Need a new DVR with higher quality images

[94zcar 0]

Hi I just bought a Ganz DR8N DVR. I bought this DVR because it was capable of recording at 704X480 resolution thinking this would get me better recorded video...this is a higher resolution than the Hi-Sharp DVR I am replacing.

The problem I have is the video does not look as good as the Hi-sharp when set to the Maximum resolution and quality. The Ganz looks more blocky. Both have Mpeg 4 compression. The KB per frame at the best settings are 19-45 with an average of 32 for the Hi-Sharp and 6-16 KB for the Ganz.

I would like to find a 8 channel triplex DVR with the best possible recorded video for under $1000. It should be capable of 7-15 FPS at 704X480 resolution on at least 4 channels at a time. It is for my residence

 

I would like at least 2 weeks worth of storage, I have (2) 500 gig hard drives for the DVR. At the present time I have 4 KT&C .0003 Lux Bullet Camera's with 600 lines resolution and some I.R. Illuminators. I do continuous recording, but timer recording would be a good thing to have also. I don't use it for remote viewing over the internet, but most DVR's I have looked at in that price range have remote viewing. A CD burner is not absolutly needed as long as it has usb backup.

 

 

The Live video is much better on the Ganz, but I really need a DVR that records the same quality as live view if that is possible? Can anyone recomend a DVR That would work for me?

 

I am using RCA to BNC adapters for my video connections to the DVR, One other thing I noticed was if I have just the center part of the RCA cable in the Blockyness smoothes out, but I get some horizontal lines. This is true for the Hi-Sharp and the Ganz DVR. Why does the Video get less blocky? Any help with these problems would be much appreciated, I Plan on returning the Ganz if they will let me or exchange it for somthing with a better recorded video. -Rod-

[scorpion 0]

There are many reasons why you are getting "blockiness".

 

What kind of cameras, are you using?

 

What kind of lens are you using, and who is the manufacture?

 

What kind of wire are you using?

 

Is there a lot of motion in your camera view?

 

Here is a fake scenario, if you are recording a basketball game with them running back, and forth from side to side then this will create more "blockyness" then recording movement away, and towards the camera.

 

Here is a DVR that I would recommend for great video quality with a great price tag for the product!!

 

http://www.icrealtime.com/solutions/dvrpage.asp?productid=dvr808fx

[94zcar 0]

I'm using KT&C Brand Bullet camera's with 3.6 mm len's. They use a Sony EX-View Sensor. 600 lines resolution. For wire I have siamese power and video cables, not sure what brand they are but they are the waterproof type. No motion the camera's are just pointed at stationary objects. The thing that surprised me was the video quality was not as good with the Ganz which cost me close to $1000 VS the HI-Sharp I paid about $200-$300 for.

 

The DVR you recommended has H.264 Compression, Is the video any better than Mpeg 4?

I like the DVR you had a link to but It only does 60 frames per machine I would need one with at least 120.

[scorpion 0]

If 7.5 frames per second is not enough then ask for the R version of the FLex. The R-30 upgrade will give you 30 frames per second with D1 resolution.

 

Do not look at the H.264 by itself. You can use H.264 in a crappy DVR, and you will still have a crappy DVR.

 

There are to many factors that are installed in to a DVR to give you a recorded video.

 

A very cheap DVR will be equivalent to an automobile going down the interstate/autobahn in first gear as fast as it possibly can! It will depend on the quality of the engine block, transmission, water pump, and the radiator as to how long it will last.

 

Cheap DVRs need better fans, and heatsinks compared to a midgrade DVR with better/faster electronics.

 

Cheap DVRs will have cheap video processors, and the chipsets will be very slow. They may have desktop grade hard drives. Desktop hard drives are not designed to operate 24/7.

 

Mid grade DVR will have faster processors, better chipsets, and the electronics can talk to each other very rapidly.

 

High grade DVRs will use military spec parts, extremely fast processors, and video chips, and they will have enterprise grade hard drives.

 

The variables come with brand name, quantity built, and distribution.

 

As to the problem that you are having:

 

You may have a DVR that was built on a monday morning, or a friday evening, and it just may be a problem with that individual DVR.

 

I am not familiar with your DVR, and I do not know the view, or the quality of your DVR.

 

 

I am really surprised that you are having blockyness of video.

I have rarely seen this event in present day. It was very common a few years ago. You would find this in a $250 DVR at the "club" warehouse. It was very blocky video due to it compression ratio. It was awful, but in the day a $250 DVR at retail was unheard of! The quality of the video was a trade off on the price. I did not like the DVR as it would not give a good video, and therefore a good defence attorney can scream at the jury about "beyond all reasonable doubt"!!

 

I would say if you are in the market for a good DVR then go to a company that has a show room in your area. You may pay a little more than getting it off the internet, but then again when something goes wrong it is nice to have a company that you can call on for local tech support. Internet companies have earned a reputation of not taking care of their customers, and the companies on the intenet that do take care of their customers are growing in leaps, and bounds while the rip off artist, are going by the way side!

 

The market is slowly shaking off its bad apples. Support your local dealer, and they will support you when you need them. Use their showroom, and see a live demo, of various products.

 

Do you have to record at 704 X 480? If you change the setting down a little will it remove the blockiness?

 

Some DVR will appear to be grainy with a higher resolution. They look good at a lower resolution, and this may be one of those DVRs.

