DVR cards & PAL/NTSC

[MamBo 0]

Do all DVR cards support PAL and NTSC standard?

Or they do support only PAL or NTSC ?

Is it possible to connect couple PAL and couple NTSC cameras to the same DVR card ?

 

 

P.S. sorry for the lame question

[rory 0]

Not all, and no they generally only support one or the other.

 

Basically you can use PAL in the US, if you have PAL Cameras, vice versa for Europe, as far as I know, but most if not all DVRs are globally selective on the format.

[MamBo 0]

Not all, and no they generally only support one or the other.

 

Basically you can use PAL in the US, if you have PAL Cameras, vice versa for Europe, as far as I know, but most if not all DVRs are globally selective on the format.

 

strange. never saw card that specifically states it's PAL or NTSC.

I just was planing to by cameras in US and DVR card in UK...

[rory 0]

they will generally require one or the other, not both. They will normally ask you to select which format you use, cant use both. If its a stand alone it is a diferrent story, you would need to specify with some of them when ordering.

[rory 0]

It will depend on the DVR software, not the card.

 

Rory

[cctvfan 0]

Rory is right. It goes by the software DRIVER's configuration for INDIVIDUAL video processors on a DVR board.

 

So it's important to note the restriction that arises when more than one video channels share the same processor... e.g. 4-ch board with 1 processor, or an 8-ch board with 4 processors, etc.

 

Consider an 8-ch card with 4 video processors. Although each processor has its own NTSC/PAL initialization, it is shared by TWO cameras (both of which must be either NTSC or PAL). So you cannot have say, PAL on camera 5 but NTSC on camera 6 (else you will get B&W and funny aspect ratio on one of them due to failed chrominance decoding, ...)

 

The above is true with many DVR boards, incl. my latest favorite I-View (which has a separate NTSC/PAL setting in the config GUI for each processor).

[cctvfan 0]

Just want to elaborate further on Rory's important remark: "...it's the software, not the card"

 

What I've described in my previous post (one setting per processor) is the maximum flexibility that can be provided by I-View and others.

 

But there are:

1) software that only provides "one setting system wide", not per processor

2) software that does not allow any setting at all, but quietly determines from camera #1 whether all other cams are NTSC or PAL (sometimes a stupid assumption). This happens in embedded DVRs too

[MamBo 0]

thank you for your valuable information.

anyone can share they experience with the other software that can have separate pal/NTSC on separate chanels ?

 

(i'm living in PAL country, but recently got myself few NTSC cameras and looking at chinese version of KODICOM 120 FPS board)

 

(other option is anykeeper)

[cctvfan 0]

You're welcome. In the past year, I learned & discovered a lot in this forum from others who are willing to share theire valuable info, i.e. people like Rory, ust to name one...

 

By the way, have you thought of using all PAL cameras since you're in a PAL country? My impression is that PAL cameras on a DVR in PAL mode look much sharper than their NTSC couterparts (due to the extra scan lines).

 

I recently worked with some "super-hi res" NTSC cams, i.e. 540-TVL color instead of 480TVL. The extr details are quite obvious, but it just reminds me of what I've seen at some European/PAL country's Live Demo site before.

 

If someone in the UK, etc. can confirm if they are seeing "more details" with their PAL cameras than us, will appreciate it. Thanks.

[MamBo 0]

I can get W/B NTSC cameras in USA about for about 1/3 the price I woulde pay for similar camera in my country.

 

with color cameras there a little bit less of the difference but still cheaper (I just got color 480 TVL lines camera for the price of 330 in my own country)