Spec me a CCTV System
- Thread starter Sirrel Squirrel
- Start date
Hi there
I was just hoping to ask a question on how you can / need to connect IP cameras to an NVR.
I have a large home network with various switches throughout. Let's say I have a house switch, garage switch and outbuilding switch, each with 2x IP cameras connected to them so 6x cameras in total.
So if I was to get an NVR, could I simply connect it to the LAN in any location and it would see the cameras or would each camera need to be brought back to individual ports on the NVR?
Thank you
Mike
I was just hoping to ask a question on how you can / need to connect IP cameras to an NVR.
I have a large home network with various switches throughout. Let's say I have a house switch, garage switch and outbuilding switch, each with 2x IP cameras connected to them so 6x cameras in total.
So if I was to get an NVR, could I simply connect it to the LAN in any location and it would see the cameras or would each camera need to be brought back to individual ports on the NVR?
Thank you
Mike
Each camera could be brought back directly to the NVR and thus supplied the Power needed for the cameras, if the NVR has the required POE ports.
Or you connect the NVR to a POE switch and then that will directly connect to RAC camera to supply the 48v to each camera, reduced in each cam to 12v.
Or get a POE Injector and PSU to substitute the POE switch.
At some stage the cameras need power delivering to them via Ethernet.
So the NVR could just be on a home network and not directly connected to any of the cameras but at some stage a direct feed with DC power has to be delivered to each camera.
Hope that makes sense.
Or you connect the NVR to a POE switch and then that will directly connect to RAC camera to supply the 48v to each camera, reduced in each cam to 12v.
Or get a POE Injector and PSU to substitute the POE switch.
At some stage the cameras need power delivering to them via Ethernet.
So the NVR could just be on a home network and not directly connected to any of the cameras but at some stage a direct feed with DC power has to be delivered to each camera.
Hope that makes sense.
It does make sense thank you.
Each of my switches are POE capable so I could plug my cams in directly to them.
So based on your feedback, I could get a cost efficient NVR (say 4 port) as I won't need the ports.... Or would a 4 port still only allow you to connect 4x cams by means of "licence" / software restriction?
Thank you
Mike
Each of my switches are POE capable so I could plug my cams in directly to them.
So based on your feedback, I could get a cost efficient NVR (say 4 port) as I won't need the ports.... Or would a 4 port still only allow you to connect 4x cams by means of "licence" / software restriction?
Thank you
Mike
My eight port NVR will allow a maximum of eight cams connected, regardless of the method of connection.
Also consider that a four port NVR well have less bandwidth available to record in MB/sec than a eight port. This will have an influence on maximum bitrate / FPS and resolution you will be able to cumulatively record at.
Also consider that a four port NVR well have less bandwidth available to record in MB/sec than a eight port. This will have an influence on maximum bitrate / FPS and resolution you will be able to cumulatively record at.
Ahh bandwidth restrictions, thanks for the heads up, just noticed that in the specs.
Think I'll start weighing up NVR vs dedicated PCs & software. The direct input / alarm functions of an NVR (intending to use PIR sensors) may sway it though.
Thanks for your time.
Mike
Think I'll start weighing up NVR vs dedicated PCs & software. The direct input / alarm functions of an NVR (intending to use PIR sensors) may sway it though.
Thanks for your time.
Mike
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The house I've moved into has 4 analogue cameras up already, their SD or 940L and have 4 BNC cables coming into the living room.
What's a good recorder to go for, doesn't need to be anything special, just needs to be able to record to my NAS over ethernet.
What's a good recorder to go for, doesn't need to be anything special, just needs to be able to record to my NAS over ethernet.
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Looking at getting the Samsung SRN-873S with some HikVision cameras.
Any suggestions of where to start with the HikVisions? I've posted this image before but nobody has commented on my posts:
Any suggestions of where to start with the HikVisions? I've posted this image before but nobody has commented on my posts:
Anybody kind enough to suggest a kit/combo of cameras (IP) and NVR to cover the below setup.
The smaller red area in the bottom right is inside our garage.
Whoever turns up at the house will have to pass that drive.
