Advice for a new setup.

[dalk]

I'm in the process of deciding what system to get installed in my house.

I am thinking of the following:

4 x DS-2CD2347G2-L

and

1 x DS-7608NI-I2/8P.

Any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.

​

 

[Dan]

Hi @dalk

That setup is fine, the only thing we would point out is that 2347G2 is a ColorVu model which means it has a built-in white LED floodlight for helping to achieve a colour image at night. You can have the light set to always on (when dark enough) or trigger by event, but either way, the white light is very bright and 4 of these cameras might be too much for a small residential install. (especially if any of the camera positions are close to/overlooking a neighbour)

It may be better to mix 1 or 2 ColorVu cameras with some AcuSense turrets like the DS-2CD2346G2-IU

 

[dalk]

Hi Dan,

Thanks very much for your feedback! Really appreciate it.

Can the lights on the ColorVu camers be turned fully off, if they’re causing a nuisance?

Also, for the NVR, the DS-7608NI-K2 was recommended to me. But from having a read of some of the threads on here, the GUI of this doesn’t support AcuSense. Is this still the case? Is the DS-7608NI-I2 worth the extra money?

I plan on having 4 cameras initially, but might upgrade to 5 once I see what coverage is like, is a 2TB hard drive enough? Ideally I’d like to keep footage for a month.

Thanks again!

 

[Dan]

Yes, the ColorVu white light can be turned off completely but this will affect the quality of nighttime images from the camera.

If you have a search for ColorVu on the forum and read some of the threads you will see screenshots of different setup with and without the light on that will give you an idea of the difference. Also, this YouTube video will give you an idea of the difference with and without the white light. (although the scene used in this demo is much brighter than most residential locations because it is an industrial site with floodlighting)

We would stick with the 7608NI-I2/8P, it is the most up-to-date NVR of the two and offers the best support for the AcuSense & ColorVu cameras. (especially if you are using many of them)

 

[dalk]

Ok, I'll stick with the 7608NI-I2/8P.

2TB should be enough for a months worth of footage from 4-5 cameras?

Do the DS-2CD2346G2-IU have any benefits over the DS-2CD2347G2-L?

Please excuse my ignorance, I thought I was tech savvy till I started researching cameras. .

 

[Dan]

If you are only recording by event and the activity triggering that event is low/medium then 2TB should be ok, if you want to record continuously you will need more storage.

From our rough calculation 5 x 4MP cameras recording continuously using H.265+ and 15fps for 30 days will require around 5-6TB, you can do your own calculation using the Western Digital Capacity Calculator

There is minimal difference between the AcuSense & ColorVu, the biggest being that the AcuSense does not support the ColorVu technology including the white light. (it uses IR LEDs instead)

 

[dalk]

Thats great Dan.

Thanks very much for your advice and guidance mate.

 

[dalk]

One final question about the DS-2CD2347G2-L, does the SD card act as a backup of the NVR is stolen? Or are they just for people who don’t have the camera(s) wired to an NVR?

If you are only recording by event and the activity triggering that event is low/medium then 2TB should be ok, if you want to record continuously you will need more storage.

From our rough calculation 5 x 4MP cameras recording continuously using H.265+ and 15fps for 30 days will require around 5-6TB, you can do your own calculation using the Western Digital Capacity Calculator

There is minimal difference between the AcuSense & ColorVu, the biggest being that the AcuSense does not support the ColorVu technology including the white light. (it uses IR LEDs instead)

 

[Dan]

Hi @dalk

Yes, the MicroSD card can be used as a kind of backup as the card and NVR are recording copies of the same footage, but to do this the cameras would have to be connected to a separate PoE switch/injectors because if they are directly connected to the NVR PoE ports and the NVR is stolen or damaged then the cameras will lose power.

 

[dalk]

Any footage up to the time the nvr is disconnected would be ok though? Or would a sudden disconnection potentially corrupt the recordings?

 

[Dan]

There shouldn't be any corruption when the NVR is disconnected because if setup as described above then the camera & NVR are connected separately to the local network and there is a separate local network connection between the camera and the NVR. So if the camera/NVR connection is broken the cameras own operation/local network connection will not change.

 

[dalk]

Perfect, thanks very much!