Help me setup a 1080p home system please

[THEhomelessONE 0]

Totally new to this, have been reading up what I could the last few days including the stickies here. I would like to use my PC to view and store videos on separate drives. I was first looking into HDSDI but many say to go UTP, this basically means using ethernet cables but not using internet bandwidth correct? I don't want to use my internet. I only need one or two cameras to start off with, but would like to upgrade to 4-8 down the road. I'm very new to this so I don't want to set a firm cap on budget, more interested in bang for buck. Appreciate any advice given, I realize I should spend more time searching but lately I've had little to no free time and need a solution soon, thanks!

[atari37 0]

Seriously consider the Hikvision 3MP bullets and domes. They are great for the price. When you say you don't want to use your internet, do you mean, you don't want to stream the videos while you're away from home? Remember that you don't use your ISP provided internet unless you stream away from home. or are you trying to separate the cameras from your home network as well?

 

That might require a dedicated PC or a PC with two NICs (one for camera network and another for home/internet), plus a dedicated switch.

 

Buy one Hikvision and give it a try. I am very happy with the quality.

[buellwinkle 0]

Hikvision bullets are good, domes are so-so and 2-axis domes are not good for beginners. ACTi costs a little more but has good support/warranty and has good free NVR software. Dahua also makes low cost decent cameras and have some unique products like their IR PTZ's.

 

You'll need a PoE switch, ZyXel, Cisco, Trendnet are popular.

 

PC software is what I recommend if you are going to mix up brands eventually and one that supports lots of brands of cameras is Milestone XProtect and they have a free version called GO for up 8 cams, 5 days of recordings and is CPU friendly (meaning you can have a low powered CPU), has very good and free smartphone apps and remote web access.

 

Other free solutions are Axxonsoft (16 cam for free), iSpy and Zoneminder.

[THEhomelessONE 0]

Thanks for the quick replies! I was under the impression that the IP, wireless, UTP cameras had to use an ISP, but if they use the ethernet cables just for data transfer and power like with PoE then that's fine. I can't afford to take a hit on my bandwidth since we use an iptv. So it will use an ethernet port on my router but not use any bandwidth correct? Thanks for the recommendations on cameras and software! I don't have any open ports left on my router, any advice there?

[StanLee2066 0]

Thanks for the quick replies! I was under the impression that the IP, wireless, UTP cameras had to use an ISP, but if they use the ethernet cables just for data transfer and power like with PoE then that's fine. I can't afford to take a hit on my bandwidth since we use an iptv. So it will use an ethernet port on my router but not use any bandwidth correct? Thanks for the recommendations on cameras and software! I don't have any open ports left on my router, any advice there?

 

You will not incur any ISP bandwidth charges if you stream/record the video inside your private network (LAN). You don't even need an ISP account to do this. if you have no more ports available you simple need to add a switch.

[THEhomelessONE 0]

Is it worth the extra coin for the varifocal lenses or stay away? Thanks everyone, very helpful forum, I feel like a pro now haha

[JoeyJoey 0]

The more affordable varifocals aren't worth in my opinion, very hard to get a clearly focused picture.

[THEhomelessONE 0]

What's considered more affordable? Dahua seems to have a problem with images being too soft so that's off the list. Needs to be a dome camera with WDR. Camera is going to be placed fairly low, right beneath the second floor and has trees on both sides. Any recommendations on where to buy from? The Hiks are pretty pricey, might as well spend a bit more and get an ACTi E82. How are the varifocal lenses on these two compared to fixed? I'm more worried about people committing hit and runs, breaking in vehicles second. Live on a main street and it has happened twice already, cars are parked along the street. Need to be able to catch a plate from a car at speed, around 30 mph at around 20 feet, so FPS is important.

 

I think I'm going to go for this one,

http://store.immediasys.com/3mp-outdoor-dome-d-n-ir-fixed-lens-wdr-1080-30-poe-e72/

[buellwinkle 0]

You can read a plate with that camera during the day, no problem, at night it would be nearly impossible unless you can make sure the person does not have headlights or taillights on. Also, not sure that camera can capture a plate at night at 30mph unless you can at least go to 1/60th of sec min exposure. I would get a box camera, put 5-50mm lens on it, focus it only on the license plate area, do not try and capture more than the front of the car and resolution is not that important, it's getting a tight shot on the plate. Then you need enough light to counteract the backlight effect of headlights. A built in illuminator would be worthless and WDR will also be worthless.

