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Their TFTP is through the serial connection on the 3300 and previous cams, and is what the unbricking thread covers. I never could get it to work on my 3300, but haven't tried the unbricking thread techniques. I haven't tried with my 4300 (Dahua firmware always scares me), and don't know if they've got ethernet TFTP enabled or not. Dahua's support is non-existent in this arena. You might drop a PM to iTuneDVR on this forum; he's quite an expert on Dahua internals, and would be a good first stop to find out what your options are.

Milestone Xprotect Go is the free version, limited to 8 cameras and 5 days recording. If that works out and you want more days, you can upgrade to the next version, which is on a per-cam license, I believe. The server and client are separate with Milestone and most low-CPU products; running the client on the same PC as the server will give a fairly big increase in CPU utilization. I haven't used it for a while, but lots of people like it. It's more expensive to license than BI, but if it lets you avoid buying a new PC, it may be the better deal. Here are the Milestone version comparisons: http://www.milestonesys.com/SharePoint/XProtectOverview/2014/Milestone%20XProtect%20Comparison%20Chart%20-%20August%205%202014.pdf

Mine have always automatically rebooted after an update. I usually wait until they're back online, then power cycle them to be sure.

There's a thread on unbricking a Dahua camera here: http://www.cam-it.org/index.php?topic=6510.0 I don't know if it will work on yours. Unfortunately, Dahua's support for this kind of thing is non-terrible.

I had a Dahua HFW3300C do something like that, and figured out it was the i-frame causing it. Their software apparently struggled with decoding the i-frame, causing it to pause briefly each time it got one. What's your i-frame setting? It would have to be large to only see this every 5 seconds; at 20 fps, you'd need an i-frame setting of 100 to get the pause every 5 seconds. If your i-frame is set at the Dahua default (usually 2x the frame rate, for one every 2 seconds), then this wouldn't be the cause.

I've never run ivms, so no help there. BI is great software for the money, but the Turion N54L is a pretty light weight CPU, and may struggle with your two cams, depending on the resolution and frame rate. Assuming you don't want to run your server at high CPU all the time, you may want to look at something less CPU intensive, like Milestone Xprotect. The N54L benches at 1399. I ran a dedicated BI box on an i3-540 that benches at 2691, roughly twice as fast, and it handled 6 cams, 9MP, 10 FPS at 60% CPU or so, bumping up to 80-90% when there was a lot of action. Running 2 3MP cams at 10fps on your N54L might leave you enough headroom for your server duties, but you'd need to test it to be sure. BI has some improvements since I ran that box, like direct to disk, so you may be OK.

That sounds reasonable, and matches the FOV shift. Using measured HFOV on the Hik 2032 with the 4mm lens: 3MP = 69 degrees H (89% of the 1080p FOV); 2048/2304 = 89% 1080P = 77 degrees H (112% of the 3MP FOV); 2304/2048 = 113% That's been my stance all along; one resolution or the other was scaled instead of directly sampled. It's good to know which. I also did resolution chart measurements, and the results were also inconclusive, so their sampling algorithm is good.

The vendor supplied software will generally work if you're only using their cams. I don't run it, and can't speak to how well it works, but other people here do, like the previous poster. What you gain with Blue Iris is support for a huge number of camera models, a great user interface, tons of control, and many more features than you get with the Hik software, so it depends on how much those matter to you. Customer support is quite good, and updates are released multiple times a month, which is good if you need a bug fixed but not so great if you want a stable system, as bugs creep in to the new releases. I only update mine every 3 months or so, when there's a known stable version. Lots of feedback on this at their community forum at cam-it.org. It's not free but is inexpensive; the cost comes in the PC you need if you're going to run more than 6 or 8 multi-MP cams. It's quite a good value for the money, but doesn't have some of the features that higher end corporate packages have, like multi-cam playback, coverage maps, POS integration, etc. It also doesn't use cam-based motion detect, which is part of the reason the CPU utilization is high. It's got a 15 day trial period that's resettable, so best bet is to try it out and compare it to the Hik software to see which one gets the job done for you.

