I like that, a lot, just not sure it's wife friendly on the front of the house! We're at the end of the cul de sac so the only approach is directly in front of the drive which would be picked up by the front of house camera. No-one can get to the blind spot without being picked up by one of the other cameras first, it's just what they do when they're in the blind spot that could be the issue.
Spec me a CCTV System
- Thread starter Sirrel Squirrel
- Start date
I like that, a lot, just not sure it's wife friendly on the front of the house! We're at the end of the cul de sac so the only approach is directly in front of the drive which would be picked up by the front of house camera. No-one can get to the blind spot without being picked up by one of the other cameras first, it's just what they do when they're in the blind spot that could be the issue.
Associate
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Managed to find it for £120 Inc vat with liveguard, so ordered 1 to try out and will go from there.
Thanks for your help.
I didn't give of context but thank you for the advice. I am on a new housing estate and in the last 7 days there have been a wave of thefts from sheds, bikes, motorbikes, tools, etc. It must be the same people.
I am in a block of flats so the dront entrance is fairly secure in itself, but we have several sheds for everyone right next to each other. Mine is conveniently next to my back patio entrance, so a camera pointing at this area would both act as a deterrent and record anyone loitering near my shed/back patio.
For it to act as a deterrent, it needs to be obviously a camera and needs to be noticed. Otherwise as others said, otherwise you’ll just be capturing some blurry, black and white, hooded character taking your stuff. That’s all a cheap wireless camera can achieve at night on its own anyway.
A camera should be the last thing you do, physical security is so much more effective. You basically want your shed to be the last one they try to get into because it’s the most difficult (e.g. proper reinforced locks and latches, no exposed screws, bolts, inches etc. reinforced door frame etc).
The more secure it is, the more noise they’ll have to make trying to get in, the bigger the risk of them being caught. Also the better the chance the camera has of actually capturing a useable image.
A camera should be the last thing you do, physical security is so much more effective. You basically want your shed to be the last one they try to get into because it’s the most difficult (e.g. proper reinforced locks and latches, no exposed screws, bolts, inches etc. reinforced door frame etc).
The more secure it is, the more noise they’ll have to make trying to get in, the bigger the risk of them being caught. Also the better the chance the camera has of actually capturing a useable image.
Unfortunately nothing we can do about the sheds themselves as they belong to the freeholder. They are brick built but the doors/lock/hinges would be easy to break. I don't keep anything of value in my shed but doesn't mean i want it targeted. Point taken though.
Caporegime
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Hikvision DS-7608NI-I2/8P NVR just turned up, going to be interesting to see how it compares to iSpy.
Thinking about getting an IPC-T5442T-ZE as a test cam to check focal length in various positions.
It's only 4MP, but seems highly rated on IPCamTalk for a decent sensor size.
Good starter cam? If so, any suggestions as to best place to get one?
Also thinking that I might end up going the BlueIris route and having to build a mini CCTV PC. Seems this will give more flexibility in the long run?
It's only 4MP, but seems highly rated on IPCamTalk for a decent sensor size.
Good starter cam? If so, any suggestions as to best place to get one?
Also thinking that I might end up going the BlueIris route and having to build a mini CCTV PC. Seems this will give more flexibility in the long run?
Not a starter cam unless you think a Hasselblad is a starter camera. Top quality optics, top quality mechanicals and a top quality sensor. You’re paying a lot for a very high optical specification. If you’re on IPCamTalk then EmpireTec Andy can get you one, just be aware if it doesn’t have a Dahua logo then it’s a QA failure, usually just for some cosmetic defect.
Just looking at the spec and seen that the camera itself has 1GB of RAM! It's amazing what they pack into these things, each one is like a mini computer with the detection tech built into each individual camera.
Been reading through the Blue Iris reviews too, pretty certain I'll skip the NVR and go straight for that now. I'll use the demo on my main PC for a couple of week to try it out and slowly pick up some more bits to make a dedicated CCTV box.
Will mean I can do all my testing on my primary PC and get familiar with the software. Although it also means I'll have to leave it on 24/7 until I get the new box built if I want the camera to work continuously from when it arrives.
Been reading through the Blue Iris reviews too, pretty certain I'll skip the NVR and go straight for that now. I'll use the demo on my main PC for a couple of week to try it out and slowly pick up some more bits to make a dedicated CCTV box.
Will mean I can do all my testing on my primary PC and get familiar with the software. Although it also means I'll have to leave it on 24/7 until I get the new box built if I want the camera to work continuously from when it arrives.
