squale 0 Posted February 20, 2004 this guy I know will sell me this card for $75. It's brand new. Is it worth it? or can I do better someplace else on price? another question, I read in these forums that this card has this technology where if I only have 1 camera plugged into it, that camera will get the FULL 20fps and then say I have 2 cameras plugged in.. each camera will get 10fps, etc. So basically it doesn't let the unused fps go to waste if you have less than 4 cams plugged in. Is this true? is this the only card that does this.. Geovision? What is this called? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctv_down_under 0 Posted February 23, 2004 Its called SRT or Smart Recording Technology, I was just doing some info sheets so I will post what is done already on here for you. Many cards do this now but Geo was the first as far as I know. I was a bit under the weather when I started this so bear with the wording, it is a work in progress: GEOVISION FEATURE LIST DSP OVERLAY The Geovision system allows for the additional purchase of the "Real Time Card" or GVDSP, this card allows for a full 400fps live display. The DSP card will make the Geovision viewing screen appear just like an analogue Multiplexor, without missing a single frame. When watching a television broadcast the viewable frame rate is faster than 25fps, this means that you will not see any lag or skipping of frames, in laymens terms this means that the person walking past a camera will be viewed in the same way that an anlogue CCTV monitor would view a direct input from a camera, therefore there will be no staggered affect of movement. The DSP also allows for a composite 75OHM output, this means that the signal sent form the DSP card to second monitor (spot monitor) will be a balanced 75OHM signal and will display in a Multiplexed format. The advantages of this kind of output are many, by using the Multiplexed DSP output you will not see the GUI (Graphical User Interface) of the Geovision system on the second monitor. Without the Graphical Interface the second montior will display exactly like an analogue multiplexor and will not miss a single frame, any changes made to the layout of the cameras on the Main system will be represented on the second monitor minus the GUI interface. Because the DSP card is independant of the PC video card it can generate a signal that is not digitised, this means that the signal can run for a longer distance and because the signal is a direct overlay any DVR system with this card inserted will display a resoundingly better viewable picture quality (up to 40% improvement depending on resolution of cameras used). SUMMARY The DSP overlay card is designed to allow the user to feel that they are operating an Analogue device and provides higher than normal quality images for live display without replicating password settings or GUI interface on the second monitor. CONTROL ROOM SOFTWARE Geovison does not charge extra for it's software and one of the software components provided with the Geovision package is the Control Room Software. This software is loaded onto a remote PC and allows the Main system to send video streams to the remote PC on activation of, actual hardware alarms or by a software motion detected event and even on a constant video stream. If utilised this provides full redundancy of the Geovision Main System and protects the video evidence from also being stolen or destroyed from the scene of the crime. A real time application example: Imagine you are sitting at home on a Sunday afternoon watching the football, suddenly a sound eminates from your PC and as you look up at this device you see streaming footage of someone opening the front door to your retail shop. The reason you have recieved this footage is due to either a closure of circuit (reed switch on the door) or the actual detection of sotware motion caused by the moving person, any further movements by this person will be sent directly to you with the option of recording the motion event to your remote PC. In this case it was just the cleaner, however had it been an intruder you may have utlized the ability of the I/O module to activate an audible alarm on the premises or used your broadband connection to control a PTZ device and follow the intruder around the premises capturing as many snapshots and video events of the intruder as possible. SUMMARY The control room software provides a remote site where multiple or singular DVR's can send video information relating to software motion events or hardware alarm activation. By installing the Control Room Software onto a remote PC redundancy is provided even if the perpritator decides to destroy the onsite DVR. WEB CAM SERVER Geovision's Web Cam Server allows the owner of a Geovision system to connect to the system through the Internet Explorer Browser. The advantage of this kind of connection is that, no matter where you are you can connect to DVR unit without having to carry any software with you. Without doubt this the most advanced and powerfull non software application for remote viewing of any DVR product in todays market. The Web Cam Server allows the remote user to view live images, take pictures of live events, zoom in, record and even view events that have occured previously and have been archieved on the main system, furthermore the Web Cam Server allows for easy retrieval of System Information including: System Up Time, Details of who has logged into the system, Motion Activation Logs, Camera Failures or Disconnections, Activation of Alarm Devices