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It should last forever, until it gets damaged from say a brownout or the capacitors start to go or the DVR blows up from natural causes (?). As mentioned the most common thing to go on them are the hard drives, which can be changed. Most have the power supply as a separate part so if that goes that can also be changed. Most stand alone DVRs are just really basic boards, nothing much on them to go bad. I have a GE DVR from 8 years ago at a clients business still going strong to this day. Actually only had to change the hard drive once as it is on a voltage regulator, seems the hard drive just failed after several years.

Normally its like an RCA cable, stranded and thin, even with an RCA output with an included RCA-BNC adapter - at least the ones Ive used. They also have the plug on the end for a single power supply, so if you need to splice it for a distributed power supply then its a little difficult getting the center and the very thin braid to screw into the terminals. Ive used them in a few cases but would highly suggest against it. Also as they are so thin they are easier to damage.

Actually Provideo still sells the 9" BW monitors But a 13" Color TV would be just as good especially with a color camera. I have a cheap Coby portable DVD player that I bought recently, I would have to tell people please dont waste their money. It cost me $150 here which is alot cheaper than say a portable service monitor would cost landed here, but the battery life is terrible, and it wont show video on the input unless it is fully charged, and plugged in is only for charging so you have to wait until its charged up again. Also trying to get a focus on one of them is like pulling teeth, I get a better focus on my 7" netbook over the network with encoded VBR video. However with the larger screen of the portable DVD player compared to the portable service monitor, you probably stand a better chance of a near good focus. Overall the cheap portable DVD player is good for basic adjustments in the field and its better than nothing for focus. But its hard to handle, really flimsy, scratches with just finger prints, and when it drops off the ladder say goodbye to the outer case and the DVD player part of it, as did happen to mine. I thought it was neat with the swivel screen but then .. oh well

I tested the speed of the WD AV drive, and a WD Blue Drive. The AV drive was 90 max, the Blue was 130 max. Although 90 is not slow, considering most were around 55 max a year ago, but there is still a difference there. Not to mention I had stuttering video on the DVR I used the AV drive with, had to change it for a blue drive. And yes the AV drive tested good in all tests I ran, and was brand new, and otherwise was fine on the OS in general.

Yes just dont touch the lens or you will have to clean it one small screw normally holds it in place, loosen that a little then you should be able to just pull the lens out. You would also normally need to remove the AI and ICR connections also if you want to take the lens out of it completely. Some cameras will ofcourse differ on the design. I was interchanging lenses between IR bullets just the other night ... also taking out Auto Iris' and mixing and matching. I have a box of old M12 screw in Varifocal lenses as well as a couple M13 snap in ones I got from various cameras over the past couple months. For example one camera had a 2.8-10mm non TDN lens so I wanted to test that on another camera, and that other camera's 4-9mm TDN one on that one.

I expect you don't have this model, but as a rule, do these CCTV minidome lenses snap in or screw in? How can I tell the difference? Could it be a little loose in the mount and not properly aligned with the sensor? Best, Christopher The newest ones Ive tested with varifocal lenses, the lenses snap in, not screw in. They also only went in one way or two ways (the opposite sides) but neither made a difference in focus.

That's a little over-generalized. The best way to test any camera is under the circumstances you plan to use it in. If I'm looking for the best camera to go inside a walk-in cooler, knowing how it performs in bright sunlight really won't be of any use to me. The lighting conditions inside a walk-in cooler don't usually differ much from one to the next. Yes if one only ever needs a camera for one single application then that is true, however a camera can be used for many different applications and that is why when reviewing a camera it is imperative it be tested outside. Im not talking about just testing a camera for a single job, I am talking about really testing a camera, for the benefit of selecting it for other future applications. If one does only test it in a walk in cooler, then they can only tell us how it works in a walk in cooler. When they now need to select a camera for outdoors, they wont know how that camera will work outdoors - though obviously if it is just an indoor camera like a smoke detector hidden camera then an outdoor test would be useless in that case. The whole idea of testing a camera is to make future selections fool proof, or at least less of a gamble. In other words, testing it inside a walk in cooler does not tell us how the camera performs in general, its like saying a certain car is great parked in the lot with the engine running, but never taking it out on the road. We just cannot go by specs alone anymore.