Associate
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Any recommendations on a NVR for up to 4 cameras up to 8mp starting with hikvision DS-2CD2347G2 with Poe. DS-7604NI seems like an option just not sure if it'll provide enough power.
Alternatively I might get a small Poe switch to power the cameras and then use my Nas for storage but maybe a NVR is the better option.
Alternatively I might get a small Poe switch to power the cameras and then use my Nas for storage but maybe a NVR is the better option.
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Spent the last couple of weeks reading tons of threads about IP camera systems.
Decided I think I'm going to go for nearly all the new 4k Hikvision ColorVu Turret cams with the big 1/1.2" sensor.
https://www.hikvision.com/en/produc...Cameras/Pro-Series-EasyIP-/ds-2cd2387g2-l-u-/
Some of the night footage I've seen from them is incredible.
The model with 2 way chat doesn't come out for a few more weeks, so going to hold off and get them all with mic and speaker, and active deterrent I think.
https://www.hikvision.com/uk/produc...meras/Pro-Series-EasyIP-/ds-2cd2387g2-lsu-sl/
Picked up an 8MP Darkfighter to tied me over and started building a Blue Iris PC.
Been testing it on my main desktop and so far so good. It's pretty powerful, and seems incredibly feature rich. The UI sucks though. Same with the mobile app. Feels like it's out of the 90's, functionality is there though and so far so good. So I think I can learn to live with the dated UI.
Looking forward to getting Deepstack AI setup too, to get better object analysis and even number plate analysis.
I can see this turning into a time sink of a hobby as well as for home security.
Decided I think I'm going to go for nearly all the new 4k Hikvision ColorVu Turret cams with the big 1/1.2" sensor.
https://www.hikvision.com/en/produc...Cameras/Pro-Series-EasyIP-/ds-2cd2387g2-l-u-/
Some of the night footage I've seen from them is incredible.
The model with 2 way chat doesn't come out for a few more weeks, so going to hold off and get them all with mic and speaker, and active deterrent I think.
https://www.hikvision.com/uk/produc...meras/Pro-Series-EasyIP-/ds-2cd2387g2-lsu-sl/
Picked up an 8MP Darkfighter to tied me over and started building a Blue Iris PC.
Been testing it on my main desktop and so far so good. It's pretty powerful, and seems incredibly feature rich. The UI sucks though. Same with the mobile app. Feels like it's out of the 90's, functionality is there though and so far so good. So I think I can learn to live with the dated UI.
Looking forward to getting Deepstack AI setup too, to get better object analysis and even number plate analysis.
I can see this turning into a time sink of a hobby as well as for home security.
Associate
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That all sounds interesting and potentially a route I'd go down.
Haven't been overly impressed with the hikvision software either. Had a battle with it using my Nas NFS share and the smb share works for s bit then stops... Weird.
Anyway I'll either try blue iris like you or something open source that I can use on my server, as otherwise I'd need to find a way of running Windows somewhere.
Yeah, the firmware on them is a little lacking. Some of it's very good, and quite flexible such as the human detection options, but some things are annoyingly restricting and basic, especially compared to ring and nest. Stuff like the privacy masking.
I can only add 4 boxes max to mask anything out instead of being able to add points to a polygon, or brush out the areas I want to mask. So that feels very rudimentary. I think much of it is overridable within Blue Iris.
Blue Iris is Windows only unfortunately, so no linux support yet. It's free to try for a couple of weeks and I think nearly every feature is available in the demo, it just has a watermark. So worth having a play with. A licence is $70 which allows you to to use the current version in perpetuity, and get current version updates for a year. You can currently get it for $55 here. It seems a fair few places resell it for a bit under RRP.
What I also like about doing Blue Iris is it means I can mix and match brands with decent compatibility. Originally I was going to get a Dahua 5442, but then I realised I wanted to test out the Hikvision features and test their two way audio, and order locally from the UK for full 3 year warranty, so pulled the trigger on that for testing purposes. And even though I'll likely stick to them for now, I should have no problems ordering any Dahua or other cam that tickles my fancy. I should even be able to plug in the feed from an upcoming intercom and video doorbell install into the software using ONVIF.
The other thing is if I go overboard and grow my system I'm not really limited by the NVR. It seems many are marketed as x-Channel recorders, but that's based on each channel being a certain resolution and bit rate. If you start getting a load of 4k cameras, you may reach the limit of your unit quicker.