 

Sounds like I am not going to be much help to you!

[94zcar 0]

The variables come with brand name, quantity built, and distribution.

 

Yeah I thought I was buying a good brand name DVR, Ganz is made by CBC an American Co. though the DVR is made in Korea.

 

I am really surprised that you are having blockyness of video.

I have rarely seen this event in present day. It was very common a few years ago. You would find this in a $250 DVR at the "club" warehouse. It was very blocky video due to it compression ratio.

 

 

[/b]Hmmm, Maybe this Ganz,Model has not been updated in a long time or is a old one , I need to look at the production date.

 

Do you have to record at 704 X 480? If you change the setting down a little will it remove the blockiness?

 

I did try the lower resolutions and that did reduce that blocky mosaic effect, the vidio looked smoother, but a person standing 20-30 ft. from the camera was fuzzy.

 

I would say if you are in the market for a good DVR then go to a company that has a show room in your area

 

 

Thanks, I'll see if I can find one in the phone book.

Could you recommend a Name brand or model if I can't find a local dealer?

[scorpion 0]

I do not know what country, state, province where you are located. Most likely I would not have a recommendation.

 

The reason you are having problems with someone at 20 to 30 feet is that you are outside the "range" of your camera.

 

3.6mm lens are designed for upclose viewing, but it allows you to "pull" in more of the peripheral vision. It is almost as if you are bowing the video to get the far left, and the far right. Someone at 20 feet are going to appear farther away in the video then in reality. This means their face is going to be less the 10 percent of the size of your monitor/TV screen.

 

For facial recognition you will need the face to be at a minimum of 20 percent of the screen. Think of the talking head on the news programs on TV.

 

If you are viewing at 20 to 30 feet then you have the wrong camera. 6mm is the starting point where you have no "distortion" that I mentioned.

The drawback is that you lose the peripheral sides. The upside is that with a 6mm lens you gain the left, and the right view by backing the camera up to get the view, but then you may lose facial recognition.

 

If you are viewing at more than 30 feet such as in a parking lot, then the ideal situation is to use two cameras. One camera with the wide angle lens (3.6mm or smaller number), and another camera with (I will guess) a 25mm lens for facial shots. You point the camera at a good "choke point" where you know that will walk in to line with your camera.

 

The wide angle camera gives you details such as what cars did they approach, and break in to. You use the other camera to get the facial shot for police reports. You should have a camera set up at the exits points. The wide angle camera will give you what kind of vehicle was involved, and the exit camera should give you the license plate.

 

The above is a fake scenerio as I do not know how you are using your cameras.

[94zcar 0]

3.6mm lens are designed for upclose viewing, but it allows you to "pull" in more of the peripheral vision. It is almost as if you are bowing the video to get the far left, and the far right.

 

Yeah, I noticed that everything looks farther than it is. I'm try to get as much coverage as possible, i'll probably have to another camera then.

 

I have been loooking at lot of the postings concerning video quality. A lot of them mention Jpeg2000 compression being one of the best for good video. I'm going to a little more research on it.

Thanks for your help, -Rod-

[Mr. Magoo 0]

I bought the GANZ DR8N-250 8ch DVR and was also not so pleased with the playback video quality. This is my first DVR and I will say that over all it seems OK but there are a few things I would change if I could. Number one would be higher quality images on playback. I still have some tweaking to do but so far I am not enthused with the recorder's image quality. I hope when I adjust my 2 BOSCH VDC-455V03-20 w/2.6 - 6mm auto iris lens I can improve things to acceptable levels for me but I realize that for my application I may need to get a camera with a zoom lense. So far the Bosch domes with the Ganz DVR are working nicely for real time viewing. I am also quite impressed with it's features. I would change it if I could find a 8 ch DVR that will allow 30fps per cam at high quality plus 704 x 480. With so many company's out there it is hard to determine what is the good quality stuff. I am glad I found this forum though. I wish I had looked here before I bought this DVR.

[scorpion 0]

Mr Magoo you can get the CPCam CPD 505, or the AVTech AVC 785.

 

http://www.avtech.com.tw/english/product_13_785.htm

 

MPEG Frame: 720 x 480 pixels with 60 IPS (NTSC)

MPEG CIF : 352 x 240 pixels with 240 IPS (NTSC)

 

This should do what you are looking for. If it has to be 720X480 @30FPS

Then it would be my suggestion for the ICRealtime Flex 8 with the R30 upgrade.

 

(Notes on 505/785 from scorpion)

 

 

EVENT RECORDING (triggered by motion and external alarm) :

When this functions is activated,

the recording is triggered by motion or external alarm.

 

Here is a sample from the manual about splitting up the recording IPS with different record rates. (Rob Peter to pay Paul routine). What ever camera is picking up motion will "steal" IPS from other cameras that are not active so that the active camera records at 30IPS.

 

(note that cameras 1,2,3, and 4 are in one group while 5,6,7,and 8 are in another group)

 

GROUP: Every 4 channels will form a group.

IPS per channel = RECORD IPS 4 number

of channels under recording within the group.

Ex.: If you set the record IPS as 120 IPS, then

Channel 01 will get 30 IPS (120 / 4 / 1 = 30)

Channel 05 and 06 each will get 15 IPS (120 / 4 / 2 = 15)

“ “ means under recording

 

NOTE: When users choose the image size as “CIFâ€