Kawboy12R

Some of those are pretty cute.

Which DVR? Have you tried logging into the DVR remotely? Long shot but maybe the remote software has more/better review options. The best way to avoid reviewing footage though is good motion detection, if possible. If nothing important is moving then you don't have to watch it. That depends heavily on what you need to review though. Is there a firmware update for the dvr that might might improve reviewing?

Looks at a few of these videos and see if the quality is adequate for your needs. Individually they seem expensive for what they are. You can mix and match analog BNC cameras on an analog DVR with no worries. Some cameras have on-screen menus that run from a 5 point joystick in the camera rather than relying completely on the controls in the dvr. Check out shockwave199's setup and see if you like his videos any better than the Lorex stuff. I don't really have a recommendation for a good analog dvr. My Lorex ECO 8ch sucks for saved video quality but isn't bad for live viewing. I'm not impressed with saved video on the higher end non-ECO Lorex either. Some folks seem to like the higher end QSee quality. The full D1 Dahua analogs seem to be popular as well. I've done enough fiddling with analog to get fed up with saved image quality though and I'm migrating to IP cameras with a computer for NVR. When all is said and done, for me anyway, unless I want something to just watch the kids play in the yard I need a good face shot or a plate to show the police. Analog has been a frustration in that regard so I'm (very?) slowly adding to my collection of IP cams. Better money spent in the long run I think. Why spend significant money on a "good" analog DVR with comparatively mediocre saved video quality that could be spent on IP cams that have "excellent" same-as-live saved video quality when I've already got a computer to run the IP stuff? At $135 each for Dahua 1.3mp bullets direct from China they may have their flaws, but live and ESPECIALLY saved video quality is way ahead of my $135 CNBs. I got a good deal on some Axis P3364-VE cams for now, and will add more in the future. There are some new Dahuas being released right around now that I'd prefer over the current crop so I'm waiting a bit to see which ones I'll add to my stable. That's if I don't find more good deals on Axis cams so I can keep everything within one brand at home. They're much better cameras than Dahuas. I've checked quite a few analog cams and for a cheap all-rounder with good low-light capabilities I went with CNB VCM-24VF vandal domes. No built-in IR (external illuminators are much better for eliminating false positives for bugs, webs, fog, etc) but works well with either 850 or 940nm illuminators. $135 for the CNB and it's a much more versatile camera than that Lorex. If you don't need IR at all in your location (quite possible if you have motion or always-on night lighting) then you're set. If not then throw in a $40 850nm illuminator and you'll be better off than the Lorex even in pitch blackness for less money.

I use a 940nm CMVision IR illuminator with a CNB VCM-24VF in the lowest light location at my home. The CNB is a good relatively cheap vandal dome without built-IR that still sees IR. Separating the IR from the camera does a really good job of reducing false positives at night from spiders, spiderwebs, fog, moths, etc. The 940nm illuminator lights things up nicely while remaining invisible under my deck. No red glow. $80 for the IR unit, $135 for the camera. You might want to try the camera without buying the illuminator first. It's a pretty good all-around colour camera that's really quite good in low light. It isn't a match for my KT&C B&W bullet when it's REALLY dim out, but if you can add more white light or an IR illuminator then that levels the playing field, plus the CNB is colour in the daytime.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=34017&p=210152 This might help. No mention what format the snapshot was in though. I assume jpeg but might be different.

I'd be willing to bet that the cameras have noisy video at night and the dots crawling on the screen are setting off the motion detection at the DVR. Better cameras and better lighting would help if that is the case, plus maybe finding a setting in the dvr that changed motion detection sensitivity on a schedule (drop sensitivity down at night). If not, then maybe the answer is a different DVR. I've got one that's more sensitive to motion at night with tons of false events because it is set right on the bleeding edge for balance between usable in the daytime and not recording all night. Mine's got more than 1-4 adjustment though.

The image is most likely supposed to be B&W at night. Looks like you've got some IR reflection off the white eaves above the camera back into the lens. Try changing your location or point the camera down a bit more.

Guess the next question is where are you? 60hz is NTSC and 50 hz is PAL and they don't play well together. I assume that both your monitor and TV are the same? A Chinese DVR could be set to either, even if a PAL one was requested for a PAL region or NTSC for North America. Should say on the back of the box what it was designed for. 50hz input voltage and PAL or 60hz/NTSC somewhere. Hopefully it matches where you are.