[Kawboy12R 0]

Are you sure about the 20 foot distance part? I can read plates at night against headlights in my driveway with a straight shot at the plates with an axis p3364ve in day mode. 6mm on the varifocal, dim porchlights to help illuminate the plates, and 30 feet is easy. Add lots of angle and 30mph? I seriously doubt it. If you are correct about the 20 feet, I'm guessing that would give a 90 deg shot at the plates? So 50-70ft with the cam angled onto the street at a favourable angle?

[buellwinkle 0]

That camera has very good low light performance and up 12mm varifocal. I can read a plate at about 70-80' with my 12mm camera during the day but it's 3MP or about twice the vertical resolution as your Axis camera. At night what happens is the plate is very small compared to the overall dark scene so the auto exposure adjusts for the scene at night but when a car comes down the street at say 20mph with headlights on, the camera I have at least doesn't adjust exposure fast enough or even can adjust enough to get the plate. When you are in your driveway with your car still or moving very slowly, sure, there's plenty of time for the auto exposure to adjust. We are putting in the cousin to your camera, the Q1604 (w/Lightfinder) but with a 5-50mm lens, our hope is to capture plates at 50-60' at 25 mph at 1/60th exposure and an Axis T90A42 30 degree illuminator. Should be going in hopefully next week, waiting on construction. An app that runs inside the camera will scan the plate, and trigger a gate to open if it's on a list.

[ak357 0]

An app that runs inside the camera will scan the plate, and trigger a gate to open if it's on a list.

Which analytics have u decide to use with camera (Axis) ?

Thx

[thewireguys 3]

That camera has very good low light performance and up 12mm varifocal. I can read a plate at about 70-80' with my 12mm camera during the day but it's 3MP or about twice the vertical resolution as your Axis camera. At night what happens is the plate is very small compared to the overall dark scene so the auto exposure adjusts for the scene at night but when a car comes down the street at say 20mph with headlights on, the camera I have at least doesn't adjust exposure fast enough or even can adjust enough to get the plate. When you are in your driveway with your car still or moving very slowly, sure, there's plenty of time for the auto exposure to adjust. We are putting in the cousin to your camera, the Q1604 (w/Lightfinder) but with a 5-50mm lens, our hope is to capture plates at 50-60' at 25 mph at 1/60th exposure and an Axis T90A42 30 degree illuminator. Should be going in hopefully next week, waiting on construction. An app that runs inside the camera will scan the plate, and trigger a gate to open if it's on a list.

 

FYI the Q1604 is not a Lightfinder camera. The Q1602 camera is but it's only D1

 

I have been testing the Q1604 with the IPconfigure ALPR app for a about a week now and have not been able to get it working reliably. According to the manual you need 150 pixels for the LP to be read. Basically you need a very tight FOV and the cars must stay in the lane.

 

Also I would not use ALPR to control gates alone. You could easily steal someone's plate or write the number with magic marker on paper and it would be read.

[StanLee2066 0]

An app that runs inside the camera will scan the plate, and trigger a gate to open if it's on a list.

Which analytics have u decide to use with camera (Axis) ?

Thx

 

I can't vouch for it since I haven't tried it on my own Axis cameras but there 'apps' available for these cameras. I'm curious myself how well they work.

 

http://www.axis.com/products/video/compatible_applications/index.php

 

Scroll down to: eLPR - Embeded License Plate Recognition

[thewireguys 3]

An app that runs inside the camera will scan the plate, and trigger a gate to open if it's on a list.

Which analytics have u decide to use with camera (Axis) ?

Thx

 

I can't vouch for it since I haven't tried it on my own Axis cameras but there 'apps' available for these cameras. I'm curious myself how well they work.

