atropine

Yeah the more I think about it, the more it doesn't make sense. I was looking for as many positives as I could to make me spend money on a PTZ camera. In my situation a PIR detector would probably be fine for motion detection to alert me to look at the monitor.

That sounds great are you able to direct me to a data sheet that proves those figures? I've noticed reputable camera manufacturers often list their b&W cameras as 0.03 minimum lux however with frame integration the minimum lux is reduced to .003 and I'd imagine (not sure) that electronic gain would get it down to .0003. But when you look at their specs they only ever list .03. So basically I'd like to find out what the .00003 quoted figure relates to, Is it without frame integration and without gain? I've searched on google but couldn't find anything but the listed minimum lux and its' very cheap price of $130 EDIT: I found their sales pdf, they list it as .0003 which sounds more likely. Some online retailers are stating .00003 though. http://www.viewavision.co.za/productfiles/cameras/kpc350ch/KPC650BH.pdf

Yeah that's what I thought too. But then I thought, I wonder after you set the camera to auto roam, the PVR software might be able to digitise its' course, and so create a rule that when the video frame is the same as a frame already digitised then no movement has occurred, when the frame is different to an existing frame by a certain percentage then that constitutes movement. That would require a hell of a lot of CPU though, If the automatic route is 20 seconds all up, then the DVR would have to check up to 600frames (30fpsX20) against each frame it's checking for motion detection. Today/s computers/DVR's might not be capable of that.

This sounds intersting. I was thinking of doing something like this for hobbyist reasons. Neighbour had a drunk chick drive into his parked car, then she drove off again. Luckily he was at home and hot her number plate. But that made me think a number plate reading camera could be useful. I'm going to use a old black and white camera and a infra red illuminator. Not sure if that will ever work, but lets imagine it does. What software can I use that actually reads the number plate , converts the picture into the number plate text? Is there any OCR software that will automatically read text from .jpg's when a .jpg is placed in a directory it's monitoring?

Hi, does anyone know what this perspex type is and where it can be sourced? I wanted to have a play around with a 20w halogen and a filter. If anyone has other ideas for filter material I'd like to hear it. I'd be fine with dark red illumination as long as the infra red gets through fine. A slightly more expensive option but still very cheap compared to real IR illuminators that I was going to try is a 850nm IR photographic camera filter placed infront of a 20w halogen light. Anyone see any problems with that?

Thanks for the reply. Those camcorders arent' worth much these days. Old 1/4inch min dv cameras. Still no point in destroying them on a use they're not designed for. I"ll ebay them to raise some funds towards a real day/night security camera.

so that is the real reason, it's heat from infra red, associated with light that is the problem. What about day/night cameras on night setting? And video cameras that have night function. Their manuals will complain about the nigh setting and bright light sources in addition to the bright light source warning in normal use. Is there an additional problem not related to focussed infra red light that can physically damage CCD's? Can excess light alone in night mode cause the CCD heat up to the point of damage not due to incoming infra red but from the CCD itself overvoltaging and overheating it'self? I have 3 old sony camcorders with super night shot (night shot with auto shutter speed that goes down to 1/6th of a second) which I was thinking of using as security cameras for 24 hour use. Anyway unlike professional security cameras there's no way of switching between day and night modes, so I"d have to keep it in night mode . Would you image as long as I make sure the sun doesn't hit the lens the camera will function without dying?

HI, Haven't got any cameras yet, but looking into getting a couple for home external. I don't understand the requirement for auto aperture lenses when security cameras can alter exposure via shutter speed alone via shutter durations of 1/50th to 100,000. I was looking at lenses and ofcouse the auto aperture lenses are way more expensive, but is there any reason at all to use them? I'm thinking they are an archaic function from the days when security cameras used to be picture tubes and there only was a single shutter speed, and for some reason instead of dying out with picture tubes they've remained. I understand the use of automatic aperture when wishing to keep shutter speeds stable. (shutter priority) and would be necessary for television production use, but in situations where you don't care what the shutter speed is, do auto aperture lens hold any advantage?

Ok, so although a camera may be capable of correctly exposing a F1.4 lens wide open in full sunlight via a very fast shutter speed the quality suffers due to this poor dynamic range. I would guess dynamic range is seen as the contrast - the amount of shades of grey between black and white. Thanks Kensplace. there sure does seem be some really cheap 2nd hand lenses on ebay, about 1/10th the price of new. Worth having a gamble on.