Need surveillance software advice...

[MurraysFalafel]

Hi there. We have 5 of the old analog cameras running in a restaurant on an XP box. They appear to be connected by BNC cables. The software is old, limited and not being updated, so we are looking for new software that will show all cameras in one window. Ideally we would like to be able to connect to the XP machine from a Mac at home, so maybe a Java app would be best. Or remotely connecting in a browser can be a solution, since these cameras are passive. Any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks.

[Dwayne]

have a look at blue iris (www.blueirissoftware.com). It supports you with a webinterface which can be viewed as java also over a mac.

[MurraysFalafel]

Thanks, that looks like great software so I installed it. Unfortunately all I see is a blank window and no way to add cameras. There are 6 cameras attached to this computer and 2 of the cards with 3 BNC cables each. Is there a way to add the cameras to this software? Could these cards be proprietary and not work with another software?

Sorry I don't know a thing about this stuff.

[Mr Sots]

You will need the correct drivers for the capture cards in your PC to work with the recording/monitoring application you intend to use. Another option would be to replace the capture card with an IP video server from someone like Axis or Acti, this would allow you to http to the camera streams and both have a wide range of recording applications that will work with them - Acti give a 16 camera solution awat FOC with their encoders...

Hope this helps

[Dwayne]

After you started Blue Iris do a right click in the black window and choose "Add new camera" from the menu

Then a new window will open, where you can set up your camera, especially in the "video" tabsheet. there you should be able to choose your camera by choosing video for windows or direct show filter.

if you need further assistance you can choose the help file by clicking the (i) button in the main window.