Questions on porch camera

[Anthony A. 0]

im looking for an ip camera that will be mounted under the roof of my porch that will monitor the front door. this is mainly for seeing who is at the door when the doorbell rings. im not looking at a DVR at the moment, but would like to have the option of recording the feed directly to my server when their is motion. but my main concern is image quality on a 52" LCD monitor. i want the image to be very crisp and artifact free. my porch light (120watts) is on a timer that comes on at dusk and turns off at dawn so i don't think i really need a good night camera, and the porch size is 8' wide x 5' deep with a height (which the camera will be mounted is just under 9' high.

 

i have researched mobotix and initially wanted to go for the m12/d12 but don't want to shell out that kind of money just for a front door camera right now. the d24 is reasonably priced and im looking at keeping it under $1000 and dome or mobotix "alien" style! how many megapixels do i really need to get 1080p quality on my 52" lcd and any suggestions?

[thewireguys 3]

You need a 1080P or 2MP camera for full resolution on your LCD. How do you plan on getting the images on your LCD?

[Anthony A. 0]

okay 2mp gotcha. there are a few ways i can accomplish this. first, i can setup a small form factor pc (via hdmi) to each tv at full 1080p resolution acting like a monitor for the feed, or i could have just 1 pc and connect it to the rest of my home using a device such as this one.

 

http://www.hdtvsupply.com/hdmi-splitter-over-cat5.html

 

 

and just out of curisoity, how much max resolution can i get out of a 1.3mp camera?

Edited September 14, 2010 by Guest

[thewireguys 3]

I wouldn't go with a 1.3 or a 2MP if you want to fill up your screen. I would use 720P or 1080P then you will not have bars on the left and right.

You problem is going to find a low light MP camera that you will be have with. Arecont 3135 and Mobotix M12 are the to best low light cameras on the market right now both are 3MP day and 1.3MP night and both are over $1000.

[Anthony A. 0]

I wouldn't go with a 1.3 or a 2MP if you want to fill up your screen. I would use 720P or 1080P then you will not have bars on the left and right.

 

sorry, not following. what exactly do you mean by 720p or 1080p? i thought that as long as the camera is capable of having more than 1080x1920 pixels, you could have it display properly on a 1080p tv. am i interpreting this wrong?

 

 

You problem is going to find a low light MP camera that you will be have with. Arecont 3135 and Mobotix M12 are the to best low light cameras on the market right now both are 3MP day and 1.3MP night and both are over $1000.

 

what about the m24 or d24... they are more in my price range. do you think they would work well (in color) with the porch light on at night time?

[thewireguys 3]

720P and 1080P are 16/9 formats just like your TV.

 

All of the other resolutions are 4/3 which will not fully fill the TV.

 

 

[Soundy 1]

720P and 1080P are 16/9 formats just like your TV.

 

All of the other resolutions are 4/3 which will not fully fill the TV.

A little over-simplified - 1280x1024, for example, is not 4:3. More importantly, "720p" and "1080p" refer to SPECIFIC HDTV standards, and are used improperly *as marketing terms* in almost all cases when applied to CCTV cameras. There are a very few that do true 720p/1080p output via HDMI, and except for those few, the terms really should not be used in relation to surveillance/IP cameras.

 

Back to the OP's question: since there's no way to directly interface an IP camera to your TV(s), you're probably better off to look for cameras that do actually have HDMI output; it may require extenders (not cheap) to get the signal there, but that will still be cheaper, and FAR less complicated, than the alternatives.

 

All that aside, is there some reason you NEED high-def image of your front porch? If it's just to see who's there, you should be able to get a perfectly usable picture from a standard analog camera run to one of your TV's composite inputs. No, it won't look "super cool", but it will let you see who's standing there, for about 1/10th the price of the HD options (by the time you factor in camera, cabling, extenders, etc.)

[thewireguys 3]

720P and 1080P are 16/9 formats just like your TV.

 

All of the other resolutions are 4/3 which will not fully fill the TV.

A little over-simplified - 1280x1024, for example, is not 4:3. More importantly, "720p" and "1080p" refer to SPECIFIC HDTV standards, and are used improperly *as marketing terms* in almost all cases when applied to CCTV cameras. There are a very few that do true 720p/1080p output via HDMI, and except for those few, the terms really should not be used in relation to surveillance/IP cameras.

