jhonovich

Carl, All, A few points of information: - We (IPVM) bought at least $20,000 worth of cameras for testing last year. We prefer to buy our own. - As for the one manufacturer you claim we 'constantly' bash, you are referring to the system you bought for your site (IndigoVision). We have tested IndigoVision's products but we have not tested them in the last few years because their market position has shrank significantly. Recognizing their challenges, IndigoVision has shifted their strategy in the past year https://ipvm.com/reports/indigovision-vms?code=cf - Regarding your accusation that I did not refund your membership, we actually gave you extra $23.45 credit (nearly 3 more months) for commenting after you cancelled, and you replied, "LOL. I cancelled my membership weeks ago." We take our independence seriously and strive to be fair and accurate. I hope this helps clarify to CCTV Forum members our position and actions. [Mod - removed personal information]

Zakmak, This is John from IPVM. The pass rate averages ~40%. To pass, the most important thing is to (1) read all the readings and (2) do all the quizzes multiple times if needed. The most common cause of failing is people who do not make the time to read the readings and people who assume their own field knowledge will be enough to pass. Unlike the typical manufacturer course test, we want to make sure people know the technology well and don't aim to pass people just for showing up. If there are specific test topics you want feedback on, I am happy to provide it.

Are you positive they have the exact same MAC address? They are supposed to be unique. Dahua could have given multiple cameras the same MAC address, you could have gotten ones that were the same but sounds crazy if Dahua would allow that.

30' away is not far for even cheap illuminators or those integrated into cameras. The tri-illuminator that eeproject1 mentions is being sold on Amazon for $15, is self-rated for 50-100 feet, so even if the spec is liberal, you probably should be ok. Alternatively that same company that does the tr-illuminator has quad and six IR illuminators for just slightly more ($20 or $30). There's certainly a risk that they will fail but they are so relatively inexpensive probably worth going for those.

Trauts14, How far away from the camera do you want to illuminate and how wide of a FoV? IR LED count is not a good metric for tracking performance as there is great variation in IR LED performance and application.

Look under Zhe Jiang Dahua on the ONVIF list. That is Dahua's official company name. Many Chinese company names start with their province. That said, ONVIF could / should make it easier by listing Dahua under 'Dahua' instead.

VMD = video motion detection

I agree with mkkoskin about checking ONVIF's site / official directory. One thing that is not always true is this: "If a camera supports ONVIF Profile S and recorder supports ONVIF Profile S, they work together." Usually, if both devices are Profile S conformant and listed on the official ONVIF site, at least basic streaming and configuration will work. However, it is not guaranteed. There are still some instances of combinations not working. The other major issue even with official Profile S conformance, is that more advanced features, like PTZ controls, camera side VMD, analytics, etc., may not work. Camera side VMD is the most commonly used feature that frequently does not work with Profile S. If you need that, verify that your particular preferred combination of IP camera / VMS supports it.

Check this directory of integrators that includes a dozen from Utah at http://ipvm.com/integrators Also, if you are an integrator (anywhere) and do not find yourself in the directory, just use the submission link on that page and we will add you.

On the card type, Axis provided this statement to us: "Axis strongly recommends using SanDisk Extreme cards as these were extensively tested without timeout failure," adding that "Enhanced memory cards like SanDisk Extreme are much better suited for demanding applications, such as professional 24/7 surveillance applications. Lower graded consumer SD cards – mainly used for multimedia applications – will in many cases work fine, but the bigger variation in quality and durability of these cards makes them less suitable."

For each 16:9 resolution, there is typically a 4:3 resolution alternative that has the same horizontal AoV but a greater vertical / 'tall' AoV. Like so: IPVM has a free full test report on 4:3 vs 16:9 aspect ratio coverage areas.

VancouverBC, I am the founder of IPVM. We have a free 141 page IP camera ebook that teaches camera fundamentals, lens and camera selection. Here is the direct link to that ebook. On our paid member side, we have a huge array of training resources covering pretty much everything in video surveillance and access control. You can scan through this directory to see what we cover.

40th floor, you have provided no evidence to support any of you claims. To the contrary, we have a dozen plus independent reports from Axis end users with problems using SD cards. Indeed, as I have earlier cited, Axis has admitted the problem.

40th Floor, your opinion aside, I am relaying numerous significant field events of SD cards being used in production IP cameras.

Sunny, No, I have not seen any ONVIF supplied source code. They do have a test tool that one can test their own ONVIF implementation against. That said, to your broader point, there would certainly be value of them providing reference code to simplify and better standardize implementation.