The only thing I think I'm really missing not getting a high end native brand NVR, is you miss out on the built in on board AI and image analysis with tight integration to the brands cameras. I've not used these though, so I'm not sure how they compare to Blue Iris analysis which uses DeepStack integration, or even just the cameras own on board analysis. So far the built in Human recognition to the camera unit itself has been pretty accurate for me.
Maybe there's other benefits from a native NVR that I'm not aware of?
The DeepStack project is open source and does have native integration to BI, but I've not tested it yet. I believe it should allow finer tuning to eliminate the chance of shadows triggering human detection (which I'm currently occasionally getting alerts for as people walk by the driveway)
I can only add 4 boxes max to mask anything out instead of being able to add points to a polygon, or brush out the areas I want to mask. So that feels very rudimentary. I think much of it is overridable within Blue Iris.
Blue Iris is Windows only unfortunately, so no linux support yet. It's free to try for a couple of weeks and I think nearly every feature is available in the demo, it just has a watermark. So worth having a play with. A licence is $70 which allows you to to use the current version in perpetuity, and get current version updates for a year. You can currently get it for $55 here. It seems a fair few places resell it for a bit under RRP.
What I also like about doing Blue Iris is it means I can mix and match brands with decent compatibility. Originally I was going to get a Dahua 5442, but then I realised I wanted to test out the Hikvision features and test their two way audio, and order locally from the UK for full 3 year warranty, so pulled the trigger on that for testing purposes. And even though I'll likely stick to them for now, I should have no problems ordering any Dahua or other cam that tickles my fancy. I should even be able to plug in the feed from an upcoming intercom and video doorbell install into the software using ONVIF.
The other thing is if I go overboard and grow my system I'm not really limited by the NVR. It seems many are marketed as x-Channel recorders, but that's based on each channel being a certain resolution and bit rate. If you start getting a load of 4k cameras, you may reach the limit of your unit quicker.
The only thing I think I'm really missing not getting a high end native brand NVR, is you miss out on the built in on board AI and image analysis with tight integration to the brands cameras. I've not used these though, so I'm not sure how they compare to Blue Iris analysis which uses DeepStack integration, or even just the cameras own on board analysis. So far the built in Human recognition to the camera unit itself has been pretty accurate for me.
Maybe there's other benefits from a native NVR that I'm not aware of?
The DeepStack project is open source and does have native integration to BI, but I've not tested it yet. I believe it should allow finer tuning to eliminate the chance of shadows triggering human detection (which I'm currently occasionally getting alerts for as people walk by the driveway)
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It's important to factor in the annual renewal for updates after year one, however the annual fee is very reasonable and CCTV software isn't the type where you can really stick on one version long term.
The desktop and mobile app UI of Blue Iris shows its a one man development project but the functionality of the product is excellent and I say that working in software development. I tend to use the web interface which was donated to the product by another developer for all devices from desktop to mobile (I stream two feeds 24x7 to a couple of Echo 8s without issue). The web UI is not quite as efficient in bandwidth as the mobile apps but with modern browser video support its close enough that I've rarely find any need for the apps when away from home connecting in via VPN.
I evaluated a lot of software before settling on Blue Iris and alternatives were either very expensive (often per camera fees) or lacked features. The ability to mix the use of lower res sub streams with the primary ones can also help keep CPU use down, although I've not had an issue using primary for everything with a dozen cameras. DeepStack integration is really a game changer for driving notifications more reliably so worth trying out. It does however still trigger in heavy rain, snow etc but otherwise pretty much eliminates false triggers for me and correctly identifies animals versus cars, people etc.
Right, you're not forced to renew exactly at one year though to keep on using it though, which I like. It seems a fair few people took their time before migrating form V4 to V5.
And you're right, the renewal cost is very reasonable at $30 for another year of updates, especially seeing as it supports a solo developer.
Oh, that's a neat idea. I quite like having the stream open on one of my main desktop monitors natively, but I'm trying to figure out how to continue doing that or have a decent alternative once it's running on another box. I haven't got room for another monitor, but a cheap tablet could be cool.
Soldato
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Any recommendations on what DVR for 2x Govision 5MP ColorVU WHITE Dome Camera Wide 3.6mm Lens
Associate
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Hi guys.
Ive spent a few weeks researching which cameras to get for my setup. As it stands I'm compelled to go with the 5mp Dahua TIOC's as recommended by @WJA96 .
