Retrac11 0 Posted May 1, 2016 I am looking at a multiple IP POE surveillance systems from FLIR, Swan, Lorex, Night Owl, Zmodo etc... When shopping ebay and others for compatible 3rd party IP cameras, how do I determine compatibility. I am looking at PTZ and fixed. If this is a bad idea, let me know if I should be looking at analog HD instead. Thanks Retrac Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ssmith10pn 0 Posted May 2, 2016 To use 3rd party IP cameras in most cases you will need 3rd party software on a dedicated Windows PC. Hikvision will support some Axis and Arecont, but the choices are very limited. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zr1 0 Posted May 3, 2016 The closest compatibility we have is the ONVIF protocol. It does well. But it's not perfect. Most all the time, the ONVIF devices I have play well together. When I have incompatibilities, it's usually with some semi-advanced feature not working, but most all the time, I'm at least getting an image and recording. However, when I'm doing a brand new system for a customer from the ground up, it's not worth the time (whether 1 in a 100 or whatever) in a business environment, so in those cases, I don't mix Brands and simply go with a single brand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites