rory

No it should come right up, I just clicked on it now and its fine ... Im trying to talk some people into buying some Nuvico cameras to test out now, will see what happens.

It's been a long time since I have done a review, especially a camera review, so here is one of an Color Infrared camera I purchased for a job. I actually bought 2 of these to replace existing B/W Exview bullets, as the location was too dark at night, even for Exview. This is an indoor bar application. The camera retails for approx $150 US, $200 BAH (approx price as it is not easily found on the internet, moreso sold by installers). 1/4" COLOR OUTDOOR IR BULLET CAMERA 1/4" DSP SONY HAD CCD sensor Resolution 420 lines Min. Illumination 0.8 lux Auto electronic shutter Auto white balance Weather proof Sunshield included 24 IR LED's 6mm lens Anti-blooming - Low smear Reduced video noise Power 12 VDC/260mA --------------------------------------------------- Now they are actually decent cameras .. the quality is nice on this 9" BW Monitor, better than the ECL-596 (budget color bullet camera).. and the IR lights up good also .. at least inside my appt, though I originally had it outside and it lit up my wall which was around 25' away .. only issue is it is that 6mm 1/4" lens .. Now i cant say what the color is like as i was using the BW monitor .. I will test that another day. Okay to the nitty gritty .. its really designed to be wall mounted .. to use it ceiling mounted must remove the sunshield .. not an issue .. though it does slightly scratch the housing when you remove it .. there is no way around that .. unlike with the ECL-598HIM the material is different, so the 598 does not get any permenant scratches. So if using it wall mounted, just have to clean the glass cover and should be good to go. Most that may have to be done is also remove the glass cover and clean inside and out, and pull out the rubber ring some more to prevent that IR glare .. if it is not out enough, then there is alot of glare, but it is easy to adjust so no worries. Now ceiling mounting .. as the user manual is for a different camera there is nothing to say how to adjust it. Being it my first time using it I spun the inner ring too much (back and forth) and all the way eventually, which broke off the wires soldered for the IR. No worries, i was able to learn from this one, and by disconnecting the IR from the camera board all together, it can still be used as a color camera. Right about now a DVR with a "image flip" feature would have been nice and saved some time, but anyway ... Amazingly the Backlighting on this camera is actually very good; pointed direct at a light it will adjust and block the glare. Also low light mode is not bad even without the IR, much better than other strictly color cameras, for example the 596. In the similar lighting conditions the 596 sees nothing, however this one actually sees, though pixelised and low contrast, it is still something. Pointed direct at my LCD monitor, my CCTV Monitor, or my TV, it adjusts fast and I can see everything clear. This is unusual with such a budget camera, perhaps it has to do with the IR pickup feature, and having no IR Cut Filter. After trying to figure out ways to loosen the guts of the camera, to get at it better, i gave up on that idea as it led nowhere. Basically to adjust the camera so it can be ceiling mounted, the inner board that holds the CCD chip and lens, which is always loose BTW until the inner ring is tightened, must be turned itself. To do this just loosen the inner ring slightly (not all the way or too much, or the IR wires may come loose), and then you can adjust the camera so it will view the right way up when ceiling mounted (basically upside down). Holding the lens itself, adjust it, then when it is where required, hold it as you tighten the inner ring back. Since the lens is screwed tight it will not come out of focus. The only question is, if the inner ring was not adjusted several times back and forth like i did in an attempt to straigten the view for ceiling mount position, would I have been able to unscrew the inner ring to get at the camera guts, without the wires coming loose? As I dont want to waste another camera (though i will still use this one), i will leave that question open for now. However to focus or change the camera lens, requires removal of that inner ring, so maybe once not too many turns are made with the inner ring, it would be fine. So overall it is a decent camera for the price. Hope this helps someone else looking at this camera. Rory

