rory

i thought it was the other way around?

yep

I dont think you understand. Simple: A B/W camera will outperform a color exview or any other low light color camera on the market. How hard is this to understand??

the cameras/lens normally come with instructions, but; focus to wide, back focus, focus to narrow, back focus, focus to your desired focal lenght. Make sure you do this either in dim lighting like evening, or with a filter to fake the low light, this way it will stay in focus day and night. Dont forget to adjust the iris level if you are using an auto iris lens. Use a big enough monitor to get the best quality and make it easier. I normally use a 9" BW monitor, or a 13" TV, depends on the job. Portable monitors will not always get the best image, though they can with some work, and are easier to carry up a ladder, or on a crane, or if you cant get power to the camera location. Always test the camera before taking it to its installation location. There are some video meters out that will assist with focusing also. This is the way I do it to get a perfect picture.

the best 0 lux cameras i have seen/used are Extreme, but expensive. But if you want a 0 lux camera that will see far in pitch dark, and is built for it, and will last, they are worth it. I have a line of them on an ocean property here, 1 and 1/2 years now, through storms, etc, no issues at all. If you want to save some money, you could check out Provideo's day/night bullet cameras, and they have a IR Camera that is BW up to 150', claimed, never tested. Price on that model is still only a little less than the Extreme one. Bullets are much cheaper though.

what name DVR is it. that is not a valid .img file. they probably just named it as that extension. it will not play back as video in any video decoders i have.

Color Exview produces pixelated images in low light, not day time. B/W gives a much better image in the same image lighting with no pixelization. Exview is found in the cheap cameras also. But Super Had is even more common in the cheaper ones. For a day night, you want the color to switch as soon as it gets dim, to Black and white, for the best possible image. You can normally adjust this with most day night cameras. Ive tried just about every high end low light / Exview camera out, in a local nightclub here, but none could compete with the high quality of a B/W camera.

hi 2.5-12mm will be fine, and better as then you can adjust it once you install it. Price is not normally much different from fixed lenses. Generally; BW for outdoor, and Color inside. If you can afford it, get Day/Night for the 2 outdoor cameras, so it will be a better day and better night picture, and it is then color in the say and lower light high quality BW at night. Kalatel, Ganz or Sanyo have some good day/nights. If you dont nessasarily need color indoors, get BW, as the BW performs better in low light. But honestly, you can get a good picture indoors with simple bullet camera, standard resolution. Outdoors id stick to high resolution. Provideo has a day night bullet that is low cost: CVC-960IR, 1/2 the price of the traditional camera's day/night. No matter if you buy the low end or high end, the technology for all of them will change eventually over the years. Rory

yep, exview day images can be shabby, and they get pixelised in low light, day/night is much better. Though if you have a gas station for instance, which has a ton of light, you can even use a standard 1 or .5 lux color camera and it will see fine.

sounds like simple image files, you should be able to open them in most image viewers/editors, but there should be a player to view them in motion. http://www.seasip.info/Gem/ff_gem.html Paint Shop Pro will view it also, and there are other viewers, if you dont have a exe or motion file with it, or a viewer that can view them, send me them by PM and i can convert them for you to JPG or something like that.

what other PTZ brand has it? Ive seen some seperate boxes that have auto tracking, but they arent cheap. and im sure alot of the windows capture cards have it as its easy enough to write for windows.

whoops. sorry, not use to using PCs for surveillance! But before he trashes the cameras he should check to make sure they are OK, and if they work in a TV RCA input, then they are OK.

how do the PTZ know where to go?? You mean like using Alarm Beams or Outdoor Motion Sensors?

Phillips is the only one I know of with auto tracking. But i dont sell it.

plug the cameras into a TV RCA input using a BNC-RCA adaptor and see if the cameras work. If they do then you have software/PC issues, if not then yes its your cameras. try to connect it direct at the camera location, so to make sure its not cable/connector problems. Check your connections also if it is still a problem. Meter the cable, or try another camera.

Phillips has the auto tracking feature for their PTZs, I hear it is very good, never tried it though.

the auto tracking is cool though!! do they have any linux or ready made boxes??

looks like a PC card though, or am I missing something?

you could just use 2 lite Q series 16 channal muxes, and loop out, same thing, except the matrix will switch images on the 4 other monitors. You could always just add video distribution amps to the mux also, depending on how many monitors/cameras you will need to take care of.

yep, a little pricey but will do the job if you have more than 16 cameras. MMX-165C - 16x5 Color Multiplexer/Matrix Switcher -$4190 RETAIL MMX-325CE - 32x5 Expansion Module - $3190 RETAIL The MMX Combination Multiplexer/Matrix Switcher offers crosspoint matrix switching as well as multiplexer display and record functionality in one product. You can view images from 16 cameras on one monitor in any of several display modes, and at the same time view full-screen images from any connected cameras on four separate monitors. The MMX-165C offers all the performance of our best multiplexers: PVP processing, Triplex simultaneous live and playback viewing, video motion detection and macros. Add the MMX-325CE to expand to 32 inputs by 5 outputs it's like having a 32 x 5 matrix switcher and a 32-camera multiplexer in one unit. Features and Benefits Triplex simultaneous live and playback on one monitor PVP ultrafast monitor update speed VEXT automatic record speed synchronization Expandable from 16 cameras to 32 cameras

ok thanks, ill take a look at it.

good wireless can get expensive, there is someone else on here who just made one. You will need a TX for each camera, and a reciever. Also need a good antenna/yaggi, solar if you will not have any power. If you have power, you may as well try to get video cable back to the system one time for best quality video. If you can, if not, check out www.videotransmitters.com (VideoComm), good Wireless products, not cheap though. They have some good tech support if you need design help. Trango has some good long range, like for PTZ 12 miles, etc. www.trangosys.com Is it long range, short, where will the cameras be going, seeing, day/night, PTZ? etc. Rory

yep, X-10 is not CCTV, very cheap stuff that you are lucky if it works. Most high end cameras go for around $300+ retail. Plus the lens and housing.

id go pelco over Sony. I sell Kalatel myself, but they are all good. High End means Better Quality picture as it has Higher Resolution. Color or BW, the choice is yours. I dont even sell B/W only cameras anymore, besides the bullet camera cheap one. I sell the Day/Night's, so its Color in Light, or BW in low light. Low light color cameras will see alot in low light, but BW will give the best quality picture in low light. Rory

Smudges on the housing window or lens itself? Clean them both and see how it looks then.