metafizx

I haven't plugged in a good composite monitor yet. the VGA is suitable, no noticable quality problems. I have it on a 21" wide screen LCD and it looks good. When I try out other stuff on it, I'll post back. btw, I just tried another NDVR, some guy bought the system from Costco, LOREX integrated DVR + Monitor SG19LD804 . I'll have to say I liked it. The web interface is pretty nice. Cameras that come with it are junk, but the DVR is nice. I liked the compactness of the integrated monitor. lots of low end cctv products flooding the market. But I calculated out the components and I can do it cheaper and better with the Avermedia 1304net 500GB and better cams, independent components. this way is preferred, I am always leery of integrated components, if anything fails the whole unit is garbage.

network cameras seem to offer more at first but as you create a system, you realize the problems: 1). the good software is expensive 2). hardware must be capable of processing all s/w functions (adding a camera might break it) 3). adequate processing hardware is expensive 4). complexity of customer support is high (they can't maintain it without IT help) 5). network bandwidth is comprised for normal usage important to realize that just because the system works for 1 camera doesnt mean it will break after adding 2, 3, or how ever many cameras. what feature will break the s/w ? motion detection for one. how will you know ? and what can be done to fix it ? build a faster computer ? as opposed to network DVR systems: 1). DVR does all the motion processing, recording, not a PC 2). if it's 8 channels you can hook up 8 cameras and it will work, cuz it's firmware based. 3). if a camera dies, it is cheaper than an ip cam to replace 4). customer support is much simpler 5). network usage is based on need, otherwise local recording is done by DVR. (6). you don't have to worry about M$ woes with VISTA.. if you are Windows) Both ip and analog systems have there place, I don't argue that. however with decent inexpensive network DVR's it makes it a better choice in most cases for end customer solutions. simple, cheaper, and effective. network cameras need to be carefully reviewed for their advantages over an analog/network DVR system. for example: a high res network camera can provide excellent images, way beyond that of a std CCTV camera, but at what expense ? a gigabit network is more than likely required, otherwise the huge bandwidth hit of this mega pixel cam at 30 fps will have signifcant impact to the throughput. it will heavily load a typical 100 Mbps network. Add two and you are really dogging. What is the software doing ? motion detection at 2fps ? no....so you turn that feature off. what is your storage capacity ? are you terabyte ready ? IMHO, if you can't justify a network camera, then go analog with a network DVR. it's cheaper, more configurable, will work, cheaper to maintain, and customer can actually understand how to use it. a good application of a network cam, is a PTZ implementation, users can log on and scan the area. simple to install and use. wheres a PTZ analog requires special wiring.

seems like the ip camera programs are MJPEG/JPEG only. I mistakenly got a camera that was MPEG4 and can't find 3rd party programs either. Luxriot worked ok for me in MJPEG mode on a number of cameras. are you using motion detection ?

I have used LuxRiot with success. Not sure why they aren't mentioned much. Relatively cheap and works pretty good. I have had good experiences with the LuxRiot support. the one install has been working for about 3 years now, with a few bug fixes along the way. I have also tried Active Webcam, after some initial excitement, I think this program is kinda junk. lame customer support from PySoft. If they would fix the bugs, then it might be worth using. very cheap. (i know you get what you pay for..)

purchased avermedia 1304net so far works well. put in a Hitachi 500GB hdd and have 2 cameras connected. ease of setup and use is good. web interface is good. all around this DVR is a decent inexpensive unit. it uses a remote control to access the menus, so if you lose that, you can only control it via internet. or buy a new remote. a nice plus is a VGA port so you can connect a regular computer monitor. so far nothing bad about it. has been working solid.

anyone have anything to say about this DVR ? Mace DVR-0404HP

I ordered the 1304net today. btw, I checked out the SecuNext DVR and it was "ok" for the money. So far the AverMedia was the most impressive as a low end DVR. I'll know more when I get the thing and put it into service.

ok, high pressure sales people, I don't need right now. mace saying they wont answer my product questions until I sign up to buy the stuff....fear of competitors.. I think the AverMedia 1304net looks good instead...

I contacted them and got an online demo, it seemed to work fairly well. I tried the HP model. The web interface was nicely laid out. Still need to look at how well the search function works.

can anyone comment on how good the web interface is for the EB1304NET ? -control & settings -viewing -searching for video -download video thanks..

I was checking out the online demo for the Avtech 760, I believe, and thought it was pretty awful. I agree that it needs to be redesigned. barely adequate functionality IMHO. Do you know if the web interface is pretty much the same for models 781, 785 as like the 760 ?

hi, well I looked around on the net for a manual and the one I looked at (similar model) just indicated one port was used. so, if there is another port being used, here is a way to find it. put ZoneAlarm firewall on your notebook (since it works) and then when you connect to the network DVR it should pop up telling you what port(s) are trying to get access. then you will know.

does this DVR use a ActiveX download to Internet Explorer ? Perhaps the ActiveX component is not installed due to security settings. A similar problem happens with network cameras, the control interface shows up, but until the ActiveX component is installed, you get nothing on the image. I am curious about this problem, since I was looking at a similar network DVR.