Many cameras will record directly to NAS, though it can be a bit of a minefield to get it working right. Search on NAS to see some of the threads about this. Blue Iris needs a PC running any time you want to record. It's Windows only, and can require a fairly powerful PC if you want to run a number of MP cams, depending on the frame rate and resolution.

Part of the reason the clarity is better is because the pixels per foot is higher at 3MP, due to both more pixels and a smaller FOV. Most 3MP cams give the same PPF in either 2MP or 3MP, but have a wider FOV in 3MP. This indicates that their sampling algorithm does a good job, though I've seem some artifacts on night shots that show up on 3MP but not 2MP. It's hard to say what's happening at the sensor level, though.

There are a couple of ways of doing this, depending on what you're running. Some NVRs or PC based NVR software will send alerts on signal loss or network loss. Likewise, many cams will send alerts if the image is blocked or on network loss. Of course, if you lose the network or if they cut the cable supplying power, cam-based systems won't help. Another approach is to have the NVR or PC monitor the IP addresses of the cameras and send out alerts if they go offline. You could set up a script in either Windows or *nix to ping the cameras on a regular basis and run the appropriate action if something goes wrong. My Windows NVR, running Blue Iris, runs a script that pings the POE switch and checks that BI hasn't locked up, and reboots if either loses contact for more than a certain length of time. It would be easy to add pings to all the cameras. In theory, you could do this on any *nix based dedicated NVR, but I don't know those systems well.

I've got a bunch of indoor white cables run under the eaves in Silicon Valley, where it's sunny most of the year (but not as intense as Florida), and no problems after a few years. I worry more about the connectors than the cables, and have most of them in junction boxes, but also have several just hanging there. Again, no problems. YMMV, as usual!

I've found that VBR results depend on how the vendor implements it. On my Hiks, the VBR setting caps the maximum bit rate, so with the same bit rate setting, quality can be the same with either CBR or VBR, while bandwidth and storage usage will be lower with VBR in scenes with little motion or complexity. On my older Vivoteks, VBR allows the bit rate to exceed the base setting, so VBR can, in theory, allow better quality in scenes with high complexity or motion, while consuming more bandwidth and storage space. I haven't done image comparisons on this situation to see how much difference this makes, though.

My SADP test found 2 Hik 2032 cams, both set to the same default IP address, from a PC on a completely different subnet, and let me reset each one's IP address to my current subnet. I'm not sure what enables that, but it worked for me.

Another option is IP Cam Viewer Lite or Pro by Robert Chou. The Lite version is free and supports up to 6 cams. Works great with Hiks (and every other cam I've tried it on).

In theory, you get better sensitivity in BW mode, but I haven't found that to be true on any of the cams I've tried it on. Some cameras let you set both color mode and move the IR filter out, which gives both IR sensitivity and can give better images due to more contrast. I run several Vivotek IP8332 cams like that, and the color image at night, even with IR on, is better than BW. I don't think Hik will let you do that, as the IR filter is controlled by the day/night mode, and can't be switched independently like on the Vivotek.

FPS ratings for NVRs are a holdover from analog days, and generally shouldn't apply to IP NVRs. The NVR spec is usually total for all channels. What you really care about is the bit rate capacity of the NVR, as that's what should set how many cams you can use and at what settings. For instance, a 40 Mbps NVR will determine how many cams you can connect set at 4Mbps vs 8Mbps. For the cams, you don't need 60, 30, or even 20 fps in anything but special circumstances. Again, IP cams care more about bit rate, so a given bit rate (say, 4Mbps) will determine how large the files are and indirectly determine the quality. Many people use 10 or 15 fps for surveillance, some even less. More FPS generally requires a higher bit rate to maintain a given quality. Once your bit rate is set, changing the frame rate or resolution won't affect how much data the NVR gets and records. Likewise, changing the bit rate will increase or decrease the data size per minute, regardless of the frame rate or resolution. If your customer is running a casino or watching very fast events, they might need high FPS. Most users watching a business or store get by fine with 10 fps.

I'm not sure about the NVRs, but here's a post with info on the new cam logins: viewtopic.php?p=253713#p253713 Some systems use xc3511 as the password, but I believe that's gone as well.

