New poster but long time forum reader here but this post interested me as I am an Electronics Technician that one of my major responsibilities is installing, maintaining, and repairing CCTV systems.
With home surveillance, you can get some Amazon equipment that will more than likely provide a poor analog signal if it is coax or a digital signal for your IP cameras with probably poor security features or performance.
You can never go wrong with Samsung IP PoE cameras, especially vandal proof. For the majority of locations I work with, these are my number one recommendation to the customer. Yes, they are going to be expensive. However, the value of features and quality of signal that you receive will pay the cameras off. Best bet for a DVR is to either build your own using Linux as the OS for the server or buy a quality server such as Exacqvision. My recommendation is to build your own. Also, check out the Exacqvision website for a calculator that provide adequate storage estimates dependent upon your inputs for the setup.
Another note as mentioned, with time/date stamping, video footage is admissible in the court system. I have a fellow technician that was called into court to testify about frames per second and as a technical expert witness for testimonial purposes.
Also consider a IP PoE PTZ camera that can be setup on a pattern sweep if you have a broad area that you want to have video surveillance. Like I mentioned, you might have to pay more for a great system but that great system is protecting your home or work security.
Any other questions you have, feel free to ask.