You've got a perfect entrance for catching a view of who is coming in. I'm guessing that a camera in position 1 to the right of the door angled towards the chair to the left of the door would give a slightly more useful view of what is going on away from the entranceway than a central "straight out" mounting position and view? If it were my door I'd probably stick it more or less in position 1 but on the wall below the lowest piece of horizontal strapping that is above the door. Preferably something with a fairly wide angle lens though. They'll have to get within probably 4 feet of the lens to get in the door so not much zoom needed. You'll have to play mounting position to get it perfectly the way you want it. You might want to give up the view of what is outside of your entranceway to get a better view of the edge of your door for people touching packages, etc left in your doorway. The lighting will probably be tricky though. A darkish entrance with bright sunlight in the background would benefit from a good camera with WDR. Mounting a cheaper camera higher up and down more at the floor might minimize the dynamic range problems at certain times of the day. Whatever you end up doing, for the first little bit I'd recommend fiddling with mounting location and have people walk up to the door. Make it easy to change the position in case you don't like it.

I'd start by looking for stupid things, like someone picking up a cordless phone when the signal drops out. Does it do it at breaktime and lunchtime? Start looking for a microwave. Starts at 9 and ends at 5? Might be a noisy fluorescent light ballast. If it's an easy find it might be easier to change the problem (new 5.8ghz cordless, new microwave, or whatever) than work around it. Any wireless IP laptop/ipad/smartphone traffic in the area? Signal strength can drop dramatically if someone's using a lot of data but seem fine or intermittent if they're just surfing sites that aren't terribly data intensive. Consider swapping out the offending router for something with dual band and shut off the 2.4ghz radio if the devices using data can all live with the 5ghz side. Setting an existing wireless router to a different channel or auto select can help as well.

No cameras for that job. Shoot, Shovel, Shut up.

Well, if you're using 60 hz out of the DVR already and tried all of the different resolutions then the next cheapest step is Groucho's. I'm out of ideas for adjustments. Might be a cable issue. You could probably just borrow a cable off a computer monitor to try. Not all detach from the monitor but many do. It might work. Then I'd try a VGA to HDMI adapter or VGA to composite. Shame to spend that kind of money on something that should work without heroic measures.

That's what I thought. Not quite sure what thewireguys was really asking if not how I knew what the camera quality was like if I didn't own one? He doesn't seem impressed with the video quality judging from the one he has used personally but from that video clip I'd say the 1214 was an order of magnitude ahead of the two covert cams I have. One is a KT&C pinhole bullet and the other one I forget. It was so covert it got misplaced somewhere. He's had a lot more time to play with a 1214 firsthand than the short shots in that video, but considering the limitations of covert cams I thought the video shots were very good. I was wondering if his experience showed a large difference from what I have to assume were legitimate sample shots in the video??? Not sure what the creep ratio will be. I'd bet that the biggest problem is creeps in cellphone and computer stores that collect and distribute pictures and video that people took themselves.

What refresh rate and resolution is the pc monitor set to when it is connected? There is usually an on-screen display menu on the monitor somewhere with an option to show the current display resolution and refresh rate. Finding that out will give you a known working starting point.

Not from me. Lots of others on here have PTZ experience though.

Do you see a setting that matches the native resolution of your TV? 1024x768 and 800x600 are 4:3 computer monitor resolutions that the TV may or may not like. 1280x720, 1600x900, 1920x1080, etc are widescreen formats. You might also have to match the refresh rate as well. 50hz and 60hz are refresh rates common for PAL and NTSC TVs respectively. Computer monitors can refresh at much higher rates and might be why the pic is displaying 3 different times. I wouldn't display that triple picture for long. Forcing weird refresh rates can cause problems at times.

Also, depending on the driveway and where you can mount your cameras, I'd use at least two. One to show you a wide view of the whole thing (if possible), plus another one with a long lens to try and grab a plate from every vehicle that comes and goes. 9mm isn't going to do the job at 75'. I haven't used cameras from either of the companies you mentioned. A seat of my pants estimate says 12mm would be very iffy and I'd prefer 16mm or better depending on conditions. I use a 5-50mm varifocal on one of my cams for distance identification. Very versatile.