Hi, Looking for decent quality day/night outdoor cctv cam for around $175-250. fixed lens ok. IR needs to reach 80feet. Parking lot monitoring app. 2 Cams will cover a viewing area of 90 deg from a about 18' height, at the corner of a 80x60' rectangle parking area. I figure each cam having a 6mm lens, 1/3" CCD should cover it. I need to have good clear images, going to a networked MPEG4 DVR. Should I shoot for 480TVL or better ? Wondering if anyone has good/bad comments about the following cctv cams, recommendations on other cams if you know some good ones in this price range. Also recommendation on the network DVR would be great too. -SecuNext SN-SCR351 520TVL Day/Night -SCD CFC6040IR 420TVL or CFC6032IR3 -SCD CFC6013EX 480TVL -SCD CFC6057IR -Xavee XA-480-45M 480TVL thanks !!

yes it definitely looks like a crappy power supply problem. you can see the lines in either day or night photo, in the day photo they are just white lines. nonetheless, the ac leakage is still present in both. get a better power supply ! try plugging the supply into a UPS and see if it gets cleaned up. you could also try putting a filter cap across the DC.

for direct camera to storage, I have only used FTP. so you have to have an FTP service running on the receiving end. as for the hi res cams, the data rate can get up pretty high 56M. so a few of these at the max frame rate and res can pretty much saturate your 100M network. Best to have a Gigabit network if you can, or isolate on a different subnet.

thanks !! I will check that out..

geez, I get a headache swimming in the sea of all the cameras available. so many and probably a lot of them are junk. just hoping for that "awesome" one that is not expensive. I agree you get what you pay for...it's just the customers set a budget and think you can do it for $cheap. but I know the good stuff costs dough. of course they want all the features too: hi res, "see license plates" from 80' feet away, battery b/u, and day/night viewing...networked DVR to record for a month, all on a $1500 budget (including internet configuration as well).

ok, for the cams that have no moveable IR cut filter, but have IR Leds, is the only difference the amount of IR that is filtered ? in other words, "day night" cams with tons of IR leds (assume 840nm more visible spectrum) but NO IR cut filter, would just be a less light sensitive camera in darkness as compared to a cam with the IR cut filter ? how much different is it ? (I know what someone will say "the difference is night and day" hahaha) reason I ask, is I am currently looking for a good performer cctv cam that is low cost, with decent IR. There is some spotty lighting in a parking lot.

I see it, #YCC-940RW Seems kinda pricey for a 400 LOR cam.

yeah I know...I wanted to use this cam, but since the guy insisted on wireless, I had to go with lower res. it's working pretty good now...I told him that if he wants better, then we have to have a wired setup, and get off the wireless.

Hi - So is this the impossible system or what ? I have a friend that wants to setup an IP Wireless Camera system that can see license plates on cars (about 30 feet away, on approx 30deg angle), night or day. And have a fairly wide field of view (say 50-60deg). 1 camera to monitor outside on the garage, and 1 camera to monitor inside. The outside camera is the one that would read license plates of cars going by. I'm not too worried about the indoor camera. additionally, record to a PC (luxriot or something), using motion detection to conserve disk space. The wireless is a 802.11G standard router and has to go across a home w/ stucco and glass doors out to a garage with cars, etc. So the signal isnt really great (1 or 2 bars on my laptop). I was considering the Arecont megapixel camera but I think the bandwidth it requires would not work on the wireless. So my questions are, what kind of network camera would you recommend ? any other suggestions to make this system work ? would it be better to have a high end CCTV cam & network DVR sitting on the net in the garage, to capture locally ? and access the DVR over the wireless? thanks in advance..

update, I put in a Axis 221 with AI/IR 2.8-12mm Computar lens. Works pretty good, but still wrestling with exposure/camera settings. I can see license plates in certain lighting and settings, but it is very difficult to get a "perfect" setting for all lighting conditions. I reduced the exposure to 1/15th and cut back on the contrast & brightness this helped to keep the license plate from getting washed out. basically it's a lighting/exposure nightmare to cover all cases from bright sunlight to IR dark. ideally there needs to be a camera that has specific settings for various lighting conditions.

Can not use 207 outside because of cmos why does CMOS prevent outdoor usage ???

how about using a pan/tilt outdoor housing, like the Pelco PS20 ? [edit by mod-store link removed. rk] then you can put in a standard network box camera. since with your camera choices, you still have the issue of an outdoor housing. most of those are going to be $500 themselves.