Tag: VMS

Hybrid CCTV, Analogue CCTV or IP CCTV?

Decisions , decisions

If you are the  MD of a company who is about to upgrade or install a new CCTV surveillance system, you are probably going to be faced with some pretty tricky decisions on how you are going to approach the subject. The three main questions you will need to ask yourself are:

1)      Will I just upgrade my analogue cameras for new analogue cameras?

2)      Will I use a mixture of my existing equipment with new IP camera technology .i.e. a hybrid CCTV system?

3)      Will I go for the latest IP Megapixel camera solutions with a VMS recording platform?

CCTV solution? Too many choices?

The problem is there is no clear answer on this. Option 1 will almost certainly work out the cheapest at the point of installation and the results you will be able to achieve will mirror those of any previous analogue system you have used. The cameras and DVR may well have more features but overall system performance is going to be the same.

Hybrid CCTV.

Option 2 will give you a half way house solution. Hybrid systems combine analogue and IP cameras with the potential to record on either a DVR or an NVR but you will have to convert the cameras to either analogue or IP at the point of recording. Having said that some companies advocate the use of a Hybrid DVR that can handle both, but long term support for these products is distinctly questionable. However for the time being they provide a convenient bridge between the two technologies.

IP CCTV.

Finally option 3. This will mean a commitment to the future, but one that is still evolving. With megapixel cameras you really need to consider your companies network capabilities to ensure the frame rate and picture quality are maximised. It is inevitable that IP products will be the dominant force in the CCTV market place over the next 5 years. Analogue solutions have reached their ultimate performance levels and have become as cheap as they ever will do. The price of analogue will rise in time, which is why option 1 may not be the cheapest route in the long run. Conversely IP products will fall in price sharply and the options and ranges of the camera and recording products will be wide ranging.

Buy IP CCTV solution.

So as an MD the decision is defiantly not easy, proper advice should be sort to ensure that a supplier with an installation preference does not force you down the wrong route. So thought and consideration is now crucial as to the decision……… “Buy IP Camera solution”? probably …yes!

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.

International Security Exhibitions

We may be based in the UK, but we always like to follow some of the up and coming International Exhibitions!

Volcano ash permitting, we are looking to bring good information on emerging technologies from the following exhibitions in 2010

ESSEN – Essen, Germany 5th to 8th October

ASIS – Texas, USA 12th to 15th October

ISC EAST – New York, USA 3rd and 4th November

more to follow!

CCTV Over wifi

we have blogged before about sending CCTV data over wireless ‘units’

today, we take a look at Silvernet, a great little UK company specialising in Professional Wireless solutions.

Silvernet offer various products to take a straight forward ethernet connection and send it wirelessly over to a receiver and back out to join a LAN setup.

Offering short range LoS (Line of Sight) solutions such as the Sprint A5 1Km LoS (54Mb Link) and also long range (20km+) solutions mean that Silvernet can offer great kit for a variety of installations

We’ve seen some of these units in action and cannot fault the ease of installation, ease of set up and ongoing reliability of their kit…………

let us know if you have used Silvernet’s kit before and how it has helped in applications where cabling is impossible!

About the Company
SilverNet Ltd is a UK company that specialise in the design and manufacture of rugged, high performance cost-effective wireless networking devices.

Over the past 10 years SilverNet has gained an excellent reputation in the Wireless market as a leading innovator in the design, manufacture and supply of broadband wireless solutions.

Product Range
Over the years our product range has been developed to meet the demand for high bandwidth applications for the police and local councils.

Products range from 2.4Ghz to 5Ghz with throughput speeds of up to 300Mbps.

Sales and Marketing
SilverNet are always focused on supplying the very best wireless products and support to our customers. Our sales in the UK are either via distributors or via a number of system integration partners that we have.

The company has grown rapidly and has received its ISO 9001 certification.

Product Development
SilverNet has a dedicated team of development engineers that focus highly on the constant improvement and development of our equipment.

This has enabled SilverNet to maintain their position as one of the UK’s leading innovators in the design, manufacture and supply of broadband wireless solutions.

Production and quality
At SilverNet we are dedicated to ensuring the highest possible product quality and reliability. Our products are built to the highest standards and most products are housed in rugged enclosures.

Every radio that is built goes through a very intense testing process, this ensures that reliability issues in the field are kept to an absolute minimum.

Our products can boast a system uptime of at least 99.999%, thus proving our dedication to providing the highest quality components and design in our equipment.

Technical Support

For Pre-sales support, we offer path profiling, usually advisable for longer links where LOS (Line of sight) is unsure. System design, additional component testing, on site surveying and a host of other free tools are available to assist you.

For Post install support, we offer on site commissioning, so you know the system is operating reliably at its optimum. We also supply bandwidth testing and system monitoring software free with every system.

We have an online Troubleshooting guide and support ticket system as well as telephone and onsite support so every call can be logged and followed up on, thus putting us in a position to provide excellent technical support for our entire range.

We encourage as much end-user feedback as possible to help us design in the features and functions that really make a difference to our users in the field.

Delivery and Warranty
All UK orders placed before 2.30pm are usually dispatched by next day delivery courier*. We use Interlink Express to ensure prompt and safe delivery of all stock. As standard, we provide an extendable 12 month return to factory warranty.

*Lead times can sometimes take up to 2 weeks depending on the size of the order.

Silvernet Limited is a registered company in England and Wales with company number 5386276

Silvernet Limited is a VAT registered company with VAT number 860 776 496
Silvernet Limited is an ISO 9001 registered company with certificate number GB2003090

HD cameras – can they be the same?

An interesting demo came up recently…..

we took a few cameras, HD 1080p to be precise, from a very renowned IP Manufacturer,,,,,,,,,,,

a couple were mini dome based, the type you see in the analogue arena, you know, Vandal Resistant with varifocal lens, 3 axis, day night etc etc

the others were ‘boxed’ cameras……..the type where you fit the lens, usually (and recommended) a high quality lens designed for Megapixel use………

putting them side by side, adjusted to look at exactly the same picture………….both 1080p cameras from the same manufacturer………..

The Result

well, both were excellent pictures – it cannot be denied – but, they were not identical……….not by some margin………. the mini dome was ‘softer’, a little more ‘noise’ in the picture whereas the ‘boxed’ camera was sharper, more ‘vivid’ colours………….electronically zooming in revealed that actually, the mini dome, despite the ‘noise’ was actually a sharper picture, the ‘boxed’ camera had a degree of ‘pixelaion’ which detracted away from the initial sharpness………….

turning the lights off to test the day/night function highlighted the difference again………..the mini dome wiped the floor with the ‘boxed’ version camera!!! that puzzled us !

talking with the manufacturer, the mini dome is a smaller lens, smaller sensor, limited in optics to fit inside the dome………..that we can understand……….but how was it better under low light??

Lesson learnt

so, it is imperative that when specifying a system, particularly with IP MEgapixel, be aware that even with the same manufacturer, you will sometimes see a difference in picture rendition………..

what are your experiences?!