scorpion

We do not recommend that you set up the system to have the DVR trigger an alert to the alarm panel. You may get false alarms causing the police to show up, and charging you expensive false alarm charges. http://scorpiontheater.com/io.aspx Does your DVR use Video Server E? You can have your laptop set up to go in to alarm when it detects motion, a siren will sound over the speakers to alert you without having the Alarm Panel being triggered.

CCD results in superior image quality? Because a digital camera has a CCD doesn't mean that the camera itself will produce a superb image. The image quality produced by a digital camera is the result of the entire camera system including the optics, analog to digital conversion, image processing, image sensor, and all the other camera components and processes. Further, the way these components work together is an important factor in determining final image quality. CCD (charge coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) image sensors are two different technologies for capturing images digitally. Each has unique strengths and weaknesses giving advantages in different applications. Neither is categorically superior to the other, although vendors selling only one technology have usually claimed otherwise. In the last five years much has changed with both technologies, and many projections regarding the demise or ascendence of either have been proved false. The current situation and outlook for both technologies is vibrant, but a new framework exists for considering the relative strengths and opportunities of CCD and CMOS imagers. Both types of imagers convert light into electric charge and process it into electronic signals. In a CCD sensor, every pixel's charge is transferred through a very limited number of output nodes (often just one) to be converted to voltage, buffered, and sent off-chip as an analog signal. All of the pixel can be devoted to light capture, and the output's uniformity (a key factor in image quality) is high. In a CMOS sensor, each pixel has its own charge-to-voltage conversion, and the sensor often also includes amplifiers, noise-correction, and digitization circuits, so that the chip outputs digital bits. These other functions increase the design complexity and reduce the area available for light capture. With each pixel doing its own conversion, uniformity is lower. But the chip can be built to require less off-chip circuitry for basic operation. CCDs and CMOS imagers were both invented in the late 1960s and 1970s CCD became dominant, primarily because they gave far superior images with the fabrication technology available. CMOS image sensors required more uniformity and smaller features than silicon wafer foundries could deliver at the time. Not until the 1990s did lithography develop to the point that designers could begin making a case for CMOS imagers again. Renewed interest in CMOS was based on expectations of lowered power consumption, camera-on-a-chip integration, and lowered fabrication costs from the reuse of mainstream logic and memory device fabrication. While all of these benefits are possible in theory, achieving them in practice while simultaneously delivering high image quality has taken far more time, money, and process adaptation than original projections suggested. Both CCDs and CMOS imagers can offer excellent imaging performance when designed properly. CCDs have traditionally provided the performance benchmarks in the photographic, scientific, and industrial applications that demand the highest image quality (as measured in quantum efficiency and noise) at the expense of system size. CMOS imagers offer more integration (more functions on the chip), lower power dissipation (at the chip level), and the possibility of smaller system size, but they have often required tradeoffs between image quality and device cost. Costs are similar at the chip level. Early CMOS proponents claimed CMOS imagers would be much cheaper because they could be produced on the same high-volume wafer processing lines as mainstream logic or memory chips. This has not been the case. The accommodations required for good imaging perfomance have required CMOS designers to iteratively develop specialized, optimized, lower-volume mixed-signal fabrication processes--very much like those used for CCDs. Proving out these processes at successively smaller lithography nodes (0.35um, 0.25um, 0.18um...) has been slow and expensive; those with a captive foundry have an advantage because they can better maintain the attention of the process engineers. CMOS cameras may require fewer components and less power, but they still generally require companion chips to optimize image quality, increasing cost and reducing the advantage they gain from lower power consumption. CCD devices are less complex than CMOS, so they cost less to design. CCD fabrication processes also tend to be more mature and optimized; in general, it will cost less (in both design and fabrication) to yield a CCD than a CMOS imager for a specific high-performance application. However, wafer size can be a dominating influence on device cost; the larger the wafer, the more devices it can yield, and the lower the cost per device. 200mm is fairly common for third-party CMOS foundries while third-party CCD foundries tend to offer 150mm. Captive foundries use 150mm, 200mm, and 300mm production for both CCD and CMOS. The larger issue around pricing is sustainability. Since many CMOS start-ups pursued high-volume, commodity applications from a small base of business, they priced below costs to win business. For some, the risk paid off and their volumes provided enough margin for viability. But others had to raise their prices, while still others went out of business entirely. High-risk startups can be interesting to venture capitalists, but imager customers require long-term stability and support. While cost advantages have been difficult to realize and on-chip integration has been slow to arrive, speed is one area where CMOS imagers can demonstrate considerable strength because of the relative ease of parallel output structures. This gives them great potential in industrial applications. CCDs and CMOS will remain complementary. The choice continues to depend on the application and the vendor more than the technology. CCDs are so named for the way they transfer charges between pixel wells, and ultimately out of the sensor. The charges are shifted from one horizontal row of pixels to the next horizontal row from top to bottom of the array. This is a parallel (or vertical) shift