A while back I installed a pretty cheap Samsung surveillance system for a client who was dealing with some petty thefts. It's an analog system that uses CAT5 cable to connect the cameras to the DVR. It's been working great, and the only criticism I have of the system is that the DVR requires ActiveX to view the DVR through the web interface.
The client now wants to upgrade the existing cameras to something higher resolution.
I was thinking about using some IP cameras with ZoneMinder. I'm not sure what we're going to do.
- Client wants to be able to watch live feeds from dedicated displays. (Currently using old TV's)
- Client wants "1080p" video record quality.
- Cameras will be outdoors, and should be weatherproof.
- Cameras should only need CAT5 cable to operate. (I don't want to need to run new cable, but will if I have to)
- Cameras must have good night recording quality.
- Cameras should have IR LED's. (But we're considering getting extra IR emitters anyway)
- Camera does not have to be an IP camera, we would be interesting in some other DVR+Camera combo.
- Does not require Internet Explorer to view the web interface.
- Budget is a big concern, can't afford to spend thousands per camera. Not quite sure what the budget is yet. We're looking for the best bang for the buck.
I'm really not sure what DVR solution I will go with. I know some IP cameras can just dump video files to a NAS. But it would be nice to have a central management system/DVR.
We're still not sure what we're gonna do with this system, we might just add more cameras to the existing system.