Hey Jomadev. Good luck with the PTZs. I've never used them so I can't help there. I was just thinking that if you wanted a unique avatar that you might want to change the flashing lights. That one's been used and seen on here thousands of times by an old time poster although he hasn't posted on here in a while.

I understand the unpredictability of the WAF. It's hard to predict my own WAF let alone yours. I can say that I've never seen anybody walk up to the house and look at my cameras though. Nobody but family that is. Anybody walking by, delivering packages, or visiting just seems to ignore them until I point them out or they see the monitor inside. My personal WAF was offset by the need to have something up that worked. The brick thing might be tricky, aesthetically with the contrast at least, but the WAF might be adjustable if you point out that most folks ignore them and that cameras really do work MUCH better down low. With a serious problem like you're having that might help.

I'd look for something in settings that would give options like 1024x768, 800x600, 1920x1080 or whatever and then pick a few resolutions until you find something your tv likes. I have no idea whether or not converting to HDMI first will fix anything but my first impression is no. The simple way isn't working so adding a complication isn't likely to make things better UNLESS HDMI on the TV is smart enough to auto match what is coming in. That's possible but I don't have a converter so I've never tried it out.

I haven't used the big 850nm floods but I would assume that they don't throw red light like a floodlight. If you can see it they ARE throwing it at least a tiny little bit of course, but I've never seen any red tinting at a distance by smaller ones unless I held something right up to it. I haven't looked into the y-cams because most mentions of them on here seem to call them lower end. Not sure if all models are like that though. I wouldn't drill and flushmount a camera like you're thinking of though. Too hard to mount and aim properly. I'd go vandal domes because they're hard to spot and a lot harder to tamper with than bullets. If money wasn't an object I'd stick with all one manufacturer. It's hard to mix and match IP cam brands and get an NVR or software to work well with all of them. Axis provides free software if you use all Axis cams. Same with some other manufacturers. As far as storage goes, it's not an easy question without knowing which cams, the number of cams, and whether or not motion detection recording is used.

No, I saw the video. I assumed that when the video view showed the shots as if they were using the 1214 it actually WAS the 1214. Do you think Axis used another superior camera for the ENTIRE video and misrepresented the 1214's video quality? If so then I obviously retract my statement and am less than pleased with the deception played by Axis. You've got one. In your opinion did Axis play us false? Thanks for finding and posting the video by the way. I enjoyed it and learned something from it.

I'm not a pro, just a hobbyist. I've bought and used quite a few different analog cams for my work and home installs but I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately for my jump to IP. The 1214 family doesn't do IR. To do IR properly, a camera needs a mechanical IR cut filter to block IR during the day. That makes the camera bigger which doesn't work so well with "covert". To tell if a camera can see IR if it doesn't have IR LEDs built-in, look for something that says "true day/night", or TDN, or ICR, or "mechanical cut filter" or similar in the specs. If it doesn't, then the cam has either a lens that blocks IR all of the time (to give a good colour picture in the day), or the sensor inside is one that doesn't see IR at all. For good 100' IR night vision, you'll need IR illuminators in addition to cameras that see and/or emit IR. I use a CMVision 940nm (the invisible kind of IR) illuminator, but 850nm ones put out more light with less power. Folks will see a red glow with the 850s but you'll get better results for less money. Here's the 850nm version of the one I have. Cheap but effective. Here's mine. It's easy to spend lots of money on fancier illuminators. 1/2" sensor outdoor cams are out of my price range, but Axis makes some good low light cams, especially their new ones with Lightfinder technology. You may have a hard time finding a good outdoor cam that's easily hidden though.

USB isn't really a video service bus. USB from the DVR to anything isn't going to give you video. The VGA to TV problem is probably because the tv doesn't support the size and refresh rate that the dvr is putting out. It might have settable display output options in it but you'd have to look for something probably called video or system settings in the DVR somewhere. The laptop VGA port you're hooking up to is most likely VGA out, not VGA _in_ like a TV or monitor is.

Missed the "lights are always on" part for indoors and didn't really comment on the audio part. Most NVRs/DVRs have port for external microphones so it's not that important for each camera to do audio. If your home is empty you'd be surprised what you can hear through one or two microphones. If you want to record what's being said in each room near every camera then you'd probably want to skip the Axis 1214s. No audio. Recording audio is quite possibly illegal where you are anyway. I'd check local laws, but it's probably more of a grey area when recording inside your home. Company might object and the law might even preclude you from recording family as well.