D1 recording quality

[NGBod]

I bought a no name chinese DVR based on the high spec and the assumption all D1 25fps/ channel recordings would be roughly the same regardless of machine.
The DVR has plenty of features and works well except for the fact that the recordings are so poor that they look as though someone has smeared spots of Vaseline on the camera lense.
The live view from the Twilight VFD & FLD cameras is much better though I would still struggle to recognise myself at more than about 4m away in all but the best lighting.
I now have some Samsung SCO-2080R cameras coming which I'm hoping will increase the resolution but I'm hesitant to shell out on another DVR.

If I went for an XDH pro 8 channelDVR to record from 5 channels would I still see this drop in resolution between live and recorded? I mean they would both be recording at D1 quality, so is the cheaper machines D1 quality different to the XDH pro D1 quality?


Dave

 

[Jibbeh]

Is there an option to adjust bitrate for recordings on your dvr? Too low a bitrate would mean quite pixellated/blocky images, I realise this isnt what you described but could help improve your recorded images.

 

[NGBod]

Thanks for the reply, it has four bit rate settings and I've already got it set on the highest quality setting.
It seems to me that the DVR is using a poor compression algorithm which is very lossy. The files are saved as .264 files which so far I have only been able to open with the supplied software.
I would have expected it to use an off the shelf file format and hence be the same as other D1 machines. Thats why I was wondering if they all show this degradation in video quality on the recorded image compared to live.

Dave

 

[Europlex]

The latest video compression standard, H.264 (also known as MPEG-4 Part 10/AVC ... H.264 is an open, licensed standard that supports the most efficient video ...

 

[NGBod]

What made me think they are non standard files is the fact that I have not been able to find a program to open them apart from the supplied one. I've tried VLC, Nero showtime, Aimersoft ultimate video convertor etc etc. These programs usually open HD MPEG4 files ok
I tried the Samsung SCO 2080R camera today and the recorded quality was no better, it looks like a trip to CCTVdirect at Leeds is on the cards.
Do they have any of these DVR's/ cameras setup in shop so I could see what the picture quality is like before potentially wasting more cash?

 

[Alarm]

You bought a self made software DVR.
Cameras as you may have noticed are a bit better, so the DVR is at fault.

Many have been reconmended here, have a look at some with a quick search.