register architecture, with multiple vertical shift registers used to transport charges vertically down the rows. The charges are "coupled" to each other (thus the term charge-coupled device) so that as one row of charge is moved vertically, the next row of charge (which is coupled to it) shifts into the pixels thus vacated. With the charges shifted down the parallel array row by row, you might wonder what happens to the charges in the last row of the sensor device. Using a serial shift register architecture, the last row is actually a horizontal shift register. Charges in that row serially transferred out of the sensor using the charge-coupling technique, making room for the next row to be shifted out, and the next, and so on. This serial transfer of charge out of the CCD is often described as a "bucket brigade," referring to its similarity to the old-fashioned fire department's bucket brigade. Before being transferred out of the CCD serially, each pixel's charge is amplified resulting in an analog output signal of varying voltage. This signal is sent to a separate off-chip analog to digital converter (ADC) and the resultant digital data is converted into the bytes that comprise the raw representation of the image as captured by the sensor, prior to any post-processing. Unlike computer RAM that represents a 1 or 0 by either storing a charge or not, the charge on a CCD remains in analog form until the ADC stage late in the process. Because the CCD transfers a pure electric charge over the entire sensor via the charge-coupling process with little resistance or interference from other electronic components, it tends to produce a cleaner, less noisy signal than CMOS sensors (which have much more circuitry than CCDs). The transfer, however, is never 100 percent efficient; some electrons will inevitably be lost somewhere between the pixel well and the sensor readout. A sensor's charge transfer efficiency (CTE) is a defining specification provided by manufacturers. The Gatekeepers Electrodes act as gatekeepers to the entire process. Electrodes are conductors that permit current to flow in or out of an electronic device and can act as electronic gates. They are also called by other names in CCDs, according to their function in the sensor design (i.e. transfer gates, exposure control gates, and overflow gates). In the case of transfer gates, the electrodes receive clock pulses of varying voltage that enable the transfer of charge from one pixel well to the next. This includes transfer of pixel charges from row to row down the array, and the final serial readout of the last row. The electronic shutter on a sensor involves using voltage controls and electrodes to limit the integration time (exactly how long a pixel will accept photons and generate electrons), performing an exposure control function. And overflow gates are used to keep electrons from spilling and contaminating adjacent pixel charges. The most common electrodes are made of polysilicon, though Kodak has introduced another type of electrode made from indium tin oxide (ITO). This can improve the process of capturing electrons in the pixel wells, because ITO is optically more transparent than polysilicon. An unfortunate side effect of polysilicon electrodes is that they can reflect or absorb incoming photons at certain wavelengths. CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) electrodes function differently than those on CCDs because of the inherent differences in the way the two kinds of sensors transfer the charge. In other words, CMOS doesn't use the CCD's charge-coupled transfer process. Therefore, CMOS doesn't use electrodes the way CCD does for that process. However, electrodes are used on CMOS to reduce noise and for transfer gates to the offload transistors. CMOS APS CMOS sensors were developed in the early 1980’s. Passive pixel sensor (PPS) image sensors were the first products in this family to come to market. The large feature sizes available in existing CMOS technology allowed only a single transistor and three interconnecting lines for each pixel. The speed and signal-to-noise-ratio of PPS was significantly lower than that of CCD sensors. In the 1990s, APS technology added an amplifier to each pixel. This increased sensor speed and improved the signal-to-noise-ratio, providing a big advantage over PPS sensors. When deep sub-micron CMOS technologies and micro-lenses appeared, APS became the alternative sensor technology. Its low power consumption and near-standard manufacturing process made it a competitor to CCD sensors for certain applications. However, APS technology has inherent problems. Due to process variations that create nonuniformities in the column level ADCs and in-pixel amplifiers, large fixed pattern noise (FPN) at high resolutions typically yields limited sensitivity, less than is required for many applications, including security and the film industry. Human eyes are particularly sensitive to image edges, and the column-level ADCs amplify this noise. As mentioned, a key function of the electrodes is to act as transfer gates to control the charge transfer in CCDs. To delve a bit deeper in understanding how this process works, let's look at a "four-phase CCD," which has four electrodes per pixel. (Most CCDs are multi-phase devices and the number of the phases/electrodes varies by sensor model.) The first phase of each pixel has the same voltage applied, as do the second, third, and forth phases. If an electrode receives a high voltage, a potential well is formed beneath the electrode in the silicon substrate, and if it receives a low voltage, a potential barrier is formed, which helps keep the captured electrons (the pixel data) in the potential well. Then by varying the voltages applied to adjacent electrodes in a properly timed sequence, the potential wells can actually be shuttled across the pixel and ultimately into the next pixel, enabling the bucket brigade effect as described above. Simple but Complex The four-phase operation is a simple process, though a bit complex to describe in words. We'll try here. The process starts by first turning off phase one and phase two electrode (gate) voltages in the first clock period, while turning on phase three and phase four electrode voltages in that period. During the second clock period, phase one is turned on and phase three is turned off. Then phase two is turned on and phase four is turned off in the third clock period. Finally phase three is turned on and phase one of the next pixel is turned off during the fourth clock period. This process is repeated to move the charge along the sensor. Four-phase CCD technology is a popular sensor architecture because it can be created using two layers of material. In addition, according to Philips which uses a four-phase design, it allows for at least 50 percent of the pixel well for storage and also offers the highest charge capacity among competitive designs. A three-phase CCD provides only 33 percent of the pixel well for storage DPS Image Capture and Processing DPS technology converts the quantity of light striking each picture element (pixel) to a digital value at the earliest possible point: at the pixel itself. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is designed into each pixel, and is operated simultaneously with all other ADCs in every pixel of the sensor. This pixel-level ADC architecture permits the use of many highly parallel low-speed circuits, operating close to where the photodiode signals are generated. This is key to optimizing the signal-to noise ratio (SNR) for each pixel. The DPS system uses the individual ADCs in each pixel to perform non destructive correlated double sampling (CDS) at each pixel. DPS uses this capability to sample the growing light intensity at each pixel many times during each image capture period. This allows exposure level of each pixel to be determined by the rate of change of charge collected rather than only its absolute magnitude. Each pixel is also provided with an adjustable offset cancellation gain amplifier to assure uniform response throughout the sensor array. These innovations greatly reduce noticeable fixed pattern noise problems commonly associated with the column-level ADC used on APS sensors. Because DPS sensors are digital, pixel readout is much faster and more accurate. Each sample of the digital image is captured in on-chip RAM. The high bandwidth provided by tightly coupled local memory is used to achieve its superior high dynamic range. This approach is not practical for CCD or APS sensors because of their reliance on analog readout circuitry. This is not a problem with DPS, which greatly benefits from the digital sampling performed on each pixel. Dynamic range is the ratio of the brightest image that can be captured by the imaging system to the darkest image that can be captured. Light intensity greater than the brightest possible image will cause the sensor to saturate, while light intensity less than the darkest possible image will not register on the sensor. Both of these conditions distort the image, hiding potentially vital information that lies outside the dynamic range of the sensor. When an exposure begins, each pixel is charged at a rate that is proportional to the intensity of the light that strikes it. A stronger light source will charge a pixel more quickly than a weaker light source. Existing technology typically uses a single exposure time for all pixels. At the end of the exposure, the camera will sense the total charge accumulated in each pixel. But that means some pixels (the brighter ones) may be overexposed while others (the darker ones) may be underexposed. DPS overcomes this limitation as follows: with DPS, the light striking each pixel is sampled multiple times during the exposure period. DPS analyzes how quickly each pixel is being charged by the light striking it. This way, DPS measures light intensity by a combination of the rate at which the charge grows as well as the total charge accumulated during an entire exposure. Specifically, the DPS system records the length of time required to nearly saturate each pixel. Pixels exposed to bright illumination will tend to saturate more quickly than other pixels. DPS determines for each pixel whether it will saturate before the next sample. If a pixel would saturate, then its elapsed exposure time is stored in memory, together with its current intensity of charge. The advantage of this approach can be appreciated when one realizes that the entire range of each individual pixel, as well as the rate of change of the pixel charge, is used to form the resulting image, significantly increasing the dynamic range that is captured. Other technologies only measure the pixel value, not its rate of change. DPS also provides improved color performance not available with other sensor technologies: the data recorded by each pixel is of very high quality, both in terms of accuracy and precision. High data quality allows the DPS image processing algorithms to render excellent fidelity for all colors and intensities. DPS provides a fast global electronic shutter to capture bright lights and produce images that do not exhibit rolling shutter artifacts common in APS sensors. Exposure Control System Exposure Control is divided into three blocks. The Scene Analysis block is similar to the photographer’s light meter, returning information on the amount and quality of light in the scene. The Settings Table interprets the scene information to adjust it for optimal viewing. The Transition Control block keeps the video image smooth. These blocks can be tested with known scenes for accuracy. Scene analysis results in three estimates: • Light Level Estimate • White Balance Estimate • Scene Range Estimate Calculation of these estimates is discussed in greater length below. The Settings Table block is a collection of functions and values that calculate the best image system settings for each result from the scene analysis block. This is akin to the photographer reading the exposure time and f-number from the light meter or a table. These settings can be verified independently by manually selecting the scene values and observing or measuring the quality of the video output. Because it is a video system, transitions between settings must be smooth and not oscillate. This is achieved by the Transition Control block, which acts as the steady hand of a camera operator, smoothly changing settings while providing a pleasurable picture. The overall operation of this system and specific detail on the scene analysis is reviewed in more detail in the following sections. http://scorpiontheater.com/camlab.aspx http://www.pixim.com/assets/files/product_and_tech/Pixim_Technology_White_Paper.pdf http://www.sony.net/Products/SC-HP/cx_news/vol52/pdf/featuring52.pdf http://www.dalsa.com/corp/markets/CCD_vs_CMOS.aspx CCD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge-coupled_device CMOS ACTIVE PIXEL SENSOR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_pixel_sensor http://www.rfconcepts.co.uk/cxd2463r.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hole_Accumulation_Diode

