High Quality Colour Camera(s) to Trigger on my demand

[wavering 0]

I am a computer programmer by background but I know nothing about CCTV (and I do mean nothing - I had to do a web search to find out what DVR meant)

 

This is what I want to do (as simply as possible - I have no wish to re-invent the wheel):

 

Have a number (possibly up to eight) very high quality colour CCTV cameras controlled via wireless link from software I will write in vb.net running on my PC. I want to be able send a signal from my software to any camera at any time to take a picture and transmit it back to my PC. In many ways this will look like a home security system but it is not - it is actually part of an AI project

 

I may need anywhere from one picture per day up to say 20 per second but the most likely rate is about 5 frames per second (yes, this will fill my disk drive pretty quickly)

 

It would also be useful to be able to adjust the size/quality of each picture ie number of bytes of data in the resulting image, on the fly.

 

Quality is more important than price but like anybody, I don't want to spend money needlessly. I am based in the UK

 

So, can anybody suggest a camera (ideally of external quality) and associated hardware and APIs that can do this?

 

Many thanks ...

Edited January 31, 2015 by Guest

[Don Stephens 0]

So, to simplify this...

 

You're looking for a wireless HD IP camera (weatherproof) solution that can do around 20fps (or will 5fps do) at it's own resolution? The rest of it sounds like it's all up to your programming abilities. Tell me if I missed something.

 

Questions:

 

1. What resolution should the camera be?

2. What kind of lens, angle of view, or lens capabilities are you after?

3. Do you require a motorized lens or pan/tilt function?

4. Does the camera need to see in the dark?

5. How many cameras will there be?

6. How close will the cameras be to their connected router(s) and/or access point(s)?

7. What will the cameras be transmitting through (i.e. - drywall, wood, steel, etc...)?

8. Are you aware you'll still have to power these wireless cameras, so you'll still need to run power cable at the very least?

9. Is there any possibility of making this a wired system or are you set on wireless?

10. Do you want cameras with built in wireless functionality or are you open to using a series of access points with standard IP cameras and some very short cable runs?

11. Most importantly, you're going to get an entire mess of answers you don't like if you don't at least ballpark your budget for the project...so what is it?

[wavering 0]

1. What resolution should the camera be?

 

Say 2 megs eg 1920 X 1080 but a minimum of 1 meg

 

2. What kind of lens, angle of view, or lens capabilities are you after?

 

Fixed wide angle to give 90 degrees

 

3. Do you require a motorized lens or pan/tilt function?

 

No

 

4. Does the camera need to see in the dark?

 

Yes

 

5. How many cameras will there be?

 

Eight

 

6. How close will the cameras be to their connected router(s) and/or access point(s)?

 

Very close. There will be four pairs of cameras pointing outwards thereby giving as close as possible to 360 degrees stereo

 

7. What will the cameras be transmitting through (i.e. - drywall, wood, steel, etc...)?

 

The cameras will be under a glass dome on the roof of a vehicle

 

8. Are you aware you'll still have to power these wireless cameras, so you'll still need to run power cable at the very least?

 

Yes

 

9. Is there any possibility of making this a wired system or are you set on wireless?

 

It could be wired but I would prefer wireless - worst case we would put a plug and socket through the roof of the vehicle

 

10. Do you want cameras with built in wireless functionality or are you open to using a series of access points with standard IP cameras and some very short cable runs?

 

The easiest to implement so not critical

 

11. Most importantly, you're going to get an entire mess of answers you don't like if you don't at least ballpark your budget for the project...so what is it?

 

Ideally I would have hoped to keep it at below $10,000 (£7,000 in UK terms) but if it will give a measurable advantage by spending $20,000 then so be it

[Don Stephens 0]

I very admittedly do not have the best grasp on pricing an availability of products in the UK but I can throw out some general suggestions.

 

I don't use any cameras with built in wireless anything; if an IP camera needs to be wireless, I use access points. This is just because I've personally got better results and longevity doing it this way. I regularly use and have good luck with Ubiquiti hardware.

 

The next few things are up in the air for you to consider. I don't know if you already have cable figured out, but you'll want to make sure you're using solid copper Cat5e or Cat6. Also, just about every IP camera you're going to want to take into consideration is probably both 12VDC and PoE ready. That gives you a couple options for power unless you've already got that nailed down.

 

You really have some very good options for cameras as I see it based on how much you're willing to spend. On the low end of the scale, you can look at products from Dahua and Hikvision. They have some good stuff to choose from that you may find can do the job for you at a considerably smaller cost than you planned for. If you want to see what the next step up looks like, you can start looking at IP cameras from ACTi, Axis, and Bosch; I think I've seen some recent discussion on here saying good things about Vivotek as well. Avigilon is another one but I honestly have no idea what their pricing looks like at the 2 megapixel level.

 

As far as seeing in the dark in concerned, you can purchase a camera that already has an IR board, or you can use IR illuminators; it's really up to you. Built in Infrared might be simpler based on your power supply situation. In that case, you'll want to focus more on dome and bullet style cameras.

 

You might have to compromise a bit on the angle of view. Most of them won't be able to stretch to a full 90%. Expect most of what you look at to be in the range of 75-80 degrees.