 

Back to the OP's question: since there's no way to directly interface an IP camera to your TV(s), you're probably better off to look for cameras that do actually have HDMI output; it may require extenders (not cheap) to get the signal there, but that will still be cheaper, and FAR less complicated, than the alternatives.

 

All that aside, is there some reason you NEED high-def image of your front porch? If it's just to see who's there, you should be able to get a perfectly usable picture from a standard analog camera run to one of your TV's composite inputs. No, it won't look "super cool", but it will let you see who's standing there, for about 1/10th the price of the HD options (by the time you factor in camera, cabling, extenders, etc.)

 

Soundy his plan is to use a small pc and HDMI distribution over cat to his TVs.... I would skip the computer and go with a Sanyo HD with HDMI output to your tvs if your hell bent on HD/Megapixel.

[Soundy 1]

Soundy his plan is to use a small pc and HDMI distribution over cat to his TVs....

Yes, I read that... thus my assertion that HDMI directly out of the camera would be cheaper and simpler than his other option.

 

Of course, if he insists on the cheap-PC route, then using VGA via VGA baluns or even cheap VGA extensions would be FAR cheaper than HDMI distribution (assuming, of course, the TV has a VGA input... which most do).

[bpzle 0]

look at StarTech for VGA over UTP options.

 

 

However, once this guy sees the total cost of his supposed "gotta haves" I think he'll quickly either forget about the project or compromise.

[Anthony A. 0]

no vga inputs on any of my tvs. it would have to be hdmi only. looking at the sanyo vdc-hd3500, 3300 and 3100 do you think any of these would provide a good HD picture? also, anyone know the exact difference from 3500 to 3300? specs say quad-stream vs. dual stream (not sure what that is), video analytics, alarm/back-up recording on SD card and bidirectional audio. don't need the audio or sd card thing, but would like to record to my server in the future. will these models do this?

[destro_23 0]

ok so we have a megapix camera on the porch.. with cat5(ethernet) and power running to it... you have a laptop plugged in via cable(not wireless) somewhere grabbing the image via the software provided... the laptop has a HDMI out port... so you plug in the HDMI and poof the laptop automatically adjusts the screen to fit the TV.

 

you buy a HDMI splitter as you want all TV's to look at same image...

something like this.... http://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Powered-Splitter-Certified-1080P/dp/B00263D7A4/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1284523770&sr=8-12

 

then you fish the 3 HDMI cables to the TVS you want... i have personally done a 50' HDMI and it looks great to me... should be fine for a porch camera.

 

doesn't seem that bad to me.

[Anthony A. 0]

correct. that has essentially been my main goal from the first post with the only difference being the hdmi splitter. everything else you describe is word for word what i want to do. i think its much easier to do than others think!

 

i think what "thewireguys" was trying to say is that each cameras MP resolution is dependant on filling the screen per pixel and not "stretched". maybe i misunderstood. in any case i think more than 2MP would do the trick.

 

so now the question comes down to: which camera?

 

here is a list of ones in my price range:

 

mobotix m24 or d24

sanyo vdc-hd3100, 3300

panasonic sp-306 (although its only 1.3MP)

 

im liking the sanyo's as i can get them locally, but anyone actually use them?

[thewireguys 3]

correct. that has essentially been my main goal from the first post with the only difference being the hdmi splitter. everything else you describe is word for word what i want to do. i think its much easier to do than others think!

 

i think what "thewireguys" was trying to say is that each cameras MP resolution is dependant on filling the screen per pixel and not "stretched". maybe i misunderstood. in any case i think more than 2MP would do the trick.

 

so now the question comes down to: which camera?

 

here is a list of ones in my price range:

 

mobotix m24 or d24

sanyo vdc-hd3100, 3300

panasonic sp-306 (although its only 1.3MP)

 

im liking the sanyo's as i can get them locally, but anyone actually use them?

 

I think your solution will work but it is not a professional solution meaning not something myself or other integrators would install the way you are. Will the laptop work yes but for how long that is the question.

 

Yes you can get a 5 MP camera and it will work but you will have to stretch the image to fill the screen were as a 720P or 1080P will natively full your screen without stretching and will look a lot better.