Alin10123

Hi Everyone, I'm a new member here. Been reading through here and it seems there's at least a few knowledgeable members on this board. Can you guys help me out with a problem? I just got a new system installed at a retail location. The cameras used are the sony 480lines of resolution indoor color cameras. The DVR used is made my CPcam and it has a huge hdd for longer storage time. Anyways... I was under the impression that 480 tv lines is close to dvd quality. I have all of the settings on the dvr set to highest. However, the quality of the picture seems to be below average at best. The error messages inside the dvr software when things go wrong are gramatically incorrect, the internet reaction time seems sluggish, the ftp website from the manufacturer to download the software for remote viewing is down, etc... This dvr is just not giving me a really good feeling. Actually, there's two 16 channel dvr's at this location. Both of them are performing pretty much the same. Even the live picture is giving me a really grainy picture. There's an entrance camera that's aimed at the door and zoomed in so that pretty much only the double doors are showing on the entire screen. I cannot even read the visa/mastercard words on the sticker at all. Even when i'm on the company's internal network (not going through the internet) the images are still really grainy. Especially if i have all 16 cameras up on the screen at once. The pictures get REALLY grainy. I dont think i'd be able to make out words on a Tshirt if someone were to walk in with writing on a tshirt. Not only the picture quality issue, but the DVR seems to cut off a few inches around the picture by the time it goes through the DVR. For example when the cameras were being setup, i could see certain things along the edge of the screen. But when the cameras are hooked up to the DVR it cuts off a little bit of the image around the edge. Is this the DVR? or the cameras? The small monitor that was used to aim and focus the cameras seemed to produce better image results than the full sized monitors that come off of the DVR. If this is a problem with the DVRs, can someone recommend a good DVR? Somehing with software that's very user friendly and will produce an great quality image both live AND playback AND via network/internet access. I appreciate everyones help. thanks

Yes, i was able to get video server. At first the version of the software that came off of the CD wouldn't connect. So i went ahead and tried to download it form the FTP. It dind't work. But i ended up getting the cd version to work. Is the ICrealtime an expensive DVR? I'm thinking i'll probably need at least 1tb each dvr. I'll need 16 inputs and i'll be needing two. The camera person said that i dont necessarily have to have a monitor if there's nobody watching them full time. I can just download them to a PC for playback whenevr i wanted to. I will add monitors soon so somebody can view. But for the few cameras that could not be adjusted via the small monitor because of the way the angle of the connectors out of the back and etc... we temporarily hooked up a 17 inch lcd monitor. EVen on that thing the pictures looked kind of choppy and not high resolution. As far as changing the settings on the lenses. There are a bunch of cameras on different lens settings. So i dont think that's the problem. On the aiming monitor, the picture seems to look decent for that tiny screen. I already have all of the settings set to the highest as far as picture quality goes. The installer called the distributor and said that the distributor says there are a few more settings that you can tweak. So we'll see how that goes tomorrow. But i doubt it will help things. So basically... how are the cameras? Are they decent? ARe my expectations too high? is that why the picture seems to look not so good to me? With this setup and a good dvr am i supposed to get a good picture?

One more thing, The dvr looks nice in the link you sent me. Is that what you would consider a "business user" and not a "DIY" dvr? Is the picture quality actually as clear as the the sample images on the page display?

The video over the lan, and over the internet is going to look really crappy. This is a DVR that is meant for the DIY, or for a entry level priced project where the customer does not want to buy a $3000.00 DVR that has a jet fighter navigation screen to set it up. Enty level residential customers do not have T1 internet connections, and they probably just came off of dial up, and have internet "light", rather than regular speed, or business class speed. It looks this way so that the DVR is not sucking up a lot of bandwidth. As for your other problems: I would have to be physically on site to render a true opinion of your problems, but I can give you a guess, and I can play devil's advocate to see what we can come up with. So far so good! I do not go by the specs of the camera. I pretest them, and what I see is what I get. Let me close my eyes, and read your mind so that I can see what kind of cameras you have. HEY! YOU HAVE TO CLOSE YOUR EYES TOO!! Ok! I see a picture now. OH! You have bullet cameras!! How did I do??? I see, um, I see, ohhhh, yes, that's it! You have wide angle lenses!! Now, how am I doing?? Your bullet cameras have what 3.5mm, or 4mm lenses? Right?? Wide angle cameras are designed to pull in the peripheral left, and the peripheral right so that you can see everything in one view. There is a trade off with this lense selection. To create this "wide angle effect" we have to create a distortion. Anything at a distance is going to appear farther away in the video then what you see in reality. With wide angle cameras anything past 20 feet is going to be a waste. Why do you want to read the sticker? Why do you want to read a T shirt? I know I am sounding condescending, and I do not mean too. I am trying to teach myself how you want this system to perform. The more I ask, the more I learn, the better the help that I can provide to you. Perhaps we should change out the cameras to 6mm bullets? Maybe you need megapixal cameras to give you the obcene amount of detail that is required for your system! This is quite common!!!! You are not using the setup monitor as your main monitor. The monitor that you are using may be the culprit, but then again I am only guessing! Can you take the setup monitor, and hook it up to the DVR? You should see what you saw at the camera. It is ok if you do lose a little, tiny bit around the edges. Now is the setup monitor giving you the better view, and the main monitor needs to be adjusted?? If you are loosing alot around the edges then you have something more then I am aware of. Can you reorient the camera to bring it back in to the monitor view. OH! You say you loose something on the other side of the screen? HMMM! Lets mount a varifocal camera instead this way we can tweak the lens to match the environment where the camera needs to be mounted. Is this the first time you have installed this DVR? Are you an installer? Did you pretest the DVR before you put it in to your catalog, and set it out for display? OH! You are an end user? How did you make this DVR selection? Where did you buy it? Who provides the tech support? How did you test this DVR before you bought it? How much bandwidth are the two DVRs sucking up? Are your POS systems connected to the internet also, or are they connected to your LAN?? Let's see what we can do to get you squared away! Hi, I'm an end user. I had an installer do the install. He says he hasn't used this dvr much with his installations. Most of the time he gets jobs to do convenience stores. Most of those owners dont want to spend the money and so they use the PC based stuff. There isn't a specific model number on the DVR but the manual has 4 possible dvr models. 505zhc, 507zhc, 507zhd, 505zhd. The cameras that were installed were the sony SSC-DC374 cameras. I believe he installed an adjustable 2.8-8mm adjustable lens. These are not bullet cameras with a fixed lens. The camera is also 480 tv lines as written on the box. I was only bringing up an example when i mentioned i couldn't read words or signs on the door and people's shirts. The words on a tshirt could be used for law enforcement if someone were to rob the place or steal something. I figured it'd be important to at least be able to see that. As far as the credit card sticker on the door, again... i assumed since i was paying for high resolution cameras, i should be able to see at least a little bit of detail. Right now even on the live view, im unable to see the larger signs. I can't even make out the larger numbers on there. As far as bandwidth, i'm not at too big of a restriction. There's already business broadband at this location. I hope i answered all of your questions. Please let me know if here's anything else i can provide so that you can help. thanks