The real problem is that they do not sell those cards at Cost Co, Sam's Club ect, and the "common folk" cannot run these tests. I do not know for a fact, but I am willing to bet 90% of the installers in Brevard County do not have a test card. Guilty! I do not have one! I have the manual for one does that count? Hell most of the installers around here do not have a battery operated 4" monitor! I have to have one as this is my main "tool".

Can you use a wireless camera, and put the receiver in the attic, and run the video back to the DVR?

Hello Karen Love! Long time no see! Seems like it has been a year! Welcome back!

If I were the provider of your system I would encourage you to have the system running 24 hours a day 7 days a week! I am anticipating some crime to happen down the road, and you would have video of it happening allowing you to have clues to help solve the mystery! With the cost of hard drives being cheap nowadays I would tell you to get a bigger hard drive, and not to worry about the amount of activity being recorded. For remote power control there are products called X10. You can take an appliance module, and plug the DVR in to it. Downstairs you will have a "keypad", called a controller. You can turn the appliance module on, and off by pressing a button. Simple! No wires to run! http://www.x10pro.com/pro/pdf/wireless_control.pdf What do you think?

Too hard to guess. First it could be a difference in ground potential once the power is energized. You would only be able to isolate this problem by insulating the camera from the pole. You can take those plastic signs that say car for sale, garage sale ect, and cut that to the shape of your mount, and place it between the mount, and the pole. The screws will have to be non conductive. You can check the screws with a meter to check for continuity. _____________________________________________________________ For giggles you can take the ground of the video cable, and tie it to the pole to see if it fixes it, or makes it worse. You would have to get a BNC device so that it sits between the cable, and the camera lead, and this will allow you to ground it. For reference you probably seen something similiar with the satellite dish companies use on the coax from the dish to the house, and then they tie it to the ground of the electrical system from the power company. This is the same as the cable company. I know you cannot use F connectors, but you can think of something I am sure. http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Order/Install/Grounding.htm Perhaps you can use F connector to BNC adapters? http://eclipsecctv.com/ECL-1005_connector.html You would probably have to make small jumpers with different connectors on each end. Perhaps a surge protector? http://eclipsecctv.com/ECL-BSUR_AV_Surge_Protector.html What do you think?

