Soundy

Most cameras I've seen with an analog service jack actually use an RCA rather than a BNC... but aside from that, you can just use a crossover cable to plug a laptop directly into the camera as well.

Maintenance for a DVR? Not much... clean the dust out now and then, make sure it's in a low-dust, well-ventilated area. For PC-based ones, you can run HDD and RAM diagnostic utilities from time to time to make sure everything is hunky-dory. Replacing a fuse tends to be fairly easy in most devices - easy replacement IS half the point of a fuse, after all. Look at the power supply above - there's a master fuse in the AC feed of each transformer, then there's a main fuse on each distribution board, and a fuse for each channel - just pop one out and pop in another of the correct type.

I'd be worried that your "testing" of applying power to different pins may have damaged something. The vast majority of professional PT(Z) cameras and platforms use RS-232/422/485 serial data to control their movement - this is generally only a +5 or +12VDC low-current data signal applied to a single pair of pins, and it carries only command instructions for the various operations. In other words, there are no separate pins for up, down, left, right, etc. Now, there are some cameras that do use individual pins for each control direction, but they tend to be either on the cheap side, or the really old side (before the industry more-or-less standardized on serial communications). Problem is, without standards, they can operate in a variety of different methods. I think the last one I dealt with, the camera had remote zoom and focus functions, whereby zooming in or out, or focusing in or out, was controlled by the appropriate wire being connected either to ground or to +Vcc. For example, connect the zoom wire to ground, and the camera zoomed out... connect it to the power line, and it zoomed in.

I don't speak for this site, but I've been around long enough and seen enough similar types of boards to give some reasoned answers I don't believe they are directly affiliated with any one vendor. The forum sells advertising space to vendors, via their banners (see http://www.cctvforum.com/advertise.php). To be affiliated themselves with a specific vendor would present a potential conflict of interest, and most likely drive away many advertisers. The "Why advertise" blurb includes this line: "Members and visitors come to CCTV Forum to discuss and get unbiased recommendations on CCTV equipment and components." I've seen this done on vendor-related forums, but it's pretty tricky to do, and always leads to accusations of bias. The best way to avoid it is to simply avoid any direct affiliation - everyone pays the same amount for their ad slots, and everyone gets the same coverage. Being a private operation, they don't HAVE to follow any rules of "fairness"... but they do try to be fair to all, which is one of the major benefits of this site over others I've seen. Now all that said... if you're looking for a reliable supplier, a lot of the members here are installers and resellers in the industry, and have their own list of suppliers they use and like to recommend (or warn against, as the case may be). If you mention what area you're in, someone else can probably offer some suggestions of suppliers to try. It's usually pretty easy to tell the difference between them, and mouthpieces for the suppliers themselves.

I mean, what's the difference between using a wall outlet and buying a power supply? I think that answers my question though. Only information I found is that it makes a friendlier install. Imagine you have 16 cameras, each with its own wall-wart... you get messes like this: Compare that, to this: It makes installation cleaner and easier, and it makes troubleshooting later FAR easier. Most of these supplies use fused outputs... finding and replacing a blown fuse is a damn sight easier than tracking down and replacing a bad adapter in spaghetti messes like those pictured above!

Again, the important thing to look for is an auto-iris lens. In the case of a bullet camera, look for what appears to be a small motor attached to the side of the lens... similar to the picture below (in fact, the innards of most bullet or "lipstick" cameras are usually a simple baord camera similar to this): With "box" cameras there will usually be a wire coming out of the lens that you plug into the camera. With this type of system, as the scene gets brighter, the iris in the lens closes down, physically reducing the light opening to lower the light level. When it gets dark, the iris opens up again to allow more light.

Being strictly semantic, a NVR is a DVR... however, the important difference to remember is that you need a DVR if you have or plan to use standard analog cameras*, or an NVR if you're using network (IP) cameras (since the N stands for Network). Don't worry about which costs more, worry about which will fulfill your needs, since TOTAL cost of a system needs to factor in the cameras as well - IP cameras in general cost more than analog cameras, but analog DVRs require some sort of capture hardware, whereas NVRs require only the proper software... in the view of a complete system of recorder AND cameras, the cost differences aren't that great. *side note: analog cameras can also be used with an NVR with the use of a "video server" device, but that's something for a different discussion.

