Razer_SE

Sorry for the delay, I had to wait until morning to double check for you. The two 4mp ACTi 3911 cameras are running at 12fps which is max at that resolution. The Vivotek 8332 1mp cameras are all running at 8fps. When I got my very first Exacq test system I scoffed at it only having an i3 myself, but after a lot of testing I finally understood. It really is surprising, but now that I'm used to it I'm surprised when I see how much others use lol. Here is another example to show it's not a fluke, the screenshot below is 19 cameras being displayed in live view. 17 of these cameras are IP, two are analog. The analog cameras are mpeg4 at 5fps. The IP camera details are all h.264 with 14 1mp cameras at 5fps except for one that is at 10fps. 1 2mp camera at 8fps and 2 5mp cameras at 8fps. The CPU is an i3 @ 3.1ghz and it has 2gb of ram. The cpu bounces around from 31% to 33% as far as usage, and this just has standard onboard Intel video also. Not bad at all.

I agree with you that the 7411 you have now is not good at all, I have two that I got to test and I got very disappointing results. In fact, without great lighting none of my ACTi domes have preformed as good as I wanted so I switched to Vivotek and they work amazingly well in the exact same locations as my ACTi cameras were. I use the 5611 low light camera and it is markedly better than the 5211 camera, I'd say 4-5 times better nighttime performance. I use many e32 cameras but they are in very well lit areas, in low light they are not really good enough for me anyway. For very low light areas I usually end up with Vivotek cameras as they have less noise and generally look much better than my ACTi cameras. Granted, this is usually 1mp comparisons and not 2 or three. In my opinion, the new low light models will likely be worth the money for truly low light areas, my areas always have lighting of some type and I still suffer with the standard models at times. In my case I can easily get more light usually as it is business oriented surveillance. Residential where the neighbors or owners do not want bright lighting then I'd expect the low light cameras would be a must.

I know, hence why I mentioned it. Take a look at this one, specifically the processor in this beast lol. Mind you this is displaying 2 4mp cameras (Acti) and 6 1mp cameras (Vivotek) in live view all at once. All h.264 of course, on a Celeron. An old Celeron!

That was with live view, of all 20 cameras at once. All h.264 encoded. That's what I'm saying, not all software uses the processor the same as I've used other software that displaying 4 cameras at once would eat that same i3 processor alive lol. In fact after watching for a while the processor settled down to only 13% processor usage again with all 20 cameras displayed on screen at once, and with 4 of them recording at the time. I was also in the machine remotely, so there was some overhead from my connection also. I just tested another machine. Live view of 16 cameras. 11 of these are 3mp cameras, 1 is a 2mp camera and 4 are analog. All are h.264 encoded. The processor is an i3 at 3.1ghz, and there is 2gb of ram. The processor usage is 33% and steady there with me remoted in again with all 16 on screen at once. It goes to 37% when I remotely access the web view of all the cameras. Ram is at 2gb, and it sits at 80% used. Usually the system rotates 4 cameras at a time in a view rotation, this results in a normal CPU usage of 9% with spikes up to 15% when the rotation to the next quad view shows up. My exacq software may be more than some other options, but I also get it to run on very inexpensive servers making a lot of that cost right back up which is nice. Plus the systems are very reliable as they are not taxed very hard and they run cool and easy resulting in superb reliability. When I researched what new platform we were moving to I tried out maybe 7 products extensively, and looked at many more that I was able to tell early on would not work for my needs. In the end Exacq won our for my specific needs, and Luxriot and Avigilon rounded out my top three. Avigilon was third mainly due to cost, Luxriot was cheaper my had a couple critical flaws for my needs which are admittedly unusual. Exacq was able to meet all my needs, and in the end I was able to get great pricing so we went that route. I talked with Luxriot guys quite a bit and they had a good product with potential to be even better in the near future. I've not looked at them in the last year to see how far they have progressed.

The processor you need for live view totally depends on the software you are using. I tested Luxriot and liked it a while back, but I do not remember the processor usage. I had a few cameras I wanted to use that were not supported and the web view had a few issues that made it not work for us, but it was good software as I remember it anyway. What I do know is that I just logged into a server of mine that I'm setting up right now. I use Exacq, and this location currently has 12 1mp cameras and 1 2mp camera along with 8 analog cameras. The IP cameras are all running on motion only, all at full resolution and depending on the camera between 5 and 15 fps. With 20 cameras on the screen at once my computer process is sitting at 17% usage. The memory is at 37% usage. The processor is an i3, @ 3.3ghz and there is 4gb of RAM. I'll be adding at least two more IP cameras here, I have others with that many cameras but this was the most recent to get you an idea of camera usage processor usage on exacq, not sure where luxriot comes in at in comparison. POE switches are very nice, but I used Cicso and had several issues with the switches going bad, used basic Zyxel unmanaged and have had no issues and they've been perfectly reliable. Cisco covered the switches no problem, but it was still a pain to keep switching them out. I have 900ish cameras and 75 current locations and servers so I need reliability. If I need to power cycle I'll power cycle the UPS the switch is connected to and I get the same end result as using a managed switch in my case anyway. Managed switch at the office is a must, for my cameras it is unneeded for me anyway as I can remote to the UPS.