Rory, this isn't entirely true, though you bring up a good point which is differentiating between Color/Mono and Color/Mono with removeable IR cut filter. You're correct that the HQ1 540TVL sensor system from Sony does perform digital Color/Mono performance, which doesn't actually increase a camera's low light performance. This doesn't stop MANY manufacturers from calling Color/Mono cameras "Day/Night" cameras even though they're actually not. True Day/Night performance comes from either cameras that have a two sensor system, with one sensor having an IR cut filter and the other without (very rare solution), or the more common solution for the CCTV industry which is a camera that switches from color to mono in low light and ALSO removes the IR cut filter to give the camera low light and IR response. This feature is available with the HQ1 540TVL sensor by some manufacturers, so you can actually have a 540 TVL camera that is true day/night. As far as your dome specs go, check out the high-level specs on my new DM2/DR2 series plastic and rugged domes. I showed these at ASIS and they should go to beta in Late December, with launches in early February 2007. -Available in 520TVL (SS2), 540TVL (HQ1) or our new UltraView 3 platforms. The SS2 and HQ1 flavors will be available in color/mono AND a Day/Night version with color/mono AND a removable IR cut filter. I'm also working to make a day/night version of our UltraView 3, but that'll be later in 2007 -All will include a secondary video out that is inside the bubble, so you can tune the camera without having to fish out the the BNC connector that's meant to go to your head unit. An adapter cable that converts this second video out to BNC will be included in the box. -All will be 24VAC/12VDC power input. -I have redesigned the plastic dome (DM2) to be the same size as the DR2, which is also the same size as our existing DR series. This means that both new platforms will be backward compatible with most of the existing DR mounts, including the DR-RWM wall mount, the DR-EP and DR-PM pendant mounts, and the DR-OCM and DR-ICM inside/outside corner mounts. -Both the DR2 and DM2 will have polycarbonate bubbles with a swivalable captive shroud for concealing camera position. -Both the DR2 and DM2 will have a TRUE 3-Axis gimble -Both the DR2 and DM2 will come with adapter plates for easy single-gang and double-gang box installation -UTP versions will be made available in mid Q2 2007 -There are a few other cool features to the camera, but I can't discuss them yet because there are patent applications on these features that are pending. This release is the culimnation of about 12 months of me asking customers at every opportunity what we could do to improve our GE Security line of plastic and rugged domes. Look for news on these to come in late December 2006 or early 2007. Oh one thing I'd like to know is the expected street price of the cameras you spec. Doesn't do me much good to meet your specs if my price is too high. All I ask is that you be reasonable with your price/spec requests. Don't ask me, for example, for the feature list I just provided, in a camera that has a street price of $150, because it just won't happen. Jason Spielfogel Worldwide Product Manager - Fixed Cameras GE Security Hi Jason .. are those betas ready yet?

just dont short it out and it will all be good ..

avermedia has some budget DVRs now also ...

I actually downloaded their software and used the 2 demo IPs they have .. worked great ... even played back and viewed the 2 demo sites in one multi view .. i mean for the price of a budget DVR, it has really impressive remote software.

Also be sure to use Voltage Regulation or for certain the hard drives will stand a much higher chance of failure earlier than normal.

Good analysis Thomas .. Ive noticed lower quality in H.264 though which is why Ive stuck with Mpeg4 for now, at least with the Geo cards. I still only use H.264 with the remote webcam application of Geo if the client has very low bandwidth, otherwise i need the higher quality, after all thats what DVRs are for.

which software d oyou use, if any, to make a plan layout of the location with camera placements, lens widths etc? I only use Paint Shop Pro currently, though it comes out good, is there anything easier??

not using a laptop though ...

