Camera/NVR questions for commercial property

N

Nic_waz

n3wb
Nov 11, 2024
7
3
Minnesota
Hi All,

I am trying to spec out which camera system to purchase to upgrade one of my buildings. Background: commercial property with 12 cameras, 4 turrets approximately 4 stories up, and 8 dome cameras in hallways/entrances. We currently have Dahua NVRs/Cams and would like to stick with that. I am wondering about the difference between 4mp and 8mp; obviously a higher resolution is better, but may not needed in our hallways which have good lighting around the clock, and do not need to see as far. I'd like a higher resolution turret camera for exterior cameras as they are 4 stories (55 feet/17 meters) off the ground.

  • If I purchase an 8mp 16 channel NVR will this allow for mixing and matching 4mp and 8mp cameras?
  • What type of storage would I be getting per TB of harddrive space?
  • Where is the best place to purchase Dahua Cameras/NVRs?
  • What other factors should I be considering when choosing the correct NVR/Camera system?

Any help/assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
 
- You can mix cameras up to 12MPx on modern Dahua NVR... of course higher resolutions needs more bandwith and if You want to display them over HDMI (or analyze them using AI on NVR) also decoding capabilities... So You should check those 2 parameters in NVR spec sheet.

- You didn't wrote what exactly models of camera and NVR You have... or what isa reason of upgrade?

- here at this forum we use mostly cameras with bigger image sensors (1/1.8" or 1/1.2") to have better image at night (bigger sensors = bigger pixels = more light sensitivity). 4Mpx cameras with 1/1.8" sensor size have better image sensitivity that 8Mpx (twice more pixels in the same sensor size = 2x smaller sensors = less light sensitivity)..
Most popular line of cameras here is Dahua 5442 (called 54IR here) - which have nice choose of optics (fixed 2.8/3.6/6.0mm or normal varifocal 1-3x or telephoto varifocal 3-9x), chassis and color options..

- one camera with bandwith typical 8000 kbit/s (8mbit/s = 1 MB/s) use 86GB daily.. 12 cameras like this is 1TB daily...

- we buy Dahua cameras from trusted here on the forum Dahua OEM partner.. very good prices and support here on the forum...
EmpireTech | Security Protection | Security Cameras & NVRs or EmpireTech

- if you now have 12 cameras and want to upgrade NVR (and cameras?), you should buy NVR for 32 channels.. price difference for non POE version is 20$...

Wiz Series NVR None POE | EmpireTech

The Wiz Series combines AI with a powerful deep-learning algorithm, providing exceptional accuracy for alarms related to both human and vehicular activity while simultaneously optimizing time and resources, all for an enhanced user experience.
empiretech01.com empiretech01.com

- if You have that high mounted cameras, you should use cams with optical zoom.. 8Mpx can give You 40% more resolution and identification distance (in comparison to 4Mpx), but 2/4/8x optical zoom gives You much much more...

There is long thread You should read to understand concept:
wittaj

Thread 'The Importance of Focal Length over MP in camera selection'

At the urging of several folks here, I created a thread to show the importance of focal length and how focal length can be more important than megapixels (MP).

I mentioned some of this in the post regarding The Hookup’s latest video demonstrating different cameras, including one sold from a forum favorite here @EMPIRETECANDY , but this post will put it all in one place where we can point a NOOB to. The cameras I am highlighting were purchased from @EMPIRETECANDY

Almost every big box store, consumer grade cameras and all-in-one-box kits come with either 2.8mm or 3.6mm...
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Thank you for your reply, I will review that thread on focal length. Very helpful!

I am unsure of the exact model of Dahua NVR since it is currently offline and I am remote, from my understanding the hard drive on it is bad and after looking into replacement of the hard drive we are deciding to upgrade the NVR instead, since it is around 10 years old. The price of purchase/install from our current distributor is outrageously high (25k+) and we believe we can complete the work in house. I've got some networking experience and a bit of common sense. From the price difference I am seeing in purchasing our own equipment, I could make many errors and still fall short of the estimate.

I know that my superiors are pushing to keep in the Dahua lineup, I'm wondering if these Empiretech NVRs will support P2P mobile viewing on the SmartPSS/DMSS apps?
 
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yes, Empiretech IS OEM Dahua. Same exact equipment, different sticker
 
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Nic_waz said:
Thank you for your reply, I will review that thread on focal length. Very helpful!

I am unsure of the exact model of Dahua NVR since it is currently offline and I am remote, from my understanding the hard drive on it is bad and after looking into replacement of the hard drive we are deciding to upgrade the NVR instead, since it is around 10 years old. The price of purchase/install from our current distributor is outrageously high (25k+) and we believe we can complete the work in house. I've got some networking experience and a bit of common sense. From the price difference I am seeing in purchasing our own equipment, I could make many errors and still fall short of the estimate.

