Indoor video cameras for viewing students

[SCEMan]

My daughter is starting a performing arts studio and wants parents to be able to view their children practicing in the studio from TVs/monitors in an adjacent office area. Any suggestions on how to easily/economically set this up?
Thanks in advance...

 

[LEDphile]

The easy approach is a camera with HDMI output connected to a TV. Add an HDMI splitter if needed, or perhaps use cameras with SDI outputs and an SDI to HDMI adapter if you need longer cable runs.

 

[SCEMan]

The easy approach is a camera with HDMI output connected to a TV. Add an HDMI splitter if needed, or perhaps use cameras with SDI outputs and an SDI to HDMI adapter if you need longer cable runs.

Thanks. I'll see what connections my daughter's TVs have.

 

[alpg88]

yea, pretty much today hdmi cam is a way to go. pretty much every tv made in last 10 years has hdmi input, usually 2 or more. there are cams with analog rca, or bnc connectors, but their resolution is not that great.

My kid's day care has same set up, cams in rooms, and monitors in the hallway, idk what cams they use, but the pic quality is crap, I can see my kid, I may even recognize him, but not much else, facial expressions however, or similar small details are not nearly clear enough.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Agree with the others on HDMI cameras. Another option is wired or wireless IP cameras and viewing them on a computer w/the computer's video output shared to an HDMI monitor.

 

[SCEMan]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've got some config research to do now.

 

[louie]

Be aware that not all cameras have "clean" HDMI output - without all of the viewfinder icons. It is sometimes very hard to find out from the manufacturers about this, even if you read the owner's manual.

 

[turbodog]

Handy tip... viewing video is allowable. I'd make the camera conspicuous though.

Audio on the other hand will run you afoul of wiretap laws.

Careful.

 

[SCEMan]

Handy tip... viewing video is allowable. I'd make the camera conspicuous though.

Audio on the other hand will run you afoul of wiretap laws.

Careful.

Thanks for the tip but this is solely for the convenience of parents wanting to watch their children train at a performing arts studio, so I don't think we'll have to be too concerned. But now days you never know...

 

[turbodog]

Yeah. I go out of my way to mention the wiretap thing as more and more cameras are capturing audio also and storing it either locally or in the cloud.

There are nuances in the law itself, but in general, it's a felony. I would not want to find myself in the middle of it.

 

[alpg88]

Thanks for the tip but this is solely for the convenience of parents wanting to watch their children train at a performing arts studio, so I don't think we'll have to be too concerned. But now days you never know...

If you do not record, wiretapping laws do not apply, from what it seems you do not really need to record

 

[turbodog]

Wiretap is when electronic means are used... recording is not required for the law to be broken.

As I said before, there are nuances in the law itself, but in general, it's illegal (typically a felony). I would not want to find myself in the middle of it.

 

[SCEMan]

Wiretap is when electronic means are used... recording is not required for the law to be broken.

As I said before, there are nuances in the law itself, but in general, it's illegal (typically a felony). I would not want to find myself in the middle of it.

Duly noted

 

[SCEMan]

If you do not record, wiretapping laws do not apply, from what it seems you do not really need to record

Yep. Livestreaming only.

 

[idleprocess]

Insofar as wiretapping concerns go, a quick search on one-party consent states yields the following wikipedia article. Naturally one should more thorough research on the subject before proceeding.

 

[turbodog]

Wanted to come back to this topic for 2 reasons:

1. any IP camera can be connected to directly via a web browser if it's on the same network as a viewing computer. no software required.

2. should you want recording... I've recently messed with blueiris nvr software, runs on a older/used computer. awesome s/w. drop in an AI recognition module and you're got a serious package.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Wanted to come back to this topic for 2 reasons:

1. any IP camera can be connected to directly via a web browser if it's on the same network as a viewing computer. no software required.

You are correct here. The only caveat I can offer is that some Axis cameras are a little cranky about Firefox.

 

[idleprocess]

any IP camera can be connected to directly via a web browser if it's on the same network as a viewing computer. no software required.

Depends on the make and model. My home cameras support RTSP*, which I've found that Chrome doesn't support so I use VLC instead.

*RTSP is the streaming format it will spit out. One can of course log into the management portal but that necessitates a plugin which I'd rather not execute every single time I want to view one of the camera streams.

 

[turbodog]

Well we will say "most" are supported natively... some plug in may be required... but you don't have to load an actual nvr-type software.

The blue iris.... phenomenal. Allows plug in options like AI. Supports license plate reading. Can view, as a client, your cameras through it via browser w/o plugins. And the network load is nothing... I've got 11 pulled up right now with under 50k traffic across the lan.

 

[SCEMan]

We ended up installing a multi 4k camera DVR (w/o HD) system using BNC cables/HDMI to an LCD display. Very happy with the system so far.