Hi, can anyone suggest a decent CCTY system for 4 cameras, I am told that my existing one is not very good resolution. It cannot read number plates for example. I have cat 5e cabling to the existing ones which includes 12v power. They don't look too bad to me but maybe time to upgrade.
Crickey Ozzie, the grief you caused at PCA when I suggested you should upgrade, now you're asking for suggestions on upgrading. I don't want any further aggro, and will post my suggestions for you. Firstly, your current setup is poor, I appreciate it may look OK expanded onto a 1024x768 screen (circa 1998) but on a HD screen it lost all detail, how do I know, because I viewed your sample recording (352x288) and on my 24" HD screen it opened in a window about 3" square and at full screen, just forget it. So let's move on to a complete HD system, and I notice you currently have PoE which is a bonus, my original quotes related to analogue systems but you're setup for digital with your wiring (cat5e) which puts the price up a bit, but is of a even higher quality, especially in night vision. Now I don't know your budget, but what price for decent security? a 4x 960P system is around £150 and 4x 1080p £220, these are complete systems without HDD, you can pay about £60 more for a 1TB fitted, but if you have a SATA drive kicking about or even buy your own you can get 3TB for that money, just open it up and plug it in. I've had a 4x 1080p analogue system (£130) for over a year, got to be one of the best things I've bought, there is only one drawback I've found, this is a 16:9 system and shows that way on my TV (HDMI) and mobile devices (cloud) but when i view on PC via IE11 (network) it's in a 4:3 window so appears a bit squashed. The systems I refer to are Sannce/Annke they have shops on both Amazon and Ebay, i will link to Ebay, you want PoE, filter by cheapest and keep scrolling until you get to 1080p http://stores.ebay.co.uk/SANNCE-Security If you still are unsure about the levels of quality take a look at this link, your current system is known as the CIF standard, compare it to 1080p http://www.camvex.com.au/images/ResolutionChart.jpg
Well hello again, I don't want any further aggro either. PCA FE seemed to take umbrage to our trivial misunderstanding and deleted the posts That aside, thanks for the advice and here is some more info should you wish to continue. I have 4 cameras all hardwired cat5e back to PC. The one above my garage that you referred to I moved to a higher position some time back, I was not lying. Ideally I want the best quality within a reasonable budget which is up to around £400 but I don't want that to be a starting point, I was hoping for around £200. PTZ would be perfect but I think I may be pushing my luck a bit there and don't want hideous great things like I have seen. Just as a matter of interest I would still like to see the sample clip that I posted as I have no recollection of that at all.
I have had a cheap sentient 4 channel one from maplin cost me 200 with 2 cameras, seems ok, but I don't use it to read number plates.
Thanks, I don't really want it to read number plates but it was suggested by another member that my existing system is very poor and I was just thinking of upgrading it. These things have come way down in cost and I was hoping for some advice from those with more experience of them as I thought mine were good but I thought my PC was good until I was educated about SSD's
Myself and a friend both use the Hikvision 4mp cameras, and are both very pleased. No issues reading a number plate in even okay-ish light from a fair distance. Night vision isn't terrible, but would need the vehicle to be fairly close to read the plate (~20m perhaps). They're cheap enough (£400 for 4 is doable) and come in three different FoVs and either bullet or dome, depending on what you need. e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hikvision-...UTF8&qid=1478366781&sr=1-1&keywords=hikvision
I was looking at these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SANNCE-4C...ork-Outdoor-/111845680129?hash=item1a0a85a401 Which are 1080 and closer to what I would like to spend. They are as advised PoE but my present cabling has CNC connectors for the video and a separate different one for the power. I would have to change the connections at both ends and possibly extend the internal ones, is this a simple matter?
Ah, you won't get anywhere with IP cameras and coax cabling, and I assume replacing all of the cabling is out of the question?
Cabling is Cat5e, what makes you think it is co-ax. It is just the connectors that I will need to change, Googling it seems that is relatively easy with crimp on plugs/sockets. Thanks Rich, A bit near the thick end of budget but does have 2TB so considering it.
Ozzie - you've said that the connectors for the cameras is BNC, but you have cat5e cabling - just to confirm, have you some sort of cat5e -> BNC converter?
2 wires from Cat5 into a balan with screw terminals one end BNC socket other end. Power from another 2 wires from same cable into a separate camera input plug.
Yes now I know that I can get crimp on bits easily but I was unaware of this when I first posted. I have tried things with cables before and found that the conductors were so thin I needed to be a microsurgeon. rj45 has conductors visible to the naked eye so crimp on should be easy enough.
I have seen these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112065275363?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
I have seen these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112065275363?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT but they seem too cheap, am I missing something?
the link for the £135 system is the one I have, it is missing a HDD but as I mentioned before you can soon fit any spare SATA drive or buy one. The system is 1080p but is analogue, still very good for the money, your current cabling will need to be replaced with those supplied. Your sample clip is at https://www.dropbox.com/s/mwd9sm33s5ni2l5/2015-08-13-15-00-00-01.avi?dl=0 but you'll need to download it as the format 'zmp5' means it can't be played on that site.
