Limited selection of IP cameras - problem?

[Dan_Toronto 0]

First, my thanks to forum participants. I've learned a lot from reading your posts. Thanks for taking the time!

 

I'm interested in your opinions on the range of IP cameras available and options for integrating normal analog cameras into network-based systems.

 

This is not my day job, but I just installed a set of Axis 205 and 2100 cameras. The image quality was fair and good respectively. What do people do if they want better performance in an IP system?

 

I know some companies (eg. Axis) offer camera servers in the 800 dollar range. Is this typical? Do they perform well?

 

______________

Dan

[cctv_down_under 0]

I.P is not as good as DVR yet but it sure is getting close

[rory 0]

The image quality was fair and good respectively. What do people do if they want better performance in an IP system?

 

_____________

Dan

 

Best quality is a stand alone DVR, high resolution cameras, high resolution CCTV monitor, and either amplified UTP (cat5) or Fiber transmission. Most DVRs have built in Lan for Remote Video.

[AVCONSULTING 0]

Problem with the cameras with built in servers is that the companies making them are not using high quality cameras. You are missing out on all the excellent wide dynamic range cameras or day/night cameras that are on the market. The best combination is to use one of the good cameras and a standalone server. There are lots of standalones out there and some are pretty inexpensive. Here is a link to one I found that is under $300 dealer.

 

http://www.vitekcctv.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=178

[rory 0]

Alan. do you know of any with 8 or 10 channels, multi screen, 8 channel video and audio, at a good price?

 

Rory

[AVCONSULTING 0]

http://www.axis.com/products/cam_rack/index.htm

 

Probably expensive. Only thing I could find right now.

[Dan_Toronto 0]

Problem with the cameras with built in servers is that the companies making them are not using high quality cameras.

 

Yes, that was my impression as well. The two axis cameras I worked with seemed to make matters worse through really long exposure times in low-light conditions. My feeling was that I'd rather see a dark image than one too blurry to recognize.

 

But back to my original question:

If you were installing a network-based system, how much overhead per camera could you realistically handle in order to use a video server + better quality CCTV cameras? Are products like that vitek video server AVCONSULTING still too expensive to be worthwhile?

 

I'm trying to write a proposal for network cameras for a class I'm taking, but I don't have a concept of what a typical per-camera cost is. As best as I can tell, its ~2000 for your choice of software DVR + capture board with 8 ports and then ~300 per camera to get something halfway-decent.

 

-Dan

[rory 0]

my main request for a video server, is that it has streaming audio, as most stand alone DVRs dont have that feature.

 

I would sell a DVR otherwise as it will record on site, and has remote video.

[AVCONSULTING 0]

There are a few DVRs that have multi channel audio, but are PC based. Here is one that a customer of mine used that he liked very much.

 

http://www.silicor.com/

[ipProTech 0]

I think this year we will see a new line of IP Cameras and Video Servers that have improved performance and quality. If you look at most of the current IP Cameras on the market, they were designed over two or three years ago. Most of the Axis and Panasonic IP Cameras are marginal at best. We are just now seeing the 640x480 or larger true 30fps cameras hit the market.

 

Make sure to check any camera/video spec out that has a * next to the frame rate. Usually means that the frame rate is supported only at the smaller image sizes. I'm also willing to bet that video servers will not only increase in performance this year, but I'm willing to bet increased competition will cause the prices to drop by almost half by years end. Note that I said video server prices by half, not IP Camera prices.

 

As for performance, I've been playing with my new Sony SNCZ20N camera with 30fps at 640x480 (actually do 736x480). Feel free to play with it at http://4.4.3.171 - choose activeX viewer for best performance. Frame rate in bottom left corner.

 

Also, Sanyo has a network video server VSP-SV2000 that looks very nice. 640x480 @30fps.