$150 will not get you much. You will end up with a system with 35mm film. I would recommend going up in price so that you get a digital camera instead. I would have you go up in price again so that you have IR instead of flash. Measure from where you will mount the Game camera to the viewing area. Take this number, and double it for your IR flash distance for the rating of the camera system you buy. With the wide angle lenses on most game cameras then you will not want the area to be viewed to be more then 15 feet at the most from your game camera. http://scorpiontheater.com/game.aspx

Is the plug, and play camera that you are talking about the "candy bar" IP camera meaing flat, and wide like a candy bar? If yes, does this come with some recording software, or is this for live view only? Thanks!

Hey Securicorp!! Where have you been???? Long time no hear from!! What do you do? Do you only come to the forum every 6 months, or so? Nice to see you again!

What do you use with the A series (video viewer) AVTech DVRs in regards to cellphone / PDA use? I take it that you cannot use the Blackberry, or the Iphone with the A series DVRs.

Do not use the 6 volts!! Here is your pinout http://scorpiontheater.com/repair.aspx

DMR 9 is a 9 channel DVR. Do you have a DMR1 which is 16 channel? AVC 777 is a 16 channel DVR. Here is your answer http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=99700&highlight=#99700

POWER SUPPLY (DVR) Do you have a DMR1 which is a 16 channel DVR, or do you have the DMR9 which is the 9 channel DVR? AVC 777 is a 16 channel DVR part number. AVTech is the manufacture of your DVR. http://scorpiontheater.com/cpcamtechsupport.aspx http://scorpiontheater.com/troubleshooting.aspx POWER SUPPLY 12 Volt 3 Amp.....5 Volt 6 Amp Jentec......Model JTA 0409.....Jentec Spec Sheet..... http://scorpiontheater.com/Documents/AVTech_Guide_Jentec_JTA0409_Power_Supply_8pin.pdf KDM.........Model KY 05072.... http://kdmpower.com/DVR572.html ...(8 Pin) Leadman..Model KY 05072.... http://www.leadman.com.tw/Adapter/KY-05072.pdf .....Note this shows 4 pins (computer) This is for the pin out of the power supply plug. 1. Gnd 2. Gnd 3. Gnd 4. +12 5. Gnd 6. +12 7. +5 8. +5 Here is more info for other AVTech DVRs http://scorpiontheater.com/repair.aspx

I agree. There are a lot of issues with port 80 (default setting of the AVTECH DVR).

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103065&cp=&sr=1&origkw=composite+distribution&kw=composite+distribution&parentPage=search

I do not know which Wireless DVR you are speaking of, and I have never sold, or installed wireless DVRs. You may need to get another persons opinion rather than mine. I have sold a lot of wireless cameras, and I know the limitations of most wireless systems. PROBLEM NUMBER ONE. FREQUENCY. You must buy a license from the FCC in order to use wireless. SOLUTION Use a license free frequency such as 2.4 GHZ. Great! Now you share the same frequency as cordless phones, 802.11 wireless routers (N series is in the 5.8GHz freq range), and many analog wireless video devices such as "baby monitors", and "TV extenders". If the system that you are looking at is analog then everyone can see your cameras. PROBLEM TWO WATTAGE. If the transmitter is inside the camera then heat is a problem. To overcome this keep the wattage low. Most wireless cameras will be about 100 milliwatts, or about the same as a childs walkie talkie. Never use the distance rated on the box. Cut it in half! If is says 300 feet line of sight then cut this in half, and only use it at 150 feet. LINE OF SIGHT This is exactly what it means. The two antennas must see each other. If you penetrate a wall then you have to get the transmitter, and receiver closer together to keep that same energy level up. If you transmite through several walls then you really need to get them closer together to keep up that same energy level to see the video. SOLUTION Raise the wattage! You cannot have high wattage transmitters inside the camera. It will be too hot, and it will burn the camera up. You will need to use a separate transmitter, and connect a regular camera to the transmitter. The farther away the transmitter, and receiver are, (or the more things you have to penetrate such as walls, or trees) the more you will need to use external antennas. Most people complain about wireless cameras, but that is due to using the products outside of what they were designed for. Ge advised that wireless cameras are not truely wireless!! They still need power to work. You can change a battery everyday, or you can run a power wire back to a transformer, and plug it in. http://scorpiontheater.com/wireless.aspx