IMHO, IR illumination is a "cheap fix" in most cases - it's used to provide a measure of low-light coverage for cameras that really aren't capable of proper low-light performance, where getting that performance is substantially more expensive. It's like the old workaround we had in car audio, guys slapping in overblown EQs in an effort to compensate for a poorly-designed system of cheap components, rather than just spending the money to design and build a proper system in the first place. Since I've generally avoided IR, I can't speak authoritatively for the 900nm models, but I suspect the reason you don't see them used more is because they're not as effective, and they're more costly - if you're going to spend that money, most times you're better off simply buying a better camera. If these are bullet cams, chances are they don't have auto-iris lenses, which is what you really need to address your exposure issues. A camera's sensor and electronics can only handle so much dynamic range; beyond that, you need to physically control the amount of light entering the camera, which means auto-iris. The benefit with security lights is that they themselves help provide a deterrent - if someone is creeping around the property and a motion-triggered 500W floodlight snaps on, it's as often as not going to startle them into simply leaving. Place the lights near the cameras and they won't be able to see the cameras without being blinded, and if they do look straight up at the light - as a startled person is likely to do - you'll get a nice clear, well-let shot of their face. Unfortunately, the only real solutions to your problems - good quality low-light cameras without IR workarounds - require money. Not necessarily a LOT of it, but it's not something you can cheap out on. You might do better to start off with a lesser DVR and put your money into better cameras; the DVR can always be replaced with something better down the road when or if it becomes necessary.

So, do you think the above images are a result of simply being out of focus or a lens issue as I speculate? I hope it is that simple. Well, considering both are sharp in color, but the IQ is then out of focus in B&W and IR... yeah, I'd say it's pretty clear that's a lens issue, unless the camera is changing its own back-focus.

This seems more like a lens issue to me. Since IR is at a different wavelength than visible light there are always compromise when it comes to focusing. One generally picks what mode is used most and tries to get focus close as possible without sacrificing clarity by splitting the difference in focus. My suspicions are a better IR corrected lens on the IQ will yield better results between both mode. Oh wait, I can post some out-of-focus pics from these AV3155s too!

I'm not at all surprised. That is more common than not. Developers will test a product on a few of the more common operating system releases, but the product will likely run on many more operating systems than are included in the installer. Windows 2K is often not tested or included in the install list, but that does not mean it won't run on Windows 2K. Best, Christopher Yeah, the kicker is that the installer specifically checks the version of Windows and refuses to install on anything but XP or 2K3 Server.

Hmmm, that's a bit over-analytical, and WAY over-generalized. Quite simply, "DVR" stands for Digital Video Recorder, which CAN include network cameras, and in fact, a system with ONLY network cameras is also a DVR; "NVR" is simply a more specific term to indicate that the system is network-only with no analog capture hardware. Typically, a system with analog AND network cameras is called a "hybrid DVR". As far as cost, ANY of the three types of systems can be "extremely expensive" to implement; it really depends on a lot of different factors... hardware used, software used, cameras used... you could put together a dirt-cheap NVR with low-grade network cameras and cheap NVR software... you could assemble a VERY expensive analog-only DVR with high-end cameras, top-grade computer hardware, and highly sophisticated software.

Nevermind, forgot about the DVR you were using If the DVR has one or more audio inputs, just about any mic you can get from Radio Shack will work... just make sure it's a dynamic mic, as condenser types will need a power supply.

I'm liking IQ the more I hear - the camera first tries to load an ActiveX control, and if it can't, it loads a Java applet instead. Works with every browser I've tried it on.

A "DIY" section, perhaps? An alternate idea for this might be, along with the phpBB update (when or if it ever happens), if a "portal" page is added, which would support separate modules for posting categorized links, as well as modules for photo/video galleries, user/company directory, etc. If a "links" section is added, I'd suggest that it contain only high-level links - to main company sites, company contact page(s), and/or support page(s). NO links to specific products or price lists or order forms. Good thinking too, but it would have to be carefully watched to ensure it doesn't just become a dumping ground for spam links as well - for example, "training" info that's specific to one brand or model, sponsored by that manufacturer or vendor, unless it's good "general-knowledge" information. A good example of this might be this DSLR tutorial that Canon has online, that is based around their Rebel XT camera, but is all just good general photography info.

How about a camera with built-in audio? Talk to ak357 about his "plug'n'play" network cameras with audio.

Welcome! So how far beyond Hope are you? Yale? Spuzzum??

Well, the Arecont has that utility... it just won't let you install ONLY that utility. BTW, I tried a little experiment: copied the whole Arecont program folder from my desktop to my flash drive... took it to a Windows 2000 machine... surprise, surprise, the AVINSTALL utility runs ON WINDOWS 2000, on its own, no NEED to install all that extra shyte. Pretty stupid that the installer stops you from running it on Win2K, when the finder actually does work. Gonna try it on Win98 next, just to be silly...

