Curious to hear who here has a preference between IP cameras and HD analog ones. Are most people still using IP cameras?
IP vs HD Analog (AHD, CVI, TVI)?
- Thread starter john-ipvm
- Start date
You will find most people on this forum are IP camera enthusiasts. I personally have just installed a TVI system and am thrilled with it. As with everything else in life it depends on what you want. I needed fairly basic images and video resolution so that I could observe things in an office type setting. I did not need to focus in on license plates or fine objects. I also wanted a system that was absurdly simple to maintain and would not have me dealing with network configuration issues. In essence, TVI is like the honda civic of the security camera world. It's basic, simple but works well if your needs are limited. I am appending an image so you can see how nice and clear a 2MP TVI image is. This is an image from my optical shop and I can see very clearly every detail I need to. If I wanted to focus in on people handling (or stealing) individual frames I would need to go with IP cameras and perhaps 4MP or better. However, for my particular (and limited) needs it was perfect. Incidentally, it was less than half the cost of a comparable IP system
zero-degrees
Known around here
- Aug 15, 2015
- 1,335
- 844
@ilan1h2020 glad to see you finally got things up and running. What brand did your installer end up putting in (Cameras and NVR)? What did you end up spending? Sorry, just curious after al the back and forth a few weeks ago.
Last edited by a moderator:
zero-degrees
Known around here
- Aug 15, 2015
- 1,335
- 844
Seems like a weird post from you John
Normally you're stepping in to clarify advanced posts when IPVM is mentioned.Personally I am not a fan of the AHD world. TVI for example is a cross over technology. It provided a GREAT solution to those who could not or were unwilling to pull new cable for IP cameras. Sometimes it was because cable was installed prior to build out, or the areas are not longer accessable or the end user is simply being cheap. However, you are seeing more and more companies discontinue TVI hardware or starting to clearance it out. Within the upcoming year/years your selection for new, warrantied, supported TVI hardware will be very limited.
For any new install or upgrade where cable can be pulled I feel IP is the solution and best bet - if your dead set on TVI to save money on the cameras at least pull ethernet and use baluns. It allows for simple upgrades or changes later on - while sure, technology can change, I don't see anything else being required past ethernet, unless someone wants to go the fiber route, but this will be few and far between as well as NOT economical for 99% of jobs.
I am curious to hear what others are doing. Since this group is so passionate about IP cameras, wanted to hear what objections or drivers you see for analog HD.
"You are seeing more and more companies discontinue TVI hardware or starting to clearance it out." I am seeing the opposite. The sales numbers of HD analog are increasingly quite rapidly and, in our integrator survey, the adoption among even larger integrators is fairly strong.
One thing that might explain discounts you see on TVI is that TVI 3MP, 4MP and 5MP are being released this year so 720p models are being phased out, sold at rock bottom prices to make way.
"You are seeing more and more companies discontinue TVI hardware or starting to clearance it out." I am seeing the opposite. The sales numbers of HD analog are increasingly quite rapidly and, in our integrator survey, the adoption among even larger integrators is fairly strong.
One thing that might explain discounts you see on TVI is that TVI 3MP, 4MP and 5MP are being released this year so 720p models are being phased out, sold at rock bottom prices to make way.
Hi zero-degrees:
It was a hicvision DVR and 4 2MP cameras with the below specs:
TVST STI708
Cameras:
Listed as "HT-TVI (2MP) Eyeball camera w/fixed lens and 24 IR LED. TVI, 1/2.8"MP sensor, 3.6mm fixed, True Day and Night (ICR), DNR, UTC, dual output (HD-TVI and CVBS). The box does not say hikvision ("outdoor IR camera HD-TVI 1080P 2MP DC12V 3.6mm NTSC, Model:SSE-648-2M)
The quoted cost was $895 with all parts and labor. I paid another $110 for 2 terabytes HD ($65) and an audio microphone on one of the cameras ($50). My total cost was under $1000. I had received 3 quotes for an IP camera system and they ranged from $2400 to $3200. Now that I have gained some experience with this I understand the pros and cons of TVI. For other offices I would stick with TVI since most of the monitoring is done WITHIN the network and the live view is excellent. On the other hand, my offices have horrible DSL upload speed and my remote viewing is very poor. I'm pretty sure that if I had installed an IP system at the office the remote viewing would have been worse.
However, for my home (where I have 10X the upload speed) I'm going to install a 4MP IP system. In this situation I will be monitoring my home exclusively with Remote View and the super bandwidth speeds should give me a very smooth experience and the high resolution that I want. It took me a while to understand this nuance of security cameras, so I'll state it again so newbies don't waste the research time that I had to go through:
If REmote Viewing is going to be a large part of your experience, you will need good upload speeds for even a basic TVI system and even better upload speeds for a multi-camera, IP system. If you plan on monitoring your video feeds at a PC within the same network in which your camera system is on, it doesn't really matter at all what your upload speed is. You will see an excellent smooth video stream whether you have TVI or IP cameras because your PC is more or less hardwired to the video feeds (through the router). In this situation, the difference will simply be that the IP system gives you a much better picture.
Last edited by a moderator:
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,891
- 21,407
This is because they are either reusing the coax infrastructure to save on the cost of rewiring. Alternatively, on a large install they can save a decent chunk ofchange so they go with HD over coax despite what might be better for the customer in the long term. The client may not understand the difference between the technologies and simply compare 1080p to 1080p and go with the cheaper option.
I am using a AHD dvr with some analogue cameras and a AHD 1080p bullet. The advantages I've found , besides what has been mentioned by others , is that I can split the signal from 1 camera into two channels and set each channel up with different parameters. The cameras would be very expensive to replace with IP at the moment.
The lower resolution not such an issue for the situation. It would be nice to replace with some AHD 1080p pinholes. Has anyone done this and where would be a good , reliable, safe source, retailers they could suggest. Would all AHD pinholes be compatible? With any AHD recorder or issues of compatibility with country of origin, US, China,English?. To go the IP way would be expensive, and can can't split them, unless someone knows how. Need to get good ID images under hoodies, hats etc so 1080p would be great.
Using 960h, AHD and IP. Nothing like diversity.
The lower resolution not such an issue for the situation. It would be nice to replace with some AHD 1080p pinholes. Has anyone done this and where would be a good , reliable, safe source, retailers they could suggest. Would all AHD pinholes be compatible? With any AHD recorder or issues of compatibility with country of origin, US, China,English?. To go the IP way would be expensive, and can can't split them, unless someone knows how. Need to get good ID images under hoodies, hats etc so 1080p would be great.
Using 960h, AHD and IP. Nothing like diversity.