Suggestion: CCTV Setup for my House

iosoft

PC enthusiast since MS DOS 5
Skilled
Dear Friends,

I need help and equipment suggestion to install a CCTV Camera setup.

Reason:
To protect my old parents when I am at office or out of town for office trip.


Placements:
We have two flats, 1st-floor and 4th-floor (top-floor).

In the 1st-floor, I want to install 2 in-door cameras and 1 out-door camera.
In the 4th-floor, I want to install 1 in-door camera, at the entrance.

Equipments:
I want all the cameras will be controlled by a single unit, that will be connected with a LED TV in my father's room.

Please suggest which brand of products to buy, I have damm no idea.
Every vendor tries to cheat.

I want the video to be crystal clear in day time.
Night vision is also needed.


Please suggest. Which brand / model to buy? Expected budget? etc.
 
NVR or DVR?
That's up to you and your requirements

A DVR setup is often cheaper in terms of equipment cost but you nee to factor in the cost of wiring
Also, adding additional cameras can be cumbersome

A NVR setup requires more expensive cameras but offers far greater flexibility.
Also, depending on the distances, you can often get away with wifi connectivity which saves the cost and hassle of wiring

I would always take a NVR based setup over DVR but like i said, entirely up to you and your priorities
 
That's up to you and your requirements

A DVR setup is often cheaper in terms of equipment cost but you nee to factor in the cost of wiring
Also, adding additional cameras can be cumbersome

A NVR setup requires more expensive cameras but offers far greater flexibility.
Also, depending on the distances, you can often get away with wifi connectivity which saves the cost and hassle of wiring

I would always take a NVR based setup over DVR but like i said, entirely up to you and your priorities


Actually, all I need is 3 cams. 4 cams are more than enough.
 
I just use Dahua Ip cameras and record the video to the HDD connected to my Netgear R7800 router, you can use any NAS to record. This option is also there in Hikvision Ip cameras.
Using Nas means you need a PC to view the recorded DAV format footage or some paid apps in phones. The stock app for my Dahua can only show recorded stuff which is stored on board the camera SD card.
Honestly its not like you are going to see the recorded footage every day. Majority of the video is deleted even without anybody reviewing the footage. I just see the motion detected screen shots via the phone and of course the live view video. If you have a camera like mine which has high bit rate and with 2.7k to 4k resolution cameras, phones get hot reviewing those footages or even live view.

So I saved money by using a NAS which the router does. If you buy a NVR you need space for keyboard,mouse and a display, all those wires will have to come to the NVR or dvr. In my case the router already has a bunch of lan wires occupying all of its ports.

If you go for the turbo cameras you need additional wiring for power and signal. With a Ip camera you can send power with just the regular CAT5 cable via POE switch or injector/adapter.

Dahua cameras since 2016 have tides shifted in their favor, they have the edge in sharpness and detail vs hikvision. But in India they are super expensive, even though they cost about the same in other countries.

Also for external cameras never cheap out because they occasionally need to be reset. Many cheap cameras fail due to high outdoor temperatures. My cameras are exposed to direct sunlight for 3 hrs a day.
Out door cameras need the highest resolution to see the number plates and also high frame rate.
 
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I just use Dahua Ip cameras and record the video to the HDD connected to my Netgear R7800 router, you can use any NAS to record. This option is also there in Hikvision Ip cameras.
Using Nas means you need a PC to view the recorded DAV format footage or some paid apps in phones. The stock app for my Dahua can only show recorded stuff which is stored on board the camera SD card.
Honestly its not like you are going to see the recorded footage every day. Majority of the video is deleted even without anybody reviewing the footage. I just see the motion detected screen shots via the phone and of course the live view video. If you have a camera like mine which has high bit rate and with 2.7k to 4k resolution cameras, phones get hot reviewing those footages or even live view.