 

http://www.axis.com/products/video/compatible_applications/index.php

 

Scroll down to: eLPR - Embeded License Plate Recognition

 

IPconfigure is the App that does ALPR on the camera. Only works on Q1602 or Q1604 cameras

 

http://www.ipconfigure.com/products/lpr/index.html

 

Here it is with Avigilon's new Lightcatcher camera

 

[THEhomelessONE 0]

I can only use a dome camera unfortunately, can't afford to have a $500 box camera stolen haha. I can install bright flood lights, read LED was the best to use to help the camera. Not sure what camera to go for with my setup, I'm all ears, thanks everyone.

[MaxIcon 0]

As suggested earlier, it's hard to go wrong with the Hikvision 1080p/3MP domes and bullets if you're on a budget but want decent quality.

 

The domes are only 2 axis, so if you're going to mount it on a flat ceiling, you're OK, but on a wall or on a slanted roof, you'll have tilted video. The bullets don't have this problem.

[THEhomelessONE 0]

Yes it's going on a flat ceiling, what are some vendors people use here for best price? I want to spend around $300 on a camera, but will go up to $600 if it's worth it.

[THEhomelessONE 0]

What about this Axis camera? M3025-VE

[buellwinkle 0]

I like the new lower end domes from Axis, sort of a stripped down P33 but no IR LED's on this model and the M3024-LVE with IR LEDs is only 1MP.

 

Thewireguys,

 

Yes, IPConfigure on the Q1604 but we plan on a very tight shot with a 50mm lens and the IR illuminator they recommended. Sure, I know you can make fake plates but why go through that trouble, just wait for someone to come in and follow them in, LOL. It's more of a convenience thing rather than ultimate security. They have several alternatives including remote control access, RFID tag access and the visitor entry dialer. If it was that secure I wouldn't need cameras at my house, LOL.

 

Are you using IPConfigure with a long lens to capture just the front of the car? If it works out like I expect, I was going to write a front end app for it to manage the plate numbers for a few of these which is their shortcoming, each cameras is separately managed.

[THEhomelessONE 0]

Hey buellwinkle, would you pick this Axis over the ACTi E72? Thought the name sounded familiar, have been watching your videos on youtube! I have decent lighting on the street from street lights, it's never dark dark, figured I'd be fine without IR.

 

Crap never mind, I do need IR. Just watched some videos with m3025 in low light with a plate right in front and it couldn't pick it up. Looks like E72 unless anyone knows of a better option?

 

Just watched a video of P3384 Axis and it couldn't even pick up the plate off a car while it backed into a driveway lol I think I'm screwed, find that very sad from a $1000+ camera..

[Kawboy12R 0]

I can't remember the exact distance and can't find the pics at the moment, but when I had my P3364VE 6mm mounted in the driveway it could easily read a plate against headlights and backlit a bit by a streetlight with two dim porchlights providing the only favourable illumination. It would've been at least 30 feet, possibly 35. Under the same lighting it would read a plate at 43 feet without the car's headlights on. I paced it off for someone else who wanted a reference at 43 feet. I'd provide another shot but my two P3364s are now on door duty. I really should swap them out and put them on my driveways again. They are much better than the little Hik bullets if there's even a little bit of light (there's also an LVE version with IR if needed). I've also seen them for sale new on Amazon for as little as $500 each and commonly for $650.

[THEhomelessONE 0]

I watched one of buellwinkles videos, the one with the smart car, and the plate wasn't showing up in the driveway. There was plenty of lighting too, don't know what happened there. I think I'll get the costco 2 pack for $349, the swann hd-820cam, hikvision ds-2cd2032. Won't feel too bad if it can't read plates, better than nothing and the review looked good. As long as I can set it up to run with my PC instead of THEIR nvr, I'm happy.

[Kawboy12R 0]

The P3384VE he tested isn't the same as the P3364VEs I've got but I'd expect that better results on plates at night are possible with the 84 using different settings.

[buellwinkle 0]

Plates at night are tricky and also depend on states as they come in different colors, fonts. California plates are bright white and very reflective so it's easy to end up with a white rectangle at night with no numbers unless you can get a pretty close crop. Also, capturing plates of a car at night that is moving at 30mph as you wanted vs. a parked car is a whole different ball game.