IP Security Cameras

[nevets23]

I am strongly considering getting some IP security cameras and a NVR, and am looking for some input.

As of right now, there are three brands I am looking at - luma, visualint, and lilin.

Anyone have votes for one of those over the others? It seems like luma has a heater on some of their cameras, which may be useful since I live in a climate where it gets very cold/we have a lot of snow. Luma and Visualint are both owned by Snap AV, but I can't tell what the difference is between them/if one of them is supposed to be better/the premium option.

Does anyone know if any of the three brands mentioned above integrate into C4 better than the others? Any limitations on the number of concurrent streams of one vs the other, etc?

Thanks in advance for the input.

[Cyknight]

Can't comment on Visualint.

Luma is OK

Lilin is great.

 

Integration on both is perfectly fine/stream limit is non-existing AFAIK on both.

[nevets23]

2 minutes ago, Cyknight said:

Can't comment on Visualint.

Luma is OK

Lilin is great.

 

Integration on both is perfectly fine/stream limit is non-existing AFAIK on both.

Thanks for the feedback.

What sets Lilin apart from Luma from your perspective?

[Cyknight]

Image quality I find better, especially in handling different light levels, ease of camera aiming - just a somewhat more solid build overall.

[eggzlot]

I have Lilin cameras too - great quality and great customer support.  I've called direct several times and they have helped me, even had me ship a camera back so they could troubleshoot, refresh the OS, etc.

That said if you get a Lilin NVR it can be limiting if you want to add some cheap foscam inside the house or something along those lines.  I'd suggest blue iris for your NVR needs.  Integrates flawlessly into Control4.  Can have various recording patterns set up based on scenarios (when my alarm is disarmed I only record exterior cameras, but if my alarm is triggered it records indoor cameras too).  Plus you can mix and match cameras so you can buy some Lilin now and like I said add another brand down the road if they have a camera that suits your needs.  Most camera manufacture NVRs are a bit locked down and need some good work (if even possible) to put other cameras onto the NVR for recording purposes. 

Though I have a Lilin 4 channel NVR104 for sale if you want (only because I upgraded to Blue Iris) so if you do not need those BI Features, let me know if you want to buy the NVR (Shameless plug, sorry!)

[CFUG]

31 minutes ago, eggzlot said:

... I'd suggest blue iris for your NVR needs.  Integrates flawlessly into Control4.  ...

Integrates?  How so?   Beyond an image on your phone/tablet/TS, what else would this integration involve?

[eggzlot]

34 minutes ago, CFUG said:

Integrates?  How so?   Beyond an image on your phone/tablet/TS, what else would this integration involve?

i gave 1 example.  There are 6 "schedules" for recording in Blue Iris.  When my alarm is in disarm phase it is on schedule 1, which in Blue Iris I programmed it so schedule 1 is recording just exterior cameras 24x7.  If my alarm gets triggered, Blue Iris goes to "schedule 2" which is record exterior AND interior cameras.  so based on my alarm status, different cameras will record.  I dont want to record my interior cameras when my wife and I are home - its creepy and a waste of hard drive space :-)

I also point my blue Iris schedule to #2 when I am on vacation.  I put my house in "vacation mode" so Always@Home is running (manages lights, video, audio) and then my cameras (internal and external) are now recording 24x7.

Some people could maybe set up a schedule #3 so like when a dog walker puts in their code to enter the home, the camera where the dog crate is could be recorded.  Or if you have a housekeeper you could have a housekeeper mode and internal cameras would record to make sure the housekeeper isnt doing something they should not be doing.  You can get as creative as you want.  

And that integration is just scheduling within blue iris.  You can also program that if movement happens on a piece of the screen something can trigger in C4.  so if you do not have a motion sensor outside, I believe you can use the image of the camera to trigger turning on a light.  

http://www.houselogix.com/shop/blue-iris-nvr - read the basic and advanced documentation - gives you a good idea of the integration.  @Audio Obsessions wrote the driver and can chime in.

