RE: Do-it-yourself CCTV
- From: "Ken Perry" <whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 23:27:14 -0500
You don't even really need a stand. Get a couple of those extra hand like
stands from home depot or a hobby store I can't remember what they are
called but they are stands that have alligator like clips hell you could
have 8 cameras one to watch the door so the wife don't catch you reading 7
porn mags at once. Enjoy and remember use OCR because it's the stories that
count.
Ken
-----Original Message-----
From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Paul Martz
Sent: Saturday, November 07, 2009 1:39 PM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Do-it-yourself CCTV
Hi all --
I have been partially sighted due to RP for a number of years and am now
at the point where I need to buy a CCTV because normal size print is
just out of the question.
I'm considering the SmartView Graduate. If you're not familiar with it,
it is simply a camera on a stand, and it hooks up to your computer for
display. I really like this, as it doesn't require its own dedicated
monitor and it's very portable.
But here's my problem. The camera has a resolution of 640x480 pixels,
which produces a noticeably blurry image when displayed on my 24"
monitor (maybe I'm just not blind enough yet, ha ha). Considering that
the system sells for a retail price of about $2300, I would've expected
better resolution than 640x480.
Interestingly, I see that consumer grade HD camcorders with a resolution
of 1024x720 are readily available at Best Buy for under $200. This
started me thinking about how I might be able to make my own high
resolution CCTV. I figure there are basically four components: the
software to display the image, the stand to hold the camcorder, the
camcorder itself, and the optical system.
The software component is not an issue. I'm a professional software
developer and can slap this together easily. For the stand, there should
be some kind of off the shelf solution. I don't think I would need to
make my own. The camcorder can also easily be purchased off the shelf.
This leaves the optics as the last component. It's likely that a
consumer grade camcorder simply lacks the optics required to make it
useful as a CCTV. So I might need to purchase a higher-end camcorder or
at least one with a swappable lens system.
It seems like I ought to be able to do this for a total out of pocket
cost under $500, and the real cost would be my own time spent writing
the software, debugging, and optimizing the system.
So that's a summary of my limited thinking about this project so far.
Has anyone attempted something like this? We're all programmers here, so
maybe someone else has some ideas about how to make this work? Or am I
nuts and I should just shell out the $2300?
Thanks,
-Paul
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