Frame vs CIF

[Selv 0]

Can someone define CIF for me and explain the difference between CIF and frame, benefits, weakness, etc.?

 

Thanks

[survtech 0]

Common Intermediate Format. It means the resolution of a digital video signal. It has nothing to do with Frame Rate, which is the number of pictures per second.

[Selv 0]

The AVC760 DVR has an option that allows you to choose between Frame or CIF. But the manual does not explain the difference in the settings.

[survtech 0]

I'm not familiar with that unit, but I assume that means you can choose to have it give preference to the frame rate over resolution or the other way around.

 

If that's the case, you will have to decide which you prefer: a higher quality picture at a lower frame rate or more frames per second with a lower quality picture. That's not uncommon. The typical high-quality recording is at 4CIF (704x480 in the U.S.) that is four times the resolution of CIF (352x240). Many DVR's can not do 4CIF at full frame rate (704x480@30fps.), so something has to give.

[scorpion 0]

This setting would be determined by you.

 

What is the size of your hard drive, and how long do you want your information to "sit" on your hard drive?

 

If you have a 500GB hard drive, and you have it in CIF then you might, or you may come close to 25 days of storage depending on your settings, and the amount of activity in front of your cameras if you are using motion detection. If your house is on a very busy street then your DVR is going to record a lot of information to the hard drive.

 

In the days past when hard drives were expensive then most people would choose CIF, and the rich would choose FRAME.

 

The cost of hard drives are very inexpensive, and now you can have large hard drives, and run it at FRAME unless you would rather watch full motion.

 

If quality of the picture is of the essence then you would choose FRAME. This will give you more of a snap shot of events rather then 30FPS.

 

 

http://scorpiontheater.com/Documents/AVTech_Manual_English_AVC_760_782_V1.1.pdf

[Hofmann 0]

Can someone define CIF for me and explain the difference between CIF and frame, benefits, weakness, etc.?

 

Thanks

 

cif means the size of the video, one quarter of the screen size usually.

and frame like FPS

FPS25 is real time.

[missmimi 0]

Finally understand...

[Soundy 1]

I just installed another DVR (NDC was the brand, I think) with the same options. Near as I can tell, "FRAME" to them is the same as 4CIF - referring to the full size of the video frame. If I get a chance, I'll export a couple video clips at the two different settings to confirm.

[huwbler 0]

I just installed another DVR (NDC was the brand, I think) with the same options. Near as I can tell, "FRAME" to them is the same as 4CIF - referring to the full size of the video frame. If I get a chance, I'll export a couple video clips at the two different settings to confirm.

 

Exactly.

 

Frame, in this context, is abbreviated from 'Full Frame' and is the higher resolution setting, equivalent to 4CIF. It will offer you a higher picture quality from each camera, but at the sacrifice of hard drive space and/or recording frame rate (also referred to as IPS/Images Per Second by some developers in China).

 

So, basically FRAME = 4CIF.

 

QCIF = 176 × 144 (Quarter-CIF)

CIF = 352 × 288

4CIF = 704 × 576 (4x CIF)

16CIF = 1408 × 1152 (16x CIF)

 

Hope this helps guys (a bit late, i know!)

[bpzle 0]

I just installed another DVR (NDC was the brand, I think) with the same options. Near as I can tell, "FRAME" to them is the same as 4CIF - referring to the full size of the video frame. If I get a chance, I'll export a couple video clips at the two different settings to confirm.

 

Exactly.

 

Frame, in this context, is abbreviated from 'Full Frame' and is the higher resolution setting, equivalent to 4CIF. It will offer you a higher picture quality from each camera, but at the sacrifice of hard drive space and/or recording frame rate (also referred to as IPS/Images Per Second by some developers in China).

 

So, basically FRAME = 4CIF.

 

QCIF = 176 × 144 (Quarter-CIF)

CIF = 352 × 288

4CIF = 704 × 576 (4x CIF)

16CIF = 1408 × 1152 (16x CIF)

 

Hope this helps guys (a bit late, i know!)

 

Doesn't Swann re-brand AvTech and the same DVR that GadSpot re-brands?

[huwbler 0]

Doesn't Swann re-brand AvTech and the same DVR that GadSpot re-brands?

 

Hey bpzle,

You're correct. There is a small selection of products in the Swann range which are sourced from AV-Tech. It's a good thing too, because they usually manufacture excellent hardware with top notch reliability! Their good performance with network access is the reason you'll find them in our range, and considering they use Java for remote viewing this makes them compatible with Mac too.

 

AV-Tech are a giant when it comes to Entry & Medium level DVRs.

According to AV-Tech, they say that they are the biggest manufacturer of DVRs in the world

[bpzle 0]

I'm impressed, I didn't expect you to reply.

OK, I know this is a different thread... but do you modify the software/ GUI at all? Or is it straight OEM?

[rory 0]

Back in the day it was Frame and Field .. now this .. way to confuse

[bpzle 0]

Back in the day it was Frame and Field .. now this .. way to confuse

Before my day! I'm only 24! Your showing your age old timer!

[huwbler 0]

... do you modify the software/ GUI at all? Or is it straight OEM?

 

Nope it's OEM. AV-Tech make a fine product but they don't like making any changes at all, the prefer to just churn out the volume. So getting them to make any changes (read: improvements) to graphics/menu layout & text etc is difficult or impossible although i'm sure it would be a different story if you wanted to buy 50,000 units though!

[bpzle 0]

Swann doesn't turn those kinds of numbers? Maybe there is still hope left for pro CCTV...

[todd2 0]

In my experience Frame is not the same as 4CIF. It's much worse,

at least using the AVC761 as a yard stick.

[lomak 0]

I understood frame and cif, my DVR has frame/field/cif but what is field supposed to be ?

[Scruit 0]

Best I Can tell....

 

A D1/4CIF images is a FRAME that is made up of two interleaved FIELDS. One field has the odd-numbered lines and the other field has the even-numbered lines. This interlacing only happens in D1/4CIF because CIF is not interleaved.

 

The interleaved images can cause jagged distortion on object moving quickly left or right in the shot.

 

 

CIF is approx 320x240. D1/4CIF is approx 640x480.

 

Watch out of cheap DVRs as they often quote their "FPS" as FRAMES per second, which means you only really get half of that.

 

Example: 4 channel DVR claims 60fps. You think that means 60 frames per second, which is 15 frames per second per channel when divided across 4 channels. In reality it's 60 FIELDS per second, which is 30 FRAMES per second, which gives you just 7.5 FRAMES per second per channel. A big difference, considering 15fps is very smooth and 7.5fps is noticeably jittery.

 

 

I like to use CIF when the dynamics of the motion is more important than the detail. e.g In a car DVR it's more important to have smooth motion to understand who did what and when. Fine detail is less important. You don't need to read his bumper stickers on the playback, you just need to know precisely when he crossed the centerline.

 

In my home CCTV I go with D1 because it's more important to have good detail to identify the bad guy. You don't need full motion video to be able to see that he's stealing my TV.