dazzaUK

Hello, Having failed to find a compatible DVR card for my 64bit WHS 2011 server, I'm considering a standalone 4channel IP video encoder. As I already have a server running 24/7 I'd prefer to avoid running a standalone DVR system in parallel (but I won't rule it out if it can feed IP to the server, and it's very low power). My camera setup is 4x analog 700tvl domes, and my intention is to both view live & motion record at D1 (or the best quality available from those cameras) on my server pc, then make it available online. Options I've stumbled upon so far: 1) Avigilon ENC-4PORT - but I can't find one for sale in the UK. 2) Grandstream GXV3504 3) Aviosys IP 9100B I'd very much welcome your recommendations (under £300) please? Will the quality be good enough at this price? Also please can you recommend monitoring software that runs on windows - open source, or bundled free with the encoder preferably, failing that at low cost. thanks in advance, Darren

Sorry I don't know, but I can tell you this product is solid. It has run faultlessly 24/7 for over a year. good luck

I realise my reply is 10 days late, but if it's of any use I would caution against using the $7 USB encoders as typically they only have the hardware to physically capture a single channel at once. The accompanying software tries to work around this by changing channel every second by default but you don't truly get 4 channels live. Oh and the quality is what you'd expect for 7 bucks. +1 for the Aver cards, just make sure your CPU (and network infrastructure if you intend on streaming) is up to the job.

I can certainly use VLC (open RTSP) to live view channel 1, which implies Grandstream are at least exposing a standard H264 RTSP stream. However I haven't bothered to work out how to access the other channels yet, as I generally use a browser (IE) as shown above. Although maximising the browser window does not increase the size of the images, I've discovered that increasing the text size (using keys: CTRL+) makes IE nicely scales up the images too. And, if you double-click an individual channel image it becomes full screen (no title bars or start menu). That said, I too would like to integrate the output of this encoder into centralised management software as I have an IP camera arriving soon. I will look into which software can use the Grandstream output and report back, but don't hold your breath!

Hello, I am having difficulty finding a 4 channel (8ch & PCI-E preferred) capture card for Windows Home Server 2011, mainly because the OS is 64 bit and drivers are scarce. This is for an existing server, I'd prefer to avoid building a new machine with a different OS or change the OS on the existing server. Hardware spec: Intel Core i3 2100T 2.5GHz Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 (both PCI & PCI-E slots available) G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600mhz 5x Western Digital WD20EARS 2TB Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011 4x CCTV Camera Sony 700TVL http://is.gd/RjwJ8Y IP Cam: YCAM Black SD I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone experienced with this OS and CCTV capture. Thanks in advance, Darren

The top two are live D1 640x480, bottom is live 2CIF. Cams are cheap NoBrand 700tvl 1/3 sony sensor IR, with a varifocal 2.8-12mm lens housed in outdoor Domes. Signals are fed into a grandstream gxv3504 ip encoder. I have to say the picture seems reasonably clear for analog cams, judging by some of the footage I've seen out there Finally, I'm in the process of moving to IP MP cams.

Arrived and installed. For image sample see: http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=28489

Thanks for your reply, I'd almost given up hope. As you say WHS2011 shares the same kernel and driver base as Windows server 2008, so the card you suggest will very likely work with WHS2011. However in the meantime I investigated an OS-independent solution, that is, an IP video encoder. After reading up I bought a Grandstream GXV3504 4 channel which encodes at D1, and does the cpu heavy-lifting of motion detection, etc. To store the captured video I set up an FTP server on the WHS server, and configured the Grandstream to FTP video over. It works really well, with a serious improvement in video quality over a cheap capture card, and it doesn't tie me to a specific OS for driver support. I can also access live video and recordings from any PC using a web browser. This was my first foray into the world of CCTV - setting it up at home. I have learnt so much, mostly by making mistakes (and learning from them) I have to admit I am very disappointed with the quality of analog PAL 700TVL cameras, if a crime was committed I'm certain face recognition would not be accurate enough due to the distance between camera and target being ~7M. Here's a piccy, looks fine but being 640x480 it doesn't zoom in at all well. I will definitely head digital with my future cams, ordered a 5MP IP cam for the front of house. Will post a sample when it turns up.

Well, in the absence of any replies I am gambling on this fitting the bill: GrandStream GXV3504 http://www.grandstream.com/index.php/products/ip-video-surveillance/gxv350x It supports full D1 on all 4 channels, PoE and the software (GSurf) is freely available and supports many other IP cams. I know there's a few UK suppliers out there, so please feel free to PM me with a quote. If I don't here from anyone by tomorrow lunchtime then I'm going to order it from: http://www.novavox.co.uk/ip-video-surveillance-grandstream-gxv3504-ip-cctv-poe-video-encoder-p-105.html If anyone has an opinion or experience with this product I'd be very grateful to hear it before taking the plunge. Thanks.