I know that my superiors are pushing to keep in the Dahua lineup, I'm wondering if these Empiretech NVRs will support P2P mobile viewing on the SmartPSS/DMSS apps?
Click to expand...

OK.. if this is 10 years system so you should look at Dahua NVR5232 model (PRO line, 2 disks, 32 channels) and as I told Dahua 5442 cams (54IR)...

Yes, those cams/NVR are exactly the same as Dahua ones - the same hardware, firmware, connectivity, software.. only different brand/logo...

4Mpx cams:

Search: 9 results found for "54IR"

Building security systems for home and business offices. Protecting customers' personal safety and property security. All the security cameras and NVRs we sell are of great quality and at affordable prices.
empiretech01.com empiretech01.com

8Mpx variant for comparisons:

Search: 4 results found for "58IR"

Building security systems for home and business offices. Protecting customers' personal safety and property security. All the security cameras and NVRs we sell are of great quality and at affordable prices.
empiretech01.com empiretech01.com

Look especially at -ZE (optical zoom 1-3x) and -Z4E (optical zoom 3-9x) variants...

NVRs without/with POE:
empiretech01.com

EmpireTech NVR32CH-AI 32 Channels 1U 2HDD Network Video Recorder

Smart H.265+/H.265/Smart H.264+/H.264/MJPEG decoding format. 32-channel 1080p self-adaptive decoding capability. Max. 384 Mbps incoming/recording/outgoing bandwidth. AI by recorder: 2-channel face detection and recognition, 4-channel perimeter protection, and 8-channel SMD Plus. AI by camera...
empiretech01.com empiretech01.com
empiretech01.com

EmpireTech NVR32CH-16P-2AI 32 Channels 1U 16PoE 2HDD Network Video Rec

Multiple decoding formats. | Support AcuPick with Max. 16-Channel | Support N+M cluster | AI by recorder | AI by camera | Security baseline 2.3
empiretech01.com empiretech01.com

Other interesting camera options:
180 degree (dual lens) camera: EmpireTech IPC-Color4K-T180 4K Full-Color 1/1.8" CMOS Dual-Lens Splici

TIOC-PRO (camera with dual light - IR and white, speaker/siren/police lights - built-in alarm system, can deterrent intruders): EmpireTech IPC-Color4M-T 1/1.8" CMOS 4MP Smart Dual Light Active Deter

Small PTZ (camera which rotate/move/zoom/follow people, with 25x optical zoom): EmpireTech PTZ425DB-AT 1/2.8"CMOS 4MP 25x Starlight IR 5mm–125mm Vari-
 
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Nic_waz said:
Thank you for your reply, I will review that thread on focal length. Very helpful!

I am unsure of the exact model of Dahua NVR since it is currently offline and I am remote, from my understanding the hard drive on it is bad and after looking into replacement of the hard drive we are deciding to upgrade the NVR instead, since it is around 10 years old. The price of purchase/install from our current distributor is outrageously high (25k+) and we believe we can complete the work in house. I've got some networking experience and a bit of common sense. From the price difference I am seeing in purchasing our own equipment, I could make many errors and still fall short of the estimate.

I know that my superiors are pushing to keep in the Dahua lineup, I'm wondering if these Empiretech NVRs will support P2P mobile viewing on the SmartPSS/DMSS apps?
Click to expand...

10 year old kit, ip poe or coax ?
 
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Nic_waz said:
I believe it is currently coax, however, we have cat5 run and will be switching to poe.
Click to expand...

Labor associated with the cable runs and installs will probably be a significant part of the total install cost.

Are you able to do the cabling in house ?
 
Yes, we have already run and terminated cabling to switch away from coax. I've brought up purchasing EmpireTech, and I may be able to utilize one of these as a test unit to try out. However, my team is leaning heavily on sticking with our existing brand (Dahua). Trying to purchase Dahua from any distributor in Minnesota is proving to be a challenge as they require a Power Limited Technician License, which is only obtainable if you work for an existing installer who has the license and is willing to take you on as an apprentice.
 
Yeah, that is why many of us go with EmpireTech gear (Dahua OEM) as it is way cheaper and without all the requirements of the Dahua USA distributor nonsense that can jack the price up two to five times the cost of EmpireTech cameras.

Also keep in mind that the Dahua USA cameras tend to not be as good as the international versions. We see lots of people buying from Dahua USA and are cameras on less then ideal MP/sensor ratios.

And as someone said, EmpireTech is Dahua without the Dahua logo. You can flash the firmware with Dahua firmware if you want it to say Dahua LOL.
 
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