And again its just nice to have a brand agnostic NVR so you can throw 100's of camera brands at the NVR and it should work too.

[zaphod]

Another vote for Blue Iris - it easily allows you to integrate pretty much any brand of camera into your system and also view it in Control4.

There are two Blue Iris drivers for C4 - one "basic" one that allows you to view the cameras in C4 and another advanced third-party one which give very cool functionality like allowing you to take actions in C4 based on where you click on the screen.  Click on a door lock and you can lock/unlock a door.  Click on a light and you can turn it on.

[Gary Leeds UK]

+1 For Blue Iris - We use the basic one from C4 and works like a dream 

[ILoveControl]

I wonder what makes it a good "C4 fit".... I recently bought a 1U Synology NAS which is beyond awesome to be honest and it comes with its own NVR software.

Reading around the web its one of the best out there. Would be good to know what are the attributes would love to run my NVR off my old system to my new nas

[Cyknight]

1 hour ago, ILoveControl said:

I wonder what makes it a good "C4 fit".... I recently bought a 1U Synology NAS which is beyond awesome to be honest and it comes with its own NVR software.

Reading around the web its one of the best out there. Would be good to know what are the attributes would love to run my NVR off my old system to my new nas

Blue Iris? What makes it a good fit is that you can use a stream out from the NVR (software) to feed into C4, regardless of camera brand (IF BLue Iris supports it, it can be made to show on C4 screens. Outside of that, it's a proven software solution that has a TREMENDOUS support range for cameras.

 

If other solutions feed your need, it may not add anything you want - but Blue Iris IS a good option. Biggest reason we rarely use it is because we do not want to be in the business of supplying and maintaining our 'own' product, meaning it would have to be the customer that 'deals' with the Blue Iris side (and most of our clients, presumably most C4 end users, don't want that).

[ILoveControl]

Blue Iris? What makes it a good fit is that you can use a stream out from the NVR (software) to feed into C4, regardless of camera brand (IF BLue Iris supports it, it can be made to show on C4 screens. Outside of that, it's a proven software solution that has a TREMENDOUS support range for cameras.
 
If other solutions feed your need, it may not add anything you want - but Blue Iris IS a good option. Biggest reason we rarely use it is because we do not want to be in the business of supplying and maintaining our 'own' product, meaning it would have to be the customer that 'deals' with the Blue Iris side (and most of our clients, presumably most C4 end users, don't want that).

Makes total sense. That's what perked my interest is that the Synology Survaylenss center the same as Blue Irs, it doesn't care what camera you have. All you have to have is a IP camera.

For reference https://www.synology.com/en-global/surveillance

[eggzlot]

1 hour ago, ILoveControl said:

Makes total sense. That's what perked my interest is that the Synology Survaylenss center the same as Blue Irs, it doesn't care what camera you have. All you have to have is a IP camera.

For reference https://www.synology.com/en-global/surveillance

correct but the synology doesnt talk to C4.  again if my alarm goes off all 5 cameras start to record instantly.  if a dog walker comes into my house certain interior cameras start to record.  not sure you have that level of 2 way feedback/programming using synology.  you may not need that level of integration but its possible with BI.

[nevets23]

Is it necessary/advisable to use shielded cat6 cable for ip cameras or is it completely unnecessary?

[lippavisual]

Depends where the cameras are located?  Personally, I'd forgo shielded CAT cable.  But if its mounted outside to a pole, you should definitely use an Ethernet Surge protector or consider using fiber to copper converters, just to eliminate the possibility of introducing surges, lightning strikes, etc. 

[nevets23]

Just now, lippavisual said:

Depends where the cameras are located?  Personally, I'd forgo shielded CAT cable.  But if its mounted outside to a pole, you should definitely use an Ethernet Surge protector or consider using fiber to copper converters, just to eliminate the possibility of introducing surges, lightning strikes, etc. 

Each of the cameras will be located underneath soffits, so they will be covered. Nothing on a pole.

[lippavisual]

I'd use riser rated CAT6 then.

[nevets23]

Makes sense. Plenum would probably be superfluous.