Im Finding
Q-See
Laview
GW
Lorex
As box set brands
I'm not as well versed as some other members here to identify which box brands are rebranded Dahua and which aren't. I believe Q-See and Lorex are... I'm not sure about the others. (If I'm wrong, someone please correct this for sake of accuracy)
Bluecherry seems cool but do I need the capture cards and etc? That's my draw back. I also am not sure how large of a system I need to build out that's problem 2. here is a build of my home.
But how hard to se and setup + Cost? Need special cameras?
Bluecherry only requires capture cards for their analog systems. For their IP systems, you don't need a capture card. You just need your typical networking layout; same as you'd need with
Blue Iris, a dedicated NVR, etc. (a preferrably POE switch,
cat5e/cat6 wiring, etc)
Bluecherry is easy to set up. It's a matter of pasting a few lines into a terminal to add their repository and it auto
downloads it + installs it for you. They have everything on their instructions page, so it's a quick copy/paste, then it's on to setting up cameras, storage, etc. I'm not sure how Blue Iris works, exactly... I understand Blue Iris has the application itself, which runs on the server, and you can access certain things (events, settings, etc) via a web interface of it. Bluecherry is a bit different, in that the server runs *entirely* headless, meaning there's nothing graphical to see on the server application[1]. All of the "good stuff" is baked in to their client, which is cross platform and works on Mac, Linux, and Windows. From there you can set up your cameras, settings, motion vs 24/7 recording, storage location, watch a live view, etc etc etc and those changes directly effect the server. That's one thing I like about it, as the client is very powerful, and works on any computer I may be sitting in front of. I have a computer hooked up to my wall mounted TV. I thoroughly enjoy being able to bring up the client, the very same client as my laptop, desktop, etc., and watch the live stream when I'm on the recliner.
[1]While the server application itself has no graphical interface, you can simply install the "client" on the server to obtain a graphical application. There's also a web interface, but it's a bit limited in comparison to the client. In the end, the "client" *is* the real meat of it all.
They support something like 2,500 cameras "officially" (which simply means they're in the database, so if you select a make/model, it already knows the RTSP stream), but you can add in any RTSP stream you want manually. For example, EyeSurv was not listed, but in the EyeSurv manual I found the RTSP stream. I tossed it in, boom, done, recording.
I'd recommend that you take a look at other options though too. Blue Iris is good stuff from what I hear. I'm in a position where I rely on my Linux server so heavily that it's not going anywhere, so if I were to have gone the Blue Iris route, I would need a whole separate box, which ramped up well beyond my budget (nevermind the fact my current Linux server was already too weak to handle Blue Iris anyway should I have considered leveraging that hardware). Last I looked at my load it was around 0.10, which is ridonkulously low. That's with six cameras recording 24/7, all @ 10 FPS 3 megapixel. Blue Iris and Bluecherry aren't the only things out there. Options are good. Try a few out and see what you think. I'm simply sharing what works for me, but everybody is different.