and provides the abilty to control and move cameras as well as turn on devices connected to the I/O Module Such as Lighting or Alarms etc. The Webcam server can be used to provide direct two way communication in the way of audible voice or listening device and also allows for remote configuration of the system (XP Pro only). SUMMARY The Web Cam Server allows a password protected user to connect to one or multiple locations without the need of any software to be loaded onto the remote machine, this allows anyone on the Internet or on a local LAN password and level protected access to the majority of the functions of the DVR unit. SRT (Smart Recording Technology) When calculating Frame Rates Per Second (FPS) most DVR units employ a direct division of cameras divided by total capable frames of the DVR device. This means that a 100FPS DVR with 4 cameras will record at 25FPS per camera (100 divided by 4) however if you were to connect 10 cameras to the same DVR then you would be recording at 10FPS per camera. Because not all cameras will record if motion is not detected (the system can be set to provide this if necessary) this means that a 100FPS system with 10 cameras connected and only 5 with motion at one time will have another 5 cameras that are not using the 10FPS allocated for recording and this means that the 5 cameras with 10 FPS spare will spread the total 50FPS to the camera that has motion happening at that time. Utlising the SRT Technolgy means that the cameras that have motion will automatically record faster than the default frame rate issued to them. SUMMARY SRT allows the buffering of frames to the areas that have the most motion allowing for smoother playback of video events and providing frame rate adjustments " On The Fly". GVIP (DYNAMIC IP SUPPORT) When connecting remotely to a Geovision DVR via the internet you need to know where it is (The IP Address) this can be difficult unless you have paid for what is known as a Static IP or otherwise Known as a permanent IP. When connecting to the World Wide Web (internet) via any means, your PC is issued an IP address this is similar to your postal address. No person could send you a postal delivery without knowing your address, however once you have informed them of that address then they will always know how to reach you. This means if you have paid to live and reside in that permanent address then everyone knows how to get to you and this is similar to paying for a Permanent or Static IP. The problem is, that on the internet it costs more to make sure that everytime you log onto the intenet your address is the same as it was before, therefore if you do not pay to be Static or Permanent IP then each time you log into the net and possibly every few hours you will have a new address. How can anyone find you to log into your DVR if you keep changing your address? Geovision has come up with a solution to this problem, a small piece of software loaded onto your DVR works like a tracking agent. The software will report every time you change location (I/P Address) to the Geovision Website, this means that even if you have not paid for a Permanent or Static IP you can log into the Geovision IP section of the Website and find your DVR's Location to log into it. SUMMARY GVIP provides remote connectivity to a Geovision system via the internet without the need for a permanent I/P address. PTZ OBJECT TRACKING AND REMOTE CONTROL Geovison allows for the connection of Inputs and Outputs of electronic devices by means of an I/O device, by mapping the detected inputs of the I/O device to the pre programed views of the PTZ camera, the Geovision systems can act as an object tracker. A real time example: Petrol stations quite often are affected by customers that drive away without paying for fuel, the only way to catch a person that commits such a crime is to prove that the customer left without paying for the fuel. A PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) camera can be installed on the site and connected to the DVR, the Installer would pre program a list of good viewable scenes (pumps, exits etc) into the PTZ and when activated the PTZ would tour these scenes in random or sequential order, however if one of the inputs for the I/O module was wired to the pump handle and another to the drive way exit, then when the pump handle was activated the PTZ would recieve this input via the DVR system and would automatically spin around to directly face the pre programmed view of that pump and zoom in on the licence plate. If the driver pays for his fuel then he would have to present money to the operator of the register, this regsiter may have a POS (Point of Sale) box connected to it and this would allow for recording of the transaction by text overlay onto the video footage of the payment. If the driver of the vehicle decided to drive away through the exit of the Petrol Station without paying for the fuel, they would pass through a detection zone made up by a PE beam at the exit and this would send a second signal to the PTZ camera to zoom in on the licence plate of the vehicle and provide a close up view of the vehicles ID. SUMMARY Pre Set positions of view for PTZ cameras can be integrated to the I/O module allowing the PTZ camera to move to areas of detection of movement, limiting the need of multiple cameras. POS INTERFACE Geovision has provided a unique POS BOX, this device will integrate into the cash register and provide a recorded and searchable database entry system linked directly to the video camera directly over