Excuse the noob question, but I just wondered, with the equivalent hikvision 4mp colorvu specs having a bigger sensor, and a better lux rating - do the hikvision's work better in low light? Or is there some wizardry that I'm not understanding?
Thanks guys
Ive spent a few weeks researching which cameras to get for my setup. As it stands I'm compelled to go with the 5mp Dahua TIOC's as recommended by @WJA96 .
Excuse the noob question, but I just wondered, with the equivalent hikvision 4mp colorvu specs having a bigger sensor, and a better lux rating - do the hikvision's work better in low light? Or is there some wizardry that I'm not understanding?
Thanks guys
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There’s nothing wrong with the ColorVu cameras - they’re very good. The Dahua’s are cheaper and obviously they were first to market with TiOC which Hikvision have now brought out their own version of. You wouldn’t be unhappy with either of them.
Numbers on spec sheets are one thing. If we just went on specs everyone would have Reolink. Actually holding the camera and then looking at the images you get from it tells the whole truth. An extra £20-30 per camera buys a huge difference in physical and image quality.
Numbers on spec sheets are one thing. If we just went on specs everyone would have Reolink. Actually holding the camera and then looking at the images you get from it tells the whole truth. An extra £20-30 per camera buys a huge difference in physical and image quality.
I've reached the end of my tether with this Swann stuff, the app is absolutely useless in that when you get an alert you can't see on the phone what triggered the alert, you have to literally pan through an entire ~20 minute clip and hope you see it. It's very easy to see on the NVR or in the browser/desktop app as you can filter to AI triggers, but not in the mobile app. I've swapped the entire system at their suggestion to try and fix this, and have spent hours on the phone with support and they can't provide a solution, so it's going to have to go back.
So, do I:
1) Give Dahua another go with an NVR? The IQ was excellent on them, but the app felt like it was coded in a kid's basement (both aesthetically and stability wise), certainly not a slick "prosumer" app, and the major issue I had was trying to get remote playback working from SD cards. @WJA96 assures me the NVR is much better, so maybe worth a try? I've just bought a 3tb WD purple so ready to move on an NVR setup.
2) Is Hikvision's app any better or is that also a "very Chinese" offering?
3) The only NVR product that actually looks they've given significant thought to the interface and looks like it is aimed at consumer power users who will be consuming almost entirely through a phone etc, is the offering from Unifi Protect offering. However, their camera's IQ isn't as good as the Dahua / Hikview range, they're a lot more expensive, and they have the corporate practice of dropping entire ranges without warning so I think that's a non-starter
It's probably worth stressing that whilst of course recording of events is an important baseline ability, 90% of the utility for me is instant alerts of what's happening around my property, not retrospectively going through the NVR if something happens. If someone walks up my driveway, I want to know that near-instantly and get a video feed on my phone / google home / etc within a few seconds before they get to my door, not sit there waiting for an app to clunkily load and show me a feed 20 seconds out of date.
It just feels really odd that all of the interfaces are so poor on everything I can find, and they are purely geared for either live monitoring on a monitor, or watching back recordings with no time sensitivity.
Cheers,
Tom.
So, do I:
1) Give Dahua another go with an NVR? The IQ was excellent on them, but the app felt like it was coded in a kid's basement (both aesthetically and stability wise), certainly not a slick "prosumer" app, and the major issue I had was trying to get remote playback working from SD cards. @WJA96 assures me the NVR is much better, so maybe worth a try? I've just bought a 3tb WD purple so ready to move on an NVR setup.
2) Is Hikvision's app any better or is that also a "very Chinese" offering?
3) The only NVR product that actually looks they've given significant thought to the interface and looks like it is aimed at consumer power users who will be consuming almost entirely through a phone etc, is the offering from Unifi Protect offering. However, their camera's IQ isn't as good as the Dahua / Hikview range, they're a lot more expensive, and they have the corporate practice of dropping entire ranges without warning so I think that's a non-starter
It's probably worth stressing that whilst of course recording of events is an important baseline ability, 90% of the utility for me is instant alerts of what's happening around my property, not retrospectively going through the NVR if something happens. If someone walks up my driveway, I want to know that near-instantly and get a video feed on my phone / google home / etc within a few seconds before they get to my door, not sit there waiting for an app to clunkily load and show me a feed 20 seconds out of date.
It just feels really odd that all of the interfaces are so poor on everything I can find, and they are purely geared for either live monitoring on a monitor, or watching back recordings with no time sensitivity.
Cheers,
Tom.