ZoneMinder Forums

What type of results might I expect to see with the following hardware specs.

AMD® Sempron Processor 2200+ (1.5GHz); 128MB DDR-333 RAM; 40GB 7200RPM Hard Drive; 52x CD-ROM Drive; Integrated S3 Pro Savage 8 Video Chipset; 10/100 Network Adapter

The memory will be upgraded to 1GB and an additional hard drive will be installed for storage. I will be using an 8 port 878 capture card with 4-5 cameras.

Mainly I am wondering about FPS, Motion Detection and live viewing via browser.

Thanks
Rick

it will need to be lowish fps ie 4 max but i think you will be fine as long as its dedicated to zm. it wont support many live views though through the web interface

it will need to be lowish fps ie 4 max

Will that be recording or viewing?

What would I need to boost those specs a bit?

Rick

Actualy you should be just fine iif you increase the RAM (well and of coarse the HD for the obvious reasons). You should be fully functional. As per your FPS per cam will depend on the card and how the system is configured.
Regards,
Cordel

You mention increase the RAM, I would need to upgrade to more than 1GB?

The capture card I have purchased is here http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... PcY_BIN_IT

Hopefully this weekend I will have all the hardware ready to go to start this project. I am sure that I will have plenty of questions, I just want to make sure that I start off on the right foot by getting the hardware side under control.

Thanks
Rick

the reason i said what i said is it the fps which kills hardware, why do you need more than 4 fps?

Not so much that I need more than 4 FPS, but I do not want to be maxed on processing power with only the 4-5 cameras. Do not mind increasing RAM with more cameras.

Rick

you wont be maxed on preocessor i would suggest you will be running around 30 - 40% processor with no rmote viewing i am basing this on a 6 camera 2.2gig celeron with 512mb and 160Gb runs at about 25% with no remote views on mocord at 3 fps per input

:?:
How does the system do with remote view? remote montage view?

I'm looking at setting up a 9 camera system using 3 pci dvr cards and all CCD night vision cameras. The system i spec'd was amd XP 2500, 1GB ram, 80GB HD. Should i get more ram? what would be optimal camera settings in zoneminder to get the best picture quality? The cams are color, but should i switch them to B/W for better picture quality? anything else I can do?

More RAM is always good, especially if you have a lot of events in the database as it allows the db to hold more indexes in memory (provided you tune the DB to do so). The best performance and the best picture quality are not necessarily complmentary but I think your spec should cope with 9 camera provided you have them at 5-10fps and no more. It really all depends if you are going to be using motion detection or just continuous recording etc. Ther are probably 20-30 things you can tune to optimise performance but it all depends on where your emphais lies

Colour cameras versus B&W probably won't make much difference really, especially as night cameras will be working in B&W mode at night time or low light conditions.

Thanks for the tip about the DB indexes.

The system will most likely be in motion detection mode most of the time. My concern is being able to recognize faces as people walk by the cameras.

On my current ZM system at home using a similar PC and 2 USB cameras, it is really difficult to get a clear picture of a face. Even when I slow the event down to frame by frame, faces are blurry. Will 5-10fps be able to get a good recognizable image of someone walking quickly by the cameras? The 9 camera system will be protecting a 4 floor office building so I need good motion detection.

The cards are:

KWORLD 4 Port Digital Security System Model TV-KW-SEC400A

and the cams are:

Apec 1/3" DSP Rotation Day and Night Color Dome Camera Model APC-21C1N01D3M
1/3" BCI SONY SH DOME 420L .1L 3.6MM 12V

What things can I do to get the best picture quality for motion detection with this system? Are the BCI cams better than the Apec cams?


p.s. Sending donation as soon as the customer's check clears. :)

Blurred images should not be the result of frame rates as such, they are usually because of either poor camera quality or long exposure times due to low sensitivity and/or poor lighting. The exception to this is if you are getting interlacing on large images.

Unfortunately I don't have experience of the gear you mentioned so I can't comment on it but the biggest factor in image quality is camera quality and people on here like James may be able to recommend the sort of thing to look for.

Phil

Thanks for the reply.

I'll post my findings about the cams I picked so the next guy can benefit.

Basic advice which is generally true is 'you do get what you pay for'
If extreme low light performce is important, 1/2" CCD from a recognised manufacturer (forget cheapo stuff with sony chips etc, the processing is just as important). I recommend Panasonic, and Bosch (sony are ok ish)
Also dont skimp on the lens ashpericals are great for low light and if you spec it right get a fixed focal length AI as they will pass far more light. Fijinon are about the best but steep, computar not even close.
Bear in mind a good aspherical 6.0mm lens can cost £180 so comprimise is usually called for. Also remember proper day night cameras cost £400+ those £60 ebay things perform as you might expect. One thing even with a krap lens on a krap camera if you put 500w of IR in front of it it will give an acceptable picture. Also remeber IR to visible focus drift. There are special IR lenses that correct this but youd be better of spending a biut more on a bigger ir and close the iris slightly to improve the depth of fieild. Also derwernt IR's give variable light output ie less light clode up, more light further away to prevent the lens from closing down and losing the distance, you will notice the effect a lot on the cheaper stuff.

James