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Author Topic: CCTV Software required  (Read 12046 times)

oldfogy

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CCTV Software required
« on: April 13, 2008, 05:20:32 PM »

I am thinking of hooking-up my CCTV camera/s to my PC for recording onto.
At the moment they are connected to two separate VCR's in different parts of the house.

Realistically I only need to record from one of them, although I do have a four-way NorteK VS84 multiplexer available.
At present I have Nero and Cyberlink but I also need something that will data stamp the recording/s.

The PC is of good spec and has all of the necessary connections, although I have not tried it "yet"

All comments and suggestions, will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
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soms

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2008, 08:24:27 PM »

Unfortunately I do not have any experience with CCTV although it is certainly an interesting topic.

I believe you can purchase analog capture cards which have say 4 dedicated coax inputs for CCTV cameras and I would think would include the necessary PC software to record all simultaneously with time/date stamps etc.

I would think that this is expensive although I have not researched it. Of course the latest thing is IP cameras, CCTV cameras which can be connected to an ethernet network and the video is transmitted using IP. Handy for new installations as companies seem to want to move away from having a central security room where normal camera feeds would be wired too.

Apparently with IP cameras, you run a server which can receive the video and which due to the nature of networking can be remotely monitored, accessed etc.

You could also just use an analog TV capture card for your existing set up, but this will only support one channel input at a time and the bundled software will be designed to facilitate watching TV and basic recording, so may not be advanced enough to capture the video as you would like in terms of multiple cameras and stamping.
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oldfogy

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2008, 08:46:04 PM »

Thanks for the reply.
I have just spoken to a friend of mine who does install CCTV and he seems to think that the MS video program "may" have the option I want, but not too sure.

I also have a CCTV wholesaler close by so I will call in and ask them tomorrow.
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guest

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2008, 07:45:59 AM »

These cameras that are connected into the videos - how exactly are they connected? SCART? Aerial input?
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setecio

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2008, 10:44:59 AM »

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guest

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2008, 11:08:56 AM »

Its also worth bearing in mind that plod don't want to know about images recorded at less than PAL DVD resolution (720x576) as anything below that isn't considered "evidential quality", therefore the minimum recording spec you'll get away with is 720x288 (PAL is interlaced remember). If the crime is serious enough then they'll use lower quality but for crimes like vandalism/burglary/etc most of the home systems out there are only useful to determine the time of the incident and perhaps how many people were involved.

I have a 9-channel DVR here and that'll use between 2 and 4GB per hour recording at 25 frames/sec. That's a per-channel figure and is based on MJPEG compression, so a rough rule of thumb is about 75GB/day storage for each video channel is required. That's without motion detection software running of course which will reduce your storage requirements - how much will be determined on how busy the area is.
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oldfogy

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2008, 11:53:55 AM »

This may be interesting reading http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=22328

Interesting yes, but not what I want.
Thanks all the same.

These cameras that are connected into the videos - how exactly are they connected? SCART? Aerial input?
One of them is with  a SCART lead, the other is with a Phono into SCART adaptor.

Its also worth bearing in mind that plod don't want to know about images recorded at less than PAL DVD resolution (720x576) as anything below that isn't considered "evidential quality"
Unless the equipment is supplied and fitted by them, then your own or any other recordings will not be used as evidence in any type of court.
The reason is because they have no way of proving that the finished video is true and correct.
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guest

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2008, 12:02:58 PM »

Unless the equipment is supplied and fitted by them, then your own or any other recordings will not be used as evidence in any type of court.
The reason is because they have no way of proving that the finished video is true and correct.

That may be true with VHS-based (or indeed MPEG-based) video but its not true for MJPEG-based recording.
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oldfogy

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #8 on: April 14, 2008, 12:35:37 PM »

What is MJPEG
(How can you prove that the date and time stamp is accurate and not been tampered with)
Basically you can't which is why the police will not accept your recordings as evidence.
Yes they may well accept them for their own investigations but that is as far as they will go with them.


I should of said in my last post that the actual camera connections are.
One camera has a BNC connection (no audio), so using a BNC to Phono adaptor it's then connected onto a Scart to Phono lead.

The other is Wireless with the receiver having Phono connections, this being the one I intend to connect to the PC as it also has audio which the other camera does not.

Cameras and connections or ancillary equipment is not the problem, the problem is not being able to find any recording software "yet"
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setecio

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2008, 01:39:44 PM »

Forgive me for asking what might be a silly question but ....

what is the point in any CCTV system that isn't admissible in court.

What is the point in all these home wifi surveillance systems that are appearing on the market ?
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oldfogy

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2008, 02:01:18 PM »

1. Forgive me for asking what might be a silly question but ....

2. what is the point in any CCTV system that isn't admissible in court.

3. What is the point in all these home wifi surveillance systems that are appearing on the market ?

1. No question is silly if it has a purpose, "which your's does".
2. There is nothing stopping me from doctoring the date/time to say I was somewhere when I was not.
3. Peace of mind.

Sorry for the short answers but i have to go out now.
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guest

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #11 on: April 14, 2008, 02:27:34 PM »

A datestamp watermarked on the video is not necessary to make it "evidential quality". In some instances a datestamp may greatly assist, but probably in the majority of incidents involving private systems the precise date/time is of little relevance to a successful prosecution. A picture of someone breaking into your house is a picture of someone breaking into your house regardless of what time it is.

What plod wants (and I do have a little experience of this) is :

a) Access to the digital video (to make a copy) which must be in a standard format. If they have to convert the video to analogue to copy it then you can forget them doing this unless its a murder or something. If you don't have a USB port or CD drive to copy the data to then they're not all that interested. Cost constraints as usual;

b) No inter-frame compression. ie nothing like MPEG2 (DVD) or MPEG4 (divx/xvid) as only the keyframes are admissible in evidence. MJPEG is the normal choice as its simply a series of still photos at whatever frame rate you choose.

c) Resolution. Minimum 720x576 but preferably higher.
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guest

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #12 on: April 14, 2008, 04:31:13 PM »

The CCTV s/w I've got (not for the DVR) seems to be tied to some specific hardware - DICO800. I have some other s/w but again that's for specific hardware :(

I don't think I found anything free which would record and do motion detection when I looked 3-4 years ago, but if that isn't required I think there were a fair few which would record, although resolution may have been quite low.

That's an interesting link setecio - ta :)
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oldfogy

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #13 on: April 14, 2008, 04:43:34 PM »

I have now found the one I want, although it's gone up in price since my friend purchased his copy.
But it will do everything I want and need it to do.

http://www.icode.co.uk/icatcher/cctvshop/index.html?target=dept_20.html

*******************************

For what I want it for I need to show the dates and times on the clips.
One reason being is that they will be edited to remove any blank or unnecessary bits.
So then when it jumps from one segment to the next it will still have the correct date and time.
Otherwise it means having to watch the whole thing and not just the important pieces.
This will be acceptable for my purpose.

Thanks for all and any suggestions.
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soms

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Re: CCTV Software required
« Reply #14 on: April 14, 2008, 11:52:02 PM »

I am only glad we dont need CCTV...

It seems to be a substantial investment in hardware, software and storage capacity (the later being the one I could never meet). I only hope you find a suitable solution. I recon a bundle which includes PCI cards and software is a good choice since you have existing cameras. Its odd you mentioned the input to be via SCART and component, I thought most were coax which looks to be the interface on the PCI cards on offer.
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