Don Stephens

You're definitely correct about HDCVI degrading over CCA. I can honestly say though that these guys are using solid copper. I know because they made me sell it to them against my advice

The silicone based stuff will peal right off with your finger nail with very little effort but holds up to just about anything. I don't necessarily fill the connectors, they just get a heavy coating of the stuff; think of it more like putting on a jacket instead of stuffing your clothes with newspaper. Personally, I'm all for using very small junction boxes in salt water cases like this and add the sealant to augment them. I've never had any issues with the silicone based sealants myself and I get good feedback from people who use it. It actually surpasses my expectations in a lot of different environments. Honest to God, I've sealed cameras (IP66) with this stuff before sinking them 100ft into the Atlantic and those cameras lasted around 3 weeks before the sealant failed (presumably from the salt). You just need to make sure you're ending up with the right kind for the job. It's honestly never occurred to me to use dielectric grease. I don't see how using it could possibly hurt more than doing nothing. I think you're probably right about it's potential to be re-used. It's certainly worth trying as far as I'm concerned.

Gmail accounts are the only ones I've been able to get working for the last several months on Dahua recorders; everything else was failing miserably. I would comment/tell you more, but that's honestly all I can think of right now as possible problems; I don't set up email notifications very often.

I believe the angles of view they're providing are the diagonal; that would be why I say 5-10 horizontal while they 16. Otherwise, I don't know what to tell you. I just looked at this morning and it sure as heck wasn't a 16 degree difference. Apparently I posted the picture comparing HDCVI to the Aptina sensor somewhere else...so here it is again. I'll spare you the suspense; the HDCVI sensor loses. [Aptina left, HDCVi right]

If the end goal is just to weather/environment proof the connection, I would be asking why dielectric grease instead of something like a silicone based sealant. I don't see a downside, but from what I understand of dielectric grease, I don't really see an upside either.

There are several active threads on here related to this. I would take a look at what's already been said there. The quick answer is that AHD, HDCVI, and HDTVI are all just about the same thing (or will be soon enough). If you're wanting to upgrade from HDSDI, the aforementioned options are not going to give you better image quality; in fact, it will be the exact opposite. An IP system should be your obvious decision if choosing to upgrade from HDSDI. If you're after certain features/capabilities and not just image quality, list them out.

Google android smart tv box Any recommendations on manufacturer? I'm really only familiar with the Chromebox which is a bit more than you'd need for something like this.

Sorry, I don't even have still shots anymore for you. I would describe it as interference, but cable is being run totally independent from anything else. I admittedly don't have a lot of experience using RG6 so I can't even touch what the problem might be for these people. I was prepared to call it "user error", but for almost all of them to be doing it wrong seems unlikely. Most of these people have been installing for 20+ years. The fact that swapping the cable for good RG59 solved the issue on all accounts tells me that it's got to be cable related.

I have also noticed a minor latency issue with HDCVI. It's a fraction of a second as described, and I'm not prepared to call that a deal breaker, but it's noticeable. I can't explain why. I've done a few "HDCVI vs HDTVI" comparisons. The comparisons were always done in a way where we'd only be comparing a manufacturer to itself, and not manufacturer vs manufacturer. Regardless of who made them, I never noticed any difference in image quality between the two; not even small differences. I will emphasize that this was my experience. I'm sure someone else will disagree with me. As it pertains to number 6, I just did a quick side by side comparison this morning of the DS-2CD2032-I (Hikvision 3MP), DH-IPC-HFW4300S (Dahua 3MP Aptina), and DH-IPC-HFW4200S (Dahua 2MP Sony). There is no clear winner between these cameras within the first 20 feet; that should say something about how Sony compares to Aptina. Once you exceed 20 feet, smaller details remain clearer with the Hikvision. After 30 feet is when the 3MP Dahua model overtakes the 2MP. The 3MP cameras were pretty much identical as it applies to angle of view. The 2MP has an increased horizontal of about 5-10 degrees.

As long as full copper RG59 or RG6 also will give the same quality @200 meter Have you tested HDCVI with RG6 yourself? If so, do you know what the specs are on that RG6 cable? We've had nearly 100% of our customers using RG6 end up with terrible results when using it with HDCVI.

