jhonovich

You could conceivably use Parallels which lets you use your Windows program in the Mac without having to dual boot. Parallels cost about $80 and you have to install for each Mac you want to do this on. But if you just need this for a one off and you already have a DVR in place or selected, Parallels may be the way to go.

I have not reviewed Ethernet over power lines for a few years but when I did the main drawback was that the 'network' created was limited to where an individual circuit ran. Alternatively put, if your facility had multiple circuits (and I believe most do), you cameras could only run over a small portion of the facility. For my uses, this defeated the purpose and I abandoned it. As for bandwidth, I believe bandwidth levels were similar to wireless in the 5 Mb/s to 20 Mb/s range which would handle 8 to 16 standard def cameras. Power line networks for video surveillance have never really taken off and I would generally recommend to stay away from them. That being said, if you describe your scenario further, perhaps there is a specific solution that could work well. Best, John

How many walls a wifi system can go through is a function of the the frequency of the signal and the amplifcation of the antennas. 1. Use lower frequency signals to go through more walls (900 Mhz best, 2400 Mhz next, 5400 Mhz worst). 2. Use hi-gain antennas. Off the shelf residential wifi equipment has little or no gain antennas. Computer stores often sell higher gain antennas (6dbi, 12dbi, etc). You can get up to 20 something dbi at speciality supliers. With high gain antennas and low frequencies you should be able to go through a few walls (depending on how thick and dense the walls are). Definitely be careful here. I have seen many integrators struggle with getting the system optimized. Even though the wifi system may be rated for 54 Mb/s, your throughput may wind up to be something like 2 or 3 Mb/s leaving not much room for error or multiple cameras. Please let me know if you have further questions. Thanks, John

Have you verified whether or not you are using MJPEG?

This is a complicated question. The biggest issue with wifi is barriers like walls and trees. If your camera is on the other side of a wall or there are trees between the camera and the recorder/viewing PC, you are likely to have an issue. So let's start there - how many walls and how many trees?

I agree with C7. If you really have 3TB, you should at least have 6 hard drives (500 GB each). With 6 hard drives you shoold have at least a 3 RU unit if not larger or have multiple boxes.

I have been doing research into the upcoming release of Arecon't H.264 megapixel camera line. I think it's going to have a big impact on customers buying megapixel cameras mainly because it rectifies significant storage and bandwidth problems. An excerpt of my review is below and if you want to read the details, see http://ipvideomarket.info/review/show/12. Do you see yourself using H.264 megapixel cameras? Are you concerned about the quality? I know a lot of members here spend a lot of time optimizing megapixel camera quality. ___________________ Until now, bandwidth and storage costs were big problems so even if you were willing to pay the premium for the cameras, the total cost of the system was hard to justify. Now, with H.264 megapixel cameras, the total cost of megapixel camera systems drops significantly, making it easier to find the budget and justify the expense. Advantages: - Reduce costs: Lowers cost of storage by $1,000 or more per camera - Eliminates barriers: Enables many more networks to support megapixel cameras Disadvantages: - Using analytics with these cameras is prohibitive - Costs few hundred dollars more per camera Potential Risks: - When will it be available? - Will the quality be good enough? - Which and when will DVR/NVR manufacturers support the CODEC?

3TB, 16 channel, continuous recording, 3fps, 30 days is pretty bad. Even if we assume high activity, this is bad. I did a quick check on a number of storage calculators online and all indicate much higher storage duration. Also, my personal experience is that your storage should be much higher (3x to 5x greater). First guess is that your system is using MJPEG and that is causing the problem. Check if you are using MJPEG. If so, see if your system supports switching compression to MPEG-4. If so, switch setting to MPEG-4. Please let us know what you find. Best, John

I am trying to get a sense of who uses analytics and what type. (I have extensive experience with analytics, both good and bad.) I saw at least one poster recommend Aimetis. Anyone else use any others? If you are not using analytics? Why not? Have you tried them? Are they too expensive? Have they not worked well enough? I would be interested in exchanging ideas here. John

A friend told me their analytics work well if the camera is directly positioned overhead and the level of traffic is moderate or low (no crowds). This seems consistent with my knowledge of the state-of-the art in this area. What problem are you trying to solve with head counting? Best, John

I am not sure if there is a definitive way to tell by looking at the video. One indicator would be the level of 'crispness' of the video. MJPEG is almost always more crisp and 'photo-like' than MPEG-4, because of the more aggressive compression in MPEG-4. Also, if you could examine the source files of the video on the system, the extension might provide an indicator. Finally, if you have a box open it up and check the model and manufacturer of the encoder card. Best, John

Have you been noticing the move for many large DVR manufacturers to move away from selling their own DVR appliances? In the last few years, AD, Verint, NICE, Integral, etc have all started to offer their software without the hardware. Today, March Networks announced that their new VideoSphere line would run on Sun's hardware. I agree with many others on this board that March produces high quality appliances, so I find this strange. I have written up a more detailed view: http://ipvideomarket.info/review/show/11 on this phenomenon. Are you moving away from selling or using DVR appliances? Do you think this is a good idea?