Instead of fitting cameras pointing out in all directions, conceal one at the top right pointing back at the house.
A second one at the bottom left would cover the rear of the house.
The land to the left I'd cover with a Redwall long range PIR
Something that could log license plates of anything on that road maybe? whoever goes there would have cased the house a few times already.
A remote house is going to need decent secondary IR lighting.
if you advertise the fact that you have CCTV by covering your house in cameras, they are just going to turn up at dusk in hoodies and you are going to record nothing of any use.
The red area on the right is just meant to be one field of vision for the camera at that side (not sure why I did the extra lines inside). The outer yellow line is the edge of the field that we own which is approximately 60m from the side of the house to the fence line to west.
I've already looked at the Samsung SRN-873S for the NVR (this is about the only item that I am pretty sure is fit for purpose and even allows for some headroom if we need to add any further cameras internally).
I've already looked at the Samsung SRN-873S for the NVR (this is about the only item that I am pretty sure is fit for purpose and even allows for some headroom if we need to add any further cameras internally).
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^^^^^^ I see your first post from around September and I would have thought that you would have read this entire thread which would have given some information regarding brands and suppliers which are favoured here....? You can also note models of NVR's and cameras, and sample images, to give you some idea of their capability.
Typically that means Hikvision and AiExpress.
Of course there are risks when dealing with imports such as warranties etc but money savings can be considerable.
The NVR you noted seems pretty good with 64Mbps maximum recording capacity (mine is 40) and a 100w for the POE capacity.
With six IP cameras I manage to have just under 39Mbps for recording and around 36w usage at night with the infrared on for the cameras from the separate Netgear POE switch I use.
External lighting, as noted, is going to be a big deterrent as well as a necessity for any meaningful night images from your chosen cameras. The "meaningful" is about images that will be useful for the police in identification and then accepted by the courts to be useful to convict the scrotes.
As well as external lighting as a visible deterrent and a aid for your cameras I would look to additional infra red lighting to boost that of the cameras.
I would not be sure how well a Samsung NVR would work with all the features any Hikvision camera could offer and the NVR support it.....?
I record 24/7 on all six cameras (10TB of WD Purple HD's) with tagged motion events for easy review of VCA events, as they are called when using the Hikvision software.
Dues to the size of the building and land, as well as the low ambient light, I would not be too concerned about much recordable information at a distance but more bothered about what is recorded when you get to a "inner perimeter" of your buildings. Even in good daylight 3MP or 4MP Hikvision cameras at a high bitrate aren't going to be that useful over such a distance, and your ambient light (even supplemented) is also going to be low. Then as the intruders move closer the value of having anything over a 2.8mm, 4mm or 6mm lens diminishes and will work against you as they near the buildings. Also the light needed by the greater zoom will mean you will record shadows and silhouettes most of the time. It is always a trade off with the bitrate (inc VBR or constant), resolution, FPS, exposure time (around 1/25" or 1/50"), backilght, white balance, smoothing etc etc etc and the image quality, noise and artifacts at night to give you a good image free from such problems - but to do that and try and cover the land you own might need the advice of some security firms who deal with situations similar to your own..........
I would suggest getting a couple of quotes from some security companies to help you with ideas and to also see what they would recommend, considering the size of the property and it doesn't seem to be enclosed, with low ambient light at night. The solitude also could add to the security concerns.
Typically that means Hikvision and AiExpress.
Of course there are risks when dealing with imports such as warranties etc but money savings can be considerable.
The NVR you noted seems pretty good with 64Mbps maximum recording capacity (mine is 40) and a 100w for the POE capacity.
With six IP cameras I manage to have just under 39Mbps for recording and around 36w usage at night with the infrared on for the cameras from the separate Netgear POE switch I use.
External lighting, as noted, is going to be a big deterrent as well as a necessity for any meaningful night images from your chosen cameras. The "meaningful" is about images that will be useful for the police in identification and then accepted by the courts to be useful to convict the scrotes.
As well as external lighting as a visible deterrent and a aid for your cameras I would look to additional infra red lighting to boost that of the cameras.
