Video Screen & Cameras in place of a window

Hello, and thanks for reading this! I'm most of the way through my home studio build (details not currently included due to lack of relevance to my question, but it has gone well due in large part to years of reading this forum....) Due to layout and building structural issues I've been forced to skip a window between my control room and the recording room and will install a camera/monitor system instead. I don't have much of any experience with video cameras...etc, so I don't really know what sort of specs I'm looking for, and what sort of quality I can expect at different price points. What I'm planning to install is a system consisting of 2 medium size (24"-ish) LCD TVs and 2 cameras, each hardwired to the other monitor. I'd love to keep the total budget for this around $1000 US, although if necessary I could probably go up to around double that. The LCD TV side of things seems pretty straightforward and easily within budget, but I'm really short of info on cameras; there seem to be a lot of inexpensive (<$100) security cameras around, but I don't really have any idea what quality of image they'll produce. Does anyone have experience with these sorts of systems? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Why not just get a couple of web cams and mount them appropriately? They're plenty good quality and probably better than those cheap security cameras that you're looking at. Just an idear. 8)

Hi, thanks for your reply and the suggestion. The only webcam I've used is the one on top of my macbook, and it doesn't seem to be very good at tracking motion smoothly or dealing with different lighting conditions, plus there's a noticeable amount of latency involved. I don't know if others are much better or not, have you used any that you'd recommend? I'm really looking for something that can replace a window in terms of quality of image and will have essentially no latency -- a setup that'll be good enough for musicians in one room to get timing cues from those in the other room and also deal with a range of lighting issues and still look nice. The other reason I'd like to avoid a webcam is that you have to plug them into a computer to get them to work; I'd have to get computers to dedicate to running the cameras, or make my protools machine multitask more, which I'd like to avoid. I'd really like to just flip a power switch and have everything up and running... I spend enough of my time dealing with computers these days! :)

Yeah, I know what you're saying. I just think that those cheapo security cameras are better avoided. I bet the FPS is pretty low and you wouldn't get that great of a picture. I'd seek out a higher quality cam of some sort. I'm sure there are plenty out there that are better than the security camera option. I'm actually going to be in the same boat as you are right now in about 6 or 7 months. My builder is building my studio to my specs and I'm not going to have any windows in the CR and I'm going to use cameras. I figured I'd just bet on using web cams or something. I have thought about the resource issue with the computer but figured I'd just cross that bridge when I get there. Anyway, just figured I would give you some more thoughts or options. It's worth looking into. Good luck and post what you find and your eventual results.

I bought a little security on ebay for $14. Didn't come with a power supply, but once I found one it's works pretty well. Even in low light. 0.02c

Myriad_Rocker wrote:

Yeah, I know what you're saying. I just think that those cheapo security cameras are better avoided. I bet the FPS is pretty low and you wouldn't get that great of a picture. I'd seek out a higher quality cam of some sort. I'm sure there are plenty out there that are better than the security camera option. I'm actually going to be in the same boat as you are right now in about 6 or 7 months. My builder is building my studio to my specs and I'm not going to have any windows in the CR and I'm going to use cameras. I figured I'd just bet on using web cams or something. I have thought about the resource issue with the computer but figured I'd just cross that bridge when I get there. Anyway, just figured I would give you some more thoughts or options. It's worth looking into. Good luck and post what you find and your eventual results.

Yes, thanks for the ideas! I'll keep looking and see what I can find; it's tough since I don't know the first thing about cameras... but I'll know if I like the results or not once it's installed I guess. I did find another place that seems to carry better security-type cameras. If there's another kind of camera that'd be better suited I'd be all over it, I just want to avoid latency and jury-rigged setups like using a videocamera (and having to remember to hit record every time I walk in there!) It seems that what we're looking for is one of those "in-between the cracks" kind of things... most people either want a webcam to use with their computer, a low-quality security camera, or a high-res video camera to record with. Not many people want a high-quality picture just to watch it on a TV screen live 20' away with a minimum of hassle! You'd think it'd be easy to find something since you can get a nice-looking HD videocamera for under $200, but if not many people want something it gets hard to find for a reasonable price.... Here's the link I found in case anyone is interested or can interpret video camera specs to tell if this would be a good bet or not: http://www.supercircuits.com/Security-C ... 3CHR4G-RTI This site seems to carry a variety of options and is the only place I've found what appear to be good-quality cameras so far.

lilith_envy wrote:

I bought a little security on ebay for $14. Didn't come with a power supply, but once I found one it's works pretty well. Even in low light. 0.02c

Yeah, I was wondering if those inexpensive ones work well. Can it track motion quickly? Will it look good on a 20-30" screen? The rest of my studio is looking pretty good so far (if I do say so myself... :D ) so I don't want the picture onscreen to look like it should be above a gas station counter! :) Thanks!

