Redesigning a Control Room

[koolmer 0]

I am currently working on getting a Control Room equipped with new screens. We have more than 50 cameras displayed on several screens.

 

Currently there are some CCTV CRTs and normal CRT TVs. I have also tried a 21" LCD together with a composite to VGA converter. The quality is not too nice and you can see the difference between the CRT and LCD pretty easy.

 

The new screens MUST be LCDs. I had two ideas how to get that done, but I am also open for any suggestions you might have.

 

1. Getting several 21" LCD and converters that would just replace the current CRT. Downside of this is the lower image quality. It just doesn't look as nice as it looks on a CRT. Also specialized CCTV LCDs don't seem to have a better picture. I have 3 of those and the quality is similar/same as on the LCD with converter. The good thing: This is cheap.

 

2. Digitalize all cameras and display them on 4 or 6 26" widescreen LCDs. This seems to be a real nice solution. I would anyway need new DVR cards, but I have no idea how to do this exactly. Lets say I have four 26" LCDs and two computers for that (each computer has two screens). I would still need a DVR card with realtime (25 Frames per camera) at D1 or CIF4. Then the supplied software needs to be able to handle two 26" screen @ 1920 x 1080 pixels. Also it is unclear to me how the image quality would be. With my current DVR card at D1 resoltion the quality isn't anywhere near the image on the CRTs. Besides that the Software should also be Hybrid. Then I could finally get some IP cameras.

 

So these were my two ideas. I really like the idea of having four 26" LCDs to display the cameras. I see this constantly on pictures of other control rooms - they have nice big widescreens and display many cameras on them.

 

Any suggestions?

[rory 0]

or ... if everything is already on DVRs and they have LAN then just setup the PCs to use the network software and watch them on the 2 LCDs like that.

 

Otherwise, the image quality is going to depend on the cameras and ofcourse the type of card. Coming from the PC to an LCD is much much better quality than converting it from composite to VGA. Instead of going all out, maybe buy a 4 channel card and try it out first. Or you could look at the MegaPixel stuff also, hybrid or what not.

 

26" LCDs arent that big though, I mean they are okay but they arent 42 or 50"

[koolmer 0]

The DVR card that I use right now is a Comart Hicap100. I have compared the quality of the image created by the Software and the quality of the LCD + converter. The Hicap100 + Software (latest version) have lower quality. Things moving in the picture are more blurry than on the LCD + converter.

 

However the card is pretty old and also the screen that is connected to the DVR is old.

 

The qustion is if the new DVR card will have better quality. What I wanted to get was a Hikvision DS-4016HCI. Does anyone have experience with this card? Does the Software support multiple screens at high resolutions (1920 x 1080)? Is there good 3rd party Software existing?

[mateck8888 0]

Yes, Hikvision is really a nice looking DVR. It is the first DVR card I have seen where the video looks as good as NTSC. Other manufactures are coming out with hardware compression h.264 solutions such as Geovision. My hikvision solution came with Netvision software, which really is not very developed in many ways. (Like you can not even export to an .avi file from the software). I'm in the middle of a 70 camera install, so I'll be able to report more when I am all done. But the idea is for you to use the LAN to have multiple PCs driving multiple LCD monitors. KEEP IN MIND that the card you are looking at will do D1, BUT you can't stream too many cameras out of it before you have real big delays in your video through the LAN. You can go to 2CIF resolution, and that will allow you to active the "substream" which will devert some of the processing power to sending video out over the LAN, so that you don't have delays.

 

I'm still having delays even using the substream, but my supllier is going to be working with me to tweak things so that it will work.

 

Also note that the Netivision software that comes with most Hikvision cards does not support dual monitors. Hopefully they will come up with that soon, as it is kind of a basic feature to be missing.

 

Thare are some 3rd party manufactures out there. Search for CyeWeb 2.1.8

and CORE, and Linovision software.

