breezin

The first few pictures of the new 2MP mini-bullet (HFW3200S)? I've been wondering when that one would finally hit the market. So with out talking prices or anything else that might fall under an NDA you have... I would be very curious to hear your over all impression of the HFW3200S once you've had a chance to test it out. When the HFW3200S is in full production do you anticipate replacing the HFW2100 with the new unit in all of your primary camera packages? Thanks!

The first few pictures of the new 2MP mini-bullet (HFW3200S)? I've been wondering when that one would finally hit the market.

I'm in the same boat as you in regards to the NVR or PC choice. If you are ok with 7.5 frames per second then my understanding is the 16 channel NVR should be able to handle that for 16 x 2MP cameras. The NVR should fully support the 2MP at 1920×1080 for the max of 120 FPS at that resolution. You will not be able to take advantage of anything above 2MP on the Dahua NVR. I have my eye on the Dahua IPC-HFW3300C 3MP as well since it is only $15 more over its 2MP brother. I personally would prefer a setup and forget it system... which would make me lean towards the Dahua NVR. Just not sure I can live with the limits. I'm still on the fence.

I’m getting ready to pull the trigger on a Dahua IP camera setup for my home. Here are the cameras I’m planning on: 2 x IPC-HFW3200C (2.0 Megapixel Bullet) 1 x IPC-HDB3200C (2.0 Megapixel Mini-Dome) 2 x IPC-HFW2100 (1.3 Megapixel Mini Bullet) Now I had originally planned on going with a Dahua NVR3216 NVR… but it appears that the 16 channel is limited to 8 x 720p streams or 4 x 1080p streams. Now I assume that I can mix and match and run my three 2.0 Megapixel cameras at 1080p and then still have room for the two 1.3 Megapixel cameras at 720p? However this would pretty much max out my NVR and give me no room for expansion. Considering the above… would I be better off just building out a Mini-ITX system with a low voltage Intel i7 processor and running Blue Iris, NVR+, etc? Are there any downsides to doing this that would push me towards just going with the maxed out Dahua NVR? Also, while trying to figure out my storage needs I’m curious what the general consensus is on recording. Do most people record all cameras 24/7 or is it common to have things setup to only record off events like motion or input from you alarm system? Thanks!

Haha, my wife says the same thing! 4-10 MB isn't bad. Thanks for the info.

I already plan to use network segmentation for my ip camera system. I'm just not sure how much bandwidth is used by these 3MP cameras... combined with the fact that most of the PoE switches I've looked at are 10/100. So the thought of doubling my traffic just so I can play with multiple NVR solutions is of some concern.

I'm right on the fence here... not really sure if I should go with commercial NVR or a homebrew NVR. Either one will probably meet my needs. How is network data handled with IP camera systems? Are transmissions sent via Unicast or Multicast on the network? If I decide to run both a commercial NVR and a homebrew at the same time am I going to end up doubling my network traffic (Unicast) or is Multicast an option so I can add as many NVR devices I want off the a single data stream? Thanks!

Ok, first off know I don't even have my system ordered so everything at this point is planning in my head. My thought on the above is that it would be a pain to drag that alarm cable out to each of the cameras, when going from the alarm panel to my wiring closet is easy. Then on top of the extra work you end up with less flexibility. For example I have driveway motion sensor and plan to have 3 cameras in the front. My assumption is that I could take that single alarm event (motion sensor trigger) send to the NRV/PC-NVR and then trigger events on all 3 of the front cameras at once. Now if someone rings the door bell with the alarm in away mode that would be a alarm input at the NRV/PC-NVR and I would only trigger an event on the entry way camera. Third, if the alarm system actually goes off I might want to trigger events on all my cameras at the same time (not really sure what... maybe start saving video to the camera memory cards?) The complexity of trying to pull all of that off at the camera alarm inputs doesn't seem to the be the best solution. It would require multiple alarm inputs at some of the cameras. That's my take at least... and I have no practical experience so I might be way off base. If I'm missing something here please point it out as it will effect my planning (like going with some of the mini-bullet cameras that have no alarm inputs)

I did get a reply back from NVR+ with info on their PC alarm card/box solutions: Yes, our PC based NVR+ software support alarm I/O box or alarm I/O card. please see attached the detailed specification. Price: Alarm-0804 Card: 75USD; Alarm-0808 Box: 89USD; Alarm 1608 Box: 109USD. Note: the price quoted FOB China. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8924983/Alarm%20Card%20Introduction.pdf http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8924983/Alarm-0808%20%20Introduction.pdf http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8924983/Alarm-1608%20%20Introduction.pdf

From the NVR+ specification page: "Alarm sensor input / relay output control (requires IO card)" So I guess this is possible...

Well with the commercial NVRs they have alarm inputs... which really removes the requirement of having the inputs on the cameras themselves. Are their PC Cards that take alarm inputs which can be used in a similar way with the software?

Blah, remote access is pretty much top of my list of importance. I also would like to integrate the camera system with my alarm system (Elk M1). The reason I found Dahua in the first place was that they offer an SDK Tool for their cameras. I currently get a text message from my alarm system if someone rings the door bell and the system is armed to away (no one home). I'd like to do things like include a short video clip or at least a screen shot of the front door camera to see who it is. If the SDK is any good my options would be limitless. I'll probably stick with Dahua for my cameras so multi-vendor support isn't much of an issue for me. I did notice that that the IPC-HFW3300C (3MP) was only $15 more than the IPC-HFW3200C (2MP). Seems crazy that their NVR system won't support the numerous camera that they offer in the 3MP+ range. I've been dragging my feet on a purchase in the hopes of the new IPC-HFW3200S (2MP Mini Bullet) being released. Having the Sony Exmor CMOS in the small Mini-Bullet form factor would my ideal camera I think. I order both from the USA and China on a regular basis... I've had good and bad luck from both. But I do want to say that Cherry Wae has been absolutely outstanding when in comes to pre-sales support. She has answered all of my questions regarding Dahua products and even going directly to Dahua when she didn't have the answer herself. At this point I'd have a hard time giving anyone other than Cherry my business... regardless of price. So I guess I'm back on the fence deciding between Dahua NVR or a PC based solution. I've followed a few threads by voip-ninja in his struggle to find the perfect PC based software solution and it really doesn't seem like there is that easy go to answer.

I'm leaning towards just going with the Dahua NVR. I didn't realize that when they said you are limited to 4 streams of 1080p that it was at a full 30 frames per second. I could do 8 streams of 1080p at 15 fps. I would assume that even 5 frames per second would be enough to get the job done from a security standpoint... but would be extremely unpleasant to watch. How do these camera stream to your network? Can I run multiple solutions? Dahua NVR and also run a PC based system?

I'm looking at either Empire Security or a distributor in China that has been very helpful. Both of which have said they have firmware available post purchase. Are we talking about factory firmware? What would the new specs be? I find it odd that they wouldn't update their system specs after releasing firmware that significantly improves performance.