rory

Forget the DVR for a minute, there are no jagged edges on the raw video direct from the camera, thats not even possible as far as I know. Alot of the issues you guys are having are related to the DVR being used. Unless we can see a direct video of it, like using a capture card and AmCap with very little compression, then its going to be hard to tell from our end. But I know from testing several of these cameras over the past couple weeks, today and tonight included, the image quality is generally great, crisp, clear, as long as the specific camera is not faulty. I am not however testing it through a DVR, it is direct onto a CRT CCTV monitor. As to why some other cameras looked okay on the Avermedia and these dont, were they both tested at the same time? Something could have changed during the time the old cameras were there and the new ones were added. Even if the cameras were bad the images Bantham1 posted do not look like bad quality related to the camera, that looks more like a codec or processing issue on the DVR or PC side of it. Ive seen ALOT of bad images direct from bad cameras, and they dont look anything like what was posted. I even mentioned before I have a crappy DVR here I use myself (free) and I know what that can do to the best of cameras, well makes it look somewhat like the images posted by Bantham1, only alot worse than his! BTW Im not saying Bantham1 is NOT having an issue with these cameras .. he might well be .. no cameras are perfect, ive had several models from various brands come bad myself .. which is why its so important to test before you take it to the client, even better is to keep stock and test all of them .. but going by the image it doesnt appear to be a camera issue in his case. Also I would buy them but for used cameras it would have to be less $$

You could probably just source any IR LED product that says 100', that should at least give a 30 degree out to 50'. Brands like KT&C and Vitek have them. eg. add this to the same power for the camera @ 24VAC: http://www.vitekcctv.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=447

Hi, just to add to that though, even with alot of visible light Ive had the cameras goto BW ... just depends on the angle of the light in relation to the camera and how much is hitting the photocell. Last night for example I literally just moved a raytec visible light up a half inch and even with tons of light right in the cameras fov it switched to BW .. as there was less light hitting the actual photocell, move it back a little and then there is more light hitting the photocell. ..switched to color. This is where the external photocell comes in handy.

Make sure the Day Night setting is set to AUTO - not color or BW. If it has the SWITCH setting in the Day Night section try setting it to HIGH - only exists on newer models, in fact I dont even know if that feature actually works, never seemed to make much difference in my tests. if there is any kind of spot light near the camera and its photocell, even if it is not in the cameras fov, then that could cause it to stay in color also. Ive not used cheap IR yet, other than what I have here at my own appt, which actually I am using the IR from a couple other cheap old cameras I got free just to boost the IR from my Day Night IR bullet. Ive used the EX26 and that works great with the VBM-24VF, but its definitely not cheap. Guess you've seen this? viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22326

what model card was it? But yeah looks like their GV-800 and above cards are way below regular dealer price. makes one wonder ... maybe they bought so many they can sell them that low? The price of the GV-600-16 though is not as low as the regular price of the clones.

Yeah i read about the blacks on here, maybe from your posts actually, ordering those in the future. Only could get the blues down here though at the time to replace that drive. Thing is the drive worked fine other wise, outside of that problem with Geovision recording, but it was slower than the blue on speed tests, around 90 max compared to the blue which was around 130, but even my slower USB 5400rpm drive had no problem recording with Geovision

Well the difference to begin with is that CNB is the manufacturer, while many of the other domes are OEMd and then the price is much more. Anyway, I havent seen anything else yet, at least not for sale at a US retailer/distributor. No not that it cant exist, but just seems that CNB dont mind selling theirs for much less than the others for something that is actually good quality. Forget the vandal domes for a minute though, check the dfl-20s.

To add to this, i used a Western Digital Audio Video drive recently for a Geo Install, it tested out fine, it was brand new, but after pulling my hair with stuttering video on recording, i hesitantly changed the drive for a basic one, a Western Digital BLUE Drive, in fact I first tested recording to my USB hard drive, and those gave no problem. So it seems those Audio Video drives may not be all they are cut out to be - also i might note they are advertised as GREEN drives .. need I say more

I havent used the pano domes but hear they are good, but yeah at this price just cant beat it really. Going by most pricing ive seen of the pano domes the CNB VBM-24VF is at the least 1/4 the price.

Yeah I need to check that, though Im thinking now it could be a damaged wire in the steel pole, i will rerun that cable tomorrow, its just a short piece down the pole then spliced in a gang box at the bottom (originally they didnt run the cable long enough). Basically I powered up the camera here and it is fine. Also it DID rain a little and it got wet but it was 1 hour later and seemingly dry when i powered it up at the site, but going to dry it out for a couple hours in the sun tomorrow just incase. I dont even think anything really got into it, was just a few rain drops, but it did have the cover off and had a couple rain drops on the lens and the base of the camera inside, nothing looked settled though and the temp here is very hot. That wall mount is a bit of a pain to work with though, only had 4 special screws and 3 dropped as it was upside down, never could find 2 of them as they are black and well the grass is high and the dirt is dark .. LOL. Eventually found some other screws that fit.

in the remote software, make sure overlay is turned on. If I remember the recorded playback quality is fine, and live is great, just saving it over USB or ofcourse network is not good at all. Havent actually used this DVR in a long time, wouldnt buy it again as better things out there for less now.

this is it resized down to 320x240. It is still horrible. Ive had similar terrible results saving images from captured video from this cheap Avtech DVR I have. But the Avermedia? It looks like perhaps you just used the remote software and clicked snapshot to save the image, and in that case that would be why you are saving these images in quad view, or full view. I just tested the same on a EB1304net and the images although locally are great, even the remote image is good, but the webcam snapshot is awful.

Ive been giving evidence to the cops using this technology for years now, never have any problems. Even with some of the worst low quality cameras it is possible to enhance the images and in many cases get enough for a case. Unless the camera was tested directly at a monitor, not going through a DVR, it is not correct to judge it, that goes for all cameras. As to the image in the link you posted, there is something horribly wrong with either that camera, DVR, or the capture method you used - even a $5 camera from china looks better than that

I was talking about my images, they were recorded in 704x240 and a really blocked recording also, so resized down is why you are seeing any messed up edges.

Nah any lines you see there are because it was a crappy recording at 704x240 and resized to fit the forum, any blocks is from the recording, but locally its clear. Also thats the dfsl-20s cheap monalisa dome with the cars. What you are saying is leading me to believe you might have a couple bad ones? I mean according to an email from Vitek I just got, it seems all 3 of those cameras might be bad Speaking of which ... i was out in a yard on a ladder for the past 6 hours, just got back .. think I fried one of the VBM-24Vfs .. not certain yet though brought it home .. makes no sense though as everything was done right. It died after perhaps 30 minutes, started to flicker all of a sudden then within a few seconds .. gone.

do you have all settings to default or made any changes? If not reset all the defaults. as it should not be like that, even here in the Bahamas with all this strong sun all day every day .. i dont see any issues.

There shouldnt be any pixelisation in the day with the VBM-24VF. I just installed 4 of them at different locations and it was a good image (except wasnt much of anything nice for them to look at), in fact was working on one today again.

Sorry no store links ... but here are the specs: Its not a rival to the 24Vf domes though. 1-This is an IR dome, the VBM-24VF is not. 2-Its a Turret IR dome, ive used ALOT of them and never been impressed 3-IP65 instead of IP66 like the CNB 4-12VDC only, at 400ma thats a limited distance. 5-f:1.6 high f-stop lens, even though the camera says f:1.2 6-98' IR, id have to test it to believe it I've recently been testing IR cameras, infact 4 different models tonight, and really they most all exaggerate heavily on the IR distance. Even the ones that claimed the exact same 98', sure there is "some" light out to around 70' but beyond that it is dark, and from 30'+ its just really dim light anyway so cant see much, not to mention when a person walks up to it their face is just one big glare. I had one that was brighter out to around 50' or so but then the daytime image was terrible, it was basically way too sensitive all around. None of these cameras can match the IR built into for example an EX82, but those have had their own share of problems such as photocells going bad. Honestly out of all the "day night" cameras I tested tonight and the past few nights, the VBM-24VF still blows them away, it just works, and great, day and night, ofcourse needs external IR or Visible light if its too dark at night, but it works great with the right IR, eg I tested it with an EX26 and its a great image. Problem is cant mount the dome on poles and other certain places, so thats where a good bullet would come in, cant find one of those yet though, Im amazed actually as the bullets use to be better than most domes .. now its the other way around. I dont even believe them now when they claim it has an IR cut filter, I just got one from Vitek that claims that and it doesnt have one at all!!

It doesnt need the IR in the daytime though, capturing licence plates in the day is no problem for most cameras, its the night where they are useful. Ive used them and it was just a BW picture in the day, no IR that I could see. I cant remember if the IR was on though.

I dont know if its the same as the EX82 IR LEDs but the EX82's Ive had in the field for 9 years, all but maybe just a couple individual LEDs are still working fine.

Do you mean the Infrared isnt coming on? Do you know if the Infrared works, was it tested yet with just power to it? Could be the photocell, not switching over to night mode. I had several EX82s from a batch in 2007 where all but 1 needed the photocell replaced so far. It is easy to change in the EX82s but not sure about in the Reg camera. It was just a small 2 conductor wire run to the small photocell, so basically if you can find anything else like that, should be able to tie it into that without having to go back to Bosch now.

the auto focus is maybe compensating for a small % as it may not have an Infrared Lens. When it is blurry can you manually focus it properly? Also without an IR Cut filter during the day it can be blurry especially on the edges of bushes, leaves, trees etc. I just had this problem with 3 brand new bullet cameras .. in my case though the IR Cut filter does not work at all, or is non existent, trying to verify with the manufacturer now as their site claims it has one. You will probably need to just take the camera down, thats the zoom camera module, then open it up and check the area where the IR Cut filter is. It normally will just slide back and forth over the chip, right before the lens. It could be a piece that is bent a little and just needs to be bent back so it doesnt get caught as it slides, thats what I had to do before. It might be friction from the PT function causing it to do it sometimes and not always, or even just friction from the wind or something else.

Honestly I dont think the forum is the best place for it, this is more a place to come and get help, though the Admin here would have the last word, I cant talk for him and he might like that idea, so perhaps PM him about it? Otherwise Im trying but I dont really have the resources yet, the link in my sig is where I just started. I want to sit down and write code to make it completely dynamic and allow reviews and members to upload samples also ... just havent got to it yet. Ive got tons of screenshots and getting more images and videos .. and could use more .. then I should be able to pack that up with products .. I like testing products but its hard to do here as then gotta pay triple for the product time as it lands here after extra shipping and customs. Would be better if someone in the US or Asia does the tests. I only really started what you see on that link to try and get more traffic to my site for now .. outside of people looking for some kind of free software and information.

ive done it on a sanyo day night box camera before, you basically have to open up the camera to get to it. In my case it got stuck from switching too much the first night I installed it.

you installed 34 cameras in one day?