New camera system setup question......

[ssj2_goha]

This is a capture topic so.........

OK here is the situation: Where i work the camera system computer went dead (power supply went poof and took the mother board with it.) What Computer setup would you suggest? here is what I need: 14 camera inputs with bnc connectors, audio recording, and able to record the video streams to HD with about 3-5 days worth of video. Able to save a video clip to thumb drive. What type setup do you suggest? I need a fairly cheap way of doing this (my boss's boss don't want to pay anything......)

Thanks for the help

[redwudz]

That all should be easy enough, all except the 'cheap' part. Figure about $1000US for a entry level system. This is not something you want to cut costs on, especially if the surveillance system is to prevent theft, or is used in court. It has to be very dependable

The computer itself can be a off the shelf model, but with a high quality PS (For good reason ) and room for several hard drives. HDs on removable trays are nice. And handy if you need to change one out. The rest of it depends on the video formats you use and how you are using the video that is captured.

Did the PS take out the video cards so you need them also? Most all DVR cards are BNC input. Some cards now use Divx or other highly compressed formats, so you can get quite a bit of video on the hard drives.

GeoVision is one of the more popular companies that make DVR cards for video use. Link to their company: http://www.geovision.com.tw/english/index.asp

Here's one company that sells them, so you can get an idea of the US prices: http://www.cctvspecialty.com/gedvrca.html?gclid=CILY_NmZnosCFQ7ugAodp1UNhw

And here's one link to some background info on DVRs: http://www.h264usa.com/dvr%5Ftutorial/?gclid=CN-FrIeZnosCFQFUgQodzw80hQ

[ssj2_goha]

the previous unit was a rack mount unit...... I think i can rip out the most of the old hardware.....
Would I be able to just replace the mother board???