Upgrading to a Dahua hybrid dvr - See video of thieves

[lowpro 0]

Hi Guys.

 

First of all, let me say Thank You to all the regular members who contribute to this forum. You guys are awesome! I've learned a lot just by looking around. Thanks!

 

I was hoping to get some feedback from you guys. I currently run a 4 camera Q-See DVR that I bought from Costco 2 years back. Since then I've updated the 4 cameras to CNB cameras. It has made a big difference but I'm sure there is still room for improvement.

 

Front Door & Garage Cams are CNB 550TVL 24? IR LED (can't remember the model)

Back Door is CNB WBL-20S 600TVL 12IR LED Monalisa

Front Yard is CNB WCM-20VF 600TVL 18IR LED MonaLisa

 

The Q-See dvr records at h.264 D1. It records 24/7 for around 11 days on it's 320gb harddrive. I access it on my iPhone and sometimes on my pc at work. My wife would love to access it at work but she uses a Mac and her cell phone doesn't get any reception inside while at work.

 

So that's a little background on my setup. A few weeks ago we got word from a neighbor that some neighbors up the street had their gps stolen from their vehicle in the middle of the night. Sure enough, those guys had also walked through my block. I was happy to see that I had them on video but I was disappointed in the quality (big shocker, huh?). It just seems that as a result of the economy that we're in, some bad bad people just need to find a way to make a quick buck. Apparently they've been coming in to the nicer areas to see what they can get.

 

Here are the videos. I quickly recorded these videos with my iphone off of the computer screen. I wanted to quickly email the links around to neighbors and never went back to do it export them again. I also gave the police a copy of the videos.

 

Front Yard Cam

Garage Cam

And for giggles...stock q-see bullet before the change, 9 months ago.

 

So now I think would be a good time for me to upgrade my dvr which I've been wanting to do for a while. The CFO (Wife) recently agreed for the upgrade. So i've been thinking of a 16 ch. Dahua Hybrid dvr (DVR1604HE-T-4H). I really want to try a megapixel camera! It also HAS TO BE mac compatible so that my wife would be able to log in from work. Must work on iphone also.I

 

 

Camera wise - I would love to swap out the front yard camera for a megapixel camera. The night quality would have to be the same or better than what I already have. Vitek? Geovision? Bullet. I'd start with one and then purchase more.

 

In short, when is the Dahua Hybrid DVR coming to the US? How much is it? How much longer do I have to wait?

 

Thanks guys! I appreciate your help.

Edited September 20, 2011 by Guest

[Birdman Adam 0]

If you've got the money (don't think about comparing it to analog prices), you will love IP megapixel cameras. Others can suggest what to get for that...

 

The wide shot is useless except for overview, the tighter shot on the car is fairly good. Certainly a better DVR would improve the situation some, but I would possibly play with the placement of your cameras - in particular really honing in on what you need to see.

 

For example, if you need to see the face of someone at that far car in the wide shot, get a camera with a 5-50mm lens and zoom it in, and some tight IR so you can have a good shot.

[lowpro 0]

Thanks for the reply, Birdman.

 

Well I was thinking about the Dahua Hybrid because it would allow me to upgrade to current/future technology yet still use some of the cameras that I have. I would love to put into service some ip megapixel cameras. You get 4 IP channels with the Dahua. I don't think that I'd need more than that. Besides it'll start getting pretty expensive for home use.

 

Since I currently have only 4 channels to play with, I felt that I needed to get a wider view with what I had to play with. That's another reason why I'm planning on a 16 channel. It'd be fun to have full coverage of the entire house since I'd have the channels available. I was thinking of using the megapixel cameras for the wider shots and the analog cameras for the zoomed in shots because the analog cameras would cheaper to acquire. The camera is set to 6mm on the driveway shot and 3.8 for the front yard shot.

 

I'll post pics a little later of all 4 cameras together.

[shockwave199 0]

I don't claim to know much- i'm just a diy'r too. But unless you want to upgrade to 16 channels, I'm not sold on the fact that your dvr is the weakest link from those vids.

 

The first vid- your front yard shot; you have what's been touted as a very good camera but it's way too wide to give you anything meaningful at that car all the way out there. And at that camera position, you have a serious glare problem coming from the street light or lamp post. That's fighting your image quality big time right there. I would install two cameras- one tight to the car area out there and one getting that whole side by your cans, but from the opposite direction to avoid that light post. In the driveway shot, it's better and you could have a possible identity shot in a couple frames if needed. Not great, but there's something there. But here again, your IR's or something is very washed out and not providing useful illumination. I have a feeling you may have your brightness/contrast set up poorly for your night pictures. Tweak the picture settings and get a good picture for daytime sure, but make certain you get the best picture you can for nightime too- even more so. Have a friend go out there to be the bad guy and really fine tune your picture settings for night views. Doing a vid with a camera pointed at a monitor screen for demonstration doesn't help that much either.

