Capture card for Windows Home Server 2011 (64bit)

[dazzaUK 0]

Hello,

 

I am having difficulty finding a 4 channel (8ch & PCI-E preferred) capture card for Windows Home Server 2011, mainly because the OS is 64 bit and drivers are scarce.

 

This is for an existing server, I'd prefer to avoid building a new machine with a different OS or change the OS on the existing server.

Hardware spec:

Intel Core i3 2100T 2.5GHz

Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 (both PCI & PCI-E slots available)

G-Skill 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600mhz

5x Western Digital WD20EARS 2TB

Microsoft Windows Home Server 2011

4x CCTV Camera Sony 700TVL http://is.gd/RjwJ8Y

IP Cam: YCAM Black SD

 

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone experienced with this OS and CCTV capture.

Thanks in advance, Darren

[Seedigital 0]

I'd recommend tracking down a new Geovision version 5 Gv650 or Gv800 8channel card.

The new Version 5 cards (The PCI-e ones) work really well with Sandy Bridge (The older version 4 ones have some issues)

They work fine on 64bit Os's, I run them on windows 7 64bit professional all the time and they are really solid.

 

I've never seen them run on WHS 2011 but they do run on windows server 2008 (which from memory shares a lot of the same drivers/compatibility)

 

best of luck!

[dazzaUK 0]

Thanks for your reply, I'd almost given up hope.

 

As you say WHS2011 shares the same kernel and driver base as Windows server 2008, so the card you suggest will very likely work with WHS2011.

 

However in the meantime I investigated an OS-independent solution, that is, an IP video encoder. After reading up I bought a Grandstream GXV3504 4 channel which encodes at D1, and does the cpu heavy-lifting of motion detection, etc. To store the captured video I set up an FTP server on the WHS server, and configured the Grandstream to FTP video over. It works really well, with a serious improvement in video quality over a cheap capture card, and it doesn't tie me to a specific OS for driver support. I can also access live video and recordings from any PC using a web browser.

 

This was my first foray into the world of CCTV - setting it up at home. I have learnt so much, mostly by making mistakes (and learning from them)

 

I have to admit I am very disappointed with the quality of analog PAL 700TVL cameras, if a crime was committed I'm certain face recognition would not be accurate enough due to the distance between camera and target being ~7M. Here's a piccy, looks fine but being 640x480 it doesn't zoom in at all well.

 

 

I will definitely head digital with my future cams, ordered a 5MP IP cam for the front of house. Will post a sample when it turns up.

[Seedigital 0]

Analogue is a bit of a mixed bag, and in my experience your not going to get face recognition unless you by a high end camera, and you've got it zoomed with the appropriate lens, in the right area and sometimes even with the right lighting.

 

Its a brilliant and inexpensive way to general movements, and getting visibility as to what's going on in a given environment.

Also at night Analogue is generally better, that said i've seen some really nice 5mp messoa digital ones which are changing my mind on that.

 

I'd recommend looking at a hybrid system, analogue to get a general idea of the situation and then go digital mega pixel (IP/ for facial recognition).

 

IP is brilliant, but the cost is high, so it depends on the job at hand as to what's the best.

[MaxIcon 0]

That looks pretty good for a relatively inexpensive 4ch encoder. I've been looking at those, but hadn't heard too much about them.

 

Can you get the 4 video streams independently from a browser, or do you have to use the Grandstream app? I'm not sure how well the current NVRs support this brand if you don't have the video streams directly available.

 

I've switched several of my analog cams to 1MP Vivoteks (IP8332 and FD8134), and the quality improvement is dramatic, while night performance is still pretty good due to ambient lighting and the built-in IR. They have a pretty good set of options and controls for the money. I've also got a 5MP Arecont 5100M, but it's pretty weak in the options department, and isn't as flexible as the Vivoteks so far. It's been a bit unstable, too.

 

I'm thinking about a 4ch encoder to switch my other analog cams over to all-IP, but it would need to be flexible enough to work with the systems I'm looking at using (currently NV5000 or Blue Iris, neither of which supports Grandstream, I believe).

[dazzaUK 0]

Can you get the 4 video streams independently from a browser, or do you have to use the Grandstream app?

I can certainly use VLC (open RTSP) to live view channel 1, which implies Grandstream are at least exposing a standard H264 RTSP stream. However I haven't bothered to work out how to access the other channels yet, as I generally use a browser (IE) as shown above.

 

Although maximising the browser window does not increase the size of the images, I've discovered that increasing the text size (using keys: CTRL+) makes IE nicely scales up the images too. And, if you double-click an individual channel image it becomes full screen (no title bars or start menu).

 

That said, I too would like to integrate the output of this encoder into centralised management software as I have an IP camera arriving soon. I will look into which software can use the Grandstream output and report back, but don't hold your breath!