I would not be sure how well a Samsung NVR would work with all the features any Hikvision camera could offer and the NVR support it.....?
I record 24/7 on all six cameras (10TB of WD Purple HD's) with tagged motion events for easy review of VCA events, as they are called when using the Hikvision software.
Dues to the size of the building and land, as well as the low ambient light, I would not be too concerned about much recordable information at a distance but more bothered about what is recorded when you get to a "inner perimeter" of your buildings. Even in good daylight 3MP or 4MP Hikvision cameras at a high bitrate aren't going to be that useful over such a distance, and your ambient light (even supplemented) is also going to be low. Then as the intruders move closer the value of having anything over a 2.8mm, 4mm or 6mm lens diminishes and will work against you as they near the buildings. Also the light needed by the greater zoom will mean you will record shadows and silhouettes most of the time. It is always a trade off with the bitrate (inc VBR or constant), resolution, FPS, exposure time (around 1/25" or 1/50"), backilght, white balance, smoothing etc etc etc and the image quality, noise and artifacts at night to give you a good image free from such problems - but to do that and try and cover the land you own might need the advice of some security firms who deal with situations similar to your own..........
I would suggest getting a couple of quotes from some security companies to help you with ideas and to also see what they would recommend, considering the size of the property and it doesn't seem to be enclosed, with low ambient light at night. The solitude also could add to the security concerns.
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Any suggestions what lens Hikvision camera to get to cover a garden path/front garden, it's about 6 metres forward.
I'm going to buy one initially (as I mention in this thread) then build a system from there.
A rough layout of the property is below, green is garden (the front has about 4 foot high hedges), the right hand side of the garden has a 6 foot high fence with a gate next to the house (which has a PIR lamp that activates when you stand within 2 foot of the gate).
The red is a carport/hardstand, whilst blue is the garage.
Duck egg blue is the shared drive.
A camera mounted on the front of the garage can easily see over the fencing, or be poisitioned to avoid the fencing at all.
The garage also has power and networking, so no issue with a camera being mounted there.
What I'm not sure of, is which of the hikvision cameras would be best in terms of lens, I'm thinking one of the bullet cameras for the front door covering the front garden and path, and probably another bullet one to cover the side of the house (and eventually a third and forth to cover the back garden and dead spots.
I'm not so worried about the left side of the property, as there is an 8 foot wall along part of it (well 8 foot on the public side, about 11-12 on our side, anyone climbing over it is in for a surprise), and for the rest of it anyone attempting access would be passing through two other gardens.
The back edge of the garden likewise is relatively secure, there is a very steep and unstable river bank topped by fencing, it's also got randomly half buried barbed wire bits left over from when (about 40 years ago) this used to be a pig farm or something.
I'm going to buy one initially (as I mention in this thread) then build a system from there.
A rough layout of the property is below, green is garden (the front has about 4 foot high hedges), the right hand side of the garden has a 6 foot high fence with a gate next to the house (which has a PIR lamp that activates when you stand within 2 foot of the gate).
The red is a carport/hardstand, whilst blue is the garage.
Duck egg blue is the shared drive.
A camera mounted on the front of the garage can easily see over the fencing, or be poisitioned to avoid the fencing at all.
The garage also has power and networking, so no issue with a camera being mounted there.
What I'm not sure of, is which of the hikvision cameras would be best in terms of lens, I'm thinking one of the bullet cameras for the front door covering the front garden and path, and probably another bullet one to cover the side of the house (and eventually a third and forth to cover the back garden and dead spots.
I'm not so worried about the left side of the property, as there is an 8 foot wall along part of it (well 8 foot on the public side, about 11-12 on our side, anyone climbing over it is in for a surprise), and for the rest of it anyone attempting access would be passing through two other gardens.
The back edge of the garden likewise is relatively secure, there is a very steep and unstable river bank topped by fencing, it's also got randomly half buried barbed wire bits left over from when (about 40 years ago) this used to be a pig farm or something.
^^^ Turret cameras seem to be considered the most vandal proof and least likely to me damaged or moved by intruders. Whilst I appreciate you can set the NVR / Camera to email you etc for a missing feed or video tampering, where they throw a bag or cover over the camera, I do prefer turret type. However I do have one bullet type due to its position being way out of reach.