[koolmer 0]

Yes, Hikvision is really a nice looking DVR. It is the first DVR card I have seen where the video looks as good as NTSC. Other manufactures are coming out with hardware compression h.264 solutions such as Geovision. My hikvision solution came with Netvision software, which really is not very developed in many ways. (Like you can not even export to an .avi file from the software). I'm in the middle of a 70 camera install, so I'll be able to report more when I am all done. But the idea is for you to use the LAN to have multiple PCs driving multiple LCD monitors. KEEP IN MIND that the card you are looking at will do D1, BUT you can't stream too many cameras out of it before you have real big delays in your video through the LAN. You can go to 2CIF resolution, and that will allow you to active the "substream" which will devert some of the processing power to sending video out over the LAN, so that you don't have delays.

 

I'm still having delays even using the substream, but my supllier is going to be working with me to tweak things so that it will work.

 

Also note that the Netivision software that comes with most Hikvision cards does not support dual monitors. Hopefully they will come up with that soon, as it is kind of a basic feature to be missing.

 

Thare are some 3rd party manufactures out there. Search for CyeWeb 2.1.8

and CORE, and Linovision software.

 

That sounds good. I had a look at the CORE Software and it seems very nice. I just wrote an e-mail to the company. My plan for the setup would be the following:

 

- Install two Hikvision DS-4016HCI cards in two servers.

- Get two additional Clients that have access to all 64 cameras.

- Connect two 26" screens to each client (display resoltion 1920 x 1080)

- Organize the cameras in a nice way and choose full screen on the Clients.

 

If this works, I think this is going to be a real nice solution. Does anyone object? Any other suggestions?

[mateck8888 0]

Did you check to see if the CORE software allows for driving two monitors?

 

Also, you can put two Hikvision cards in one server. I have four in one right now, which I think is over doing it, and may be slowing down my speed for getting the video out of that box. But I would think you could do two without a problem.

 

Highly recommend doing this all with Gigabit speed (Cat 6 wires, and 10/100/1000 nic cards and switch and router)

[koolmer 0]

Did you check to see if the CORE software allows for driving two monitors?

 

Also, you can put two Hikvision cards in one server. I have four in one right now, which I think is over doing it, and may be slowing down my speed for getting the video out of that box. But I would think you could do two without a problem.

 

Highly recommend doing this all with Gigabit speed (Cat 6 wires, and 10/100/1000 nic cards and switch and router)

 

I read somewhere on the Website that CORE does support 2 screens. However there was no mention about resolution. Therefore I wrote an e-mail to the company. Does anyone know if the Software supports 1920 x 1080 on two screens?

 

I will put two cards in each server. This is what I meant with "- Install two Hikvision DS-4016HCI cards in two servers." It would have been more clear if I had written: "- Install FOUR Hikvision DS-4016HCI cards in two servers."

 

I have also thought about the point of Gigabit network. This shouldn't be a problem, as pretty much every Motherboard has build in Gigabit network nowadays.

[mateck8888 0]

Please report back on the CORE software. I would be interested to know what you think of it if you decide to try it.

[thewireguys 3]

http://www.exacq.com/support/videolibrary.html

 

watch the muiti monitor demo

 

PM me if your interested They can do analog and IP/megapixel

Edited October 10, 2009 by Guest

[ak357 0]

My plan for the setup would be the following:

 

- Install two Hikvision DS-4016HCI cards in two servers.

- Get two additional Clients that have access to all 64 cameras.

- Connect two 26" screens to each client (display resoltion 1920 x 1080)

- Organize the cameras in a nice way and choose full screen on the Clients.

 

If this works, I think this is going to be a real nice solution. Does anyone object? Any other suggestions?

 

Also check matrix cards by Hik only analog output

but u might need it

[koolmer 0]

 

watch the muiti monitor demo

 

PM me if your interested They can do analog and IP/megapixel

 

Hmm that looks really interesting. I'll write you a PM.

[koolmer 0]

My plan for the setup would be the following:

 

- Install two Hikvision DS-4016HCI cards in two servers.

