How Much Would It Cost To Install 24 Cameras And A Dvr At My Building?
I need to get an estimate on a CCTV system. I am looking for about 24 cameras and DVR. I am looking for good equipment at a reasonable price. I know this isnt going to be cheap but I havent been able to get a accurate price range.
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CCTV systems can have a large range of pricing for many reasons. As a customer you need to know what to ask for before you get sold a system that cannot live up to your expectations. Here are several factors to consider:
1. Resolution: Resolution is basically how good the picture will look. You have to keep in mind that this is factor for both the camera and the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). A common trick is to sell great cameras, but the DVR can’t handle recording them with other setting you are looking for. Another trick is selling standard resolution camera, but mounting them close to the object you are looking at. This gives a descent picture, but at the cost of field of view. There are two ways of describing resolution: By TVL or by CIF. TVL is based on the “analog” way of looking at a system while CIF is a digital format. In a system where you want good field of view and better pictures you want to stay at High Resolution or 480 TVL or greater or 2CIF or 4CIF (see http://www.axis.com/products/video/camera/progressive_scan.htm for more information on 2CIF) High Resolution is good, but don’t expect TV quality or any “CSI” tricks to see anything. For a good facial shot in High Resolution you would want to have almost 25% of the field of view taken up by the persons head. Also be aware that Hi-Def CCTV is hitting the market. Most installs will not use this yet, but for reference this is being called 16CIF by some. If you want to read license plates and get evidence quality face shots this is where you want to look.
2. Frames: Be careful! Some manufacturers use frames per second (FPS) and images per second (IPS) interchangeably. This is not always the case. Always ask for frames per second. The most any system can record one camera is 30 frames per second. This is usually better then most human eyes can register. Depend on the location of each camera this can vary, but for useable video 7.5 FPS or better is recommended. 3 FPS is ok for general viewing areas were you might not have issues, but still want to record what is going on. FPS can be limited on some DVRs based on # of cameras, Resolution, and/or recording storage.
3. Storage: The better the resolution and the more FPS your storage requirements go up. The good news is that Hard Disk Drives “HDD” that most DVRs use have come down in price over the years. Bad news video can takes up a lot of space. For a system your asking for 500 GB is not out of the line for 7 FPS and medium resolution setting (A good DVR brand with a simple storage calculator is Integral (Now merged with Pelco, both major brands in CCTV) can be found here http://integral.pelco.com/support/calculators/calculator_diskspace.aspx . Please note this is setup for their systems, some brand may need more, but it’s a good tool to help you get ball park figure.) To minimize storage needs most systems are set to record on motion detection or on an alarm trigger (from another device). Sensitivity is setup in programming.
4. Camera Image Options: There are many cameras on the market, but quality and reliability mean more here then anything. Major brand cameras (Bosch, Pelco, Samsung, GE, Honeywell) have a large selection of cameras for a reason; one size does not fit all. Make sure the applications you are looking for are being meet. Better cameras come with varifocal / auto iris lens. Economic cameras come fixed focus/iris lens. A Varifocal lens let the installer adjust the focal point of the picture to capture the image you are looking for. With a fixed lens they need to have a set of lens to get the correct picture. Varifocal lens have the limits, so they need to select one in the range of the shot (distance from camera to main capture area). Fixed iris lens will not adjust automatically to lighting conditions. This means cameras in the front lobby will not adjust for the morning light. Speaking of light selecting color cameras vs. black and white (b/w). B/W cameras have better viewing at night then color. Since this is the case outdoor cameras should be B/W or Day/Night (D/N) meaning that it switches from color to B/W. In very low light situations IR illuminators should be used to assist in camera recording. IR Illuminators let the recording look like it is a lighted area while humans at the location will not see the light.
5. Camera Housing: Cameras come in all shapes and sizes: Box, Dome, Bullet, etc. The key is to select a camera with images options and mounting options that meet your location. When selecting outdoor cameras, make sure they are weatherproof and rated for your area. Box housing with heater/blower units are recommended in any areas with snow, but not extreme cold.
6. Wiring: There are several ways to wire CCTV systems. IP solution can get complicated and I will not get into them here. Typical DVR setups have cameras with home runs back to the unit. Powering the cameras can be distributed (local to each camera or area) or centralized (all back near the DVR). The type of wire can great affect the picture quality. Keep in mind DVRs are a digital system, this means they are very intolerant to noisy signal. On an old VCR a camera with bad wiring would be snowy but still show a picture. On a DVR you usually have a picture or not if the wire is bad. There are several grades of Coax Cables an installer can use. Ask for 95% Copper braid, it cost more, but installed properly the video transmission will be better then any other Coax options. Twisted pair wire with the correct converters may be needed depending on the length between the DVR and the camera.
7. DVR settings: DVR have many different options, but many similar ones. Always ask for different options when looking at CCTV systems. How they are different will tell you more about what you are getting. DVRs have a certain amount of FPS to “dish” out to each camera. They also can have Resolution limitations. The bulk of the cost of the system (besides installation and wiring) is the DVR. If everything else is great, but the DVR is miss selected or programmed everything is for nothing. Also request a calculation on the estimated recording time.
Hope this helps. If you are having issues with proposals ore quotes you have as for the manufacture’s representative to talk to. They will be more helpful since they are only selling their product and not the installation. They know the industry and their competition. They are biases towards their product, but you can use that to your advantage. They will make sure the correct equipment was selected since they rely on their product’s reputation. A bad install hurts them. They usually cannot give any pricing information. If you cannot have the rep’s contact information it usually means the company does not have a strong relationship or the product is not mainstream. These are good signs the product may not be for you.
I would give a good budget price for the system, but I three problems. 1. I’m not trying to sell to you, just help 2. Eah building is different and I’ve seen a vary of prices just do to the locations of the cameres. 3. Each region has different pricing. What is a large price one place is cheap at another. In the US California and New York are going to be higher costs.
My final advice is to get at least three prices. And if you can make a “spec” sheet of you needs. Write out what you expect of the system. You’re more likely to get prices near each other if everyone is working off the same ideas. Also research the Companies. A smaller company is going to be cheaper all things equal, but have a harder time providing service. I would stick with middle to large firm to make sure you get the support you expect.
Costco sells a 16 camera set sometimes from Q-see that is very highly thought of. Q-see also sells the cameras, dvr, home viewing 24/7 from your desk or home computer, and central installation box on their website. I would expect that a system like this, unintstalled, would run $2200-2500. We want to get the set that sees in low light, at night, color not so important, vandalproof, and weather-resistant. Check it out at Costco and Q-see itself.