Regardless of the two types noted I would strongly suggest buying the EXIR type as they do not have the ring of LED's around the lens (this causes issues with a halo type of light bounce effect at night from the LED's shining back into the camera) and the EXIR type with a dual type of IR LED for the bullet camera or the single for the turret type are far more low light sensitive and have much less "noise" on the image during the night because of that. Thus you have have a faster shutter speed to avoid trailing effects whilst maintain a reasonable picture.
The camera on the garage door if it is looking down a shared drive which has good ambient light where it would be possible even at night to make out and record a usable image of anyone walking onto the property I would get a 4mm lens.
The other camera if done at the front door, going of your layout as best as possible, I would suggest a 2.8mm for the best and widest FOV. You might be surprised with a 1920x1080 2.8mm lens in how wide its FOV is - meaning that if you mounted it further forward from the front door to the first corner of the yellow building then you would have a clear view by the camera on both sides, rather than being blind by placing it recessed in the doorway - if that makes sense....?
Consider also supplementary lighting - both PIR for normal floodlight as a deterrent and then IR light to supplement that of what the cameras have if the ambient light is low at night.
When I bought my cameras 3MP type were the norm. Now there are 4MP type which offer better light sensitivity but do need the newer type of NVR's to be supported. Also the newer cams do need the latest NVR's as they encode using H265 and not H264.
Be aware of providing POE for the cameras and a suitable recorder with adequate bandwidth for the future and support for 2 HD's.
This dealer is regarded well by many who have ordered and dealt with her (Anna Wang)......
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1709868?spm=2114.10010108.0.83.7XTEko
Regardless of the two types noted I would strongly suggest buying the EXIR type as they do not have the ring of LED's around the lens (this causes issues with a halo type of light bounce effect at night from the LED's shining back into the camera) and the EXIR type with a dual type of IR LED for the bullet camera or the single for the turret type are far more low light sensitive and have much less "noise" on the image during the night because of that. Thus you have have a faster shutter speed to avoid trailing effects whilst maintain a reasonable picture.
The camera on the garage door if it is looking down a shared drive which has good ambient light where it would be possible even at night to make out and record a usable image of anyone walking onto the property I would get a 4mm lens.
The other camera if done at the front door, going of your layout as best as possible, I would suggest a 2.8mm for the best and widest FOV. You might be surprised with a 1920x1080 2.8mm lens in how wide its FOV is - meaning that if you mounted it further forward from the front door to the first corner of the yellow building then you would have a clear view by the camera on both sides, rather than being blind by placing it recessed in the doorway - if that makes sense....?
Consider also supplementary lighting - both PIR for normal floodlight as a deterrent and then IR light to supplement that of what the cameras have if the ambient light is low at night.
When I bought my cameras 3MP type were the norm. Now there are 4MP type which offer better light sensitivity but do need the newer type of NVR's to be supported. Also the newer cams do need the latest NVR's as they encode using H265 and not H264.
Be aware of providing POE for the cameras and a suitable recorder with adequate bandwidth for the future and support for 2 HD's.
This dealer is regarded well by many who have ordered and dealt with her (Anna Wang)......
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/1709868?spm=2114.10010108.0.83.7XTEko
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Cheers for the reply, that's the sort of information I'm looking for 
Re lighting, we're probably going to put in a PIR lamp out the front (probably something that looks decorative) although light out the front is pretty good as there is a street lamp quite near, around the side we're considering PIR activated IR lighting so it's not obvious that it's on (there is already a PIR light inside the back gate that comes on as you get within about 3 foot of the gate*).
So something like the 380 version of this? should work well on the front edge of the house?
I'm planning on as I say buying one and playing around with it a bit before fixing it in place properly, if that will do a near 180 it would be ideal
I must admit I'm a little nervious ordering from a chinese supplier (my luck with customs is terrible), but looking at the price difference I'm probably going to do it, at least for the initial camera.
