Recommendation for indoor PTZ camera with full-duplex audio

markdavis

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Hi,
I need to find a replacement for a PTZ camera (Axis 213) that finally failed after years of good service. Here are the must have and nice to have features I'm looking for. I would appreciate your guidance.

Must have:
- ease of control by grandparents
- PTZ
- full-duplex audio (not just push to talk, or half-duplex)
- HD video streams (perhaps dialed down a bit as needed for bandwidth considerations)
- browser-independent (some I'm familiar with require IE on Windows) video and audio
- 10x + optical zoom (20+ would be great)

Nice to have:
- onboard and pluggable mic
- onboard and pluggable (3.5mm, typical computer speakers) speaker
- IR
- price < $1000, though I might go higher depending on features
- IOS (Iphone)-specific functionality (for example, 2-way audio would be great)
- optional Wi-Fi
- optional PoE
- activity indicator (light) to show when the camera is in use

This camera will replace the one that's positioned at one end of a living room-kitchen combo that measures approximately 16x40ft. The camera that I bought (Vivotek PZ8111W) was insufficient. Depending on which tech support person you talk to, this camera is either full-duplex audio or not. But they've never been able to guide me to getting any audio out of a plug-in speaker.

The primary purpose is to be able to talk with our kids' grandparents and have the subject _not be_ about the failings of the existing PTZ camera! The grandparents would like to just pop in (by way of camera) and chat with the grandkids while viewing them via PTZ. Of course there will be other uses as well.

Thanks for any thoughts and suggestions you can provide.

Mark
 

fmflex

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Why not look up networkcameracritic's blog site or even get in touch with one of the supply houses that sells cameras.
 

gordo

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Look at this thread, you may get some ideas about getting that vivotek speaker working. I know it's a different brand, but....
Also look at Panasonic wvsc384 which meets a lot of your needs, but not all. It needs IE browser and you will need to add speaker and microphone.
 

markdavis

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Thanks for the recommendations. Yes, I've spent a good bit of time on the networkcameracritic site. There's lots of good info provided there, both in the reviews and the comment/question exchanges. But, while the blog writer points out that "Two very popular request I get is to have a camera with not just 2 way audio, but an actual microphone and speaker built into the camera." I haven't yet found any reviews there that delve into the 2-way audio features. (But I'm still looking! :) ) Actually, I'm beginning to doubt whether there are many with full-duplex (i.e. not walkie-talkie, push-to-talk) audio. Otherwise they would likely make mention of echo cancellation. (Though I have seen some camera manuals that suggest positioning mic and speakers to avoid echo (which does imply full-duplex). Sort of a frugal man's echo cancel).

I came to this site because it looks like there's a lot of insight backed by user experiences. _sometimes_ talking with sales folks it's a little harder to find ground truth. (No flames please). For example, in talking with the Vivotek support folks, it just depended on who you spoke with as to whether the camera supported full-duplex. (Seems they were reading the same obscure manual that I was :eek: ).

gordo, thanks, but your link may have been stripped. Some bulletin board software limits message components like links and pics until you have a certain number of messages posted.
 

networkcameracritic

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I have yet to see a PTZ with built in mic & speaker, let alone full duplex and if anyone has it, Canon or Panasonic would. For example, the Canon VB-H41 features 1080P, PoE, full duplex audio with 3.5mm jacks for a mic and speaker, 20x optical zoom, but it's a little over budget - http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/professional/products/network_video_solutions/ptz_network_cameras/vb_h41 The VB-M40 is considerably cheaper, same specs except 1.3MP / 720P, still over budget, but not as bad. With PTZ, resolution is not as important because you can zoom in and with 20x zoom, you can probably count the hairs on my head at 40', so 720P is likely good enough. I wish I can tell you more. The hairs on my head is a joke, it's zero.

People have probably already told you, but it's way less expensive and actually better to get a few fixed cameras. Here's the reason why. PTZ can only look at one area at time, so for example, if there's two suspects, each at different areas, you can only look at one. If you put it on tour/patrol, it will divide the time spent in each area, it will make noise and it will record continuously as motion detect is impossible if the camera is constantly moving. Then they typically don't have IR, so you'll have to light the place up 24/7. Ones with IR will be very large, not suitable for indoors.

The common approach is to have a camera with an overview of the area so you can see a crime in progress. This can be a camera in the corner as you had, or a hemispherical on in the center, but the corner camera is the least expensive and you can even put two in opposite corners to get 2 perspectives. Then have close-up cameras at choke points, areas a suspect has to go through, a door or pathway where you can get a close-up of their face, clothes, identifying information. Then on one of the cameras, typically the overview can record and placing a good omnidirectional mic in the center of the room attached to audio-in of the camera can provide the audio you need as well as have an amplified speaker in the ceiling. For example, say you got 5 IR mini-domes like the Hikvision ds-2cd2532-i, under $200 each, under your budget, each one is capable of audio, 3MP/1080P, has mic built in, is 3-axis (meaning it can be mounted in any orientation, PTZ are 2-axis and have to be mounted level facing down). And they may or may not be full duplex, but there's no push to talk, you talk as you normally would.
 
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