Blue Iris is PC software that supports a huge number of camera brands, and support is quick to add more brands when requested. You can download a trial version to test it out, and the full version is only $35-50. It requires a fairly powerful PC, though, and would probably not be able to run 32 2MP cams at full resolution and any kind of decent frame rate. The demo would give you an idea of how much load it would put on your PC. There are software packages others like that have lower CPU loads and still support a lot of camera brands, like Milestone Xprotect, but I'm not very familiar with them. You can download the Xprotect Go limited version for free to test.

Try Filezilla. https://filezilla-project.org/ Not risky unless you open the ports to the outside world, and not too difficult, but not super easy either.

There's a big thread on these over at the blue iris forum: http://www.cam-it.org/index.php?topic=6389.0

I've replaced a few lenses on the 2032, and it's a pain, but can be done. Search the forum for hik glue and you'll see a bunch of posts. First off, though, what resolution are you using? If you're running 3MP, you can get a wider horizontal FOV by switching to 1080p, though you'll lose a little vertical FOV. This is a Hik 2xxx quirk; most cams don't do this. These are the measured 2032 FOV angles: OEM 4.0mm lens - Hik's original lens 3MP = 69 degrees H 1080P = 77 degrees H Here are the potential issues when replacing a lens on the 2032. - You'll want a MP rated, IR corrected lens. A good bet for affordable quality is m12lenses.com (be sure you shop on the 1/3" sensor page). Stay away from the Deal Extreme ultra-cheap lenses, or any lenses that cost less than $10, as the quality will not be good. - Some lenses have larger barrels at the end, and won't fit in the IR board. These are usually faster lenses (lower f-stop rating). You'll see these on the m12lenses page. - The camera's a pain to change lenses on. It needs to be completely disassembled, and the lens has a spot or two of glue that hold it in place. These are easily removed with a bit of brake cleaner/acetone and a tiny screwdriver. - You'll need to focus it while it's completely disassembled, and if the new lens is loose in the threads, you'll need to put a turn of teflon tape or similar on the threads to keep it from vibrating out of focus. Some lenses will be loose, some will be tight. Also, remove the IR board to focus it. - M12 lenses focus by screwing in and out. Some lenses will need to screw too far in and will hit the IR filter housing before they focus. If you keep going, you can damage the IR filter assembly, either locking it up or cracking the filter. - Others screw out further than the original and may hit the glass on the front of the case when the sensor board is screwed on. This isn't a problem as long as the sensor board screws go in far enough to hold it tight, but if you over-tighten, you could break something. - If you go too wide angle, like 2.8mm, you might get dark corners from the camera housing. 3.6mm will give some improvement, but how much will depend on the exact lens. 2 3.6mm lenses from different vendors will give different FOVs with the same sensor. The real problem is that few vendors supply the specs you need to figure out if it will work, and you just have to order something and give it a try. If I wanted a slightly wider FOV on my 2032, I'd start with this lens, but no guarantees it will fit until you try: http://www.m12lenses.com/3-6mm-F1-8-Mega-Pixel-CCTV-Board-Lens-p/pt-03618mp.htm

One important question to ask the vendor is whether the cam works with any software or only with their software. Many of these ultra-cheap no-name cams will only work with the vendor supplied software, which is generally not very good. You want to make sure you can use it with a generic browser, and that they can give you the streaming strings. It says ONVIF compliant, but that's a pretty fuzzy area. Also, these are 1/4" sensors, so low light performance will not be good. I'm guessing the lens is not top quality, either.

In general, people report that the EXIR cams have longer effective IR illumination. It's not an easy thing to test unless you hang the cams side by side. For domes, the EXIR design gets away from IR reflection halos from the inside of the dome, and is worth it for that, in my opinion. You lose the sensor-hiding aspect of the traditional dome, if that matters.

Ultimately, there's the question of whether the combination of lens, sensor, and image processing supports true 4k resolution. If the lens isn't 4k rated, for instance, the extra pixels may not add much to the actual visual resolution. A few tests with a resolution chart would show how much improvement 4k gives.