rory

Not sure I understand ... You still have to run 12 or 24 volts, the camera still needs its power The Plugins are nice for plug and play, but are found typically on cheaper cameras, the Pro cameras dont use them in most cases, as there are flaws with having that extra split in the cable. In fact I normally would just cut the connector end off and join it directly to the 18AWG cable, or join the 2 raw wires using a terminal connector such as shown in that image.

Manufacturers will post all kinds of different specs, it can change from one to the next and one product to the next. The Lux level will simply be their rated lowest level the camera can achieve using the specified lens F Stop. It should say whether that is with AGC or not, but that depends on the manufacturer, they are all different. So in your example, it claims 0.3 lux with an F:1.2 F Stop, however your lens is F:0.95 so it will go much lower than 0.3 lux, or at least it should, depends on the camera though, or moreso the chip. Ofcourse typically you can ignore the lux level specs anyway, as like Colin said it is typically BS. I wont even discuss SensUp, as thats just a digital Gimic. Im guessing its a Samsung or another S Korean brand? What camera is this? That can tell alot. PS. BLC on also makes the image slightly brighter requires power off and on typically

You typically wont notice a huge difference between a 400TVL and a 480TVL OEM bullet camera, but then it will really depend on what additional features that 480TVL camera has, if its just a TVL diff and everything else is the same, you probably wont tell the diff unless you know what to look for, or during playback. If you compare them to a high quality brand name camera, you will typically notice a world of difference though, but once again, that depends on the cameras involved. As to the power connecter, with bullet cameras that is typical, same goes for Most Fixed Dome cameras. Is this the thing you mean? (without the terminal strip though)

Dont forget EZ The 2 I know if, not even being in the UK, are EZ and RF. There are also a couple others and they are members on the forum, cant remember the names off hand though, but I think one is in Wales. Also COP, I used them in the beginning, COP-USA, but the products were not all that good so switched quick. It might be slightly different products though from the UK, also their hardware seems to have changed alot since then.

if its just a card by itself and claims to be a Kodicom card, then its a clone, Kodicom does not sell the cards alone. Only registered system builders for Kodicom can purchase the cards, and in bulk (according to advise by other Kodicom System Builders) If its in a Gateway PC, it could also be a clone, as most system builders will customize their products and not use standard consumer branded PCs. This could be a special case though, but I would think about that either way. If its something you want to be able to maintain in the future, you can either: 1-Contact a Kodicom System builder (probably incur a cost) 2-Buy a different DVR card (Geo, Aver, etc) Many out there that sell other brands of legit cards as a card only, but also must be careful it is not a clone. Rory

Yep, megapixel. Big $$ though. Actually, with the GE Standalone you can change settings remotely also.

Yes, depending on the type of RTOS/Non RTOS ofcourse, but in most cases it just has a built in Composite to VGA converter, as the original video out on the boards are composite. Plug it into a TV and you should see a huge increase in quality. If it does not then the DVR has issues (and personally I would stay clear of it). All of the Stand alones I have used look the same through the DVR to a TV as the camera does directly into the TV, even the AvTech 4 channel cheap one (slight decrease/lighting issues but nothing really noticeable). PC Based - Stand Alone: My 21 Cents. dependant on whether the stand alone is RTOS or not and the type Stand Alone is greater quality in Live video (on a Composite Monitor. eg. CRT TV, CCTV CRT Monitor, etc), but less evidence sharing features and quality. Add composite to VGA conversion and it decreases considerably. PC Based on the other hand, typically better evidence sharing features and higher recorded quality, while the Live Video is lower quality.

But then you need a micro ATX board to get the onboard video? At least in the case of Asus, GB, and MSI. $50 gets you the Saphire Radeon ATI 1550 256MB . Using the P35 Chipset I didnt see any full mobos with onboard video.

PC based live video wont be the same as when you plug it into a TV, however, the stand alones should be. They will ofcourse require a CCTV CRT Monitor or a TV. If you are looking at those stand alones on a VGA monitor then you are not seeing the true quality. Geo and Aver, really other PC DVRs are all going to be the same quality, or less. You may get better quality with hardware compression, but dont just be looking for H.264 cause that just means more compression, not higher quality.

The StoreSafe and DVMRe all had this feature. Not certain about the newer models, the PRO and the II but they should have it also. View all my screenshots for the GE WaveReader software here: http://www.bahamassecurity.com/ge/

GE DVRs will allow that, but not sure if you had their kind of price in mind. Also only 16 channels. See below, if you would like more screen shots let me know and I will post the links to the images. This is using the Network Client software BTW. You can also do it at the DVR, though the software makes it easier.