- Get two additional Clients that have access to all 64 cameras.

- Connect two 26" screens to each client (display resoltion 1920 x 1080)

- Organize the cameras in a nice way and choose full screen on the Clients.

 

If this works, I think this is going to be a real nice solution. Does anyone object? Any other suggestions?

 

Also check matrix cards by Hik only analog output

but u might need it

 

I am actually trying to go Hybrid, but I'll have a look. Do you have a link?

[ak357 0]

 

Then I could finally get some IP cameras.

 

If this works, I think this is going to be a real nice solution. Does anyone object? Any other suggestions?

 

I like HIK a lot but my ? to you

Which IP camera are you going to use ?

Software does not support a lot of different brand names

[ak357 0]

My plan for the setup would be the following:

 

- Install two Hikvision DS-4016HCI cards in two servers.

- Get two additional Clients that have access to all 64 cameras.

- Connect two 26" screens to each client (display resoltion 1920 x 1080)

- Organize the cameras in a nice way and choose full screen on the Clients.

 

If this works, I think this is going to be a real nice solution. Does anyone object? Any other suggestions?

 

Also check matrix cards by Hik only analog output

but u might need it

 

I am actually trying to go Hybrid, but I'll have a look. Do you have a link?[/quote]

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

DS-4000MDI Series Matrix Decoding Card

http://www.hikvision.com/EN/epro2.asp?id=91&classid=131&bgclassid=90&act=b&classname=

[koolmer 0]

 

Then I could finally get some IP cameras.

 

If this works, I think this is going to be a real nice solution. Does anyone object? Any other suggestions?

 

I like HIK a lot but my ? to you

Which IP camera are you going to use ?

Software does not support a lot of different brand names

 

I don't know what IP cameras I would use. I am not very familiar with these cameras. The only IP camera I have so far is a Panasonic - this one seems to be supported by CORE.

 

 

DS-4000MDI Series Matrix Decoding Card

http://www.hikvision.com/EN/epro2.asp?id=91&classid=131&bgclassid=90&act=b&classname=

 

I don't fully understand what this card actually does. It seems to be a multiplexer card with an analogue output. However why is it in a computer? It doesn't seem to digitalize the pictures. It also seems to have only very few Video inputs.

[hardwired 0]

Take a look at the Pelco PMVC4/PMVR2 Multiviewer, they allow viewing of VGA/DVI (PMVC2) or analog (PMVC4) up to 30 VGA or 60 analog when daisychained.

 

Also, take a look at products from RGB http://www.rgb.com/products/multiinputdisplays/ Really nice. Not cheap, though.

[koolmer 0]

Ok - I just got a Hikvision card and tried CORE. It doesn't support higher resolution than 1024 x 768! This is a joke - the Software seems very outdated.

 

I have also been checking into Exacq Software and it seems really awesome! However it only supports IP cameras and the Exacq DVRs. The only problem is that a Exacq DVR that meets my needs cost 24.000$ (64 analogue cameras).

 

I will now try CyeWeb and Linovision if I can find trial versions.

 

 

I will also try any other suggestions you might have.

[mateck8888 0]

I have used exacq vision. I did the IP version, and did not purchase their NVR or DVR. I got a good deal on the per unit camera as a "dealer", but have not used them since, because I found the playback to be rather complex for my client. The viewing, and setup were really well laid out. It was very easy to work with, except for the playback. When you go to playback a file, it takes a long time to "download" that file, even when you are playing it locally. It's like it is really processor intensive to decode the video, even when it is on a local drive. Hopefully they will work on that because it was great software otherwise. I think they allow a free download on their site that is good for one camera. You can use a video encoder for the analog cameras, but if you have a lot of those, it will get expensive, and a Hikvision card would be a better deal.

 

Incidentally, Hikvision has 1024 x 768 resolution on their client. Not sure what it is on the server right off. Not really sure why you would need anything more though. It looks really good at 1024 x 768. It is higher than NTSC. I guess if you were displaying one high res. IP camera, you might want more, but most of the time, people are displaying 4 or 8 cameras on one screen.