Anyone ever used any worth talking about? I need to extend a PC monitor wirelessly around 100 feet. Its from an office across a side road, to the clients home right across the road. He has no PC nor any TV in the room in the house where it is going, which window looks directly at the office building and room where the main PC system is. So basiclaly I can install an LCD Monitor, he needs no control, just to view, as the cameras will be set in a 9 way view. He doesnt have the $$ to do it analog wireless, plus its PC DVR, and would have to add all kinds of TXs and RXs and 2 Muxes, so thinking this is the easiest route, or maybe setup a wireless network then install a PC on his house side .. but looking for the most simplest method which got me thinking of Wireless VGA Extenders. Looked around and most only are designed for indoors, or do only 1024x768, or run in the 2.4Ghz range. Thanks Rory

i wish they'd hurry up and get the Digital Globe Satelite over my island

What about the Nuvico J series, from demoing their Network software it looks great .. though dont know about the local side as Ive never physically used one.

BTW Ken since i last posted here set up 2 APC UPS' and they worked great, shut down properly and started up again with no issues.. Hibernates BTW .. anyway, they say the battery is good for approx 3 years. Its definately essentiual to use the included software and cable to get the most out of the UPS. If it doesnt have them, then it probably is an old unit.

Is this happening with other sites or just one. Have you tried connecting to say Geo's demo site? 1-also forward 5550 2-Try my GeoFix on my home page 3-Try my LiveVue software then see if you still have the same issue .. Rory

The Sanyo is a much better camera, and quality would be much better also, in color and in BW mode. It is also a True Day Night camera, whereas the bullet mentioned is strictly color, and uses one of the cheaper Exview Chips. The effective Pixels is much greater on the Sanyo Box camera so once it is setup properly it will be crisper video. If its darker than the Sanyo mentioned can handle (in BW mode), then you will need Infrared. The Sanyo's color mode is not that low light, but the BW mode is what matters. If you need an even better low light camera then check out the GE Exview Day Night Box camera (KTC-2000DN) which is Exview True Day Night (Color and BW).

Sounds like he's going for the Budget Cards ... Avermedia and Geovision are probably out of his budget. Cant comment on either of those 3 listed, though I have used geo with remote audio with success. In fact they have a demo which is streaming a DVD on one of the cameras, which has audio, so maybe worth checking out.

Didnt know of that one, but I had other issues especially with the Combo cards including Black Edges when source was set to 720x480, in all Compressions. They ended up replying kind of off topic and about the H264 but anyway here is what they said: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Regarding your question with H.264 and 720x480 recording, we're afraid that this will be the spec limitation, because the H.264 will not fully cover in the following resolution: 320x240 720x240 720x480 720x480(De-interlace) so, you'll get the black edge in these resolution. Best regards, GeoVision Technical Support ----------------------------------------------------------------------

LOL you gotta sign up .. im entering my location as Nassau, Bahamas .. wonder if they will think im spying to see how to cross the Florida Border ...

Could be the Iris ... maybe the Power Board ... id try another known good camera in each physical spot and see whats up. 5 Years is long for any camera .. so if they need replacement the client should understand. They could have just got hit from a spike also .. the Power Board issue will also have lines in it, as well as being fuzzy and dark.

Cheap OEMs ... just 2x Low Res Color and 1x B/W ..

Cant say 100% .. never did get that part straight .. but check out this video .. this is from a GV800 with 3 cameras attached ... the jittering you see between clips is the Pre Record setting .. that comes and goes with Motion Detection. http://www.bahamassecurity.com/video/day_quad.Avi If it wont play in Media player, install the codec using this app. http://www.bahamassecurity.com/geofix.asp

The 2 new Geo Cards, 2004 and 2008, they arent yet available in the US market though, supposed to be end of this month. BTW the GV800 is definately more than 30fps total record in 640x480, in 720x480 cant say. We had a thread discussing this in the Geo forum.

also make sure you are using its recycle mode .. may be called something different than that but basically it needs to be able to go back to the start and record over or delete older files then record from that point again .. with cheap cards sometimes you need to change the Windows Recycle Bin settings to "Remove Files Immediately When Deleted" .. otherwise the disk may fill up. Rory