Newbie NVR Questions

[NGOB 0]

Hello Gentlemen,

 

I am switching from the Analog world of surveillance to the exciting field of IP. I am very impressed with the knowledge that the members possess here, so I joined the forum to help me get started.

 

What are some of the top brands/manufacturers around? I heard about Dahua, Axis, Mobotix etc.. What do you recommend and what do you use?

 

I am a little bit confused about the pricing on some NVR systems, some NVR charges license per channel, while others charges per unit? Why is that?

What brands/models tend to charge per channel? What are the advantages of doing so?

 

I have questions regarding cameras too, but I would like to do it one step at a time.

 

Thank you very much in advance,

J.

[buellwinkle 0]

NVR's, unlike DVR's are specific to cameras they support. So you can't just buy an NVR like you buy a DVR based on price and capacity and plug any camera into it.

 

There are some generic NVRs out there that do support a wide range of cameras, but sometimes, just because they say they support a camera, it may not always work. NUOO is one such company.

 

You can get a brand specific NVR, for example, get all ACTi cameras and use an ACTi NVR or all Dahua cameras and get a Dahua NVR. Obviously those work the best since the camera company makes sure of that but only work with that brand.

 

Mobotix runs on a different principal than most other brands. They have the NVR solution built into the camera and you can have the camera record to SD or NAS and it manages it like an NVR would and you can view the recordings from the camera or use their free CMS software called MXControlCenter.

 

What many people do is buy NVR software and run it on a PC or server. This decouples the the software investment from the hardware so you can replace either and keep the investment in the other. Also, PCs are way easier to get repaired than a propriatory NVR.

 

Dahua is a good Chinese brand if you expect zero or less support. If you are in the U.S., their official channel is Q-See and you can buy them from Ingram Micro if you have a reseller account with them. You can buy cheaper from smaller resellers but there's risks.

 

For not much more money, and in some cases less than Dahua are real brands that have have real support from Taiwan like ACTi, Messoa, Geovision, Vivotek, some better than others.

 

For more money, there's brands like Axis, Mobotix, Bosch, Avigilon, all good cameras to consider.

 

There's also American brands, Arecont, Stardot that are priced in between. Not a fan of either but made in America may be a concern for some customers.

[NGOB 0]

Thanks for the very informative response!

 

I also heard there is something called ONVIF that makes ONVIF compliant NVRs work with other ONVIF compliant IP cameras. Is that true? Or is this a marketing gimmick? Will ONVIF NVRs work across the board with ONVIF cameras?

 

How common is it for companies to license per channel on the NVRs? Is this done mostly through PC based NVRs or proprietary NVRs?

 

Thanks again,

J.

[dexterash 0]

I also heard there is something called ONVIF that makes ONVIF compliant NVRs work with other ONVIF compliant IP cameras. Is that true? Or is this a marketing gimmick? Will ONVIF NVRs work across the board with ONVIF cameras?

Yes, ONVIF do make devices more compatible, but you should keep an eye on the version of the OnVif that they are compatible with (just like older USB).

 

As for compatibility, it's a just a test&go (the best way for the most equipment).

[buellwinkle 0]

Think of ONVIF as a standard where nobody that designs cameras read the specs, so it may work, may not. Then ONVIF is sort of the lowest common denominator so not feature rich. Also it benefits unknown brands more so than established brands and those lesser known brands sometimes are lesser known for a reason.

 

Most NVR's are sold like DVR's, by number of set number channels, like an 8 channel NVR and many times can't be changed, for example, if you have an 8 channel NVR, buying a 9th camera means buying a new NVR. NVR software many times is sold by camera, so you can add camera licenses as needed.