You could do that, although those outputs are generally meant for connecting a service monitor or sending a signal to a customer-awareness monitor. On some cameras, the analog output actually includes focusing aids (a 100% crop in the center 1/4 of the display). On a couple cameras I've seen, it's also only on for about 5 minutes after power-up. If it doesn't have the analog-out port, you can use just about any computer or remote browser. You can plug a laptop or netbook directly into it with a crossover cable, or I like to carry a cheap wireless router that I can plug into the network and then access all the cameras wirelessly from my laptop. My coworker does the same thing using his Archos - much more convenient. I haven't tried it yet, but I should also be able to do it with my Windows Mobile phone too.

All they need, is to allow the USER to decide whether they want the NVR installed or not along with the finder. Not that difficult a concept - don't force me to install software I don't want or need.

Arecont has built in web server in every camera and yes u can adjust parameter's of the camera p.s. They do have stand alone IP finder utility Thanks for clearing that up ak... But I must say that now I don't understand any of the dilema here, I must not be experienced enough to understand it. I was under the impression that all the features and functions could be configured with the cameras onboard web server configurator and ip finder utility.. The dilemma is that the camera ships only with an installer than installs the configurator, AND the NVR, AND sets the NVR to auto-start with Windows. There are no options during installation to change or disable this behaviour. Before you can access the cameras via webserver, you need to assign an appropriate IP to them - this is true with most network cameras, including the IQEyes. But with the IQs, there's a very basic little "IQfinder" utility that runs to allow you to set the camera's IP and name, after which it can remain installed for future use; it doesn't install any services, it doesn't launch itself at startup, it doesn't interfere with anything else. With Arecont's package, it installs its own NVR whether you want it or not; it sets the NVR to auto-start with Windows whether you want it to or not; and apparently, Arecont cameras don't like to have more than one stream accessing them, so if their NVR and your desired DVR/NVR are both starting up and reading the camera, it's going to cause problems. To avoid this, you have to uninstall their software again, or at least launch it and go into the settings to disable the auto-start. Whether this is a "helpful" or not may be debatable... what's not, as far as I'm concerned, is that when you're installing one piece of software that you DO need (the IP finder/configurator), the manufacturer SHOULD NOT be forcing you to also install software you MIGHT NOT need (the NVR), especially if it will cause conflicts or problems with your existing software. This is ridiculously easy to fix: add a step to the installer that lets you set or clear a checkbox for which portions of the package you want to install. If I don't want or need their NVR, let ME select to not install it. Don't just go ahead and assume I'll want it.

Arecont has built in web server in every camera and yes u can adjust parameter's of the camera This is true. It's simply far more limited than IQ's. Thanks for that, Alex... problem is, it's not something that's readily available. The software the cameras comes with installs ONLY the complete NVR suite, with no options to do only a partial install. The download from their website is the same package as on the shipping CD.

Didn't I already say that? I also have the option to recommend others avoid these cameras, as their bundled software will install and launch additional programs without their permission. Then why do they force it to install along with the configuration tool? And the next tech that comes along? Install -uninstall - reinstall - uninstall gets a little silly, and again, it shouldn't be necessary with a PROFESSIONAL product. Give me the OPTION of which tools I want or need to use. The problem with this is that if for some reason, I don't have the chance to uninstall the NVR, it's going to start up automatically and create problems with my CHOSEN DVR/NVR. Furthermore, some DVRs (including Vigil) are now being built on stripped-down embedded XP systems loaded on a small flash drive, that leaves little room for additional software. If I need to install JUST the configuration tool, it's likely going to fail because the drive doesn't have the room for the complete suite of unneeded applications - once again, the installer should allow ME to select the tools that *I* need, not what Arecont thinks they want to force on me. You may prefer the NVR interface for configuration... I find IQ's perfectly usable, and it allows me the ability to adjust camera settings from anywhere in the world that I have a browser... even my smartphone.

So you prefer to force users to install unneeded software? You're saying if I install software you provide for a specific purpose, whether through choice or necessity, that I can expect other software to be installed without my approval, and set to run automatically on my computer without my permission? To some people, that's the description of a virus...

I feel your pain with the NVR software but it's free marketing for them. Doesn't drop their professional image in my mind. My opinion is if you around any industry and see something you don't agree with you're argument shouldn't be i shouldn't have to.....it's going to wear you down. No, my argument is, I SHOULD have the option to NOT install portions of the software that I don't need or want. Imagine you hire me to install some cameras for you... so I come in, hook them up, and then remove your DVR and install mine instead, without your permission, without even informing you in advance that I'll be doing it. Is that the "professional" way to act? Are you going to thank me for it? Or are you going to turn around and tell people not to hire my company? It's not free marketing - it's telling the customer, "We want you to use OUR stuff and we don't care about how it affects you." And like I said, it's got me advising AGAINST Arecont cameras until they AT LEAST add the ability for ME to select which of their programs *I* need. It's not going to wear me down at all, if I refuse to purchase their products.