Tag: CCTV software

Arecont v Avigilon Battle of the HD Camera Giants!

Arecont vs Avigilon.

Both HD camera experts….both American….both high quality product offerings….both begin with ‘A’…….!

So which one?

Well, like most system selection questions, it is pretty much always down to a question of taste…

But, we think there may be enough differences to perhaps make the selection easier

Arecont….

Out and out IP camera manufacturers…..take a look at the extensive list of different products, almost to the point of exhaustion! But, there is no doubting that their products are awesome…. we tested their 2megapixel AV2110 Megapixel IP camera….and quite simply, it was stunning……sure, there are higher megapixel PIXC offerings out there, but put simply, when a camera produces a high quality image, is there a limit reached that does not need to be extended??

On an earlier post, we discussed the trade off between high quality vs bandwidth and really, with pictures as pin sharp and easy to set up as the Arecont AV2110, then it is a struggle to look elsewhere……

But…..

Avigilon….

Same selection of camera offerings……and boy, some beauties in that range – we checked out at IFSEC 2010 the 16megapixel 16-PRO-HD-C unit, looking at a section of crowd at a football match (ok, ‘soccer’ for our Atlantic friends!)……..

The thing that perhaps starts to separate these guys is that Avigilon are perhaps a little more ’rounded’ in the complete system solution offering…..they offer the software, NVR, encoders etc etc to enable a complete end to end solution….and lets face it, most installers appreciate the ease of dealing with one supplier – March Networks springs to mind……

Don’t get us wrong, Arecont have worked VERY hard to get themselves integrated into pretty much everyone – and that gives credence to their mentality that they want to concentrate on simply making brilliant cameras…….. on the other hand, Avigilon are showing that they can offer complete systems that rival other CCTV software, NVR and encoder manufacturers, taking away the need to have to shop around or re-train….

Interesting choice…….more will be heard from these 2 great companies no doubt.

CCTV software

CCTV software.

Over the next few years we will begin to see hardware recording solutions in the CCTV security industry slowly disappear and be replaced almost exclusively by CCTV software.

Cost of CCTV hardware.

The high production costs of hardware have in the past always been able to be offset because most end users networks struggled to cope with the high amount of bandwidth taken by HD and Megapixel IP cameras. Recently however, there is a marked change. Recording solutions are beginning to be biased towards CCTV software platforms recording onto dedicated servers. The servers are getting cheaper and developers have taken all the best features from their hardware recorders and integrated this into CCTV software solutions.

CCTV software.

The software of course can vary enormously. Some manufacturers such as Sanyo are happy to give away software in order to sell their IP cameras in volume. Other big players such as March networks have spent lots of time money and effort on developing their Videosphere VMS software into a fantastic package that includes analytics and extremely advanced search facilities not seen in cheap or free CCTV software packages.

Who decides.

Of course the decision will always come down to end user and their requirements. Anyone trying to integrate CCTV systems that already exist on site will not be able to use off the shelf packages. They will have to choose a CCTV software solution that can integrate a multitude of cameras and codec’s especially when using a combination of analogue and IP cameras of different makes and model. The older analogue cameras will need some kind of multiple recording platform and then conversion to IP video streams.

The future.

CCTV software can and will get better and better. Software gives flexibility that older hardware DVRs lack. It will eventually get less expensive and remote support for the product is easier than returning a DVR back to its country of origin just simply to be repaired. The benefits and advantages of using CCTV are slowly but surely meaning that DVRs are soon to go the same way as the VCR.. Ie it become a very breed indeed.

Bosch CCTV cameras

Bosch CCTV

Bosch security systems has now released a complete list of its full product range for 2010/2011

News on CCTV products.

They have been particularly keen to promote the new Auto-dome Easy II range, the extremely versatile IP200 series and the MIC500 classic (Metal Mickey CCTV camera).

Easy dome.

Starting with the Easydome II they have managed to produce a sophisticated range of dome cameras at a very reasonable price and very easy to install. Feature rich, this dome range is 70% smaller than a traditional PTZ camera making it compact and ideal for discreet surveillance. ONVIF compliant, with the option of on board analytics, the camera range has both internal and external options, well worth a look.

IP camera 200 series.

We have spoken a lot on this site about the IP 200 series cameras. Bosch have found a market place for this IP solution making single camera installations complete with recording a very affordable solution for small to medium size business. A popular application for this IP camera is reception areas or locations of high stock value where a full blown CCTV system would normally be cost prohibitive. Again ONVIF compliant with an on board SD card for recording purposes together with a free  CCTV software solution that is able to accommodate up to 16 cameras, The IP 200 range is defiantly one for the future.

Metal Mickey CCTV camera.

