JeffWasHere 0 Posted February 28, 2011 Hello everyone Well it appears i have purchased a cheap card, and the software that came with it wont install correctly on a xp home 32bit system. I have been trying to find a driver for this card and have ended up with btwincap from sourceforge (i have tryed a few different drivers from btwincap but all i can ever get to work is one channel).. I honestly dont even want to use the software that came with this card as i use BI , i just wanted a 4 channel capture card.. the description on ebay said u could view 4 channels simultaneously but apparently maybe its just while using there software?.. I would try btspy if i could get the software working. I think i tracked down the model# DV-AC4-30 from ameta, and hopefully it is ok to put this link below to my card. http://www(DOT)ameta.ca/product_detail.php?pid=15&cid=16 Would i be better off with a Geovision GV-600 ? I notice it only has one chip.. but all in all i only need 7.5 fps on 4 cameras.. so this might work? Is the software that comes wiith this card very good? Any help with getting a driver that is able to get windows to see 4 inputs would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimrod 0 Posted February 28, 2011 There is a sticky here that addresses this topic, it’s kind of a sore spot having this same question asked over and over. But I am actually working on the same problem you have and have spent the last week researching what software to use with this card. After looking over more than 50 different software packages, I came up with these top 3 contenders for inexpensive software and I am starting to demo them now. These are all modern programs and support windows 7. http://www.pysoft.com/ActiveWebCamMainpage.htm $30 http://www.h264soft.com/ $50 http://www.blueirissoftware.com/ $50 There is also the free linux Zoneminder program but it only uses half the resolution of the camera, because it throws out every other line of the interlaced image. Your other alternative is a dedicated hardware DVR. A quality 4 channel unit would be about as much as a computer, many people on this board can help you pick out a good model. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeffWasHere 0 Posted February 28, 2011 Hey man thanks for the reply. I am actually using blue iris as my software for over 2 years now. This is the first time i have tried out a dvr card. (always used ipcams and webcams with blueiris) So im really at a loss here and really tried to understand how to get this to work on my own.. So anyways i am using blueiris and i have been able to get one channel to work.. Do you know which drivers i need to use to be able to get all 4 channels? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimrod 0 Posted February 28, 2011 I have not tried Blue Iris yet, but the install from the demo Active Webcam has a BTinstaller utility that may work for you. You run it the first time and select remove all BT878 drivers and then run it again and choose install BT878 drivers. The file is an exe in the Active webcam directory. In the next day or 2 I hope to try Blue Iris, maybe we can help each other out. I also want to use IP and analog cams also. I just ran my installer again. Make sure when installing the driver you select generic 4 input card and no TV tuner. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Securame 0 Posted February 28, 2011 I have not even tried, but did you guys have any problems when trying to use BTWinCap drivers under Win7? (32 bits I must assume). I would have thought that those drivers would not work under WIn7, since they are old and have not been updated in many years, 2004 from what I see on their web site. Any hints on how to get BT878 cards working easily under Win7 are welcome, I would like to give them a try! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Birdman Adam 0 Posted February 28, 2011 By default Zoneminder captures at 320x240. Zoneminder can capture cameras at full resolution (640x480) - a memory settings tweak is all thats necessary. I have found that with BT878 cards, Windows can only use a limited number of channels, usually just one, sometimes 2-3. Some silliness about drivers I suppose... Linux will support the card with out any set-up with its 'Video for Linux' (V4L) or V4L2. Another thing about these cards - don't expect 7.5FPS on each camera (30/4) from 4 cameras. Most likely your card has only ONE BT878 chip, which means it has to 'switch' channels to capture from each camera. I get 4 FPS on each camera when running 4 cameras. If you need more FPS, buy a card with multiple BT878 chips, like 4. That way each chip is only capturing one channel, and they won't have to switch. Of course, with multiple chips you could also connect more cameras, up to 16. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimrod 0 Posted February 28, 2011 The bt878 driver install from Active webcam worked OK for me for Blue Iris. However I only tried 1 camera out of 4. To set up Blue Iris for bt878 camera Right click on Blue Iris Main screen and select add new camera. New camera screen comes up, select video tab. On this screen select USB Firewire or Analog. Drop down box labeled input is available now. Select each of the video composite inputs until you see a picture. The only other thing I did after I had a picture was change the resolution in same tab to 640 x 480 from 320 x 240. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimrod 0 Posted February 28, 2011 I have found that with BT878 cards, Windows can only use a limited number of channels, usually just one, sometimes 2-3. Some silliness about drivers I suppose... In the past i have set up 16 camera systems with windows XP using 4 pieces of 1 chip 4 input cards, framerate was about 7fps on each channel. The software was IQ eyes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimrod 0 Posted February 28, 2011 Newsflash, the BTinstaller for bt878 cards is exactly the same from sourceforge BTwinCap, active Webcam, and H264 Webcam. Blue Iris does not provide anything. They are all version 5.38 with identical screens. Furthermore I have found out that none of the surveillance programs when used with the bt878 card supports adjustment of color, hue, saturation, or brightness. I have tested Active Webcam, H264 webcam, and Blue Iris. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeffWasHere 0 Posted February 28, 2011 Thanks for all the help you guys I have never tryed this on windows7.. I just have 1 home surveillance computer and it is xp home 32 bit.. I bought this card for $50 from china and it appears with there restocking fee minus ebay fees etc.. im just gonna throw this in as a 1 camera card (cant get windows to see 4 channels, i tried the "generic bt8xx 4 comp in" driver with no tuner but still only 1 input works) and i tryed about 20 of the different drivers in btwincap. I just wish windows could see 4 inputs cause then my software blueiris could see it.. So i guess im just going to have to buy a 2nd card.. I was looking at the geovision gv-600 but have noticed it only has 1 chip as well.. i only have maybe another 100-150 to spend. Does anyone know a decent card with 4 chips that i can get D1 recordings from and atleast 7.5fps on each camera? and a WDM driver Thanks for all the help guys. And nimrod i am very expeirenced with blueiris so let me know if ya need any help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimrod 0 Posted February 28, 2011 Jeff, I just want to be sure you understood me on how to set up the cameras. You have to follow the instructions I gave above four times for 4 cameras. The only difference for each setup besides the camera number and name is that you select a different composite input from the drop down box. They should be labeled 1 thru 4 but they are not. Each one selects a different input on your 4 input card. If you see 4 composite inputs listed then you should have 4 channels available. Also the inputs are not in order they are all mixed up. I select the first one and move my camera connection until I see a picture. These are the instructions from active webcam for installing a capture card. • Run the BtInstaller.exe installation utility. • When prompted, select the "Uninstall any previously installed driver" option. The installation utility will search your system for any Bt8x8 drivers and delete them. • Turn Off computer. • Install the capture card inside computer. • Turn On computer. • Windows detects there is new card and pop-ups the "Found New Hardware Wizard" window. Click the "Cancel" button in this window. • Run the BtInstaller.exe installation utility again. • Select the "Install" option. • Select "Generic Bt8xx with 4 Composite ins" when asked for a card type. • Select "No TV functions" in the TV Tuner list. • Finish the installation. • Restart computer and verify there are at least two items are shown as correctly installed in your "Control Panel", in the "System Properties", in the "Device Manager", under the "Sound, video and game controllers": I will try an IP cam to see how it works. If I have a problem setting it up I will leave you a message. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimrod 0 Posted February 28, 2011 OK I lucked out, the IP camera fired up with minimal problems. I had spent hours before hand fighting the camera to get it to work in a browser. After I had it that far setting it up in Blue Iris was fairly easy especially because it was a camera with a default setup. I poked around for awhile in Blue Iris trying to find a menu for IP cameras to adjust the video color, contrast, hue, saturation, and brightness. It took me a while to remember that those settings are in the camera and accessible thru the web browser. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeffWasHere 0 Posted March 1, 2011 Cool glad the ipcam went smooth. There are some nice features in BI.. Well i have tryed using the generic BT8 driver and my device mngr still only sees one video and audio input. The main problem here is i can't seem to get windows to see more than one input... I've tryed multiple drivers using btwincap... one of the drivers made the cArd literally squeel... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimrod 0 Posted March 1, 2011 Jeff, I only see 1 video and 1 audio input in device manager to. The very old drivers used to show up as 4 different devices. Just to make sure I was telling you the right thing I added another camera to my bt878 card, so now I have 2 cameras on it. I installed second camera just as I explained above. Right clicked on screen selected add camera, selected video tab and selected usb, firewire, analog. Then from input drop down box I tried all inputs until I saw my picture. Remember this though, after you select an input you have to select ok and let box close, Blue Iris will reset and try input, takes about 5 seconds. If no picture go to next input. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JeffWasHere 0 Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) Hey nimrod and thanks for trying to help.. i think this card will only give me one video stream.. I know what you are talking about when it comes to adding a camera.. i can get one to work. when i go to add a second no matter which of the 4 inputs i select from the dropdown i only get blue screen in that window and it starts affecting the output of the one that is working.. i think it is just this card.. Anyone recommend where i can get the geovision gv-600? It seems geovision is popular on this forum.. Also will i be able to use this card with my own software? Does the gv-600 have wdm drivers that will allow me to have 4 inputs? XXedit: the gv600 will only work with geovision software... thats not what i want so scratch that. Anyone know of a 4 channel card with 4 chipsets and wdm drivers thats reasonably priced??? Edited March 1, 2011 by Guest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nimrod 0 Posted March 1, 2011 Jeff, I googled around last night and found several people saying the same thing that you are saying about only 1 input working. Hold off on getting a Geovision card though as I think they are all bt878 based. Even if you do get that card to work it looks like no bt878 cad will let you have any color controls or brightness, hue, saturation. Look at my post and pictures here. In fact Active webcam, H264 webcam, and Blue iris all have grayed out menus with bt878 cards. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24567 It may turn out that Philips saa7130-34 cards will give you color controls I am still investigating that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
