sharpie

I'm new to this and still learning from some mistakes. I'm trying to avoid a big one here. I did look around a bit I can find mostly older information on this subject. Recently we made the decision to install cameras went analog and stopped that project in the middle, it didn't give me what I wanted at all. I got one IP cam to check it out. Love it. Now my next issue is storage, playback all the good stuff an NVR should have. Should I go NVR or NAS? From what I'm getting from this NVR looks simple plug and play. NAS seems to have some configuration behind it as well as some software license issues to factor into the price, if you go that route I'm looking to save some money and not commit to a declared amount of channels to future proof this. As well as have a functional NAS added to our network, which would be nice considering I already have 4 2TB HDs laying around with no home. So I'm thinking a very decent NAS with a Junk PC or even a VMware running blueiris for view and playback while having the cameras dump to the NAS. Any thoughts and opinions on this. Is there a better way to do this? Any advice and thoughts are always much appreciated. Thanks. FYI The one camera I did get was a Dahua IPC-HFW2100 Plan to add 10 right away and reserve room for expansion Somewhat of a budget as well. Nothing ridiculously high end.

Okay, hooked the camera up directly to a monitor. Not much difference at all, slightly better but not enough. Bottom line I think the cameras are no good for the viewing application that is wanted as well as the DVR. I'm not heavily involved yet and its easy for me to step back and change anything. Any recommendations? As I've said I'm new to this and stepping in the middle of someone else's work. I've done some general research in the down time of troubleshooting this issue. From what I'd like to see it sounds like I'd have to go megapixel camera, is 1mp enough for that range to see a face and license plate? Obviously I'm dropping the DVR and cameras, so should I go NVR? What would you guys do in this situation? Again, thanks for all the help applied.

I don't have a direct way to do this. I'd have to grab a bnc to vga adapter and run it to a computer monitor. Is that a suitable test? Thanks for all the help to everyone btw.

So is this the DVR recording poorly then trying to upscale the poor recording, or the cameras giving poor video and the dvr is trying to beef it up? Whats your advice or best end result to go with? Replace DVR?

My apologies, here is the "capture" feature from a downloaded file from the DVR

Good eye, the cameras are 20ft. The glass exit door its viewing is 30ft from the lens.

Ouch, so cheap cameras and DVR are doing this? Second photo is taken from downloading the time from the DVR to the computer and viewing it on a player as advised and simply hitting print screen and I just crop in the important part. The first photo was a print screen from a live feed.

Doesn't seem much different at all. Think my issue is in the DVR itself?

No, I'm getting that image off of the netviewer (over my LAN) which I am certain there is plenty of bandwidth for DVR seems sketchy. I don't think anything called "Professional" in its title has ever been that. Here is the link I found on it. http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Channel-Standalone-Installed-Security/dp/9578576579/ref=sr_1_13?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1372784543&sr=1-13&keywords=DVR+16+channel Incase the URL is an issue here are the specs DVR Specifications: Video/Audio Video System NTSC A/V Compression Format Video: H.264/ Audio 8KHz*16bit ADPCM Display Resolution D1: 704x576(PAL) 704x480(NTSC) Record Resolution D1/HD1/CIF Recording Total Frame Rate: NTSC: 120 fps@D1, 240 fps@HD1, 480 fps@CIF Recording Recording Mode Always/scheduled/motion, Alarm, Net-viewer record Pack Time 15/30/45/60min (adjustable) Playback Mode Normal play, Fast Forward, Rewind and slow play frame by frame Backup Support flash drive an Removable HDD Alarm Alarm mode Motion/sensor triggered/Video loss/HDD Full, HDD Error Network Network Function Support Mobile surveillance, Remote Live surveillance and parameter setting Network Protocol TCP/IP, DHCP, UDP, DDNS, PPPOE System Port Video Input/Output 16CH BNC Input/2CH BNC Output/1CH VGA Output or 1CH HDMI Output Audio Input/Output 16CH Input/2CH Output Alarm Input/Output 16CH Input/1CH Output; HDD Support SATA HDD (NOT INCLUDED); Ethernet One RJ-45 10M/100M/1000M USB 2.0 Port Supports USB mouse, USB flash drive backup and upgrade PTZ Control Built-in RS-485 port, supports PELCO-P & PELCO-D General Parameter Power Adapter DC 12V 5A Working Temperature 50˚F to 104˚F (10˚C to 40˚C) Working Humidity 10%~90% Power Consumption 10 ~ 15W (exclude HDD) Dimension (W x D x H) 430 x 380 x 70mm. I haven't tried a Varifocal yet that was my next plan but I didn't want to throw anymore money at it until I had a good idea that's what it was.

DVR was already at D1 with the quality option as well at "Best"

I'm still learning here but I've set up some cameras for work. I'm not too impressed with the video quality on the cameras, they're not seeing clear far at all. I've tried another type of camera and still have the same issue. So my question is , what could be the problem? How can I improve this (see attached photo) I understand that a wide lens won't be able to see far with quality but it shouldn't look like this should it Camera: 700TVL 1/3 Inch Sony Exview HAD CCD II 3.6mm Lens, 36 IR LED Lines: RG59, confirmed cameras are getting the right amount of power as well, but for the sake of it. I'm using an 18 channel port distributor power supply box The runs aren't too far either, max is 250ft, closest is 80ft no change in quality