How to improve this image

Please look at these two images:

The first was taken with a non-name 380tvl ccd box camera with a manual focus lens.

The second was taken with a 4 year old no-name bullet camera that uses a 1/3" Sharp CCD, also 380TVL I believe. Zoomed in.

Both were recorded on a 2-year-old CPCam 9ch standalone DVR in best recording quality.

I have two goals: 1) improve the quality of the recorded image. 2) Allow for recording at night.

What is the best bang for the buck?

- Will a 420 tvl camera show any real improvement? What abut 480tvl?

- Would a DVR with H264 encoding record a better quality image?

Would a 480tvl IR bullet camera give me better quality during the day as well as night-time recording? Or should I be looking at a box camera with auto-iris and a seperate source of illumination?

Is there any real difference between the Dome and the Bullet style cameras? Is it just the casing?

To upgrade my system I have to choose between switching to a H264 DVR, or upgrading the cameras. Which is the best first step?

Hi Scruit.

There are many members more qualified to answer than me, but I recommend cameras as a first step.

A good test of your DVR´s potential:

Plug your DVD player or Camcorder into the DVR and see what quality you can record.

Thats going to give you an idea of how a good camera will look.

In my experience, H264 is not a quality guarantee.

That codec is not implimented well by some manufacturers. You may end up with lower quality images.

Regarding the other questions.

I have two goals: 1) improve the quality of the recorded image. 2) Allow for recording at night.

After testing with a DVD output, if your not satisfied, buy DVR, then cameras.

What is the best bang for the buck?

- Will a 420 tvl camera show any real improvement? What abut 480tvl?

- Would a DVR with H264 encoding record a better quality image?

If your DVR shows good results from a DVD, 480 will make a big difference.

480 is mimimum quality for recordings of that size (720x480)

H264 encoding will reduce file size, but by no means is a guarantee of better quality. I have seen H264 encoding being worse.

Would a 480tvl IR bullet camera give me better quality during the day as well as night-time recording? Or should I be looking at a box camera with auto-iris and a seperate source of illumination?

Im lazy, i like IR domes/bullets.

Any 480tvl bullet/body/dome will be an improvement on 380tvl during the day.

Nightime depends on Lux rating, when the camera switches to low light settings, IR cutfilters, CCD quality.

A brandname body camera with DSP (Digital signal processing) and seperate illumination should be better than any bullet. But i dont have the body camera experience to say that 100%.

Comes down to budget.

Is there any real difference between the Dome and the Bullet style cameras? Is it just the casing?

Small domes tend to be bullets in different casings, (bullets generally have a tiny 33mx33m circuit board with a lens on top).

Bigger domes can use the innards of a body cam. If the dome has C or CS lens, then its comparable to a body cam.

Hi Scruit.

There are many members more qualified to answer than me, but I recommend cameras as a first step.

 

A good test of your DVR´s potential:

Plug your DVD player or Camcorder into the DVR and see what quality you can record.

Thats going to give you an idea of how a good camera will look.

 

In my experience, H264 is not a quality guarantee.

That codec is not implimented well by some manufacturers. You may end up with lower quality images.

Yeah, I was gonna try the camcorder trick tonight. I can take a snapshot, save it to disk using the CCTV camera,t hen do the same with the camcorder. I'll be sure to take the snapshot on the playback so I'm also testing the codec, not just the live view.

If your on a budget, heres a very low light example for $130:

no brandname

built in IR

480 tvl

bullet cam

3.8mm lens

$130

Just to add:

I have 9 cameras:

3x 380tv Bullets. Ok during day, a little fuzzy. Useless at night

3x 420tvl IR bullets. Better during day, reasonable at night under IR over 60', great at 20'. Need very little light for a good image

1x 380tvl crappy box. Better at dusk, but still useless at night.

1x 520tvl BW box w/huge zoom lens, IR filter etc for License plates. Happy with this.

1x 420tvl cheap BW dome in my garage. Light level is consistent, no complaints here.

I'm thinking of replacng the 3x 380tv bullets and the 1x 380tvl box with 4x 480tvl IR bullets with 1/3" sony CCD chip. If it turns out my DVR can't use the the better quality, then i could always replace the DVR in the future.

No point me getting a better DVR if I'm still feeding 380tvl to it. But then again, no point feeding 480tvl to a DVR who's compression can't tell the difference. Not in a position to replace the DVR *and* all the cameras.

Ignore the TVL, look for the Effective Image Pixels, that is what effects the actual quality of the picture. Also features built into the camera such as handling of light, as well as the lens itself, make a huge difference. Cheap camreras wont be as good as a Pro camera, basically. The cost diff between an low res OEM Box camera and a high res brand name is so small (in the color only range). In any event I would never buy an low res OEM box camera,and neither will I ever buy a low res brand name box camera. If you do, you can expect the same results you have now, even a high Res OEM wont make much of a difference, depends on the camera though.

As to the DVR, doesnt matter, get a decent camera first.

Also, a cheaper camera normally suggests cheaper Chips, which means less features, less quality image in varying conditions.

OK, I did a test. I hooked up a Sony camcorder in place of one of the 380 tvl cameras. Then I played back the video and captured from the playback to make sure I was testing the DVR's video quality too...

380tvl Bullet Camera:

Sony Camcorder:

Clearly the Sony represented the color of the grass much better. But in temrs of being able to identify detail in the picture, there's really nothing to call between them.

I think your cameras positions and optics need a tweek,

to protect that area you need a cam zoomed in up the driveway to capture

plates and people and few overview cams [cameras wide angle], once you have their face or plate you just want to see what there doing.

I would spend 80% of your budget just on the `face and plate` cam

and some IR cams with IR floods to fill in the gaps in coverage if neded.

Or some good quality IR sensors to turn on some floods

oh and a fence

my 2c

I think your cameras positions and optics need a tweek,

 

to protect that area you need a cam zoomed in up the driveway to capture

plates and people and few overview cams [cameras wide angle], once you have their face or plate you just want to see what there doing.

 

I would spend 80% of your budget just on the `face and plate` cam

and some IR cams with IR floods to fill in the gaps in coverage if neded.

Or some good quality IR sensors to turn on some floods

 

oh and a fence

 

my 2c

Your two cents is well received.

On every door to the house I have a close-up cam that captures faces:

Then I have the license plate cam:

And the rest fo the cameras provide an overall blanket coverage at greater distance.

The problem I'm having here is the guy never cam to the house, just messed with my car. I have no 'face' camera near the car.

If your on a budget, heres a very low light example for $130:

no brandname

built in IR

480 tvl

bullet cam

3.8mm lens

$130

 

 

Is that an alien or a wolfman?

IR on the cam suxs!!!

Scuit, why not another BW box??? You already know you like it, use a color camera to capture car color by day and some night. You don't really gain much by having color and it screws everything up.