I use the ACTi cameras with the onboard dewarping and it works fine for me anyway. I have several in panoramic mode on a wall usually, and they work very well for my usual needs. I also have a vivotek or two and I like the images I get from them, but they record in the bubble view only. I can get the exact image I want in the cameras web view, but it does not output that quad view I want to my NVR software sadly. I've never tried to see if they work fine in panoramic mode as I have them all ceiling mounted.

Ah, I'd got the beta firmware there but assumed the official firmware once released would be accessible on their site. I guess not, so without being on a forum like this where does the average user get the firmware updates from?

Where exactly do I find it? I've looked in the obvoius places but do not see a place to get firmware on the hikvision webpage. I have 5.1 beta on my first Hikvivion camera that I got for testing and loking at it today after sitting on my bench for a few days untouched I see that it is stuck in night mode. I can manually switch it to day, but on auto it goes back to night mode even when looking directly at a light. Odd, going to try new firmware once I find it....

That will happen with virtually all IP cameras. The motion windows you draw on most cameras I've used have two options, sensitivity and percent of change. The sensitivity is the speed at which it should pick up changes, the percentage is the number of pixels that have to change in your window. Usually this is set to something like 5% by default in my software, but for some large motion windows I have it as low as 1%. When lighting changes, then virtually 100% of your pixels change, so that is detected as motion. Happens with all IP cameras that I've ever used. Partly cloudy days will be a lot of false motion hits as shadows go by that is for sure, it is the nature of motion detection on IP cameras. You could use PIR sensors to totally eliminate false detections, and not use motion on the cameras I guess. In the end I live with them, with motion on 23 cameras at one of locations I still get a year of footage on just 3tb. Other locations have 90 days or so on just 1tb with less cameras, it varies of course. Also you could find analytics that are a lot smarter on what they record, just people or cars for example. That is costly, but would also help. I live with falses as with 1000 cameras nothing at all is as cost effective as adding more HD space if needed!

The heat is amazing on some ACTi cameras, the hemispheric cameras also get super hot and do so very quickly. I swear you'll leave a ribbed burn line in you hand if you pick one up after it being on for an hour or so. I expect to see discolored drywall behind the ones in the office if we ever pull them down! Then I have both an Axis and Vivotek hemispheric camera and they put out no heat at all that I can tell anyway. I switched away from ACTi due to the issues I've had with them, way too many dying ofr unknown reasons. Almost all power related, I've had 30+ fixed for free under warranty now and had two I paid for due to lightning strikes. The only ACTi cameras I use now are the KCM-5611 series cameras. They too die, but I've found no better options for license plates for us anyway. Need that zoom ability and it sure does have it.

I have some vivotek cameras that could use a newer firmware, the new ones I'm getting come with 2.00d and that works well and I'd like to find it for download somewhere but can't find it. The new 3.00 firmware has some big bugs with pages not being viewable, say to change the bitrate for example. Times zones for scheduling night more are all screwy etc. Kind of a big deal, and once you go to 3.00 you can't roll back so I'd avoid that for now fyi. Ask me how I know... Anyway, assistance on the 2.00d would be appreciated if anyone knows where it might be hiding at Vivotek. I was thinking there was an Vivotek FTP out there with the the older firmware on it but I cannot find it.

Quick question on this, I started some searching for a solution but thought I'd ask here also. I have many Exacq hybrid servers with alarm inputs that work fine, but I also have about 30 locations with servers that I built, and they are IP only. I'd like to have alarm inputs on a few of these also, but need a more cost effective solution than the new exacqVision USB I/O Module that I know exists. That looks perfect, but the cost is way up there, I expected maybe $200-$300 and its over double that. I only need maybe 4 inputs total, I don't even need the output functions. Any other options out there that people have any experience with? If not I'll end up using the inputs on some of my cameras before I pay that much for the Exacq module, it's just much easier to land the cable by my DVR than the camera. Thanks for any ideas!

I have a few raspberry pis around here too, they are turly fun to play with and have all kinds of fun uses. Love them! I am wiring up motion sensors to these inputs, and just triggering an email right now. My problem is finding the type of motion sensors I need with a long and narrow beam. I'm using Optex sensors now, some with an 80' by 6' detection area and the others with 330' by 10'. Not found any other solutions (cost effective anyway)for us like these so far, but I'm sure there are options out there.

Looks good, the price is much better and more in line with what I was expecting too! It is supported by Exacq also so I may well be giving this a shot. Ethernet will work just fine also, the assistance is much appreciated. In my searches I was hitting AliBaba almost right off and I knew there had to be other options out there.

I use Exacq and the cpu usage is minimal, if the machine is sitting idle and the client is not running it is under 5% with an i3 and 2gb of ram and this is running windows 7. That's with 9 3mp cameras and one 2mp cameras and 5 analog for example. With the client running it might get up to about 20-25% with 4 3mp on screen at once. I have 72 separate sites running Exacq right now and love it overall. For my uses when looking a good web view was critical as 99% of our uses are the web client, it's used daily by many people across many of the locations. The mobile client works well also, I have it on my Android phone and my iPad for example and it works well. It was just updated and is working much better for me too. I use multiple brands of camera, and I think setup and install is dead easy. There are easier, like Aviglilon, but only really easier when using their cameras and I would not use them for many of my needs so it's more of a wash there. Seems the web view and app viewing was extra too, but maybe not now, I honestly don't know. We replaced a few HD Witness systems with the Exacq, and I've never even used the ACTi software even though I have a ton of ACTi cameras.

Thank you very much sir, I really do appreciate the assistance! This is why these forums are great, the people. I have no idea where I'd have ever found this otherwise.

I agree with the above, but if they do not want or can't do two systems then use Ubiquiti Nanostation M5 devices for the link. They work great, and for the ones I'm using, are dead nuts reliable so far. I also hooked up a set of Ubiquiti Nanobridge devices yesterday and connected 5 1mp cameras with no issues at all. Both solutions work the best that I've used for this type of purpose, and they are surprisingly inexpensive at around less than $100 for either solution! Configure it, hook it up and mount it, connect it to a POE switch and connect the cameras, super simple.

I think the reset is pretty long on these too. Seems like the last two I reset you have to be holding in the reset button when you power it on, and then hold the reset button down for around 10-20 seconds before it really reset. Hitting reset no matter how long with camera already on apparently does nothing.

I can have ACTi cameras set to a manual IP for another location that is not on my local network and still find them on my network using the ACTi IP utility. At worst they'll usually have a 169. IP address and I just change the IP directly from the utility. I've never had issues finding an ACTi camera no matter the network settings with the utility. They are DHCP from the factory though, or at least every one I've ever used has been so the e series, d series, TCM-1111, 5611, 5211 and whatever my few domes are have all been dhcp so you may have other issues with your cameras.

I'm running 8 e32 cameras on the 16 port version of your ZyXel switch with no issues like that. I also know from running the cameras on a Cisco switch that the cameras only use like 5-7 watts of power in day or night mode so you should not be having any power issues. When you are having issues in software can you access the camera directly in a web browser fine? The only other thing I can think of is an end or cable issue of some type. How cold are we talking? Maybe the cable or end is being affected by really cold temps? I have had guys connect ACTi cameras a few times and I can access the camera and change IPs and all but you get no video at all. Have them put new ends on the cable and it works fine, so the end must be 99% there but not quite right somehow. You never know I guess.

The new 6.04.15 firmware is out for the e series cameras, I know I tried it yesterday on 9 e32 cameras and it worked okay during the day, though I noted more falseing right off, then at night I was getting almost constant recording. I tried messing with the motion to raise the detection levels up as my motion was working fine before. No real luck, I doubled the detection percentages on many cameras and was still getting almost constant recording. The firmware upgrade notes said they had made motion more sensitive but man, that was awful. I rolled back after looking at the amount of recording overnight. As a note, my cameras have enough light at night they do not even go into night mode, so it was not a night vs day mode thing. Tried manually putting a camera in night mode, no improvement on the recording though. Just thought I'd share my experience with it so far. I did not have the patience to mess with completely redoing every single motion window last night anyway.

No, they upped the warranty. They used to have a shorter 1 one year warranty on several of the products and they upped them to two and sometimes three year. Which is good because I have now replaced/fixed over 25 cameras with the ACTi warranty.... My Vivoteks I only ever had two go bad. Seems to be a very sensitive power board part in the ACTi cameras as every single one has had bad power, and if I have 8 cameras on one switch the ACTi will fail and the other brand cameras are fine. Moving away from ACTi now due to these issues actually, and I really like the cameras too!

Thats hot. I have 71 Exacq servers but they are all in 71 locations and managed here. I'd love to see them all in one location in a rack just to actually see what all I've built lol!

I consider my 16 port zyxel switches loud also, I'd not want them in my house or anywhere that was not a dedicated equipment room or the like. The fanless 8 port ones are great, and you can purchase two of those for less than the cost of the 16 anyway if noise will be an issue. I use 16 port ones more as it's simpler and there is noone to hear my switches anyway. Nothing wrong with two 8 port switches though.

I rolled my cameras back and they quit with the constant recording. I even set the motion windows back to be even more sensitive and it works fine now. I went in a couple of the cameras while they were having this issue and looked to see which motion window was causing the issue. For example I found one of them being a quite large window set to 96% sensitivity and 1% motion. I moved it to 90% and 3% and was still getting nonstop recording and hits on that window. Moved it to 5% motion and it lessened, but still got way too much. Rolled the firmware back and the settings back to the 96% and 1% and it is fine now. The firmware notes that it made the motion detection more sensitive, and they apparently meant it! I'll have to try the firmware elsewhere I guess and start completely over on motion and see what the new levels are. As a side note, I moved back to installing more Vivotek cameras over the ACTi and am getting much better results overall right now. Motion detection and general image is usually better for whatever reason.