The MIC, Metal mickey has always been a high profile robust external camera. Used for solutions such as shopping centres, football stadiums, dockyards and airports, it is very versatile. Buoyed by the success of the Metal Mickey CCTVcamera in the Big Brother series, Bosch have continued to improve the design and performance, culminating in the MIC series 500 classic. Easy set up and reliability certainly make this camera one of the leading contenders in the rugged dome market place.

Summary.

In summary Bosch have always produced quality. There cameras produce excellent images and innovation means they will always be at the top of CCTV industry, night time images especially are an area of expertise and now clever analytics within their codecs mean the options for installers are ever evolving.

Bosch news, IP camera 200 series.

200 series IP cameras.

This great little camera is ideal for small business who only need a one or two camera solution and don’t want to have to pay out for an NVR or DVR recorder. What is more, all you require is an IP point POE switch and a screw driver and this IP camera can be simply removed from the box fixed to the wall and plugged in. That’s all there is to it.

ONVIF compatible.

Ideal for reception areas or small shops the IP camera 200 series comes in two forms.The 255 and 225 versions. This gives you the choice of a fixed or a varifocal lens. The IP camera produces crisp clear images and is ONVIF compatible.

CCTV software.

As well as on-board recording the camera can be integrated to a Bosch surveillance software for ease of viewing recorded images. The camera has built in motion detection so recording space can be saved on the on board SD memory card. Using the very latest H.264 compression standard the camera seems to fit into many applications.

Backlight compensation needed?

Having been demonstrated the camera I have to say I agree with all the above but the images could have been better when looking towards doors and windows especially because it seems to fit so well into the area of viewing doorways in reception areas.

Seagate or Western digital

Seagate  or Western digital.

Hard drives! Anyone in the IPCCTV world will tell you these are the only two hard drives that are really used in most digital recorders today. They will also tell you that both are the same , there is no difference, it does not matter which one you use. This is especially true of installers who buy their DVR’s from the manufacturers and install their own hard drives .This can save a lot of money. Most manufacturers will advise against this but all in the know realize that on paper it makes little difference.

But……….

However we have come across a case where it seems some DVR’s really do need the hard drive installed that the product has been tested on. Below we carried out a series of test on a DVR that seemed to fail for no apparent reason the results were surprising and indeed could shed some light onto why DVR’s seem to fail for no apparent reason.

The test.

Below is the findings as described by the technician who carried out the testing…………………….

“I have been undertaking an extensive test on the DVR to emulate some of the issues we are seeing reported in the field”………..

The issues we were hearing were:-

  • Alarms locking up the units
  • Rebooting
  • HDD / recordings missing

I have set up a unit and  over the last 2 weeks, here are the results of my tests:-

Seagate 1Tb ST31000525SV – 2 of them to make 2Tb –  DVR 400ips unit

  • 5 cameras connected (1 camera looped to 4 other inputs)
  • CCTV Camera 1 is set up for motion and also I have turned on Sensor 1 and set to N/O – basically causing the alarm to be permanently on
  • Cameras 2-5 are set for motion
  • Recording schedule set for motion and continuous 24/7
  • Notify set to send alarm data to an internal IP address………….my laptop,……….so not always there (testing to see if a non-connection will cause lockup)

After 1-2 days of me not being present, the unit shows the ‘no HDD’ symbol with a red cross through the symbol………..looking at the System info, no HDD’s are present………reboot and they still do not appear……..when I do a full power recycle, both HDD’s appear again, the system continues recording and all video recording is still present (up to the point where the HDDs disappeared obviously)

last week, I observed the unit reboot after 3 hours, and when I checked the System info, one of the HDDs had disappeared……..a couple of hours later, both HDDs had gone after another reboot

So, I had taken delivery of 2 x Western Digital 1Tb HDDs Caviar AV 10EVDS and proceeded to put those into the  DVR in question

It is now Wednesday (5days later) and the exact same test has been performed with no reboot, lockup or HDD / Video recording loss……………….this leads me to suspect the following:-

  • The Seagate drives we were using were a faulty batch (possible but unlikely)
  • The Seagate drives we were using are actually not fully compatible with the DVR firmware, even though the manufacturer gave us the part number (possible)
  • The Seagate drives were not correctly inserted  by the client and my changing the drives to another unit is purely coincidental and corrected the fault – again  unlikely

Conclusion , it would seem that there is some subtle difference between the hard drives that has caused the DVR to crash although in practice this is not really possible the testing proves that somewhere within the firmware of the DVR a problem has occurred with the original hard drives.

When we at integrated CCTV asked the engineer if he thought there was a difference between the hard drives he replied.

“No same spec should make no difference, hard to understand, the Seagate is a good make so its not the Hard drive just the way it works with the DVR”

Feedback.

Has anyone else experienced hard drive failures on your own DVRs that may in fact be caused by a similar problem? If so we welcome your thoughts and feedback.