So I saved money by using a NAS which the router does. If you buy a NVR you need space for keyboard,mouse and a display, all those wires will have to come to the NVR or dvr. In my case the router already has a bunch of lan wires occupying all of its ports.

If you go for the turbo cameras you need additional wiring for power and signal. With a Ip camera you can send power with just the regular CAT5 cable via POE switch or injector/adapter.

Dahua cameras since 2016 have tides shifted in their favor, they have the edge in sharpness and detail vs hikvision. But in India they are super expensive, even though they cost about the same in other countries.

Also for external cameras never cheap out because they occasionally need to be reset. Many cheap cameras fail due to high outdoor temperatures. My cameras are exposed to direct sunlight for 3 hrs a day.
Out door cameras need the highest resolution to see the number plates and also high frame rate.
i was in the same boat as you i.e. why buy a nvr when a nas will do the job.
Given that NVRs are cheap though, I picked up one on a whim and will never go back to a NAS setup for video recording.

And no, I don’t have a monitor/kb attached to it - it just sits headless in a corner next to the router like any network device

The advantage of a dedicated NVR are that a) it frees up bandwidth for your NAS
b) motion detection is hardware offloaded to the NVR making it a lot more reliable

, c) video processing is hardware offloaded to nvr which makes the whole phone/pc slowing down to view a feed a non issue

Basically the whole process of a quick review of a recording that used to be a painful task via a NAS is a lot more optimised and easier when done on a mobile/pc when you are accessing the recordings via the NVR IP / app rather than reviewing the recordings on the NAS via a PC client..

Would I pay 1L for this added convenience - certainly not
Would I pay the price of 1 -1.5 cameras for ot- - certainly yes
 
i was in the same boat as you i.e. why buy a nvr when a nas will do the job.
Given that NVRs are cheap though, I picked up one on a whim and will never go back to a NAS setup for video recording.
Hikvision nvr is cheap to buy but not dahua. I could have bought the hikvision and use only record and motion detect feature but then I would loose the Dahua IVS options. For me it was not worth it because my cameras are 4k and some are in 2.7k, so 4k capable poe nvr that can record more then 2 ch similtanious recording in 4k resolution was super expensive. To store that I first bought a 8tb WD red/ enterprise white hdd, I later came to know that anything under $350 nvr won't work with such high capacity Hdd.
So for me a NAS was no brainer, considering the router is also dowloading torrents to same Hdd. While NVR serves only one purpose.

The advantage of a dedicated NVR are that a) it frees up bandwidth for your NAS
b) motion detection is hardware offloaded to the NVR making it a lot more reliable

, c) video processing is hardware offloaded to nvr which makes the whole phone/pc slowing down to view a feed a non issue
True about the bandwidth. But using motion detection in my case is useless, since the leaves and shadows keep triggering zones, no matter how carefully you place the zones. So instead I uses the IVS feature like virtual trip wire, or car detect.
I think there is no difference whether you access the video from ip camera or nvr or nas, with respect to phone slowing down.

Basically the whole process of a quick review of a recording that used to be a painful task via a NAS is a lot more optimised and easier when done on a mobile/pc when you are accessing the recordings via the NVR IP / app rather than reviewing the recordings on the NAS via a PC client..
When the dahua stores videos in Nas, it creates new folder each day,sub folder for every hour. For motion detection jpegs stills, even a sub minute folder, it records video grab stills until the motion ceases, so one is not missing anything. So i can view the stills in my smart tv or phone, very easily. Its only for the recorded video review, that I use the PC because the DAV format cannot be played by my tv.
 
Please suggest a 4/8 channel Hikvision NVR model (with link if possible) for home setup. Will connect 1080p (or is it 1080i???) cameras. 4k not required.
 
Get a hikvision NVR which has POE ports and which is 4 ch, which can do atleast all 4 channels in 1080p like the DS-7604NI-E1/4P, however it records only in H264 not the H265 codec. If you want H265 codec then get the DS-7604NI-Q1/4P, although can't find this model in indian online stores.
For cameras look at which format fits your premises bullet, dome and turret type cameras which ever suits your requirement. Dome cameras are installed in places where you have people who might want to change the direction in which camera is pointing. It is impossible to change the direction of the dome camera without removing the screws.