Low light's good because it has Infra red LEDs on it for night time. I've only watched my on a 29 in television (old skool) and it's fine.

Cool, thanks! Do you know the brand or model?

dfeiszli wrote:

http://www.supercircuits.com/Security-Cameras/Fixed-Security-Cameras/PC33CHR4G-RTI

. That's a nice one. But I about had a heart attack when I saw the price! :shock:

Be absolutely concerned about low light effectiveness. Also I would avoid the wireless ones. The higher the resolution the better of course. I can't give you a recommendation because the ones I tried sucked and I will not build without a window ever again. But, I haven't looked at this for over 5 years and technology always gets better, so you just might find a solution you can live with. Make sure to position the monitors as if the are windows, this may help with the illusion. Good luck, Steve

FYI, Target has Westinghouse 42" LCD TVs on Black Friday for $248.

Nah, I like my old tube tele :yahoo:

Myriad_Rocker wrote:

dfeiszli wrote:

http://www.supercircuits.com/Security-Cameras/Fixed-Security-Cameras/PC33CHR4G-RTI

. That's a nice one. But I about had a heart attack when I saw the price! :shock:

Yeah, it's quite a price jump! But if that's what it takes to get it looking good then it's worth it, especially since I only need two of them.... I'm just a little worried that even these won't really look all that great.

Cold wrote:

Be absolutely concerned about low light effectiveness. Also I would avoid the wireless ones. The higher the resolution the better of course. I can't give you a recommendation because the ones I tried sucked and I will not build without a window ever again. But, I haven't looked at this for over 5 years and technology always gets better, so you just might find a solution you can live with. Make sure to position the monitors as if the are windows, this may help with the illusion. Good luck, Steve

Cool, thanks for the tips and info! Do you remember what the specs for resolution and low-light conditions were like on the ones you tried?

ABM Recording Studio wrote:

FYI, Target has Westinghouse 42" LCD TVs on Black Friday for $248.

Wow, I may have to check that out... thanks!

It really sounds strange and how can it be possible to have Video Screen and cameras replacing windows and the need behind it?

This is actually a really great idea.. Im going to have to do without the window when i build me home studio and i was thinkin about this kind of set up aswell...u can use a regular video camera btw, and just hook it up directly to the tv like you said...no video recording required...zero latency and no computer needed....plus i think you can get some pretty cheap, reasonably good quality camcorders these days!! although someone told me the electrics on the tv and camera would cause a slight buzz or humm through the mic.......i dunno?!?. suppose with enough absorbtion in a booth it probably wouldnt be an issue!

although someone told me the electrics on the tv and camera would cause a slight buzz or humm through the mic.......i dunno?!?.

If all your cables are properly screened and grounded, then it shouldn't be a problem. I often run live sound for events where I have to have the sound system, lighting system and video/multimedia system all in the same place, all fed from the same power source, and with the cables arranged roughly like a large bowl of spaghetti ... Very seldom do I get problems with hum, and even when it does happen it normally turns out to be something in the sound system, like an badly wired or poor quality instrument pickup or amp. I don't think I've ever had a hum problem caused by the video equipment. But I do take care to set up good grounding for everything, and that helps hugely. - Stuart -

So, I guess it's time for an update.... I finally installed my system a couple months ago and it's working well. I got some fairly cheap Dynex 32" LCD TVs and these cameras: http://www.supercircuits.com/Security-C ... 3CHR4G-RTI The TVs look good; I'll be using one as a secondary screen for my protools rig but haven't hooked that part up yet. After adjusting my lighting to avoid glare and bright spots, the cameras work great, including in the complete darkness. They track motion very clearly with no issues, and there's no noticeable latency involved at all so the system works fine for watching the drummer for cues...etc. The only downside is the resolution of the cameras -- it's decent, but it's more like watching TV than HD video. There's some pixelation around the edges of objects, especially diagonal ones, and distant objects are a little fuzzy. In a few years I may upgrade if something better comes out that's still affordable, but for now it's working well and serving its purpose.