*I spent quite some time deciding on the type of light to go there, then the exact placement of the sensor, it's basically set so peaks through the top of the gate, so far it's triggered reliably every time at the right distance and never due to small animals.
Re lighting, we're probably going to put in a PIR lamp out the front (probably something that looks decorative) although light out the front is pretty good as there is a street lamp quite near, around the side we're considering PIR activated IR lighting so it's not obvious that it's on (there is already a PIR light inside the back gate that comes on as you get within about 3 foot of the gate*).
So something like the 380 version of this? should work well on the front edge of the house?
I'm planning on as I say buying one and playing around with it a bit before fixing it in place properly, if that will do a near 180 it would be ideal
I must admit I'm a little nervious ordering from a chinese supplier (my luck with customs is terrible), but looking at the price difference I'm probably going to do it, at least for the initial camera.
*I spent quite some time deciding on the type of light to go there, then the exact placement of the sensor, it's basically set so peaks through the top of the gate, so far it's triggered reliably every time at the right distance and never due to small animals.
Yes the one you noted will be fine to give you the very best FOV, a compromise between a zoom and FOV. From what I see at the front FOV would be more important. Remember the camera you have linked is of the newer type with H265 encoding.
Stress the need for a 2.8mm lens though.
You can chat with Anna in their contact page when she is online and ask her to mark up the package as a gift for you and low value. If you are buying a max of two cams at a time that will be fine. For a NVR you will be hit by customs as they usually ship (not always though) by DHL and they insist on Custom charges up front.
Remember that the cam will need a POE feed to supply 48v DC which is then reduced by the cam to 12v DC. A POE switch, NVR or PSU with POE Ethernet injectors can do that.
External grade CAT5E (solid copper) is needed etc etc etc.
I have ordered four figure sums from Aliexpress and have had no issues.
Do NOT try and update the cam you buy with any future Hikvision updates - it will circumvent their hacking to give you an English menu and suddenly English will become Engwish - all Chinese...!
Good luck.
EDIT: Don't forget about the placing of floodlights is a good visual deterrent but not too good for cameras as they have to do a transition from shutting down their IR and then flip from B&W to colour and then if and when the floodlight goes off it does the same in reverse. When the FL first comes on it will blind the camera for a couple of seconds. That might not seem much but we lost some usable footage of good close up of thieves due to that. Thankfully the rest of the recorded material still secured a conviction.
Just make sure that the FL isn't directly blinding the camera and if that can trigger early enough, and ahead of the trespasser getting too close to the camera, by the time they have got closer the camera will have adjusted to the change in ambient light.
Some people use a timer option to keep their camera in B&W during the night rather than flip to colour due to floodlighting.
Stress the need for a 2.8mm lens though.
You can chat with Anna in their contact page when she is online and ask her to mark up the package as a gift for you and low value. If you are buying a max of two cams at a time that will be fine. For a NVR you will be hit by customs as they usually ship (not always though) by DHL and they insist on Custom charges up front.
Remember that the cam will need a POE feed to supply 48v DC which is then reduced by the cam to 12v DC. A POE switch, NVR or PSU with POE Ethernet injectors can do that.
External grade CAT5E (solid copper) is needed etc etc etc.
I have ordered four figure sums from Aliexpress and have had no issues.
Do NOT try and update the cam you buy with any future Hikvision updates - it will circumvent their hacking to give you an English menu and suddenly English will become Engwish - all Chinese...!
Good luck.
EDIT: Don't forget about the placing of floodlights is a good visual deterrent but not too good for cameras as they have to do a transition from shutting down their IR and then flip from B&W to colour and then if and when the floodlight goes off it does the same in reverse. When the FL first comes on it will blind the camera for a couple of seconds. That might not seem much but we lost some usable footage of good close up of thieves due to that. Thankfully the rest of the recorded material still secured a conviction.
Just make sure that the FL isn't directly blinding the camera and if that can trigger early enough, and ahead of the trespasser getting too close to the camera, by the time they have got closer the camera will have adjusted to the change in ambient light.
Some people use a timer option to keep their camera in B&W during the night rather than flip to colour due to floodlighting.
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