Bullet cameras are easier to install and burglars favorite, they can easily spot in which direction its pointing and they can also cover it with a cloth.
Turret style cameras are better but they are to small to have a SD card slot internally, their direction is also easily spotted.
Dome cameras may have a SD card slot, they are vandal proof, they are also difficult to judge at which direction its pointing, until you get very close and some of them have zoom lenses,( some bullet cameras also have zoom lenses).

I personally use dome cameras with zoom lenses since you do not know what lens you need at your location. Mine has high powered single Ir emitter not those tiny ir led bulbs that surround the lens.

So pick the range in this http://www.hikvisionindia.com/products/network-camera/2-line-series/2mp
Note some of those cameras are old ones which record in H264, newer ones record in h265 or proprietary H265+ which utilizes even less hdd space. Moot point if the purchased NVR doesn't support them.
 
Anyone has an idea of total pricing for this kind of configuration ? With and without appropriate NVR
I would say the most cheapest hikvision 1080p Ip camera costs about 3.5k to 5k each, depending one type and features, NVR with POE and with 1080p recording costs about 11k all prices are of amazon india. Should be cheaper in cctv stores.
 
Anyone has an idea of total pricing for this kind of configuration ? With and without appropriate NVR

what price range is he looking at
Outdoor cams - typically 4k for 1080p
indoor - a tad less
NVR - 8ch - 5K odd

add approx 1K per cam for wifi

here is a quasi case study for a wide area ip cam deployment which may be of interest


PS: this has been working stable in production for 2+ years now at a fraction of the cost quoted by local vendors
14 cams , 12 wireless and 2 wired
6 P2P (i.e. 3 pair) wireless bridges , 5 APs and 7-8 bridged repeaters covering a block of 0.5km X 200m
 
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So 4 cameras @ 5k per is 20k

The NVR 8ch is 5k

With labour that might add anywhere from 5 - 10 k

35k tops

That is the ball park to look for.

He can either do this himself which looks unlikely or engage a third party


We have two flats, 1st-floor and 4th-floor (top-floor).

In the 1st-floor, I want to install 2 in-door cameras and 1 out-door camera.
In the 4th-floor, I want to install 1 in-door camera, at the entrance.

Equipments:
I want all the cameras will be controlled by a single unit, that will be connected with a LED TV in my father's room.

Please suggest which brand of products to buy, I have damm no idea.
Every vendor tries to cheat.

I want the video to be crystal clear in day time.
Night vision is also needed.


Please suggest. Which brand / model to buy? Expected budget? etc.
 
There are still more cost to it, I spent another 30$ inc shipping for each camera accessories like junction box/mounts, sun/ rain guard(if exposed to direct sunlight). May be cheaper if you use cheaper universal plastic ones. The 5k priced NVRs do not have POE, so you will need to add a poe injector.

You will also need a WD purple or equivalent HDD for nvr and conduit pipes or some other to conceal the wires.

I think one could do it themself, if one has a power tool like drill and a Rj45 crimping tool. I as usual did it all by myself. Didn't even bother with indian sellers so I sourced the cameras from china, since indian sellers only have some really crappy outdated models.
 
Quote from Urbanclap in Blr. Check your city for relevant pricing.


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Thats

Thoses are not ip camera, its mostly a turbo camera, since it has a DVR and not a NVR.

Well, the OP hasn't mentioned a preference. All he's said is he wants all cameras to connect to a single unit and connect to an LED TV. This will be the cheapest method.
 
Well, the OP hasn't mentioned a preference. All he's said is he wants all cameras to connect to a single unit and connect to an LED TV. This will be the cheapest method.
Because he has no clue. But the one that offers options and ease of use would be preferable.
 
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