ZoneMinder Forums

Greetings,
I need to monitor a gas station with about 8 to 12 different zones, indoors and outdoors. I am looking into using zone minder. Does any one have any advice/insight of what capture cards/ cameras that can be used in this setting? I am trying to minimize cost as much as possible. The longest distance between camera and pc will be about 150 feet.

The frame rate can be as low as 1-2 fps and color is no issue. Ideally I would like to be able to resolve a license plate from about 30 feet or so.

Thank you for your help.

A

Software wise, Zoneminder will do this just fine.

To do 12 zones with decent quality IP cameras would cost probably £3,000 upwards, including PC.

Not sure of the costs of the analogue equivalent, but it would almost certainly be cheaper, and I don't imagine wiring distance would be a major problem with your setup, and you can manage with a lesser specced PC. Hopefully one of the analogue experts can advise you better there.

As for plate recognition, that's mostly a lens/camera body thing. Again, if analogue I can't recommend anything as I don't know anything; but you can mix and match cameras so that the more expensive, better detail ones are working the plates, whereas cheaper ones are working the inside of the shop / etc. (I'm guessing you don't not having 12 cams just for plates)

Also consider low light capability for night-time. Garage forecourts are normally well lit, so not a major issue, but it can create motion-blue sometimes.

I can recomend the "HAUPPAUGE IMPACTVCB" serie of capture cards if you want some really cheap cards. Only one capture ciruit so it cant have a high FPS. Up to 4 inputs and atleast Fedora 4 more or less autodetects the card with no problems at all.

£3000 for pro equipment is cheap for conventional. But it this way the dvr we mainly use (DM digi sprite) cost me more than that alone!
Ballpark for an NSI gold approved cctv system (ip or composite) with 16 cams would be in the regions of 14K and thats assuming statics.

But if you want reg's i would recommend a dedicated reg cam like the derwent
http://www.securitywarehouse.co.uk/cata ... ucts_id=53

something like that

or if you want general views too then megapixel is the only way to go, but reg's arnt guaranteed

Thank you all for the good ideas. They are really helpful.


Is there a list of cameras/capture cards out there that are proven to work with ZoneMinder? I would hate to think that something works and buy it only to find out that it does not.

Best,

A

yep see the wiki

It kinda depends on the Distro used (what kernel they are using in the distro anyway is more like it) but check the wiki for supported hardware. It's not really what ZM can support as much as it is what the distro (kernel) can support.

Regards,
Corey

I find that IP cameras cost more than regular analog cameras. Do you think analog cameras can do the same job as IP ones. I mean signal degradation on the line. I am no expert in Linux so I am a bit reluctant to try and install video capture cards, especially that I need about 12 cameras. With IP cameras, once the network card works, you are all set, plus you have the option of PoE.

What do you experts suggest or advise?

Thank you.

lol its not quite that simple but if you use tested cams then yes but not all ip cams will work well.
I find composite cams are better in cctv jobs then ip cams as they need more light but if you spend proper money then ip cams can perform with cctv composite cams.
Line length wise i have systems useing non ip cams running down wires over 10 miles long (well fibres!)

I've used the Spectra8 capture cards (4 inputs, 4 capture chips, can use up to 2 cheap 4-port add-on mini-boards to get up to 12 cameras with a single board) successfully. I'm using Speco HEAT cameras for both internal and external use; about the best picture that one can expect at night without LEDs or some other light source. The biggest cost for me is drive space - the boss wants to keep video for 2 weeks minimum, so each 8-camera system has 4 400 gig hard drives in a RAID dedicated solely for video!

The problem I've had that you mention is recognizing license plates; capturing at 640x480 just isn't fine enough to pick out the level of detail that is needed in order to recognize digits.