If you want to read the entire series from the start, please follow these links:
In The Beginning
Taking the first step
What do you have to work with?
In The Beginning
Taking the first step
What do you have to work with?
If you don't already have a video system in place, the next question or maybe questions, is how much money do you have to work with and do you want an SD or an HD system.
If you're thinking SD, you can get into a pretty decent setup with two Sony EVI-D80 PTZ cameras, a Telemetrics CP-ITV4-S Controller and a Datavideo SE-500 Live Studio Kit for right around $6,150.00 (not including any video, control or power cabling). The neat thing about using the Datavideo SE-500 Live Studio Kit is that it has a nice video switcher with a built in audio mixer, built in hard drive recorder and two flat screen monitors. Granted it's nothing crazy super fancy, but it'll certainly get the job done considering you currently don't have anything. Also the EVI-D80 cameras are fairly nice to work with and give you decent SD video with good zoom capabilities. If you want a bit more flexibility in the way of coverage, the EVI-D80 cameras are around $725 each and the Datavideo SE-500 can handle up to either four Composite or four S-video inputs. That's a lot of bang for the buck seeing that you can use the S-Video from the cameras into the the mixer to get a bit more video quality.
If you're thinking SD, you can get into a pretty decent setup with two Sony EVI-D80 PTZ cameras, a Telemetrics CP-ITV4-S Controller and a Datavideo SE-500 Live Studio Kit for right around $6,150.00 (not including any video, control or power cabling). The neat thing about using the Datavideo SE-500 Live Studio Kit is that it has a nice video switcher with a built in audio mixer, built in hard drive recorder and two flat screen monitors. Granted it's nothing crazy super fancy, but it'll certainly get the job done considering you currently don't have anything. Also the EVI-D80 cameras are fairly nice to work with and give you decent SD video with good zoom capabilities. If you want a bit more flexibility in the way of coverage, the EVI-D80 cameras are around $725 each and the Datavideo SE-500 can handle up to either four Composite or four S-video inputs. That's a lot of bang for the buck seeing that you can use the S-Video from the cameras into the the mixer to get a bit more video quality.
Now if you want to step it up a notch and stay with SD, you can go with two Sony EVI-D90 PTZ cameras, a Sony RM-BR300 Controller and a Roland VR-3EX video switcher for right around $5,100.00 (not including any video, control or power cabling). Unlike the Datavideo Studio Kit, you'll also need to purchase flat screens, a DVR, etc. However, the Roland VR-3EX does come with a built in quad monitor (though quite small), has a lot more video capabilities, a streaming video output and a built in audio mixer. The down side is that it's Composite video inputs only, so no using any S-video. The upside however is it also has HDMI inputs! So you could possibly get cameras (like the PTZOptics 12x-SDI Gen2) with HDMI outputs or connect a DVD player. As with the first SD setup, this system will get the job done and quite a bit more. Also the EVI-D90 cameras are awesome to work with and give you outstanding SD video with tremendous zoom capabilities. And again, if you want a bit more flexibility in the way of coverage, the EVI-D90 cameras are around $900 each and the VR-3EX can handle up to four composite inputs.
And just in case you're wondering what the differences are between the EVI-D80 and the EVI-D90 cameras, well that would be the zoom capabilities, type of CCD sensor and the lens. Both have SD and S-Video outputs.
Keep in mind that there is far more to connecting and getting the above mentioned systems online and functional. Every installation is different and requires all sorts of configurations, cables, power requirements, etc. So the above is merely a guideline/introduction to get you started. Please feel free to ask any questions regarding the systems, or toss in your own configuration!
Now staying with SD makes sense till you get to about the $10,000.00 mark in raw equipment, then you might as well just make the jump to HD. And let me tell you, there are a plethora of options, setups and configurations out there. But I'm only going to cover the one that I've designed for St. Peters Lutheran because I feel it provides one of the best solutions out there.
And just in case you're wondering what the differences are between the EVI-D80 and the EVI-D90 cameras, well that would be the zoom capabilities, type of CCD sensor and the lens. Both have SD and S-Video outputs.
Keep in mind that there is far more to connecting and getting the above mentioned systems online and functional. Every installation is different and requires all sorts of configurations, cables, power requirements, etc. So the above is merely a guideline/introduction to get you started. Please feel free to ask any questions regarding the systems, or toss in your own configuration!
Now staying with SD makes sense till you get to about the $10,000.00 mark in raw equipment, then you might as well just make the jump to HD. And let me tell you, there are a plethora of options, setups and configurations out there. But I'm only going to cover the one that I've designed for St. Peters Lutheran because I feel it provides one of the best solutions out there.