Why are so many people leaving Pelco? I know the acquisition but is it going badly? I see resumes every week from Pelco people. Just curious as to the problem?

"There is no point to spend the money on a video surveillance system if you can't identify the person or object with the system." I agree with this statement. There are absolutely scenarios where regardless of how much cheaper an alternative is, if it does not meet the goals, you are better off doing nothing than buying something that saves you some money but does not solve the problem. When I look at these images, I can hear the customer saying "Yeah Axis is better but I can make out the intruder with either of these cameras. Maybe the image will be a little sharper with the Axis but for my needs I can identify the person or object with either so I'd prefer to save the extra money. Do you think this would happen? How would you respond?

I agree with you that the Axis image quality is superior. However, it seems modestly but not dramatically better. In my experience, customers are generally more motivated by differences in price rather than modest differences in image quality. Is your experience different? How much of an impact does this level of image quality variance have in determining what is deployed? Best, John

I agree, I know one of their biggest customers said as much.

What do you think about the Kalatel unit being phased out / eventually replaced by the new GE DVR line (SymDec)? I know last year GE was pushing hard for all their customers to switch and to discontinue the Kalatel DVMRE but they seem to get stiff resistance.

Hi Shaun, I do not have significant personal experience with IR cameras under $150. Most of the applications I have done for IR has been with the military and they spend $1000+ for Extreme CCTV cameras, etc. I am sure someone in this forum knows the right camera for this. If anyone reading this could help, that would be great. Shaun, btw, you may want to consider doing a test of one of the cameras you are currently considering. This will give you definitive feedback about how well it will work. Best, John

Dove, I may not understand your last sentence correctly, but I will try to expand on multicasting for routers and switches. If this is your or your client's network, then you need to ensure that these devices support multicast or switch out to one's that do. Once you confirm they definitely support multicast, then you likely need to configure the routers and/or switches to replicate/split multicast feeds. If you or your client does not own the network (for instance you are using a carrier's network to connect different corporate locations), then the carrier will need to have multicast enabled. Most carriers do not support multicasting so this might be a problem. I hope this helps and if I have not understand you question, please let me know so I can clarify further. Best, John

I don't think you will have a problem with too much IR light. In fact, I think the more likely problem is too little IR light. While I could not find the data sheet for your camera models, usually inexpensive IR cameras emit very little IR light and may illuminate only a few feet in front of the cameras. Indeed, the distance an IR camera can illuminate is one of the key factors in increasing their price. Specifically, I would be concerned with the {O} intellicam AD-AV1000VIR in the lower left hand corner. For two reasons, (1) how far out the camera will illuminate and (2) how far out the camera will capture a clear image. 1. As described above, I think there's a real risk, that the area you want to see from this camera will be dark (at night) especially since it's the farthest away from your door. 2. While it does not indicate the lens on this camera, I assume is relatively short (3mm, 8mm?). If it is a short lens, anything more than 10 or 15 feet from the camera will basically be unviewable. Let me know if you have any questions or feedback. Best, John

Hi Daryl, I do have experience with IoImage. It's good but expensive. It also generally needs tuning but the amount and level of tuning can be reasonably done by a local tech. IoImage makes encoders and cameras. Both are quite expensive and can easily run you a $1k to $2k USD premium over more basic analytics like those from Panasonic. However, this is certainly a case of you get what you pay for. The only question is: is it worth paying the extra few thousand per camera for your needs? Best, John

Hi Dove, Enabling multicast can be tricky. For instance, your network devices (switches and or routers) must support multicasting for this functionality to work. Many switches and routers do not support this and if your current devices do not, this can be a big problem. How many simultaneous viewers do you expect for a given camera? Is is 2 or 3 or is it more like 20 or 30. If the number of maximum simultaneous users is only 2 or 3, you should be ok just using unicast. Also, if your remote clients are connecting to a NVR, you should consider having your NVR be multicast enabled and splitting the streams from the NVR rather than off of your cameras. This can minimize the complexity involved. Please let me know if this makes sense or if you have any further questions. Best, John

Hi Daryl, For the scenario you are describing, I recommend testing whatever analytic you are planning to use. If you have pedestrian traffic and vegetation (plus I assume you will have lighting issues during certain times of the day, sun up, sun down, etc), you may get a huge number of false alerts. Panasonic is not considered to be at the forefront of making robust analytic systems so I would be especially concerned on a product by Panasonic. Best, John

Why are you buying (2) 4 channel DVRs? Usually (1) 8 channel would be cheaper for the equipment and the install? Is this not the case for you? As for using MJPEG, you should have no problems using/viewing it on your PC. MJPEG is widely adopted standard (essentially a stream of JPEGs) and works basically anywhere. One other piece of feedback: take special care to the placement of the cameras. It is not always easy to get it right on the first try. Let the installer show you the views on their handheld monitors as they are doing the install. You may find you can make immediate adjustments that will make the system much more usable.

Daryl, In case you have not deployed analytics previously, you should be careful how you are going to use them? What scenarios do you want to use analytics for? Analytics can suffer from high false alert rates. Sometimes you can overcome by tuning but other times the issues are insurmountable. If you expand on your objectives, I would be happy to provide you further feedback. Best, John