CCTV System - budget £1000

[E999]

Following an install of a Yale alarm, I'm looking to add CCTV to my property - sounds a bit fort knox but I had two mountain bikes stolen at Christmas which were worth nearly 4K....No insurance payout either!!!

When the "scene of crime" officer visited me he advised that most CCTV evidence was indeed so poor that 95% actually never reaches court

He recommended a UK manufacturer called Dedicated micros as a good system BUT the cost of recorder is silly money.....I was also told to avoid H264 style recorders as these tend to be lower cost....

Can anyone help/advise the best 4CH system for under a grand....I will fit myself......If possible I only want branded gear...

Cheers
Matt

 

[Gr4eme]

Where do you live?

I can very possibly supply you with a system for less than a grand depending on where you live

I work for a well known CCTV installation firm

 

[E999]

Many thx indeed for your kind offer.......I'm in Taunton, somerset...Would interested although I'm kinda set on buying good product and fitting myself as apparently its all "plug & play"...

The people who I bought the alarm from have recommended a Samsung Techwin DVR......Apparently it represents best VFM on market...Anybody used the SVR480....They are on ebay @ £450....

any comments...

Thx
Matt

 

[flyingbear]

I used to be an engineer for a DVR manufactuer a few years ago, so i might not be the most up to date!

Pro system like Dedicated micros and Silent witness are indeed overkill, and unless you intended to use PTZ cameras their PTZ support in their standard spec is wasted.

There is a few consideration when buying a DVR.

1) Compression

There are two type of compression, the temporal lossy type (Mpeg4 variant, using temporaral and spartial compression) and the temporal loseless type (spartial compression). Enough of jargon, the first type give u saving in HDD space, but suffered inter-frame quality. the latter tends to look very stable and good, but its big file size

2) HDD space

HDD space cost money. a trade off (see above)

3) HDD failure

Harddrive failure happens all the time, and its expensive. Actually, the place i used to work (supplied professionals), i would give the HDD livespan only like 1 year since its constantly being overwritten in commercial setup.
Raid is a plus (google that).
or if you can use SSD (if you can afford it)
Alternatively, buy system that have a good Video motion detection (VDM), so it only record when triggered (minimising HDD write cycle). but bewarn most VDM is rubbish and unreliable. Look for one that can setup a barrier.

4) Image quality

Dont get a DVR that say CIF, thats too low a resolution. If you want an acceptable quality, at least 640x480 resoltion PER CHANNEL, or D1 Per CHANNEL is even better.

5) Camera

You will need a couple of good low lux camera to give u shape picture even at night. most cheap IR illiuminator is rubbish since too weak.


from my experience, picking features instead of brand is the best way to go. shop around and you might just get a bargain...


*ACPO had a recommendation for quality of digital video evidence, and you can probably find it in google.

 

[E999]

Many many thx for your in depth explanation ...its a little bit above me but it helps......

Similarly I spoke with the scenes of crime contact who investigated the theft of my mountain bikes and he strongly advised me to stay away from H264 format as this is computer generated technology...It seems all the lower end product such as AV Tech offer this - Im expecting it to be chinese!!

Apparently the best format for CCTV is indeed JPEG although there are not many manufacturers offering this now due to inefficent file size compared with H264......I'm quite happy to install a larger HDD as ultimately CCTV is all about image quality - IMO.....

Will try and find a JPEG DVR....

VBR
Matt

 

[lums]

if not i might be able to send you some info

 

[E999]

Many thx for your advice.....

I bought a 4CH H264 unit but the playback quality was "blocky" so I have returned and since purchased a JPEG DVR called a "dual codec" and made by a taiwanese manu called Neotech or NTIC...This stores pictures in jpeg and WOW it is like DVD playback even at 12.5FPS/ channel.

It seems like the CID knew what they were on about...

For cameras I purchased Samsung Techwin SOC4030.

All in all a fantastic top draw system for £900

Very very happy bunny!

 

[icctvsystems]

If you are wanting to take advantage of remote viewing then you will likely want to stick with H.264. The quality is certainly not bad (it is better than MPEG) and in most domestic situations will suffice!

Footage quality will depend on the quality of the camera and recording resolution also - most importantly check the recording resolution of the DVR - D1 spec records at up to 720 X 520 Pixels, which will not be as pixelated when viewing. On a budget DVR you'll be stretching a 320 X 230 image which will look terrible no matter what the compression!

MJPEG has bigger storage and bandwith requirements.

So it depends on what you require. H.264 is seen as the perfect compromise between quality and storage/badwidth requirements.

 

[E999]

The H264 recorder was indeed a 4CH D1 resolution unit called "alien" which apparently is a big big seller in UK government establishments....

Even running on D1 25FPS the picture quality on playback was very weak compared with JPEG. Luckily I was also able to compare Samsung Techwin 4CH unit which was better but still a very poor 2nd compared with JPEG. The guy in shop did explain that the JPEG was 30% less memory effiicent but personally I'd rather the best quality pics and add a larger HDD. ( We put a 1TB unit in).

This Dual codec unit uses JPEG for image storage and H264 for remote transmission so its really making the best of all worlds. At £450 inc 1TB + VAT it was a good deal I feel.

 

[tonyhall]

I can supply you with a DM Sprite for £250 delivered.
Its one from work but shhhh

 

[E999]

I can supply you with a DM Sprite for £250 delivered.
Its one from work but shhhh

Now thats a machine I would have liked but they are usually silly $$$
Many thx for offer all the same

 

[kujina]

What was the model and where did you get it from?

 

[E999]

http://www.map-security.com/index.p...category_id=18&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=2

Hopefully this work.....All I can say is really really pleased with unit..

Easy to use...playback quality as the guy said in shop is unbeatable....

sorry i do not know make...only thats its Korean/Taiwanese