There is no way to measure record quality. What you see is what you get. Guarding a residence, and guarding a diamond store, or a bank are completely different situations. How much are you willing to spend? This will be the first way to measure the record quality that you will receive. There are some devices that sacrifice the FPS in order to give you higher quality in record video. This is a fair trade off except where timing is of the essence such as in license plate capture. Low FPS may miss the timing of the plate at the crucial point that would be optimum. For a hospital that wants to catch facial shots of people in an area can have high record quality, and low FPS. The snap shot effect will not create to much of a problem. Very low FPS may create a situation where you might miss a face due to the turning of the face, or a change in the travel path of the person being reviewed. You have to look at what you want your surveillance system to do then you need to select the proper DVR. Residential systems are not "high threat" situations unless you have antiquities, a million dollars cash under the mattress, or jewelry that you need to protect. Inexpensive DVRs can be used. Now it become the lens selection that can make, or break a good system. Most "kits" come with wide angle lenses. Wide angle lenses suffer from distance distortion. At about 20 things in the video will appear farther away then in reality. Faces become smaller in the video, and you have less pixals to create the face. The more you need facial recognition the more you need the video to look like the 6 oclock news with only head, and shoulders in the video frame. Select the right lens, and poor record quality may not be as much of a factor in having a decent system.

There are too many variables. Some manufactures may have their own terminology that may use the same abbreviations. Buyer beware. Television is an old technology, and the industry is so desperate to evolve in to new technology. Back when tubes ruled the day instead of transistors it was hard to make an electronic circuit "work fast". They came up with some pretty good "tricks" to overcome the limitations of the technology at the time. They devised a system that would make a picture by scanning the odd number of lines, and then come back, and "fill in the picture" by scanning the even number of lines. A scan is called a field. In other words it creates two fields to create one frame. 60 fields is the same as 30 frames. The afterglow of the phosphor of CRTs, in combination with the persistence of vision results in two fields being perceived as a continuous image which allows the viewing of full horizontal detail with half the bandwidth that would be required for a full progressive scan while maintaining the necessary CRT refresh rate to prevent flicker. Only CRTs can display interlaced video directly – other display technologies require some form of deinterlacing. What one needs to know in regard to DVR is the selection of frames per second. If we want 30 FPS to have a movie like quality then we need this number multiplied by how many camera channels there are. A 4 channel DVR should be rated at 120 FPS. 30X4=120. A 16 channel DVR shoud be rated at 480 FPS. 30X16=480. People have purchased a DVR rated at 30FPS thinking great this is movie quality! 30FPS divided by 4 channels is 7.5 FPS on each channel. In other words the playback will look more like a series of snap shots rather than watching a movie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_scan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raster_graphics http://www.ev1.pair.com/colorTV/index.html

You can check to see if you have a short from the center conductor to the shield, or ground

Take a TV set that has the yellow video, or a composite video input, and take it out to your camera. Plug the camera in to the TV. If you have video then this tells us the power supply is good, the wiring is good, and the camera is operational. This means the problem is the video leaving the camera, and going to it's destination. If you do not have video then it is power supply, the wiring, or the camera is not operational. Power must be tested in with the camera plugged in. The voltage has to be tested with a load. If you just hook a meter up to the wires you are only measuring the voltage unloaded. In other words the camera could draw enough power, and the guage of the wire could cause the voltage to go below the operation level of what the camera needs to work.

http://scorpiontheater.com/lpr.aspx http://scorpiontheater.com/speedbumpcamera.aspx