 

Let me know how Cyeweb and Linovision work out. I appreciate any reviews on these software, as someday I would like to leave the Netvision in the dust... assuming they don't develop it into something more user friendly for the end user. (export to .avi duh!)

 

Matt

[koolmer 0]

The problem with 1024 x 768 is that I want to use bigger screen that have a native resolution of 1920 x 1080. Of course I could still use 1024 x 768, but the result on a 26" screen would be very poor. I need a Software that can use the 1080p widescreen resolution effectively, so I can use 4 26" screens to display all my 50 cameras.

 

As I said before I could also run separate servers with each 2 recording cards. Then I would have 2 Client computers with each two 26" screens.

 

I am currently trying CyeWeb and it looks much better than CORE. However I didn't manage to get my Hikvision card integrated yet.

[thewireguys 3]

I have used exacq vision. I did the IP version, and did not purchase their NVR or DVR. I got a good deal on the per unit camera as a "dealer", but have not used them since, because I found the playback to be rather complex for my client. The viewing, and setup were really well laid out. It was very easy to work with, except for the playback. When you go to playback a file, it takes a long time to "download" that file, even when you are playing it locally. It's like it is really processor intensive to decode the video, even when it is on a local drive. Hopefully they will work on that because it was great software otherwise. I think they allow a free download on their site that is good for one camera. You can use a video encoder for the analog cameras, but if you have a lot of those, it will get expensive, and a Hikvision card would be a better deal.

 

Incidentally, Hikvision has 1024 x 768 resolution on their client. Not sure what it is on the server right off. Not really sure why you would need anything more though. It looks really good at 1024 x 768. It is higher than NTSC. I guess if you were displaying one high res. IP camera, you might want more, but most of the time, people are displaying 4 or 8 cameras on one screen.

 

Let me know how Cyeweb and Linovision work out. I appreciate any reviews on these software, as someday I would like to leave the Netvision in the dust... assuming they don't develop it into something more user friendly for the end user. (export to .avi duh!)

 

Matt

 

Exacq has addressed that on there latest update.... also on there boxes it loads very fast. Infact using my Atom box for a server and a different client machine I can load a full day of video from a 3MP Arecont camera in a couple if seconds.

[koolmer 0]

I cannot get the Hikvision DVR card to work with CyeWeb. It says on the Website of CyeWeb on the section "Support Devices":

 

- HikVision hardware compression card: HCI, HFI, HSI series, etc. (You need to contact us for the extension module.)

 

I don't know if I can get that extension module. I assume it is just an addition to the Software, but I only have the trial and I am uncertain if I can get this extension module. Does anyone have that?

 

Is anyone here using CyeWeb?

[koolmer 0]

@ thewireguys

 

Is there no way to get Exacq Software to work with Hikvision or similar DVR cards? What cards are used in the Exacq DVRs?

[thewireguys 3]

@ thewireguys

 

Is there no way to get Exacq Software to work with Hikvision or similar DVR cards? What cards are used in the Exacq DVRs?

 

I have know clue what Exacq uses for dvr cards. You would have to call Exacq and ask. My recommendation is to use IP encoders.

[hardwired 0]

@ thewireguys

 

Is there no way to get Exacq Software to work with Hikvision or similar DVR cards? What cards are used in the Exacq DVRs?

 

I have know clue what Exacq uses for dvr cards. You would have to call Exacq and ask. My recommendation is to use IP encoders.

 

Exacq may be one of the few that make their own, they grew out of the data acquisition business... look at http://www.exacqdaq.com/ , their other company.

[ak357 0]

 

Exacq may be one of the few that make their own, they grew out of the data acquisition business... look at http://www.exacqdaq.com/ , their other company.

 

U right

Key engineering and management at Exacq came from Integral Technologies, one of the leading DVR companies in past

Real people and real support !