4 Channel Cards?

[ou812 0]

Hello,

I am totally new to this. First post so please be nice.

 

I have 4 cctv ir cams hooked up my pc running active webcam. I have the cams going thru 2 tv tuner cards, one pci and one usb. They lag a little and jump over each other when I am using other applications. I have a intel p4 3.0 ghz with 2 gb ram. I tried to get a swann pcdvr4net 4 channel card to work with AW to no avail so I sent it back. (I got it to recognize 1 cam with some effort). What I would like to know is what is a good 4 channel (or possibly pci card with drivers that AW will recognize? Keep in mind that I will have to swap it out with the tv tuner card as I have no extra pci slot. This will allow me to do away with the usb tuner as well.

 

thanks for being nice to a newbie

[ou812 0]

Anybody have any suggestions? It would be greatly appreciated. My setup is really choppy since I hooked 2 cams to the same tv tuner card - 1 thru s-video, and the other thru composite. I would like to get a 4 channel card that will record and view smoother video that has something like wdm drivers that AW will recognize.

Thanks

[ou812 0]

Does anyone know about this one from Fg engineering? It has the Conexant 878 based chip set. I can't post a pic as I am a newbie, but here are the specs.

____________________________________________________

 

Recommended Video Capture

 

Features:

 

in case you need a video capture card - we recommend this one.

provides 4 video inputs into your computer

Conexant 878 based chip set

RCA to BNC video input adapters available

use it with your favorite video applications to switch between multiple video inputs e.g. Netmeeting, VidCap32.

works great with Surveillance WebCam Software

includes CD with drivers for Windows Vista,2003,XP,2000,NT,Me,98,95. Good quality VFW and WDM driver set. Rich variety of Video Formats to choose from RGB32,24,16, YUY2,YUV9,YUV12. NTSC-M,J; PAL B,D,G,H,I,M,N; and SECAM.

high quality stream lined printed circuit board with fine analog video input filtering and proven track record.

can handle S-Video and Composite Video Inputs. 4 RCA Female Connector inputs or 3 RCA and 1 S-Video Input. Picture above shows 4 Port Capture Card with S-Video to RCA adapter connected to card.

can capture up to 30 frames/second

640x480, 320x240, 160x120 standard image sizes, a total of 8 to chose from ranging from 80x60 to 640x480 for NTSC-M, and many other PAL and SECAM sizes.

fast video since runs off the PCI bus with fast lean stable driver set.

 

 

Package Includes:

 

1 4 Port Video Capture Card

1 S-Video RCA Video Adapter

1 CD with Drivers

 

 

 

System Requirements

 

PC with a Pentium processor

Windows Vista,2003,XP,2000,NT,Me,98 or 95

1 free PCI slot

VGA card (PCI or AGP) that supports Direct Draw

CD-ROM for CD

[scorpion 0]

Active Cam is a DIY software, and as a professional installer it is outside my realm of knowledge.

 

If the 4 channel card says that it works with your active cam then I think your question has been answered.

 

I also can sell you a 4 channel card that can work with your Active Cam.

 

You said that you did not like the choppy video. You are going to get choppy video with active cam no matter what you hook up to it.

 

Now this is a problem for you to resolve. You want to use a $30 (standard), or $89 (Pro Version) software, but you do not want choppy video? You will have to change something on either side of this equation. You will have to spend more money on your software, or you will have to put up with choppy video.

 

I would suggest that you use the card that you were looking at, or buy one from one of the vendors that advertises here on the forum. I have not advertised on the forum, so you may not want to trust me in making a purchase. You will have to ask around on the forum to find out if I am a reputable dealer, or not. Buyer Beware is the motto.

 

I have a question for you. Is your program (Active Cam) promoted by Pysoft?

 

What version of Active Cam are you running? (2.1)?

 

What level of Active Cam are you running?

 

How much are you willing to spend on a 4 channel card?

 

Scorpion

 

PS

 

oicu812 LOL!

[rory 0]

What Scorpion said, plus you are streaming 4 video feeds, 2 of them using USB, into a PC which you are doing other things on, the CPU more than likely is maxing out.

[ou812 0]

Also, I forgot to ask, When a card says 30 fps, does this mean each cam or max total of 30 between all 4 cams?

 

Thanks Scorpion and rory for the reply.

[rory 0]

thats typically 30fps total.

[ou812 0]

Thanks rory.

 

Scorpion, I posted a lengthy reply but I don't know where it went.

I will try again in a little while.

[ou812 0]

Active Cam is a DIY software, and as a professional installer it is outside my realm of knowledge.

 

If the 4 channel card says that it works with your active cam then I think your question has been answered.

 

I also can sell you a 4 channel card that can work with your Active Cam.

 

You said that you did not like the choppy video. You are going to get choppy video with active cam no matter what you hook up to it.

 

Now this is a problem for you to resolve. You want to use a $30 (standard), or $89 (Pro Version) software, but you do not want choppy video? You will have to change something on either side of this equation. You will have to spend more money on your software, or you will have to put up with choppy video.

 

I would suggest that you use the card that you were looking at, or buy one from one of the vendors that advertises here on the forum. I have not advertised on the forum, so you may not want to trust me in making a purchase. You will have to ask around on the forum to find out if I am a reputable dealer, or not. Buyer Beware is the motto.

 

I have a question for you. Is your program (Active Cam) promoted by Pysoft?

 

What version of Active Cam are you running? (2.1)?

 

What level of Active Cam are you running?