 

Point being- I'm not sold your dvr is the weakest link in your current setup. Better camera placement/zoom and better picture tweaking per channel in the dvr would certainly improve things, I believe. If it's a 16 channel upgrade- great. Get a good one. I don't mean to say an upgrade isn't worth it. But you'll still face these problems no matter what dvr you have in line- having spent possibly serious bucks. I'd tweak placement and or zoom settings and picture settings for each camera first and see if that doesn't help your dvr help YOU. Good luck.

 

Dan

[lowpro 0]

Thanks Dan. I really appreciate the feedback.

 

Here are some pics from earlier today. This evening I went out to clean the lens on the front yard cam. Must have smeared some spider parts on it last night.

 

3:45pm

 

10:45pm

 

I guess you could be right. From the times that I've played with the settings on the dvr for the cameras, it never really looked all that great to me. Either the day looked good and the night time image was crap or vice versa. So I just left them pretty much at default.

 

I must say that that car that you see in the first video (with the 2 guys), is my neighbors car. I don't really care too much about that. If it looks great then great, if the camera doesn't pick it up, oh well. It's more for an overall shot. I can also kind of see who is coming up the street. Like I mentioned before, I currently only have 4 channels to play with, so I decided to go with the wider views. With 16 channels I plan on adding another camera at the oposite end of the house which would be facing north along the front yard. They'll form an X of sorts.

 

I'll see about converting the vids.

[shockwave199 0]

Oh- gotcha on the neighbors car. And yeah, it's a really good idea to keep the cameras clean. Rain is another big one. I always clean my camera glass after rain. Clean them all- even the day pic of the driveway looks cloudy. When you upgrade, I suggest you do better camera placements too. From your day pics, the doors need better coverage. A side note- it's a really good idea to not put cans out the night before. You saw those guys go in one right? Garbage cans are a magnet for criminal mischief too- even more so the plastic/bottle recycle cans. Put them out in the morning if possible- always a better idea.

 

Best of luck upgrading! No harm in that, except maybe the bank account! But when I needed to spend more money on my system I always asked myself this question- can I afford not to?

 

[tomcctv 190]

Dahua are still doing alot of work on there hybrid. the problem at the moment is you can only use IP cortex cameras. the hybrid is 16 channel with another 4 (total 20 channel) for ip no switcher or extra router needed just plug in RJ45 for power and video.

 

 

but its all down to budget. the Apollo HD PRO D1 16 channel dahua full D1comes in 4 / 8 / and 16 channel is also a good dvr.

 

looking at your q-see are you recording in CIF ? as you cant get 24/7 D1 11 days on a 320gb hard drive.

 

 

you will see a big differance in going Full D1 to what you have now with the cameras you already have.

[lowpro 0]

Oh- gotcha on the neighbors car. And yeah, it's a really good idea to keep the cameras clean. Rain is another big one. I always clean my camera glass after rain. Clean them all- even the day pic of the driveway looks cloudy. When you upgrade, I suggest you do better camera placements too. From your day pics, the doors need better coverage. A side note- it's a really good idea to not put cans out the night before. You saw those guys go in one right? Garbage cans are a magnet for criminal mischief too- even more so the plastic/bottle recycle cans. Put them out in the morning if possible- always a better idea.

 

Best of luck upgrading! No harm in that, except maybe the bank account! But when I needed to spend more money on my system I always asked myself this question- can I afford not to?

 

 

Yeah I saw the trash can thing. I ended up ordering a locking recycle can from the city. So that remained locked all the time now. I leave rather early (6am) so pulling out the noisy trash cans at that time would not make my neighbors happy. But at least now the recycle bin is locked.

 

Here is a 7am shot.

[lowpro 0]

Dahua are still doing alot of work on there hybrid. the problem at the moment is you can only use IP cortex cameras. the hybrid is 16 channel with another 4 (total 20 channel) for ip no switcher or extra router needed just plug in RJ45 for power and video.

 

 

but its all down to budget. the Apollo HD PRO D1 16 channel dahua full D1comes in 4 / 8 / and 16 channel is also a good dvr.

 

looking at your q-see are you recording in CIF ? as you cant get 24/7 D1 11 days on a 320gb hard drive.

 

 

you will see a big differance in going Full D1 to what you have now with the cameras you already have.

 

Ahhh that's interesting. So I guess I could probably get away with ordering a 8ch hybrid dvr since I'll really have 12 channels with the ip ports added in..Cool. I'll have to see what the cortex cameras are all about.

 

I've looked at the Apollo HD 16 channel but I've been wanting to hold out to see when the hybrid would come along. I really like the detail of the megapixel cameras.

 

I just double checked the settings via remote on the dvr. D1 recording is checked off at best quality. In terms of days, yeah, I guess you are partially right. It is showing the last 10 days of footage with today being day 11. But it is always recording with it rebooting everyday at midnight.

[shockwave199 0]

What model dvr do you have?

[lowpro 0]

What model dvr do you have?

 

Q-See QSD9004V-320

[tomcctv 190]

What model dvr do you have?

 

Q-See QSD9004V-320

 

 

 

 

q-see in the last few months have taken the specs of each dvr off there site ..... WHY ? people need to know what they are buying.

 

but even there specs are misleading from your dvr spec Record Frame Rate (Shared) (D1) 120 FPS, (CIF) 30 FPS Bull.

[shockwave199 0]

I still see specs listed for every dvr there. Not sure what you're talking about. Argue the specs being wrong or bull, but saying they aren't listed isn't correct.

 

Dan

[tomcctv 190]

there site has been like this for over a month http://www.q-see.com/security-digital-video-recorder.htm

 

Missing Page

The Q-See website has been changed. Please use the search box to search for products or one of the menus to find the page you want.

 

 

but at the end of the day an un true spec is no spec at all.

 

 

many people come on the forum. .... i bought a system D1 24/7 28 days on 350gb H/D then ask why there footage is bad. and the truth is they are recording CIF to get that on 350gb H/D for D1 24/7 30 days you will need atleast 4tb

[shockwave199 0]

The link you gave does do what you say, but it seems like an old cache link. If you go to their home page and click on products/select a product/standalone dvr's, you'll get the proper page.

 

Far as specs, is the user confused, or is the specs per dvr there truly false? Pick one that you find false or misleading and tell us how it should really read- assuming you know what the product really ofers. I'm interested in knowing how to better decipher how specs read. This is actually a critical area to understand for a novice when choosing a dvr and maybe you could plainly lay it out.

[lowpro 0]

Well in any case, I'm happily looking to upgrade to something better!

[tomcctv 190]

hi. well most of the site is discontinued systems. but this is on of there new dvr.

 

Display Resolution 704x480

Display Frame Rate 30 FPS per camera

Playback Resolution (D1) 704x480, (CIF) 352x240

Record Frame Rate (D1 or CIF) 30FPS/camera <<<<<<< they list the best 30fps. why dont they list the D1 fps.

 

 

 

they even have a new D1 listed at 60fps across 16 cameras. thats 3fps most dvrs now do the least 7fps on each.

[lowpro 0]

I'm pretty sure that the one I currently use is 7fps @ what is supposed to be D1.

[tomcctv 190]

I'm pretty sure that the one I currently use is 7fps @ what is supposed to be D1.

 

 

hi yes its about 7fps but the spec reads

Record Frame Rate (Shared) (D1) 120 FPS, (CIF) 30 FPS

 

 

Ahhh that's interesting. So I guess I could probably get away with ordering a 8ch hybrid

 

 

at the moment there hybrid is only 16 way + 4 ip. and limited to 1 brand of ip.

 

 

at the moment i think the Apollo HD PRO D1 is better for the money.

[lowpro 0]

Thanks for your help, Tom. I have some things to think about, eh?

[rory 0]

Just upgraded a 4 Channel QSee (not sure of the model but it is tiny) to an 8 Channel VGA Dahua DVR (aka Qvis Zeus) and client is happy. Those QSee cameras are pretty lame though, I think they are getting like 10' of IR outside and its 1/4"

 

BTW your images look okay, seen much much worse.

Need to point them at the areas the people come into though, right now they are pointing at their backs with the garage and front door. If you want to leave the garage camera, just get an old or cheap IR camera and put that on the opposite side to give that side more light.

[lowpro 0]

Just upgraded a 4 Channel QSee (not sure of the model but it is tiny) to an 8 Channel VGA Dahua DVR (aka Qvis Zeus) and client is happy. Those QSee cameras are pretty lame though, I think they are getting like 10' of IR outside and its 1/4"

 

BTW your images look okay, seen much much worse.

Need to point them at the areas the people come into though, right now they are pointing at their backs with the garage and front door. If you want to leave the garage camera, just get an old or cheap IR camera and put that on the opposite side to give that side more light.

 

Yay, I was waiting for Rory to reply! " title="Applause" />

 

I'm sure I'd be more than happy to get a Apollo Pro dvr but I can't help but think that there is something better out there. In this case, megapixel cameras. So I was really holding out to find something good!

 

Camera location is two fold. They currently live where they are because..1) was limited to only 4 cameras 2) I'm renting this house, didn't want to make anything too permanent. I guess I didn't want anything to be too big or flashy.

 

I guess I'll have to look at a computer option...hmmm...

[rory 0]

There is ALWAYS going to be something better, and even when one gets what they think is the best, something new will come out that is even better

 

Live for today, worry about 2 years from now, 2 years from now.

 

I asked a client if we could run cat5 in addition to the RG59 siamese incase she wants to add IP Megapixel in a year or two .. she said she might be dead in a year or two so no tanks.

[shockwave199 0]

Just upgraded a 4 Channel QSee (not sure of the model but it is tiny) to an 8 Channel VGA Dahua DVR (aka Qvis Zeus) and client is happy. Those QSee cameras are pretty lame though, I think they are getting like 10' of IR outside and its 1/4"

Sounds like the qsee cams I replaced and they are rough! Curious- you upgraded the dvr but they kept the qsee cams in line? What's the difference at that point!

[lowpro 0]

I totally hear ya. Seeing that soon (nobody seems to know when) a Dahua hybrid will be available, I thought I'd spend a few extra hundred now instead of revisiting a new purchase in a year or two. $1,000 is a lot to spend each year for a new dvr.