shockwave199

But you gotta be one mofo of a shot.

Yeah, it's great that you have that shot covering the windows too. I have a similar shot covering my back door and windows too. In fact, even my front door swipes down the side to cover windows. I like that full coverage from one camera. And really, it only takes one excellent frame for ID- not the whole video.

What kind of building- a residential building or a business/warehouse building?

Well that cured that ill. I still think it's too much of a shot in the back, but it cured the confusion. May that picture remain as nice looking and boring as can be for a lifetime. Every day that passes uneventful in a bad way on camera is a very good day. Dan

When they're running off the porch with your jewlery in their pocket, who's too late then? I think it's better to get them good while they're creeping, than before they're leaping. The opposite side could be a good shot, but I wouldn't count on it too heavily. I actually think you have the camera in the perfect spot as is, but maybe the wrong camera. Dan

Is it me or does the avi show the best detail? From the avi, I think you could grab a few still frames that would be useful. As Rory says, if the cops are familiar with the guy, there a few decent frames in there that could do the job. Dan

I think the far end of the porch would be a mistake. You have only a quick shot of someone coming up those steps and it looks like it'll only be a profile. And you'll have to be lucky to get that as I would guess most people walk on an angle of sorts heading up those stairs while looking towards the door. The rest of that whole shot is shooting people in the back. If anything, do a temporary install on the far side, maybe just putting it out the window there and have someone hold it in place just to see if that shot yields anything better. I would be surprised if it does. Do you have an exterior light at that door? Could be the easiest thing is to put a CFL bulb in there for big energy savings and keep it on full time. Looks kind of dark anyway there at that door. Nothing can really be suggested without pictures of the door way and where the camera is now. How can we guess what that wall is all about without a picture or two of what you have to deal with and how everything is situated there? More pics needed. Keep in mind that even dumb criminals know enough to wear hats and hoodies to obscure and hide their faces, so most of the effort goes largley nowhere. If you want to see yourself and the missus rocking in those chairs or the mailman and delivery people fine- they have nothing to hide. But crooks know better. You're likely to only see a better shot of a face that's mostly hidden. But I get it- you have to at least try. More pics needed please- not from the cctv cam, but pics of the space. And I tell you what, my cameras handle extremes like that much better than that samsung is doing. Could be a different, and not always more expensive, camera would do better. Dan

Aside from the obvious- getting D1 on all channels for the best shot at a good recording, I think it comes down to options as well. I'm still running my first dvr I put in line earlier this year, chosen with little understanding of specs. But as luck would have it, it's actually doing well and offers me options per channel. I only have D1 on the first two channels, which I knew going in. But that's enough for me. But per channel, I also have the option of HD1 and CIF. Per channel, I also have the option of frame rates from 1-30 fps, and bit rate options of low/med/high. So although I certainly don't have a high end dvr, the options give me the flexibility to balance out what I need per channel and I think that's a good thing too. Are these options typical to all dvrs, especially in the budget range? I don't know. So I suppose if you're getting a budget dvr, at least confirm that it's flexible in this area. And it's a good idea to DL the pdf manuals and see the real deal about what they can and can't do. Sometimes it's easier to figure out what the dvr can really do from the manual, as opposed to the spec page. Dan

And even THOSE systems can be installed like crap by lousy installers, leaving you no better off than seeing nothing. They did this very thing at work last year and I'm the one who watches it all night long. I can't imagine worse implementation on a mere seven cameras of a sixteen channel system. The rest of the channels remain empty because of how much they've spent thus far for nothing. I monitor what's not particularly important, and miss the MOST important areas. Amazing. I won't even mention the install itself. The only thing good are the cameras- but poorly placed. And in a browser on the same screen, I keep an eye on my own install at home. A mere pitance of cost compared, much cheaper cameras, but looking at exactly what I need to see. Moral- make sure you get your multi thousand dollar system installed right so you can actually realize what you paid for. Dan

Yeah seems like just a reseller. That's why I like the place where I get mine. Saves some bucks.

Sorry Rory. I thought it was an actual store link that was a no-no, not the mention of the store. Dan

Check out ####### as well- just to add more shopping choices to the mix.

http://wifi-wiz.net/ Watch all videos there, especially under the advanced section IP cameras. This should help you if you watch and absorb as much as you can. I believe he even covers netgear setup. This guy is great. Dan

Bump- you didn't think we forgot did you?

Sounds like the qsee cams I replaced and they are rough! Curious- you upgraded the dvr but they kept the qsee cams in line? What's the difference at that point!

Yes, a short video showing what you mean is helpful. Like Adam mentioned, IR, particularly weak IR will produce all kinds of noise in the image. It can look like fluid motion- even like there may be a person moving about. If you stare at the noise long enough you could swear you see just about anything. And that's the problem with poor light conditions and weak IR- it could very well BE someone and you just can't make it out. Best to upgrade your cameras to one that include really good built in IR- rated for at least what you need to cover. Or augment with a separte IR fixture to add more IR. Or install exterior lighting which will help your cameras see better in very low light, thereby lessening the noise. And don't rule out bugs and stuff too. Animal eyes will glow and look pretty creepy in a nosiy picture too- and they tend to move their head around a lot too. Good luck. Dan

The link you gave does do what you say, but it seems like an old cache link. If you go to their home page and click on products/select a product/standalone dvr's, you'll get the proper page. Far as specs, is the user confused, or is the specs per dvr there truly false? Pick one that you find false or misleading and tell us how it should really read- assuming you know what the product really ofers. I'm interested in knowing how to better decipher how specs read. This is actually a critical area to understand for a novice when choosing a dvr and maybe you could plainly lay it out.

