Hi. I would appreciate any help anyone can give me. I'm in a learning mode. I'm trying to piece together a video surveillance system for my home. I know very little about this so I am conducting some research. My comments may be all over the place, but bear with me.
I prefer to have day/night cameras with 950nm IR for night time use due to the red light issue. I don't really want anyone to notice the light. If it ends up being too expensive, I'll have to go with 840nm.
I have the need for 6 outside cameras:
qty: 1 @ 5 to 10 feet
qty: 2 @ 10 to 20 feet
qty: 3 @ 60-80 feet
I also would like 2 inside cameras:
qty: 1 @ 10 to 15 feet
qty: 1 @ 15 to 20 feet
It would be nice for the inside cameras to be 950nm and be either fake PIR or be housed behind a wall-plate with a pinhole view, but I don't know if anything like that exists on the market.
I bought a Zmodo package on Woot for about $280:
http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=18505
Really cheap. I know. But it gave me an understanding of how this stuff works. The package contains 8 cameras (CM-C11313SV) and an 8-channel DVR (DVR-H9108V).
The cameras aren't very crisp or clear for night time identification. Rather poor quality. I don't know what specs to look for on a camera to get crisp and clear images in both daytime and nighttime IR modes. I have no idea what technologies exist for the image sensors or the actual number of LEDs that are needed for IR. In fact, could I use 950nm illuminators for any IR camera? I don't know. What's the maximum number of TV lines you can get from a camera? The most I seem to find are around 540-600. How much superior is that to 420 lines? Can someone point me to some comparison photos (night time). Maybe someone can help be out given my distance specs above. The specs on the cameras that came with the package are:
Image sensor: 1/4" Color CMOS
TV Lines: 420
IR LED: 12
Lens: 3.6mm
The Lens diameter seems to be directly related to the field of view and maybe the ability to see further away?
Also, I am finding it very difficult to find video on the web of actual night time IR surveillance replay – especially with faces. Maybe IR technology isn't sophisticated enough to really capture clear crisp images. It would be a great selling tool to show actual video in scenarios like that. After all, if you can't get a crisp image, why bother with the video?
So, if you can help me by answering any questions above, providing any practical information and/or lessons learned, I would appreciate it.