As a fact, with quality at much MUCH lower than that, I have identified suspects and it has been used in court. AND As mentioned, this is over the network viewer and it is encoded so it is NOT the raw video. I dont know why you dont trust me, these are MY cameras, I capture criminals all the time on them, I need to see who is coming and going, or who is trying to break in my vehicles, and although I cant see the pimple on their face, this is great for identifying them when I need to - and that happens ALOT here. And BTW the criminals walk on that path or in the area closer to the camera almost everytime they come here. I've identified criminals with an Avtech DVR which is a 1/10th the quality of this. Also look at the price of this, come on, this IS used in court, this DOES identify the criminal, and it DOES see under pitch dark or low light, for next to nothing. There is noway you can justifiably deny those facts. Another thing you have to remember is that not everyone has to take video to some high deff court, some just want to see. Also this technology has been proven and has been used in courts for years, and not just by me. I mean I understand your need to make a sale but for the love of god please enter the realm of reality here, I am not making this stuff up, and I have nothing to sell on this forum. I deal with criminals trying to take my stuff almost every day of the week. I dont live in paradise regardless of the commercials about this place one may see. If someone cannot identify a suspect from these images then they just need to turn their computer off and go jogging or something.

Well I am sorry that is the way you feel. After all this is a CCTV forum, not entirely a megapixel video forum. But the fact is these images are being used TODAY to capture real world criminals, almost EVERYDAY. Additionally I would have to say the police in your case do not know what they are doing, or the system was not installed properly. Also since you mention it, the areas I am covering, and most CCTV installers are covering, are hardly "huge" areas. So going by what you said, this is perfect and saves the customer a ton of money As for the latter, if you can get the sale, then more power to you.

By the way, speaking of rock bottom units, I realize you are not happy with D1 but most are, here are a couple samples from a DVR I have been testing for the past couple weeks. It is from Dahua in China and resold by a couple companies in the US, yes I know China, but it is good for the price, really good for the price. I have tested or used many sub $500 DVRs and this one just takes the cake and runs with it. If I told you the price of the 16 channel you might be pleasantly surprised. Even with a couple flaws that I dont like, the cost and the features that do work just make it definitely something that cannot be ignored. I am picky and as always I will find a flaw in EVERYTHING, ask anyone. Now I could digitally enhance the images even more by sharpening, but I wont, these are raw images captured over the network, not even the recorded video which could be higher quality due to lack of VBR in these networked examples. Enough talk, here are the image samples: Now when looking at these images, captured in some form of H.264, recall these are not the regular consumer products nor are they Megapixel, in fact this is the manufacturers most basic unit, also these are old cameras and not the BEST focus to begin with due to mix and match lenses and auto irises. no, I cant pick out an insect crawling on the ground, but I can identify the burglar. no IR >> With EX26 IR Browser app in Google Chrome with IE Tabs: Remote Software for Windows Remote Software for Mac

No sorry I never got it installed. There were installation issues. I have used Mobotix though, just never got the Exacq server to install.

Sir with all due respect, in professional CCTV we dont use q-see DVRs. Additionally I think I already praised the Exacq as more than a DVR. I am not sure what else I am supposed to say, seeing as I have never used their product? Well not everyone Well as a CCTV forum we have to entertain all security systems, though the consumer based are units we generally stay clear of. However sometimes they are simply re-badged units that we use anyway, generally the rock bottom units, plus its always good to have a review of any system as long as its main purpose is for Video Surveillance - a new member actually recently posted a review of a Q-see DVR and it was welcomed. If anything it can show what those type of systems are capable of or what they are not capable of, for future buyers that may be perusing this forum.

Sir with all due respect, in professional CCTV we dont use q-see DVRs. Additionally I think I already praised the Exacq as more than a DVR. I am not sure what else I am supposed to say, seeing as I have never used their product?

Um .. i did mention Axis IP cameras so yes its a mixture of regular IP and MP IP nice thing is, i can also watch DVRs from multiple manufacturers ... hmmmm AND I am playing with the Mobotix SDK and have already implemented the Acti SDK though it is not quite that stable yet. plus this is a 630mhz celeron not an atom, and a 7" netbook id be interested to see exacq with 64 MP cameras on the celeron though BTW my software is not limited to resolution, that will depend on the user's settings. also I develop it, get this, on the EEE PC ... for maximum performance of the GUI. The nice thing is, the software is or will be ... free.

Sounds good ps. when i show people 64 cameras in a 64 way view made up of several geo and dahua dvrs and various axis ip cams from around the world, on my little asus 701 eee pc they almost faint

LOL not really, i just dont get much sleep as most of this is done from 12am to 7am!

going by the price I found online, thats more than 4 times the cost of a DVR? Also no 4 channel available. It looks nice but I dont think it should be considered the same as a DVR, its a little more than that

Exacq is not a DVR though, its NVR software.

This is Remote Software for a Dahua Stand Alone DVR: Dahua is sold under other brands in the US such as Intellicam and XTSvideo. The Mac version of this Remote software is a new release and is available for download right on the Dahua website.

