Exacq screwed up the evidence

[cglaeser 0]

Got some great images from a Pany 502 of someone stealing mail from a mailbox. ExacqVision software captured the video while the camera also uploaded high res images to a NAS via ftp. Unfortunately, the power company had installed a new power meter several hours earlier and the two second power outage restarted the equipment. The ExacqVision app has a defect regarding timezone, and it reset the camera to GMT 0. So, the time stamps in all the high res images and video are off by eight hours.

 

What a hassle to explain the time line in the police report and have to include comments as to why the times in the images are way off. Argh!!!! What a hassle.

 

I really do like ExacqVision but this defect is really starting to annoy me. I think this indecent has convinced me I need to look elsewhere for a NVR application.

 

Best,

Christopher

[TVEngineer77 0]

might I suggest investing in a UPS?

[rory 0]

might I suggest investing in a UPS?

Good idea, but they dont always work

Ive had many times, using some of the best APC and Triplite units, called to the job as the UPS never came back on .. then again we were getting ALOT of outages!

 

Christopher, are you sure there is no way to run a script to hack the time zone? I mean on any of the software you already spent money for.

[TVEngineer77 0]

I run Exacq as well and am curious as to the "defect" you speak of. I've had my system power off due to outages (before UPS was installed) and when it came back up the timezone was still set properly.

 

Did you set the time server and IP camera time server info? I just use time.windows.com so it always pings the internet for the correct time.

[hardwired 0]

I agree, that's a headache. The Exacq seems to rewrite the configuration to each camera on a restart of the service, not sure if there's a good way to hack a patch for that, it would involve a script to reset the NTP server location on each camera, you'd have to know a lot about the cams involved to do that.

 

Incidentally, you seem to have some experience with with low-power boxes, seems like you could run the Exacq server on something almost as light as your NAS, do the full res storage there and eliminate that problem... Was there some kind of bandwidth or other problem that prevented that?

[hardwired 0]

I run Exacq as well and am curious as to the "defect" you speak of. I've had my system power off due to outages (before UPS was installed) and when it came back up the timezone was still set properly.

 

Did you set the time server and IP camera time server info? I just use time.windows.com so it always pings the internet for the correct time.

 

The timezone on the server/client setup stays intact, what Chris is talking about is that Exacq sets the individual camera timezones to GMT 0, and the Exacq server as the NTP source, when it initializes.

 

Not a problem if you are only using the Exacq, but when you try something else with the cam, you will have incorrect timestamping (if you have a cam that has OSD time and date stamping options, you can turn it on and see that)

[Soundy 1]

I think this indecent has convinced me I need to look elsewhere for a NVR application.

 

[cglaeser 0]

might I suggest investing in a UPS?

 

I know, I know. I have a dozen APC units, but I've been moving equipment around and of course, Murphy will always get you.

 

Best,

Christopher

[cglaeser 0]

Christopher, are you sure there is no way to run a script to hack the time zone? I mean on any of the software you already spent money for.

 

I'm writing a script now for the Panasonic ftp kludge. Any security camera that uploads images via ftp to a single folder is defective, IMO. A couple weeks of images in one folder will bring any NAS to its knees. I've written Panasonic about this problem but have not received a reply.

 

I guess I'll have to write a script for the Exacq timezone defect as well. I've contacted them numerous times about this defect, and although they finally acknowledge they need to look at the issue, they have been upfront enough to admit that they probably won't fix it, at least not any time soon.

 

It's so annoying when these relatively minor problems cause so many problems.

 

Best,

Christopher

[thewireguys 3]

So both the time stamp in the Exacq footage and your ftp images are off?

[cglaeser 0]

I run Exacq as well and am curious as to the "defect" you speak of.

 

Although ExacqVision server maintains the correct time and timezone, it resets cameras to GMT 0. If you do anything in the camera that is based on time, it will not work correctly. For example, I set my cameras to overlay the date and time on the video and images. Although ExacqVision can also overlay the date and time, I prefer the camera do it so that the high res images uploaded via ftp have a time stamp in each image. If ExacqVision resets the camera time zone, all these times are wrong.

 

In addition, many of these cameras can do other functions based on time. Examples include date/time-based file naming and schedule-based motion detection. You could set motion detection one way 8 - 5 mon - fri, and something else at other times. Exacq tech support suggests adjusting these schedules base on the wrong time zone of GMT 0. WHAT A SILLY HACK!!! Why not just fix ExacqVision and be done with it. It's so frustrating trying to explain to them why their implementation is so wrong. They just don't get it.

 

Best,

Christopher

[cglaeser 0]

So both the time stamp in the Exacq footage and your ftp images are off?

 

Correct, because the time stamp overlay is generated by the camera. I do it this way so the ftp images will have a time stamp. Of course, I can add another time stamp overlay on top of that in the ExacqVision video, but then things get real confusing for those who don't know the details. One time stamp says 10 am and the other says 6 pm.

 

Best,

Christopher

[thewireguys 3]

So both the time stamp in the Exacq footage and your ftp images are off?

 

Correct, because the time stamp overlay is generated by the camera. I do it this way so the ftp images will have a time stamp. Of course, I can add another time stamp overlay on top of that in the ExacqVision video, but then things get real confusing for those who don't know the details. One time stamp says 10 am and the other says 6 pm.

 

Best,

Christopher

 

Just so you know the time from Exacq isn't permanently burned in the image you can remove after you export the video if you would need to. I understand your frustration with this and I have also talked to Exacq about this and the issue that they tell me is every manufacture does the time differently. Take Arecont for example, they don't keep any time in the camera Exacq handles it. Now I don't know how to write code so I have know idea how easy it would be for them to change this but I know know if you use Exacq as your NVR and you don't need to use the FTP or other features in the camera it works just fine.

[cglaeser 0]

Just so you know the time from Exacq isn't permanently burned in the image you can remove after you export the video if you would need to.

 

Yep, I left it off to minimize the confusion of conflicting time stamps, but the camera time stamp that remained was wrong, so I had to explain why it was wrong by eight hours.

 

I understand your frustration with this and I have also talked to Exacq about this and the issue that they tell me is every manufacture does the time differently. Take Arecont for example, they don't keep any time in the camera Exacq handles it.

 

Yes, they told me the same thing, but this is an excuse, not a reason. This is not a new problem. Applications like Adobe Lightroom and Aperture can manage a ba-zillion camera models just fine. When sorting images by date and time, developers have to put a little thought into it, but it's that difficult.

 

Now I don't know how to write code so I have know idea how easy it would be for them to change this but I know know if you use Exacq as your NVR and you don't need to use the FTP or other features in the camera it works just fine.

 

How do you get high res jpeg images without ftp?

 

Best,

Christopher

[ak357 0]

 

How do you get high res jpeg images without ftp?

 

Christopher

 

What don't u like about Exacq recording and exporting images as "jpeg" ?

 

It does in full native camera res or what ever u set

[cglaeser 0]

What don't u like about Exacq recording and exporting images as "jpeg" ?

 

It does in full native camera res or what ever u set

 

Can it do simultaneous h.264 on motion and jpeg on motion?

 

Best,

Christopher

[ak357 0]

What don't u like about Exacq recording and exporting images as "jpeg" ?

 

It does in full native camera res or what ever u set

 

Can it do simultaneous h.264 on motion and jpeg on motion?

 

Best,

Christopher

 

Ah, see your point

but can u answer my ?

u don't like to record h.264 and then extract jpeg from it ?

or you don't record in full res ?

please be specific

[cglaeser 0]

Ah, see your point

but can u answer my ?

u don't like to record h.264 and then extract jpeg from it ?

or you don't record in full res ?

please be specific

 

The jpeg images generated by the camera have somewhat better detail than the jpeg images extracted from the video stream due to video compression artifacts.

 

Best,

Christopher

[thewireguys 3]

Ah, see your point

but can u answer my ?

u don't like to record h.264 and then extract jpeg from it ?

or you don't record in full res ?

please be specific

 

The jpeg images generated by the camera have somewhat better detail than the jpeg images extracted from the video stream due to video compression artifacts.

 

Best,

Christopher

 

That doesn't make any sense. The camera is doing the compression Exacq doesn't. You should get the same image in Exacq as you would FTP. I will post some images to compare tomorrow.

[cglaeser 0]

That doesn't make any sense. The camera is doing the compression Exacq doesn't. You should get the same image in Exacq as you would FTP. I will post some images to compare tomorrow.

 

Yes, I know the camera does video compression. Let's make sure we are on the same page. Are you saying that a jpeg image pulled from an h.264 video stream has the identical detail as a jpeg image generated by the camera? They certainly are not the same for the Panasonic 502.

 

Best,

Christopher

[thewireguys 3]

That doesn't make any sense. The camera is doing the compression Exacq doesn't. You should get the same image in Exacq as you would FTP. I will post some images to compare tomorrow.

 

Yes, I know the camera does video compression. Let's make sure we are on the same page. Are you saying that a jpeg image pulled from an h.264 video stream has the identical detail as a jpeg image generated by the camera? They certainly are not the same for the Panasonic 502.

 

Best,

Christopher

 

 

LOL..... You need Mobotix cameras they will do everything you want and then some.