I'm going to have to eat my words on the IPC-HFW5200-IRA. We tested it yesterday during daylight hours and it was able to pick up a plate as far away at exactly 99.7 feet. That being said, the vehicle was only moving about 10MPH and it was a bit blurred but easy enough to make out. I would say, based on what buellwinkle just posted above, you're going to get way more reliable results from that PTZ. I haven't tested the HFW5200 at night yet, but I can just about guarantee there's no hope of plate capture in low light settings.

I can't say that I've seen this model before. All I can tell you is that I'm told it's definitely Hikvision, has a 4mm fixed lens, and is a 3MP bullet.

I've never seen anything like that. What model camera is doing that? Is it only happening in low light?

Update 2: I've confirmed it as a Hikvision camera. It is identical to the DS-2CD2032-I specs. According to China, this is the "North American generic" body style...or what will become the new generic model.

Dahua states you should be using solid copper RG59. Our own testing just reinforced that. Copper clad cable did just fine though up to at least 200 feet, and even some of the better plug-and-play cable did well up to 50 feet. We had terrible results with any network cable at any length. Unless your cable is a special kind of terrible, I don't think you can blame those negative effects on it if it's only a foot long. I'm not sure what you're trying to describe with the image distortion. Any chance of a picture?

There is no manual or software that came with the camera. That's part of my problem with identifying it for sure. The pigtail clearly gives it away as an IP camera, and the sticker just identifies the lens as 4mm.

Update: This is supposedly the new body style for the DS-2CD2032-I Anyway, that's the word from China... Can anyone actually confirm or deny this?

So it explains the bad contrast of the Hdcvi not because of the analog transmission but because the sensor itself is not of sony exmor or aptina quality. If the trend will continue. I think I'll just get an ip cam. I would say you're making the right decision.

Your budget lands you almost exclusively in mini NVR territory unless you find someone who will let you buy wholesale; my recommendation would be Dahua if wholesale is the case. Hikvision is generally recommended next to Dahua, but I don't have a lot of experience with their standalone units and I don't get a good vibe about them based on what I see on this forum. Having said that, I wouldn't take them off the list until you get someone's opinion who does have experience. There's already a whole thread dedicated to mini NVR models and the problems that may or may not come with them: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=39628

I've had great luck with Netgear and Cisco; both make 16 port PoE and non-PoE models.

Who the hell told you any of this? The concept of dropping SD analog or IP from the market is ludicrous. There is always going to be a customer base looking for the cheapest crap out there to get them by, just as there will always be a customer who demands the very best money can buy. Anyone telling you that anything is HDCVI is better than IP has clearly not examined all of the benefits that IP has to offer. We've been working with HDCVI since 2013. It is a fantastic upgrade to standard analog systems, but in no way does it compare to the quality and benefits of a good IP system. As has already been mentioned, the only reason to consider HDCVI over IP is if you already have good RG59 cable in place that you can't, or don't want to, replace...or if you're being cheap.

I'll be happy to hear your results. I'm seriously looking at the PTZ that buellwinkle mentioned as it seems to meet all the requirements. My only concern is the size, trying to keep things low key. Once you add the mount to the IPC-HFW5200-IRA, it's not much smaller (or lighter) than the PTZ camera that was suggested. Either camera is going to be blatantly obvious. I haven't done a lot of testing with the DH-SD59230S-HN PTZ yet, but it definitely has the better chance of getting you what you need if it's between these two cameras. My only concern would be how it responds to IR bouncing back off the plates at night. I have no idea how well this PTZ camera reacts to that, or what it may look like at 80-100 feet with an IR board that's supposedly made for up to 300 feet.

I'm going to be testing a IPC-HFW5200-IRA (7-22mm) tomorrow. My preliminary guess is that it won't work reliably if your plates are 80-100 feet away. Ours will only be mounted at about 8-10 feet up as well so the results may be a bit skewed for where you'll be mounting it but not by much.

I've gutted three cameras and got no closer to identifying the image sensor. The chip is essentially sterile outside of some unrelated information. Reading into it a little more, I found an article that suggests Dahua is producing them in house and refers to it as the DH5000. I can't tell you anything for certain though.

Your camera is going to be mounted too high based on the distances you've given thus far. Twenty feet high is going to put you at a nearly 22 degree angle from lens to plate. That's about 10 degrees higher than I like to do it and a few degrees over what is needed to make it functional. Is there lighting in the area, or is this camera going to need to have Infrared?