I agree, thats actually good for a basic Color IR Camera I mean there is noise, but we can still see although this is a worst case scenario Color IR Camera, check this: Now same ECL-598HIM TDN camera as above, but with the onboard IR removed and an EX26 Infrared Illuminator Added, with IR power level actually turned down 1/4 - left, BW no IR, right, with EX26 IR Also this is another TDN IR Bullet in pitch dark, notice how far the IR goes on this one. its still noisy and a little blurry though. But there are some more expensive Color IR bullets that shoot out as much or even more IR than this. The Cheap Color IR cameras normally dont though. Now .. i havent finished .. for the OP: True Day Night Camera set to Color only mode - Iris open more, less mid ranged color IR (1/3") cheap color IR (1/3") cheaper color IR (1/4") All that and in the end this is where I am at .. far as im concerned best shots for what I need to see at night .. though I may add a dusk to dawn light on cam 3 and go color, and replace the TDN lens on cam 1 as I broke the IR Cut on that. BTW these are all old 2nd hand cameras: So see it takes time to get right, and you DO have alot more cameras to deal with, but as you are buying new cameras, it should make life easier once you get what is needed and add the right amount of light.

No, most PTZ Cameras do not provide "tracking" capability. Some rare models do, some you can add separate hardware to the PTZ to do it, and some you can work it inside the DVR software utilizing other methods - eg using a fixed camera, that would track the object and the results it obtains would tell the PTZ where to move and zoom to, such as on Geovision DVRs but with only specific PTZ models. But PTZ Tracking is just something else to go wrong physically. For the cost of a good PTZ, I mean good, you could probably get a 2MP or even higher Color IP camera. ofcourse dont forget to save on a ton of visible light so the MP camera can see

Except neither is under low lighting.

Cam1 Bush blocking some of the IR, that makes a big diff and can reflect back causing the halo effect area is too large for a cheap color IR to cover, need much more IR Cam2 fence is blocking some of the IR, move the camera away from the fence. that is probably also causing the halo effect due to the IR reflecting off the fence back onto the lens. Cam4 IR is working well there, better even if you adjust the view up some more. And move that cable (?) out of the way. Cam5 its a big area for a cheap color IR to cover its under an eave so it could be getting some reflection from that it looks like its up too high for its IR to really work well it could also be dirty Cam6 Need a better Camera and more IR. Cam7 Should be fine without IR with a good TDN camera like the VBM-24VF Move the Camera so the IR does not hit the fence Cam9 Any Color IR camera should work there maybe you just got a bad one Take the cover off to verify it is not that. make sure nothing is close to the camera to cause IR reflection Cam10 Need a better camera and more IR Sorry run out of time. But deal with 1 camera at a time, 1 a night or until you get that camera the best THAT camera can get. Take down one of the VBM-24VFs and test that at each bad location, those are good cameras under low light and Infrared. We really need a larger image of each camera to be able to give a better opinion though.

You could do everything in the book but the cameras probably just cant handle IR that well. Only way to get a perfect picture at night is to use visible light and either a Color Camera or a BW only camera (with Ir or visible). On a flip side, the VBM-24VF does handle IR very well in my testing with an EX26 LED, while other cameras I have tested do not, even expensive True Day Night bullets. Even under artificial lighting though I have had True Day Night cameras which produce alot of noise, bottom line is some, well ALOT of cameras just suck at night. All Day Night cameras are going to try to compensate though, some more than others, and if they cant handle it thats where the noise comes in, even with visible light and if it stays in color, many do produce noise - but not all. If the camera has additional settings those can sometimes be adjusted to produce a better picture. Have to understand a single Day Night camera is trying to do the job of 2 totally different cameras. The best one can do is get it to the point that one can see, even if there is some noise, that is normally acceptable under low to no visible light. Also a lower F-stop lens may help but thats going too deep for this application.

I mount them outside on a wooden siding outside my garage, and also test it in a much darker location on the other side, same exact spots, one at a time - if you can mount more than one then fine, I dont want to leave that many holes in my siding though so I do one at a time, plus I rarely have more than one or two to test at a time. Leave it up 24 hours in one spot and compare them at the same times under same conditions. Biggest problem with Manufacturers and OEMs is they dont properly test their cameras. You must test the camera outdoors no matter what, its totally different from indoors. For one thing the lighting outside will differ at night and it is a much larger area for the camera to cover with much more to process. During the day outdoors there is Infrared from the sun, that is where you test the color and the light handling under glare. Bottom line is unless it is tested outside during the day with full sunlight and at night under artificial lighting, under low light, and under very dark, and in at least 2 different locations, then its no use testing it. If the camera has Infrared then additional testing is required as well.