destro_23

I've tried other DVR card companies that their old software compression based cards seem better to me. And that their newer hardware based cards, when playing back video, seems more "processed" and pixelated. Granted CPU is down.. but at what cost to video quality?

Just wondering where you stand on this thread 8 months later... I'm trying to search around for video clips taken from the hardware compressed GV card

I agree with this statement.. you have probably used the hard drive since but there was a 90% chance all the raw video files were still on there!! the fact that they deleted the files and just didn't rip the PC out.. is very weird, almost like they knew you/worked there in the past.. and didn't want to further the damage made to the store. Also with the networking you can lock down a hard drive with network permissions so only certain people/programs can directly access it.. I would set some strict permissions and hide a few 500gigers somewhere else

This is just a normal motherboard... there are no motherboards that i know of that are specifically for DVR's.. You are better off buying a cheaper and MUCH better motherboard elsewhere even a name brand one INTEL, ASUS, MSI, GIGABYTE.. Again this is a normal motherboard nothing more, nothing less.

or you can just get a dome that is all black and clear glass right where the lens is... with these you still have to give them a good look to see where they are pointing at.. and if your looking at them odds are you just got a shot of their face.

As far as no remote software installed... 98% of DVR's need an Active X based control installed on the remote, windows based, machine that has Internet Explorer (you only install it once, it's a small activex widget). Basically when you log into the machine for the first time through IE it will ask to install a control (you add your IP to trusted sites, then agree and install) it installs once and thats it.. good to go(this may be the "software" they are talking about) My only advice is to make sure you can view/search past video over the IE web interface. Some brands can't do this, and only can show live video. thats not good when you want to see if any cameras that were set for motion were tripped.. you want to do it from home and not have to drive to house.

just wondering if anyone has tried out any higheasy products and what your experiences are.. here is a link http://www.higheasy.com/en/pages/product_show.asp?id=424 for one 8ch card i'm looking at.. software seems to be the biggest issue anymore.

I"m sorry... I was actually talking about the PC that you have the DVR installed on... what kind of video card does it have?

now that i think of it and you mentioned video card.. i had an issue a while ago with the video card... try swapping out the video card for a different one... maybee older PCI-E card.. i just picked up a ATI 95xx for $70 and that fixed my issue on that box

let me guess... you have vista i'm unalbe to install my DVR remote software on 3 vista boxes... i was able to install it on a 4th after i disabled UAC and ran everything as administrator. On my vista laptop i gave up an installed VMware and Run windows XP in a box and watch that way.. Gotta love Vista

so for bars would you guys recommend cameras that switch to black and white? Most owners want color all the time.. when we want clarity all the time. hmm

With that being said.. is it just me that notices quality goes down slightly on hardware compression cards? vs Software compression?

Doesn't it all come down to a "money" shot for the particular business? i have only installed 3 DVR systems at this point, 12 camera being the largest, for some small stores... and yes i agree that the quality can/should be better. But for my last install there are only 2 ways in/out.. barring going through a brick wall.. so i put 2 high quality cameras at the doors.. and regular vari-focal domes inside along with IR bullet cameras.. What i explained to client was that since it's a bar and entrance is very well lit we need to put high quality cam there and zoom in on the door so we can get a clear face shot. The rest of the time as long as we can follow the person around after the fact we are fine.. we only need ONE good shot of a face the rest can be kinda "fuzzy" and the same for the back door(to make sure food/liquor doesn't walk out). Also camera by register and watching bartenders is important. I'm still working on getting POS (point of sale computer/register) outputted to the screen but i will have it done shortly. For a lot of small business you have to evaluate and pitch the correct solution. For most small business a nice DVR is more then enough.. and the fact that they can watch from home AMAZES 95% of the people i talk to. I would seriously say that if i pitched a very expensive system to a small business they would tell me to leave. When i could sell "more reasonable" systems and have many small business actually consider it. Times are hard and alot of businesses are pinching pennies. I'd love to have you sell DVR/NVR systems for me ANYTIME!! the fact that you got a person to pay you $4k more then closest bid means you did a great job at selling him what he "needs" and you didn't even have to install it!! I'm sure the system looks great to!

is it me or is there a noticeable difference in playback quality of a hardware based card vs a software based one? Software based seems to look better. both divis boards i have 1-8ch software based(3 years old), and a hardware based mpg board. both have same good quality live playing.. per the software. but if i playback hardware based one its more "processed" and more pixelitated.

iPhone = no axtiveX based viewing ... so this kinda eliminates a lot of boards. but i could be wrong.. Any board that has a java based viewer like rory said might/could be able to.

i also have used divis boards... i have one system with software compression and one with hardware.. it does seem the software based one has "better" record quality.. and the hardware one seems more grainy on playback.. Why is this? I thought that hardware would have been better? whats difference between the livecap and others? hardware based ones

Have you had a chance to play with Vista?.. I say stick to XP. If you really wanna give Vista a shot just to play around with it i say do it, this way you can get it out of your system and understand why everyone is taking it off their computers... have an XP disk handy. I've changed back about 20-30 computers back to XP from Vista for friends and family in the recent past. Ok thats my rant on that..

Recently i have been searching for DVR cards that have remote playback over IE. i-chance seems to be the only one i can find, very easy interface. I purchased a HiEasy DVr card hoping the same... but it's IE widget can only show live video and not play back ("search") through past video instantly like the i-chance. So what DVR cards that you guys know of have IE search history function? Oh yea... glad to have found this board. --Destro

what chipset is the NV4008HS? is that a philips? Thanks for the replies! the more choices the better! --Destro

Cable modems come with their unique IP address.. most dsl lines (verizon that i know of) don't and you have to pay an extra $10-15 a month for static IP, otherwise you have an internal network ip address. So check the price of a static IP address with your provider. And compare to cable modem price. So with a cable modem you just plug it right in and get your real world IP address. But cable modem IP addresses change every now and again. So you may want to dig around for a "freeware" app that emails you you IP address if it changes(download dot com i think had one or 2 of them) And if you have a router with cable modem all you have to do it port forward any IP addresses to the machine you want.. no need to do anything else with DMZ or stuff like that. But if your plugging in directly to cable modem make sure you get a software based firewall as people constantly scan cablemodem IP addresses. but if your behind a router.. then you are ok.