Re: [gentoo-user] Re: {OT} video monitoring

[Grant]

>> I've been using motion along with USB cameras for a while.  I need to
>> expand my monitoring capacity and I'm wondering if I should consider
>> changing software or hardware.  motion seems fairly dead but is
>> stable.  I'm reading conflicting info about the current status of
>> zoneminder.  Is anyone using IP cams?
>
>
> Hello Grant,
>
> Some years ago, the slickest webserver plus zoneminder setup was this
>
> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/cherokee/users/2450
>
> cherokee + zoneminder + php
>
>
> Another solution is to get some pci cards that take a coax input
> from a coax cable (RG/59 or RG6 for distance) directly into the PC.
> There you can convert the streaming video into h.264 and move it
> around the ethernet. Encoder (coax to h.264) pci cards use to abound
> such as Qsee, Avermedia etc etc.
>
> You can also get embedded boards from TI that include the DaVinci
> package which take in coax and convert it to H.264.
>
> I use to get the best information about the  key chips reading the
> linux
> kernel driver documentation found in the old drivers. Many of
> the drivers (most?) have been unified and the in-driver
> documents therein
> will be mostly useless, so old 2.4 and 2.6 drivers for specific
> chipsets is the best source, if you really want to dig into
> video over IP.   Most currently manufactured IP cams go to great links
> to make their hardware a "black box" on what they are doing
> to output the H.264. [2]
>
> Furthermore, you have to delve in the "container" versus the packets
> when you find incompatibilities.   Many of the advanced ethernet
> sniffing software packages have h.264 filters build in [1]. It's all
> H.264, just a lot of software gymnastics to frustrate folks from
> rolling their own video solution.
>
> If I were to get serious about video/IP, I'd go with
> VP8 (google's standard)
> and find a codec (opensource) that could be put on a micro
> processor board; pandaboard? [3].  Googling around and I'm
> sure you can find
> something. [4]
>
>
> usb video sucks, once you try to "scale up" for any sort of
> serious video
> surveillance system; imho.
>
> hth,
> James
>
> [1] http://www.wireshark.org/docs/dfref/h/h264.html
>
> [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VP8
>
> [3]
> https://wiki.linaro.org/WorkingGroups/Middleware/
> Multimedia/Specs/1105/OptimizeVp8Decoding
>
> [4] http://www.webmproject.org/tools/

After reading everyone's responses, I do think I'll stick with USB
cams and motion.  Can anyone recommend a good USB cam for indoor use
with a nice wide angle lens and mounting threads?  It doesn't need to
be cheap.

- Grant