You would need to give us your definition of the word Matrix. The loop outs are independent video feeds. You can hook a matrix device up to those independent video feeds, and have another monitor that you can choose which camera you would like to see. On the DVR you should have a built in matrix. You should be able to see a multi screen, or you can choose 1,2,3, or 4 (or more) to see the camera in full screen. You internet connection is a different video separate from the analog signalas. You can see the cameras by watching a computer rather than a TV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_wall http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi_monitor#Multiple_PC_multi-monitor http://abacus.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~ahwang/CityWall/reports/videowall_FAQ.pdf http://www.gpegint.com/pdfs/digital_signage/gpeg_videowall.pdf http://www.multiplemonitors.org/Pages%20-%20about%20MMI/MMI%20-%20directory.html http://www.cubexvideo.com/recent.html

Time to let the soldering irons cool and batteries charge: Here a cruise for you that is an adventure! LOL! Somali Cruise Package I found a Somali cruise package that departs from Sawakin (in the Sudan) and docks at Bagamoya (in Tanzania). The cost is a bit high @ US$800 per person double occupancy. What I found enticing is that the cruise company is encouraging people to bring their 'High powered weapons' along on the cruise. If you don't have weapons you can rent them right there on the boat. They claim to have a master gunsmith on board and will have reloading parties every afternoon. The cruise lasts from 4-8 days and nights and costs a maximum of $3200 per person double occupancy (4 days). All the boat does is sail up and down the coast of Somalia waiting to get hijacked by pirates. Here are some of the costs and claims associated with the package. $800.00 US/per day double occupancy (4 day max billing) M-16 full auto rental $ 25.00/day ammo at 100 rounds of 5.56 armor piercing ammo at 15.95 Ak-47 riffle @ No charge. ammo at 100 rounds of 7.62 com block ball ammo at 14.95 Barrett M-107 50 cal sniper riffle rental 55.00/day ammo at 25 rounds 50 cal armor piercing at 9.95 Crew members can double as spotters for 30.00 per hour (spotting scope included). They even offer RPG's at 75 bucks and 200 dollars for 3 standard loads "Everyone gets use of free complimentary night vision equipment and coffee and snacks on the top deck from 7pm-6am." Meals are not included but seem reasonable. Most cruises offer a mini-bar... these gung ho entrepreneurs offer......... get this..... "MOUNTED MINIGUN AVAILABLE @ 450.00 per 30 seconds of sustained fire" Sign my ars up! They advertise group rates and corporate discounts......and even claim "FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY" They even offer a partial money back if not satisfied....here's some text from the ad. "We guarantee that you will experience at least two hijacking attempts by pirates or we will refund back half your money including gun rental charges and any unused ammo (mini gun charges not included).. How can we guarantee you will experience a hijacking? We operate at 5 knots within 12 miles of the coast of Somalia. If an attempted Hijacking does not occur we will turn the boat around and cruise by at 4 knots. We will repeat this for up to 8 days making three passes a day along the entire length of Somalia. At night the boat is fully lit and bottle rockets are shot off at intervals and loud disco music beamed shore side to attract attention. Cabin space is limited so respond quickly. Reserve your package before April 29 and get 100 rounds of free tracer ammo in the caliber of your choice." As if all that isn't enough to whet your appetite, there were a few testimonials "I got three confirmed kills on my last trip. I'LL never hunt big game in Africa again. I felt like the Komandant in Schindlers list!"---- Lars, Hamburg Germany "Six attacks in 4 days was more than I expected. I bagged three pirates and my 12 yr old son sank two rowboats with the minigun. PIRATES 0 -PASSENGERS-32! Well worth the trip. Just make sure your spotter speaks English" ----Ned, Salt Lake city, Utah USA "I haven't had this much fun since flying choppers in NAM. Don't worry about getting shot by pirates as they never even got close to the ship with those weapons they use and their ****ty aim--reminds me of a drunken 'juicer' door gunner we picked up from the motor pool back in Nam" ----"chopper' Dan, Toledo USA. "Like ducks in a barrel. They turned the ship around and we saw them bleed and cry in the water like little girls. Saw one wounded pirate eaten by sharks--what a laugh riot!! This is a must do. ---Zeke-Minnahaw Springs Kentucky USA