Absolutely. Be sure to set each channel at the highest resolution possible, and at the highest bit rate you can per channel. You will absolutley see a big difference in remote viewing as well. Resolution and bit rates are the big ones for immediate improvement. I upgraded from 400tvls' to 520's, a 560, and a 600. All I know is that my picture per channel improved greatly because of better quality cameras. I almost exclusively view remotley.

I still see specs listed for every dvr there. Not sure what you're talking about. Argue the specs being wrong or bull, but saying they aren't listed isn't correct. Dan

What model dvr do you have?

Oh- gotcha on the neighbors car. And yeah, it's a really good idea to keep the cameras clean. Rain is another big one. I always clean my camera glass after rain. Clean them all- even the day pic of the driveway looks cloudy. When you upgrade, I suggest you do better camera placements too. From your day pics, the doors need better coverage. A side note- it's a really good idea to not put cans out the night before. You saw those guys go in one right? Garbage cans are a magnet for criminal mischief too- even more so the plastic/bottle recycle cans. Put them out in the morning if possible- always a better idea. Best of luck upgrading! No harm in that, except maybe the bank account! But when I needed to spend more money on my system I always asked myself this question- can I afford not to?

I don't claim to know much- i'm just a diy'r too. But unless you want to upgrade to 16 channels, I'm not sold on the fact that your dvr is the weakest link from those vids. The first vid- your front yard shot; you have what's been touted as a very good camera but it's way too wide to give you anything meaningful at that car all the way out there. And at that camera position, you have a serious glare problem coming from the street light or lamp post. That's fighting your image quality big time right there. I would install two cameras- one tight to the car area out there and one getting that whole side by your cans, but from the opposite direction to avoid that light post. In the driveway shot, it's better and you could have a possible identity shot in a couple frames if needed. Not great, but there's something there. But here again, your IR's or something is very washed out and not providing useful illumination. I have a feeling you may have your brightness/contrast set up poorly for your night pictures. Tweak the picture settings and get a good picture for daytime sure, but make certain you get the best picture you can for nightime too- even more so. Have a friend go out there to be the bad guy and really fine tune your picture settings for night views. Doing a vid with a camera pointed at a monitor screen for demonstration doesn't help that much either. Point being- I'm not sold your dvr is the weakest link in your current setup. Better camera placement/zoom and better picture tweaking per channel in the dvr would certainly improve things, I believe. If it's a 16 channel upgrade- great. Get a good one. I don't mean to say an upgrade isn't worth it. But you'll still face these problems no matter what dvr you have in line- having spent possibly serious bucks. I'd tweak placement and or zoom settings and picture settings for each camera first and see if that doesn't help your dvr help YOU. Good luck. Dan

I did this short vid of my finished install- shot in remote view at night. Not one of these cameras was over 50 bucks- a few under 50 bucks. Considering the amazing quality I've seen here from great cameras, these cheap cameras do fall short, obviously. But for a diy job on a tight budget just to get a system up a running, I think it's quite adequit. Perhaps I'm bias though! Seven cameras are gadspots; bullets and domes, 520's and a 560 tvl, and one q-see 400 tvl cmos that came with my package. I opted rather quickly to change the q-see cams out to gadspots to upgrade my viewing quality. I'm pleased. And I hope maybe this will be of interest to other residential diy'ers out there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF6KhI_eGT0 Dan

If it's night vision you're interested in, watch my night vid for my system in my signature link. The model numbers of the cameras are in the vid. These are cameras from gadspot. Put a .com after it and browse around. The cameras are still doing great. Good luck. Dan

I have a q-see system but certainly defer to pro installers that might answer your questions. I can only speak from a DIY perspective. 1- Not sure what I'd use if I were to bury the. Perhaps PVC as a conduit to protect the cable. As far as weather proofing the connections, I used a weather proof electrical tape from home depot. It has held up thus far to some mighty serious weather and temps. Severe cold is next up at bat. I have no doubt it will do fine. 2- You can get the cable at lots of different places. The online q-see store, amazon, even gadspot.com- where I got my cameras for my qsee system. They have pretty darn good cable for great prices- much hardier cable than the qsee cables. You can also get siamese cable- superior cable in which you put the connectors on each end yourself. That leads into your next question which I'll leave to someone more qualified to answer. 4- Don't extend the stock 60'. Get the appropriate length cable you'll need and make one clean run with no extensions. The cable packages that are labled extensions, and come with adapter connections, can also be used right from the dvr to the cameras. If you need 120', don't use two 60's. Buy 120'. Extensions can weaken signal, therefore making the picture worse. One soild line, no extensions is best. 5- For any cable runs longer than the stock 60', you need a separate power adapter. Go to q-see.com and follow the link to the q-see online store. There you can buy the appropriate adapter for the cameras you're using. Many will suggest to use a CCTV power box to supply power to all the cameras separately and in my experience juggling an eight camera system, it's worth it. They are relatively cheap and it avoids power adapters completely. Don't hookup any less than two cameras to the stock 4 way power splitter. Not good for the cameras as those splitters are meant to power multiple cameras at once, not singles. What q-see package did you get? I got the 408 and so far, I like it a ton. Take a look at my vids in my signature and at my youtube channel for more insights. Good luck. Dan