GrouchoBoucho

i'd be willing to bet each camera used in those shows probably costs three times what op's entire system cost.

I think u need 25 posts

how many dozens of times has this question been asked and answered here?

everybody else?

the term you're looking for is 'video analytics', and yes, it is fairly commonly available these days. check some of these videos: http://www.puretechsystems.com/video-library-video-analytics-object-left-behind-video-object-detection.html

wow, the n00bs abound. so much bad advice here. first of all, the spec limit for ethernet is *100m* or *328 ft*, not 300m. it's the same whether you use cat5e or cat6. a switch will not help at that distance - you'd need at least five of them, one every 100m. *if* you're using ip cameras. the limitation is for *ethernet only*. it's not a limitation of the *cable*, it's a limitation to the design of *ethernet signals* (we used to run token-ring networks on cat3 to 150m+). second, if you're talking about analog video, then yes, you can simply twist wires together to splice. or you can terminate the runs in keystone jacks and use a short patch cable. or terminate them in rj45 plugs and use a coupler. or put a plug on one end and a keystone on the other. it really doesn't matter. just make sure you use only *one pair* for video. third, at a distance of 500m, you need to use active baluns at both ends. fourth, do not even attempt to power the cameras over that wire; at that distance, it *will* fail. you need to find a way to power the camera locally.

nevermind

dahua has a four-channel nvr with built-in four channel poe switch - used with dahua cameras, you just plug them in, and the system auto-configures. i've seen it selling in a package with four cameras (mixes of 1080p and 1.3mp), cables included, for under $1500.

have done this plenty of times. some systems have been running with an external usb drive for years.

that's a polite way of saying "they're toys". +1 for dahua as a lower-cost option... the trick is finding a suitable reseller outside of china, as dahua require resellers to re-brand their equipment... so it will almost always have a different name on it. where are you located? Do you have to buy a thousand of them or something to get the Dahua? nope, you just need to find the right brand names. they're re-sold outside of china under a variety of different labels by a wide range of vendors, some good, some not so trustworthy. btw, since you're looking at ip... they do make some really excellent megapixel cameras, nvrs and hybrid dvrs, including a four-channel nvr with built-in four-channel poe switch: just plug in the cameras, and they auto-configure to the recorder.

regulated has nothing to do with it - that only limits the voltage. a 50a power supply would be just as safe, regulated or not, as a device will draw only as much current as it needs. But with an unregulated supply the voltage can rise at low loads, which could damage the device. true, but that has nothing to do with the power supply's current capabilities. and frankly, there are very, very few cheap cameras out there that won't nicely handle an unregulated supply. it's only the last 2-3 years that switching power supplies have become really common; before that, the vast majority of individual 12v supplies were unregulated. it was only the crappiest cameras that ever had an issue with this.

regulated has nothing to do with it - that only limits the voltage. a 50a power supply would be just as safe, regulated or not, as a device will draw only as much current as it needs.

this is all excellent advice. also, make sure to get itemized quotes and bring them back here so we can all rip them to shreds.

that's a polite way of saying "they're toys". +1 for dahua as a lower-cost option... the trick is finding a suitable reseller outside of china, as dahua require resellers to re-brand their equipment... so it will almost always have a different name on it. where are you located?

sure... soon as you send me a couple dozen cameras to play with, i'd be glad to.

it should... although ummm... that listing isn't really clear *which* of those lenses they're selling... or if it's a set containing *all* of them.

that partly depends on the recorder and how it implements motion detection. on the systems i use, it's a very minimal performance hit. also, many cameras have their own motion detection, and the nvrs that work with them just take the signal from the camera... so again, it's little or no actual performance hit on the nvr end. This depends, how NVR do motion recording. If NVR use motion recording, based on motion detection from camera - it's like no aditional load on NVR. isn't that what i just said? this is not necessarily true. and also on how the recorder does its motion detection, how well it's coded, etc. once again, systems i work with do their own motion detection with both analog and ip cameras and see very little effect on performance.

any board-camera lens with m12 thread should fit that. find them just about anywhere, including ebay. keep in mind that opening the camera to change the lens *will* void any warranty (assuming they come with one) and may damage the weather seal. also, 12mm will give you a tighter shot and better detail on distant objects, but the ir range will be the same and distant objects may not be illuminated fully.

this is a bad idea - his phone will be going off all night. if they're ir cameras, every bug flying past will set it off. car headlights through the window will set it off. it will take him until about 2am the first night it's running to get sick of it and throw his phone through a wall. a better solution would be to tie into motion sensors or even into the alarm system, so the phone alerts are activated only be an actual person, or by the alarm system going off. what he really wants is a proper dvr system with cameras monitoring the entry points or keypad locations, so he can see who's entering what codes when... ideally something that can interface with the access control systems so the two datasets can be sychronized. don't forget that no camera is truly wireless - you still have to power it. there's no point having wireless if you're using poe - at that point you're already plugged into the network anyway. unless you're trying to catch cleaners going into people's desks or something, there's no reason to be moving cameras around. determine the key coverage locations and just mount the cameras there and be done with it. almost all systems these days support live viewing... some will push alerts and video to the client app when an alarm happens, some will allow playback as well. i don't recommend *continuous* live viewing as that will chew up his iphone's data plan within a week or two. this is probably the easiest part, as long as there are no obstructions to the view. a proper camera with a suitable lens is required, you won't have much success with a cheap packaged system here. there are no package systems that will fit *all* the requirements. a custom design is almost always your best bet, but will require far more info than you've provided. actual layouts of the site, the floorplans, the location of the parking lot (a google maps satellite view usually helps), etc. are necessary (if anyone claims to be able to sell you something without seeing this, run screaming).

that partly depends on the recorder and how it implements motion detection. on the systems i use, it's a very minimal performance hit. also, many cameras have their own motion detection, and the nvrs that work with them just take the signal from the camera... so again, it's little or no actual performance hit on the nvr end.

there are basically three ways to do it: 1. you need a test monitor that supports ip cameras (axis makes one, for example, but it only works with axis cameras) 2. you need an ip-to-analog video decoder. most will only work with their own brand of cameras though (again, axis has one that only works with axis cameras). 3. you need a camera with an analog output port. this is most likely how you've "seen it done". some (maybe half?) ip cameras have this feature, but not all.

wtf?

and no, you don't typically need something massive like an i7 - with most systems, recording takes very little processing as all the nvr needs to do is receive the stream and write it to disk. it's the video *de*coding on the vms side that's processor-intensive.

i did discover with mine that the focus was off slightly with the pinhole lens - it's spring-tensioned, no locking screw, so it can wander with handling. image quality improved a fair bit with the focus tweak.