Cctv Camera That Does Dvd Quality Picture?

[Ish]

Hi

We had a quote from a local AV company to set up a wall mounted remote control pan/tilt/zoom camera that would plug into a dvd recorder so that we could record the lectures we hold and distribute them on dvd. The sound would be taken from our current audio system. They included a Denard cctv camera in the quote.

What I need to know it are any CCTV cameras up to the job of filming in dvd quality?

Thanks

[Guest stevey]

None as they only do composite. If I were you I would get a HDTV camcorder and put it in a larger housing, the sony range is a good bet.

[Rich]

Unless your going to broadcast, take into consideration the screens that the dvd will be played back on, a 480 TVL camera should be enough.

What resolution does your DVD recorder record at?

[Ish]

i'm not sure on the recording resolution tbh

it's a SONY one

the dvd's are only going to be watched on normal domestic tv's

[Doktor Jon]

As Rich has already suggested, any camera of 480 lines resolution or better should do the job fine.

To be on the safe side, it would be sensible to see if any potential supplier can provide a demo, just so that you're happy it's doing exactly what you want; after all, image resolution isn't the only consideration when buying a camera.

[Ish]

Thanks for all the replies. I think you are right and i need to go to a local cctv place to see what the actual quality is like....

[arfur mo]

Hi

We had a quote from a local AV company to set up a wall mounted remote control pan/tilt/zoom camera that would plug into a dvd recorder so that we could record the lectures we hold and distribute them on dvd. The sound would be taken from our current audio system. They included a Denard cctv camera in the quote.

What I need to know it are any CCTV cameras up to the job of filming in dvd quality?

Thanks

you might look on the LJD site for options, they do a range of internal/external PT and PTZ cameras.

with cameras everything is relative, i.e. the distance from the object to the camera, size of target object to be viewed how fast do you want it to pan? lighting and so on - you are close to asking how long is a bit of string from people who have not seen the location.

the Dennard is a good proffessional bit of CCTv kit, and will give you excellent pictures/reliability but possibly more expensive than you want to pay. but like most units designed for CCTv i think the soft smooth start to movement required is not soft enough for Tv style work when moving the camera, they are a bit too jerky over longer distances.

you say you are recording lecturer's so not a production of swan lake, unless he/she demonstrates by using large theatrical movements the 'platform' to view is fairly predictable. why not go for a fixed camera with a manual verifocal lens, or one with a built-in remotely operated zoom lens to allow minor adjustments which you can pre-set and forgot as required. perhaps even go for a wide angle and a narrow angle camera using picture in pictire techniques its far cheaper than a single PTZ.

as to the DVD recorder, i assume this will be a 'domestic' model, most CCTv cameras are composit video out so will work fine into a home DVD recorder. as others say the resolution is key. and i agree 470 tvl would be fine. your DVD recorder will only record 380-400 tvl.

i assume you will be editing the lecture, so again limited by the PC software/hardware capabilities. if you need actual 'broadcast quality' then you are into very serious money all the way through and theres no real half way solution.

if it were my project, the word content of a lecturer is most important, unless the lecturer is really attractive . i would concentrate heavily on the sound quality first, making shure your stage mic is spot on, a mushy, scratchy or harsh sound quality here is hard work to listen to, especially for the hung over student, and rapidly deteriates further when copied/processed - the cost of a good picture is then wasted.

to demonsrate this, you must have been a captive victim of the dredded amature holiday or wedding videos , usually lousy sound, camera person loves the invention of and demonstrating the 20000 times zoom button , making everybody sea sick in 5 mins. they all tactfully say how wonderful the pictures are and the colours are great while making a bee line for the loo? - copies are available everybody - see what i mean

[Ish]

thanks for all the useful tips and to answer some of your questions:- B)

i would say the camera will me mounted approx 6-8 metres away from the lecturer on a wall.

Jerky movement isn't really a major problem as 95% of the time once the lecturer chooses their method of lecturing ie. seated or standing they don't really move much. The reason I wanted a camera that we has pan/tilt etc is because the standing & seated lecturing positions are not right next to each other.

Yes we will be using a domestic dvr system with a built in 250gb HD.

We will have to edit the lectures to remove anything that doesn't need to be in there and we have the software to do that. It won't be broadcast. The most we need to do with it is beable to burn them as dvd quality video on dvd discs.

Thankfully our sound system is spot on so that's one area that doesn't need any money spending on!!!!!

As none of the local shops could give me a working demo of the type of camera i want I have been looking on the internet today at various cctv supplies sites and there are quite a lot of options out there. Once I have drawn up a shortlist I will be back here to ask for your opinion OR if you want can people specifically recommend me some equipment please.

We need:-

pan/tilt/zoom Camera

Wall mount

controller to allow us to move the camera from our audio room (which is right bhind the wall the cam will be mounted on)

Thanks for all the usefull info everyone

[Guest stevey]

You should forget analogue CCTV and use digital CCTV. You mean DVD quality pictures as in good, but not DVD as in a disc that you input into a dvd player.

Get a IP network camera, its what business people use for videoconferencing. They are not cheap webcams, and you can get resolutions that are superior to that of a television.

It it possible to get PTZ IP network cameras, which you can control via a hardware joystick or a software one. You could then record onto the capturing computer and edit the videos, before burning them onto dvd. This would be much cheaper as a 250 GB hardrive is

[arfur mo]

thanks for all the useful tips and to answer some of your questions:- B)

i would say the camera will me mounted approx 6-8 metres away from the lecturer on a wall.

The reason I wanted a camera that we has pan/tilt etc is because the standing & seated lecturing positions are not right next to each other.

so you could use 2 seperate cameras, steveys idea of ip cameras was a good one as if you could design a moveable unit or mount to a tripod you can simply plug it in to a convenient network socket.

Yes we will be using a domestic dvr system with a built in 250gb HD.

We will have to edit the lectures to remove anything that doesn't need to be in there and we have the software to do that. It won't be broadcast. The most we need to do with it is beable to burn them as dvd quality video on dvd discs.

video editing on a pc, even a extemely powerful one is very time consumming operation, compiling your 'session' rendering and burning is a slow process. if you have not done this yet i'd try it on some old home movies so you know how viable this project wil be to 'service'.

As none of the local shops could give me a working demo of the type of camera

several CCTv/Security wholesale companies do have show/demo rooms, Norbain, Gardiner Security are a couple of respected names to start with, depends where you are obviously. Norbain will actually come to you with a demo van. B) others may also offer this but i do not know any.

regs

arfur