ZoneMinder Forums

Hi all!

I want to know what's the best pci card I can buy. I want a good card with at least 4 usb port and each port need to have his own usb bus because I want to connect 4 webcam on the card.. And... the card should work fine on linux kernel 2.6

Thanks!

i think you may be confused.
most people use a pci card to connect normal cctv cameras to it.
if using usb cams then you need usb ports (which id assume you already have on your mobo) but choosing the cam here is critical.

best way is to get a well supported pci card and normal cameras. Or use ip cameras that are known to work well, ie axis.

Thanks for your response, I'm not confused! I just want to use 5-6 webcam but when I plug those webcam on the motherboard usb I got bad fps and high cpu usage, I've read that each webcam reserve the total of the bandwith available for each usb bus... so on my computer I get two usb in front and two at the back, when I plug one webcam behind and one on the front it work fine..

so I'm looking for a pci card with 4 usb plug who get their respective usb bus..

Am I wrong ?

no isuppose your not. Ive never used usb for more than testing though.
Unless you have a specialist need id forget usb and get either normal analouge cams or ip cams

not a bad idea, but we already have those webcam.. so I just wanna use it anyway how much does it cost for 4 camera and a capture card ? I don't want the best quality available, at least I want to be able to recognise someone face's..

I take a look at the ip cam is there something cheaper then 300$ ?

Thanks again

there is but you do pretty much get what you pay for.
ecognition of faces is something the expensive cams struggle with.

What sort of range are you looking to get recognition, and what type of scene?

I mean I just want enough quality to see someone's face...

Right, but the distance from the camera, lighting, etc. makes a large difference as to whether or not you can see someone's face. How far is the face from the camera? How big of an area are you trying to cover? How's the lighting? A typical 640x480 camera mounted on the ceiling, for instance, will typically have a hard time resolving a face on the floor. If the camera's a few feet away from them, it's a different story.

the cameras will be placed in small room, with enough light... we just want to see if someone during the night or the weekend enter in our server room..

Is the server room lit at night and on weekends? If not, a motion sensing light-switch wouldn't be a bad idea, and cheap. (Actually, either way you should probably add one to save on your electricity)