 

How much are you willing to spend on a 4 channel card?

 

Scorpion

 

PS

 

oicu812 LOL!

 

 

The card I was working with doesn't say either way if it will work with AW.

I didn't get choppy video until I added the 2nd cam to the 1 tv tuner.

 

The reason I like AW is that it resets the program upon a power failure or any reboot and allows me to auto reboot if I am away for a period of time, along with other functions. I am sure other software is capable of this but I am unfamiliar with anything else as I a fairly new to this.

 

The card that I was looking at is $88 with Surveillance 4 Camera Basic Software. I don't know anything about this software so if anyone does, let me know how it is.

 

 

As for your questions:

 

Is your program (Active Cam) promoted by Pysoft? Yes

 

What version of Active Cam are you running? 6.8

 

What level of Active Cam are you running? Standard, but I was going to upgrade to deluxe for the conversion tool.

 

How much are you willing to spend on a 4 channel card? I don't know as I just started pricing them.

 

 

I am at a stage now where I just may go the route of getting a 4 or 8 channel dvr if I have to spend a lot.

 

Thanks again for your replies.

 

ou812 First name that popped into my head

[rory 0]

You might want to look at something like a Geo Vision card (or similar), 30fps card wont be much more than that one, and then you get the full Geo software with it, which is much better than AW (nothing against AW they have their market still).

 

Note that 30fps cards with 4 cameras, will not be real time live video though. You would need a 120fps card for that, or you can come close to real time with a 60fps card (15fps per camera).

[ou812 0]

You might want to look at something like a Geo Vision card (or similar), 30fps card wont be much more than that one, and then you get the full Geo software with it, which is much better than AW (nothing against AW they have their market still).

 

Note that 30fps cards with 4 cameras, will not be real time live video though. You would need a 120fps card for that, or you can come close to real time with a 60fps card (15fps per camera).

 

Does Geo software have the features (ex. power outage reset; auto reboot; etc) like AW? I just want it to be able to run while I am away and restart the program in the last state in the event of power outage. We get a lot of off and on outages, just enough to restart the computer.

 

Do you have a link to the 60 and 120 fps cards?

 

Thanks again.

[rory 0]

Yeah it has that and way more .. I dont think anyone actually uses all the features they load them down with .. but they have them

[ou812 0]

Thanks, I'll have to look into one of them. Going to be away for a few days. I'll check into them when I get back.

 

Thanks for the help.

[rory 0]

Here are the features in the latest version:

http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=7271

[ou812 0]

Thanks

[rory 0]

Example below, that is version 8.1 as I didnt have 8.12 on hand to install right this second .. Also does repair from power outage etc, we have tons of power outages down here. Actually all that basically does is recognize the software was not shut down properly, and the database was not closed and repairs it .. far as i know... either way it works

 

 

[scorpion 0]

There is a 4 channel card that will work with AW.

 

I would highly suggest the GEO card instead though!

Rory hit it on the head with his post!

 

Scorpion

[rory 0]

Right, most CCTV cards geared for the industry will have those features also, actually they seem to be typical with all cards Ive used, the auto reboot at least.

 

hey Scorp, like my computer name?

[scorpion 0]

Did I blink?

 

I think I missed it!

 

What was it again?

[rory 0]

in the top image, to the right of cctv /

[scorpion 0]

LOL! I saw the XXX before, but I was trying to make a sentence out of the rest!!

 

I missed the tree for the forest!

 

That interesting! Will your own firewall block your self?

 

If you have XXX in the restricted zone will that block?

[rory 0]

LOL .. I would never block XXX ..

[mantry 0]

The problem with your Active Webcam and your 4 port video capture card is most likely due to the fact that the card only has 1 A to D chip on it, so it will round robin cycle through each port to grab a frame of video and then go to the next one I belive. The problem with AW is that if you are trying to do motion and you grab a frame that it has blended with a previous frame AW will figure this was motion.

 

Scorpion, I tried to send you a PM asking about your 4 port cards but I do not have enough posts to do a PM, could you send me some more info.

 

I'm not sure when I'm going to head next with my AW - Cheap 4 port card. Not sure to try a new card that has 1 chip for each video port, a higher end card like the Geovision ones that have been suggested else where or maybe try a Analag Video to IP type server and then access the cameras via IP from AW, but that makes me a little nervous.

 

Thanks for the help in advance.

[rory 0]

Avermedia has a vey inexpensive 4 channel card .. got one here to test .. will post results .. bout half the price of the Geo's 30fps card. You can also stack them for more channels.

[scorpion 0]

As I am a retailer, and not a wholesaler you might want to try another source as there are other companies that buy in large bulks, and I cannot compete with their pricing.

 

If tech support is of the essence then I will be more than glad to be of assistance.

 

I would recommend a Geo Card.

 

There are other cards out there. I used to use a distributor that carried Digi flower cards rebranded as EclipseCCTV, but they no longer carry those cards. I am crying in my milk!!

 

What kind of camera are you going to use, and describe the environment that the camera is going to be installed? Residential, Commercial, Goverment?

 

Day time use only, or night time use only, or both day, and night use?

 

Do you want an excellant quality picture where you can count every leaf on a tree in the video where is gives you a series of snapshots, or do you want less quality, but more of a fluid motion like you are watching a movie??

 

I will not ask you what computer you are going to put it in as you should be selecting the computer after you select the DVR card, after you have selected the cameras.

 

I will PM you, and this will allow you to PM me.