I havent used the Remote playback control, well I did test it once a year or so ago, but I use the LiveX. With the LiveX, when you set the login information, and then call PlayX, which with LiveX is basically connect, you then wait for OnCntConnect or OnConnect. OnConnect means it connected and logged in okay. I dont use OnLoginOk myself, at least not for LiveX. As to the OnGetPicture, are you first using the call to StartGrapImage? As to the installation and the other issues, they are perhaps using or have used the web based version which takes over any previous versions, and that wont have all the features. What i do is check on loading that my version of the control is installed and registered, to make sure they have the right one, if not I reinstall it then re register it. If the person is not an admin though, then there can be issues related to that. Rory

Hi I wouldnt waste my time on the 1240 I havent used the 2004 or 2008 so cant comment on those either. Okay combo cards, Couple things about them, they have the DSP monitor output and real time live video, which is nice. The cons are the live quality does not appear to be as good as the GV800, also, when the combo cards are set to 720x480 you get black borders around the images in playback and remote video, sometimes in live also. And if you use the DSP Setup feature, then you loose Direct Draw overlay on the live video. Work arounds, Use 640x480 instead, quality is not much if any difference, and you save alot of HDD space. Also, you can use the DSP output without the setup feature, just wont be able to set up the views and sequencing to it, and it will simply duplicate the DVRs display. So that said, GV1120 is fine typically, if you can afford it, then the GV1480. Personally I prefer the GV800, but you will not get real time live video with that, and no DSP output. GV800 and GV1120 recording is the same. Get a 16 channel one time, 12 channel is not worth it. Rory

Not that I would use Sony, but the chip alone does not make the camera, there are other factors involved. Basically, you get what you pay for though. Sony cameras are pretty cheap these days also.

its the same download for all the cards. http://www.omegadrivers.net/ati/win2k_xp.php Same motherboard I just used, but audio did not work with XP, properly, so suggested to disable that in the bios and use a separate audio card. I used 2GB DDR2-800 Corsair C4 though, and I had the 1550 card; but yours should work too

Much faster .. With the ATI drivers, at least if you want to make any changes to the quality and performance settings, you need that memory hungry catalyst control center which also needs that other system resources hungry .Net. When tweaking the Windows XP PC for a DVR, there are services I turn off which are typically used by .Net. .Net can run without them, but it fills up the event log. Either way, until Geo starts to use .Net, we dont need it on the DVR. Use Omega and you will be most impressed with how much faster the system will run. Especially useful for the slower 1.8-2.4 Core 2 Duos. And yes, 7.xx use to take perhaps under 1 minute to start up on my PC here, 8.1+ takes more like 3 minutes and even hangs the PC most of the time. I have a 2.0Ghz AMD. This is not a DVR specific PC though, just my home/development PC

With Geo, the more memory the better, but I just did a system with the Corsair DDR2-800 C4, 2GB Dual Channel, and an E6750, and it was super fast, all that you will ever need for a DVR. So essentially I dont think you need more than 2GB. The 6750 is actually cheaper than the 6600, and its a faster and cooler CPU . Make sure to turn off the CPU Power thing in the Bios though, or it would run at under 2 ghz most of the time. All you really need is something like a Sapphire Radeon 1550, its cheap, but has the DVI output you will want for the DVR. If you do use an ATI based card, dont use their drivers, use the Omega drivers. If you dont need the DVI output (which just gives higher quality LIVE video), then onboard video is fine, at least once its not something like SIS. Like Colin said, dont use Vista. In days gone by, Geo would run great on next to nothing, but with versions 8.1+ you need a powerful system now.

need to put together some systems like what you did to sell down here .. i got the hook up at a local car audio/alarm place so they could even do the labour part ..

Oh well, until I get Vista I will have to stick with just knowing its Vista Thanks though Rory

This is just something simple, shows your OS version when it loads. Nothing more to it. Just want to see if I get some other OS's out there .. works for Windows only .. should get all versions from 95-Vista, also includes Tablet, Embedded, Media, Starter, NT, etc. Already tested on XP Pro SP2 so no need to download if you have that. I can only test on XP Pro SP2 here which is why im putting it here to hopefully get some others to test it for me. http://www.bahamassecurity.com/uploads/GetWindowsVersion.exe If you test it please let me know in this thread, whether it fails or succeeds in getting your OS version, and which version it is. Or you can optionally PM me if you dont want to post your OS version in the public forum. Thanks, and I appreciate it. Rory

I sent a PM to colin, so he should see this soon. I would assist but Im off to sleep now and wont be back online until later today. If this thread is still there at that time then I will do what I can to help. Thanks, Rory

Hi Peff, Please take a look at this thread, it has a list of some Generic DVR programs. http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2021 Rory

ok just put some code in it to hopefully get the Vista editions .. please try again .. will need to download again though as its a new compiled program. Using WMI as there is a special API to get the versions for Vista, but the trick is it only works in Vista and I dont have that to test it, also, there is not yet any documentation on it for VB6 on the web anywhere. So WMI it is for now. Thanks! Rory

Yep noticed that, the 1/3" will be wider with the same lens. So they may have sent them with different lenses than were in the specs, that happens sometimes with OEM cameras.

With budget cameras, and these days, 1/4" and 1/3" just typically mean you get a wider FOV with the 1/3" (dependant on the lens ofcourse). Also be sure to read up here on day night cameras if you havent already, lots of good threads. IR cut filter stuff also. http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6122 Ive seen some decent images with cameras without IR cut filters, then seen some horrible ones. So it really depends on the camera. No prob .. Rory