720P Low Bandwidth Camera Needed - Suggestions?

The new Hikvision 3MP cameras are great and I was amazed that they need not very much bit rate to make the image look good. You can knock down the resolution to 720p if you wish which would require even less bandwidth. How much bandwidth can you get away with?

As for low bandwidth, a big factor is the scene complexity.

Mark, are you filming the interior of an office or an intersection?

With simple scenes, bandwidth across cameras tends to be fairly similar. The differences tend to occur more with complex scenes and dark areas. The Bosch Starlight cameras are surprisingly low bandwidth and good image quality in the dark. They claim to be using some sort of analytics to analyze the scene and reduce bitrate.

Regardless of the camera, one can always lower the compression level and decrease bandwidth (though frequently degrading the image quality). A lot of variance across manufacturers (assuming H.264 and the same frame rate / resolution) comes from differences in compression level settings.

Looking at offering IP camera service to security companies as a service. We would not do the security ourself. Of course Satellite is expensive BW so its only bigger more special case type ites that would go for this. However, given i am in Africa and the infrastrucutre is poor, there is oppertunity for this even at the higher BW price.

The more BW efficent the better. We think it will be all outdoor, mostly at night - black and white with IR illuminators ? If not this approach then we would light very well with LED lighting on battery systems so if the power goes down we can at least watch for an hour or two untill a patrol can go check it out. That sort of thing.

I do recall reading here on the site that the Bosch was the overall lowest BW user so this sounds like the way to go. Because i have to import whatever we go for its not worth paying for expensive frieght and clearing on cheap cameras. Best to get quality but not go over board.

I have a full 36Mhz transponder that we lease on a satellite over Africa. We have loads of BW at night that sits idle - hence the idea to resell what otherwise goes to waste. Ideas?

Mark Young

@Marc,

Sounds like a reasonable approach. Will def give that a try out.

Now which camera? So many to look at, so little time.......

Rightly or wrongly i tend to follow what i read on IPVM - these guys cut to the chase and dont mince words. Hence the Bosch 720P seemed to be about the "sweet spot" to me. We def want IP and need some res but cant go silly - seems 720P is the middle of the road for this.

The Hikvision 3MP camera has been mentioned. Where can i read a review of this? Price?

Any others i should look at? BW is my biggest single issue ( as it is for most i guess - in our case we are VERY sensitive to BW issues)

If you buy a Bosch Dinion 720p or 1080p, be sure to update the camera firmware to version 5.80. They have been shipping with 5.72 so you will want to use 5.8 to get better bandwidth savings.

disclaimer: I am a Samsung Rep and we have been involved in shoot-outs with Bosch and others for low light shootouts (Axis was not invited).

We have done very well in low lught and low bandwidth shootouts their Wisenet III 720P series could be what you are looking for.

Lately this request has been asked for many times and we are getting very positive response.

Our older models were bandwidth intensive however these are very bandwidth friendly and we are always winning image quality to the end-user.

John, I honestly do not try to make a sales pitch. Though IPVM is an independent organization and funds its own tests my perception is Samsung is hardly in the mix of the reviews and considered in the top tier of surveillance options.

To me the proof is in the pudding, when I am in a show or a counter day I always ask the host to turn out the lights and let the audience determine who is the best low light provider. You know what I get back? the other manufacturers might not like it.

To me it is a difference of opinion and fact, I am willing to show my cameras against anyone in a live shootout which in my experience in the actual situation we win. On the internet Samsung is not mentioned as a major player on one of the most respected boards in this subject.

So please I do not want to be accused of a sales pitch I am willing to put my camera line against any other manufacturer out there and when on the street we win.

We actively seek competition and testing, now I am getting into a sales pitch.

Sales Pitch would be come invite me to your most challenging video surveillance situation. Should I not be able to meet your requirements which will most likely mean I have the best image quality but you have a little quirk to install 15,000 cameras and save 10 minutes in each camera in the installation phase and you need something made to do this I can do it for you in 90 days or less as I produce everything myself that is a sales pitch.

To make a suggestion of a 720P camera the way I did I did not think it was a sales pitch.

Nobody even mentioned the most advanced camera in the history of surveillance?

Aventura's '50% less everything' H.265 camera?

According to Aventura a month ago, this camera should be shipping...... now.

John. Can you publish IPVM's evaluation methodology for testing cameras? It would help me to understand how you arrive at your conclusions. I do not want to weigh in on the salesperson discussion but I would like to understand and perhaps duplicate your lab conditions. Thank you for your consideration.

This conversation has been really interesting.

John, undisclosed brings up a good point - why is Samsung not among your tested cameras? Sammy is a big name world wide and if they have IP cameras i for one would like to see them and have you rip them apart - this is why i pay for your site - non biased, in depth technical real world results AGAINST other cameras in its class.

I am sure i am like many others that subscribe here - very busy (over worked?), always up against a deadline on a job somewhere and no time to read read read all over the Internet trying to get the skinny on what REALLY works and what does not. So i sub here and limit my reading on IP cameras to YOU. I just dont have the time to dig around so i find this resource worth paying for. That said, is it practical to widen the scope a little on which cameras you review and dig into?

My guess is, like everyone, you have staffing issues and just not enough time to do as much as you would like.

Still, digging into Samsung sounds ideal to me - please if you can manage it - i'd love to read up on the sammys HERE - then i know what i read is sensible and all the bull pulled out.

As a side note; love the razor sharp wit - give'em hell and keep'em honest!

John,

Is H.265 worth waiting for? Big claims on the BW needed. If it is only 50% true there are huge BW savings to be had. The capex is not my problem on this project - its the monthly opex that has always killed this project off before it even got going.

I need BW effiecent - i dont care who makes it. Willing to pay more (but sensible) for robust unit that is BW efficent.

Today, i think my choice is the Bosch and a few of the other cams mentioned in this thread.

To put this into perspective - i have just paid for 8 TDMA licences on our NMS so that we have another 8 Upstream (TX) channels to push data UP from the sites on the ground, over the bird. Cost $54K. Cost of the BW over the Bird per month $110K. None of this is for IP cameras. However, if i can leverage these investments by finding a new "after hours" market it would be wonderful, hence this discussion.

Even though we have a lot of SAT BW idle at night, we need to be VERY BW efficent at these sorts of figures being thrown around. I need to get as many streams going as possible - so the more frugal the BW use the better.

Given all this, is H.265 the clear winner and worth waiting a while longer for? ANy H.265 cameras ready to go now that you know of?

Can you give any indication of how long it may be before we see a H.265 camera review here?

Noted. Thank you for the conversation.