the cash drawer. The POS Box allows for searching the DVR system for transations made on a particular product or at a particular time. Linking the video of a transaction means that discrepancies in the balance of the cash drawer can easily be detected and viewed to see what actually transpired at the transation time. Searching for missing stock can be a much easier task when transactions relating to a particular product can be all viewed at one time. A real time example. Imagine an irate customer that says they were not given the correct change, not only can you show them the products that they purchased via footage, but you can also show the overlayed transation from the register on top of the footage and the amount of cash that was given as change. THUMBNAIL VIEW AND OBJECT SEARCH Geovision's search engine is unique in its approach to searching previous events and with the implementation of the Thumbnail View, Geovision allows the user to search a segment of video as a palet of viewable still shots. this means that a 30 second segment can be spread into a step by step frame by frame preview allowing the user to pick exactly which still picture they would like to save. Object Search allows the user to use the normal recorded log program with an option to view only events that pertain to a section of the recorded camera window. A real time example: A handbag was stolen from a table, to view all the people that may have moved in front of the camera that viewed the table the handbag was taken from would be a very time consuming exercise and the camera would certainly not have been set to just view the table alone, therefore many people may have activated motion on that cameras field of view. Object search allows the user to look back to a video segment of where the handbag was on the table and then draw a small box around the handbag only. This would allow the system to seach for events and people that directly came in contact with the handbag on the table ignoring all other movement based recordings. SUMMARY Object Search allows for a more detailed search of an event relating directly to an object and Thumbnail Search allows for the immediate access of many still shots in a video sequence, providing the ease of choosing the best still picture to take a sample from. CAMERA OBJECT TRACKING This feature of the Geovision system allows the user to set up two or more points and judge how many people or vehicles or indeed objects travel between these points. The system can be configured to accomodate very small objects (for example a conveyor belt) or larger objects (people or vehicles). The system can count the number of Objects, People or vehicles that go either In or Out of an area. A real time example: A building may have only one entry and exit point and if set correctly the Geovision system can count how many people enter or leave the premises, this feature would be invaluable in the case of a fire when it would be imperative to know how many people have been evacuated from a building. The system can also be used to evaluate the activity of a product or even the amount of customers that visit a particular section of your retail show room. This system can be used to ascertain what products derive more interest from the public in a retail store, for example if traffic flow in a retail store is more prevelant towards the section of the store that presents a particular product then this will provide an accurate market representation of the interest in certain products that you may stock as a retailer. PASSWORD AND LEVEL OF ACCESS Geovision can allow a level of access defining what areas of the system a user is allowed to control within the system. A real time example: An owner of a retail store would require access to the full facilities of the DVR unit however he may choose to hide cameras from the casual or non managerial staff and may choose that the system is permanantly logged into the account allowing them to use the system with limited access to certain areas that are deliberately locked down to the owners use only. Geovision differs from standard DVR systems in the way it handles password access because it does not create default levels of user access and instead allows the owner to choose exactly what functions each user is allowed to access and also what cameras they are allowed to view from the main system and remotely. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AVCONSULTING 0 Posted February 23, 2004 One of the best summaries I've yet to see. GeoVision should hire you to do their marketing since they are totally inept when it comes to marketing their own product. If only they would now listen to your ideas on designing a better GUI, they would really be great. Then the next thing they have to do is renounce their distribution policy and become more selective in how they let the product be sold. Seeing that none of this is going to happen I'll still look at the ISC show for an alternative. I'll let you know if I find one worthy of your attention. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squale 0 Posted February 23, 2004 you know what is probably funny, what do you think these cards actually cost to make? I bet you whether you buy a GV-600 or that $40 card off of ebay using the Pico2000 software, that the quality and the speed of the cards are the same. They seem to all be made over there is Taiwan anyhow.. they probably all use the same chips, etc... and just one is more expenisve that the other cause of software and the name brand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctv_down_under 0 Posted February 23, 2004 I even designed a decent looking GUI for them but they weren't interested and yest the cards cost around $30 US (guessing) but your not paying for the card. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctv_down_under 0 Posted February 23, 2004 We are planning to go to the Korea show this month so I will let you know what I see there. I would be forever in your debt if you find a better product for me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squale 0 Posted February 24, 2004 why you aren't happy dealing Geovision software? What sucks is the fact that a 250 card can cost like $200 but then an 800 card can cost like $500. But they both use the same software. And the two cards probably cost just about the same cheap price to make. So it sucks that with the higher FPS cards you are getting ripped off.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctv_down_under 0 Posted February 24, 2004 I think you just answered your own question.... Their marketing sucks.. dude if your not happy to apy for the development then buy a card that has free development, super cheap, but you will spend your next 10 yrs of your life trying hard to update the software.. that is why we all use Geo, when they start to charge for software improvements they will lose everyone, I fonly they sold a standalone with Geo features Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squale 0 Posted February 24, 2004 yeah well as a software engineer by professional I can understnad the software thing and respect it. It is just something else how they charge so much more for the higher end cards when they use the same software. It's like the hardware differences between the 250 and the 800 CAN'T possibly cost that much. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AVCONSULTING 0 Posted February 24, 2004 Cards with higher fps require more processors. I have no idea how much more it costs for those processors. I have seen boards, from Kodicom, that come standard as 16 camera boards, but are sold as 4, 8 and 16 camera configurations. They charge more as you go up and all they do is add more connectors. All sorts of things going on with the boards, but still it is the software that counts. A lot of work goes into it and you do get free updates on a constant basis from GeoVision. Something you rarely see from the other DVR companies. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
squale 0 Posted February 24, 2004 yeah somebody I know in the business was telling me that the computer systems using DVR cards are becoming less and less popular and standalone systems are really much more popular and will become even more and more popular with time. Hey by the way check out this BlueNet thing, click on the Underwater camera... I was pulling 18-25 FPS NTSC off of this just before. That's pretty good... http://www.intellicamspy.com/remote_demo_page.htm I would LOVE to see a BlueNet device like this that supported 4 cameras each at 30 FPS NTSC... look for it at the show in March... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChuckM 0 Posted April 14, 2004 DVR_Expert_Australia, The GeoVision feature list that you posted here is well-written and very helpful. It is easier to understand than any other documentation I've read about GeoVision software. I forwarded it to my supervisor and manager. Thanks, Chuck Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctv_down_under 0 Posted April 14, 2004 Thank you... I had yet to finish it at that stage.. it was written while a bit tipsy, so thank you very much.. i have some other good gear that I should post up on here! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thekahuna 0 Posted December 3, 2004 DVR_Expert: One question on the DSP Overlay card. I understand it will increase the quality of the display'ed image, does it also increase the quality of the recorded video? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctv_down_under 0 Posted December 7, 2004 No, it will not affect your recordings, the only advantage it makes towards recording is that on some models you can shift the processing load to recording for faster speeds, this slows down display but if you have the DSP card then display is not affected. The DSP card is just a fast overlay board, it makes the signal close to analogue in appearance and gives a Muxed mirrored output to a spot monitor and copies what is on the main screen minus the GUI. Because the video is overlayed it looks a lot clearer and can improve picture quality by up to 70% for viewing purposes. Hope this helps, Regards, GC Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dusan 0 Posted December 7, 2004 yeah well as a software engineer by professional I can understnad the software thing and respect it. It is just something else how they charge so much more for the higher end cards when they use the same software. It's like the hardware differences between the 250 and the 800 CAN'T possibly cost that much. hi gv800 have 3x more parts on it than gv250 card 4x30fps video processing chip's on gv800 card and gv1000/16 = 16 video chip's 1x30fps video chip on gv250 card geovision software and support cost money ~ 3/4 of product cost is software and support and drivers are diffrent for each model dusan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VJD 0 Posted February 2, 2005 DVR_Expert, How does the video look without the DSP Card? Is the frame rate or resolution affected? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
