos look fine, however, I cannot play them anywhere - no other program I've tried can open them - except for Elecard, which costs about $2500. What I actually need to do is to extract ALL frames from the videos as jpeg or png. This means for example opening the video in Virtualdub and extracting the image sequence. Please, can anyone point me to the files needed to open these hikvision avc h.264 video files in 3rd-party video players? I've been pulling my hair out for months (yes really) over this. Or, instead of using the Hikvision capture software, would it be better to use CyeWeb (never tried it but it seems to be compatible) which apparently saves files to a more compatible format? Thanks in advance for anyone who can help! Bob

Hi, I'm looking for a 4ch. mobile dvr that records full D1 on all 4 channels simultaneous. I've found this model, "made by sanan" http://www.sanan-cctv.com/en/products/SD-Card-Mobile-DVR_SA-2274.html which looks totally identical to this one "made by k-ding" http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/471500754-4-channel-mobile-dvr-for-bus-taxi-car-security-32GB-sd-500GB-HDD-D1-resolution-serial-wholesalers.html and the same as this one, "made by BVI" http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/437448673-hidden-4-channel-mobile-dvr-for-bus-taxi-car-security-32GB-sd-500GB-HDD-D1-resolution-wholesalers.html So, do you think these are all the same device, in reality made by a single company? Not sure if I need to buy each one and see which one is "real".... thank you!

It worked out fine for me. No problems. I think, like ebay, there is some reputation system which makes it mostly safe as long as you're careful. And I paid by credit card, so there is additional protection there.

And then after cutting "middleman" they come to CCTV Forum for help and all of us jump to help them wow very cool My experience has been fine. You people sure are negative. Jeez. Are you nervous about your job becoming obsolete? I've bought 5 samples from different suppliers, including one from aliexpress, which was $200 with free shipping. I've seen similar things for sale from western dealers for $1500 So, everything is ok. I still don't know who really makes it though.....

Same reason I am buying them from china in the first place, and not from some distributor in my country: It will be presumably 30-50% cheaper from the original manufacturer, than these other suppliers. Right? You might reasonably think so, but it's not that simple, anyway good luck tracking them down. Why isn't it that simple? Cut out the middleman, right? Sure, I don't mind buying more units once I've tested this thing and it turns out to meet my requirements. Oh, also, I wouldn't mind having the SDK, again, something that the original manufacturer would be in a better position to offer me, and also at a cheaper price if it is something I have to pay for.

Same reason I am buying them from china in the first place, and not from some distributor in my country: It will be presumably 30-50% cheaper from the original manufacturer, than these other suppliers. Right?

Well, I have asked a few of these companies, and at least 3 say that they manufacture it. Could that be true? I've bought 3 models from 3 companyes, and i'll see if they are in fact identical, including the packaging, which would tell me that they are made by a single manufacturer.

Hi, I need a DVR card (4 channels or more) that has an SDK for Linux, which uses MJPEG compression. Not h.264 compression. (Because I need to split the video stream into individual jpeg files, and h.264 is not good for that) Can anyone tell me about a card which fulfills this requirement, please? I have been looking quite a lot but I didn't find anything yet. Thank you! Flyeye

Hi, I have found a great DVR card, which I'm pretty excited about trying: Dahua DH-VEC8004HD PCI-E 4 Channel HD-SDI Full-HD 1080P H.264 Compression Card But it uses "3G SDI" cameras in order to achieve 1080P resolution. I need board cameras, but I haven't had any luck finding these. I have found "camera units" but they don't include the CCD or lens mount (so I"m confused about what they even are) can anyone give me advice about how to find 3G SDI board cameras that will work with this DVR card? thank you! Flyeye

Hi, I need a DVR card which can record in the highest quality possible. Hard disk space is no issue. I am getting good results with the hikvision 4008HCI - but i'm wondering if there is something better out there. Thank you! Flyeye

4008HCI does up to 8ch 2CIF real time; you also have from Hikvision 4208HFVI, which does up to 8ch D1 (4CIF) real time. D1/4CIF is as high as you can go with analog cameras. Ah - I'm only using 4 cameras at the moment, so I can get 4x D1 resolution but not 8x D1 resolution with this card.... right?

Thanks Linovision, I contact you but you didn't reply. Please, can anyone else advise? I am still looking for 3g sdi board cameras. Do they even exist? I have found the dvr card, and the camera boards, but not the camera modules themselves. thanks in advance if anyone can advise! Flyeye

I have found only this "3G SDI" camera board, but it seems to not include the sensor itself http://www.jetro.go.jp/ttppoas/anken/0001126000/1126585_e.html I wonder if anyone could point me towards a board camera that has 3G SDI (1080P) resolution? thanks, Flyeye

Hi Rory, Wow, this is very interesting. I had not come across this DVR card before. This leads me to two questions. 1. With a card like this, will there be a difference in the resolution captured, between say a 600TVL and 750TVL camera? 2. Otherwise, where is a good place to look for board cameras with 1080P resolution? I found something here http://shop.leopardimaging.com/product.sc?productId=52&categoryId=10 for example? thanks, this is all very helpful for me! Flyeye

the problem is that the "live view" looks great, but the saved movie is too compressed. I want a DVR card that does as little compression as possible ( = huge files on disk, no problem!)

if these are cheap board cams then i would not bother about the the DVR having the highest recording quality. they will be low tvl so just go 30 fps @ cif I'm using expensive 650TVL "true WDR" board cams. something higher than D1 should certainly be possible, I think!

What he actually wants are image files like .jpg or .png. I don't know any capture card that will do that, but it might exist. Hi, So if I want truly maximum quality from individual frames, as I understand it, it's best if I get an MJPEG card, not an H.264 card? Hardware compression is better than software compression, yes? Is there a card with an SDK and Linux capability, with hardware MJPEG capture? thank you! Flyeye

I can't find any DSP Research which might be the right one - can you provide any link to them? I would be very interested. thank you! Flyeye

Can you recommend a card that does mjpeg capture, with maximum quality? Would the quality from an mjpeg hardware compression card be better or worse than a H.264 hardware compression card? thanks, Flyeye

From the comments I've read on this forum, there seem to be little or no benefit to using 600+ TVL board cameras. But I guess in some time, the DVR cards will catch up to these new cameras? Is there any DVR card currently which can record higher than 704x576 / 720x480, taking advantage of these new 600 or 700TVL cameras? thanks, Flyeye

Thanks Matt for your help. So, this huge market shift from 520TVL to 600, 650, 700 TVL is completely meaningless, marketing BS thrown upon ignorant consumers? (Hey, it wouldn't be the first, or the last time!) What about the Effio and its Wide Dynamic Range? Surely the overall quality from these cameras are going to yield a slightly higher quality image overall than predecessors? But again, in real world terms, the "best" 600TVL camera and the "best" 700TVL camera will have zero difference in quality, color, sharpness, sensitivity, etc.? thank you, Flyeye