We are having issues with two-channel IndigoVision 9000E encoders, particularly in conjunction with Pelco C10CH-6 cameras. The issue is that when the cameras temporarily lose power or their power is provided by backup generators, some encoder channels will develop a color bar at the bottom of the screen, often accompanied by a massive bit rate increase in recordings. Oddly enough, this sometimes affects only one of the three streams the encoder provides: one TCP/IP Unicast for recording; one UDP Unicast for certain viewers and one Multicast for other viewers (I know it's complex but IV's encoder chassis are only capable of 40Mbps total Multicast streams while allowing up to eight simultaneous Unicast streams per channel (320Mbps max) and with 20 channels per chassis, the decision was made to feed some users Unicast for "Live" while feeding other users Multicast).
Anyway, the Integrator contends our problem is caused by poor wiring or poor power and wants us to provide detailed "camera #, location, type, cable type, cable runs for video (termination point), power cabling, electrical power termination, electrical phase, and grounding plane" to assist in troubleshooting. I contend that since more than 90% of the problems happen on channels that are connected to Pelco C10CH-6 cameras and since we are in the middle of replacing them anyway due to their absolutely awful picture quality (we regretted buying them in the first place but it was/is difficult to find cameras small enough to fit in Pelco DF5 back boxes), we should complete the camera replacement plan and then see if the encoder problems continue before doing literally weeks of "unnecessary" work.
I also believe there is something peculiar in the design of the IndigoVision encoders that makes them susceptible to instable sync - the likely primary trigger of the problem. In essence, I believe that the C10CH-6 cameras exhibit some issue with video sync on startup and I also believe the IndigoVision encoders are particularly sensitive to that unstable sync.
Additional info:
- Pelco C10CH-6 cameras are a relatively and increasingly small percentage of our total analog camera count. We probably have less than 100 left compared to hundreds of inMotion box cameras; more hundreds of Vitek dome cameras and a mishmash of other cameras.
- We mostly see the problem happen with the Pelco C10's. Only one or two channels may have had other camera brands/models connected to them at the time they exhibited the problem.
- One oddity is that sometimes only one stream is affected while the other streams exhibit normal behavior. This also makes it tough to troubleshoot because basically we have to check each input three times; once for each stream. We have to run through all 900+ channels in "Live" on a secondary client (uses UDP Unicast), then run through them again on our Monitor Wall (uses Multicast), then check the recordings for high bit rates (channels that record the color bars also typically run at inordinately high bit rates - as high as 15-25Mbps versus normal of 2.5-3.0Mbps).
The big questions: Does anyone have any other ideas? Does anyone agree with the Integrator?