Mark_M

To use SMTP you'll need the username & password of that email account to send from.

Port 587 is fine, this is the SSL enabled port (you'll need to enable SSL/TLS).

Some email services don't allow a device like an NVR/DVR with your standard login information. Gmail for example requires you to make a 3rd party application password.

Example with Gmail:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fq_kWZmZYo

11 hours ago, Tony5 said:

Yes it's a farm in New Zealand.

Hello Tony, you're another Kiwi here .

A point-to-point wifi bridge setup, like the device tomcctv has linked to is a method of extending a network very long distances.

PB Tech also sell these wifi bridge's. They are two directional wifi 'access points'.

Such as two Ubiquiti M2's or M5's.

On 9/14/2023 at 3:18 AM, Co78 said:

I know there are specialized LPR ip cams but we thought that a 4K camera would work better than a 2 MP one. Are there any suggestions as how we can improve the readability during the night? If we decide to use a different camera, what should we look for as far as specs? Is there necessary to have an IR light even with a LPR camera? If yes, what is the best location relative to the camera itself?

I really appreciate any suggestions or education you can offer. Thank you. 

What makes an LPC/LPR camera:

• High noise to signal ratio (often said in dB).
• Large focal length (zoom level).
• Large imaging sensor - suitable size for the resolution.
• High exposure speed (not necessarily higher FPS).

Reolink use cheap quality imaging sensors and cheap quality processors. Here's why:

Generally an LPC/LPR camera is 2MP or 4MP. Imaging sensor size matters for light sensitivity on each pixel cell.

A general guide: 2MP, use an imaging sensor that is 1/2.8" or larger. At 4MP, an imaging sensor 1/1.8" or larger.

For 8MP (you won't use this for LPC/LPR), the sensor should be 1/1.2" or larger. Reolink manufacture a 12MP camera at 1/2.49".... this is an absolute joke of how Reolink use the cheapest quality possible.

Why does the cmos sensor size matter?

A larger surface area for the imaging sensor can collect more photons of light in a shorter period of time. This means the exposure time can be lower. Lower exposure time means fast moving objects are less of a blur.

Reolink and other consumer brands suffer because they use a cheap imaging sensor and to compensate the exposure speed has to be longer.

Why lower resolution and more zoom?

Optical zoom is far more effective than increasing the resolution. Lower resolution also means less processing power is needed for HLC (High-light compensation) or WDR (Wide dynamic range) so that the headlights and taillights do not blow out the image. Lower image resolution also helps LPR software to recognise the plate in OCR (optical character recognition) because less processing power is needed.

IR light is needed for LPC/LPR, this is to illuminate the plate so it appears brighter than light from the headlights/taillights.

If you have manually set an IP address on the NVR, make sure to exclude this from the DHCP range on your router. Or set the NVR to DHCP and create a static IP address map in the router for your NVR.

Last year I set a camera's IP address manually and it worked for a day. Then the router did a shuffle of DHCP leases and for some reason it didn't recognise the camera wasn't going to change address. The router then set another device to the same IP address as the camera.

Both devices were randomly working until I found the cause.

8 hours ago, rexpontius said:

Hi all

I was able to resolve this issue.

The way to fix this is:  Get RS232 cable -> usb and connect to laptop.
Use putty or similar terminal client on windows, baud 115200.

When starting the DVR, hit *** before it boots to the kernel.
Then you are in the bootloader software.

Then type "eracfg", this command deletes the configuration.

When finished, reboot the DVR and it should be factory fresh, and allow setting of new password and setting,
NOTE: all settings will be deleted.

Awesome to hear you have found a way and solved the issue!

Rebranded Dahua camera?

The cheapest camera at a 1/3" cmos sensor...?? It's 2023, should be a 1/1.8" sensor for a 4MP camera. 1/3" is awful for low light.

On 7/6/2023 at 10:45 AM, sezlv said:

Thank you for all the information. I am looking at this one DVR, in particular, HIKVISION iDS-7216HQHI-M1/S, do you think this DVR would do the job?

https://www.hikvision.com/en/products/Turbo-HD-Products/DVR/AcuSense-Series/iDS-7216HQHI-M1-S/

I also was looking at a bunch of other DVRs that were "1080p Lite" which to my understanding isn't really full 1080p.

That DVR looks good.

It also supports from IP cameras, which is handy when you start upgrading the cameras to digital ones.

Hikvision is a very well established brand, with consumer to enterprise quality products.

Annke tends to OEM Hikvision products.

Zosi recorder interface looks like XMeye based system...?

I would go with the Hikvision systems over Zosi.

Dahua is also a strong competitor to Hikvision. You can buy Amcrest, which is OEM of Dahua. Uniview is also another strong brand.

Using an OEM has some benefits;

Annke & Amcrest OEM'ing a commercial brand for home user's means they tend to update their phone apps and have a better user interface for home users.

- OEM: Original Equipment Manufacture. A fancy way to say it's a rebranded product.

1 hour ago, BigT said:

The company I work for is based in the UK.

the Hikvision DVRs are standalone and due to the age of them our IT don’t want them connected to our IT network due to security risks.

If IT can block a USB drive from working when plugged into a computer, they can block the DVR from accessing the internet on the business's router.

They're just being lazy.

1 hour ago, BigT said:

I considered allowing staff to video the monitors showing the footage and then uploading to the police.

Terrible idea.

A goal of CCTV is to capture as much detail as possible. Videoing the screen loses soo much of that quality. 

You need to export it off the DVR.

I would be telling your company to upgrade the DVR or telling IT department to connect the DVR to the network and stop being lazy creating extra firewall rules.

6 hours ago, BigT said:

I have been asked if USB memory sticks can be used to export the footage onto

then insert the USB memory sticks into a computer to upload to the police.

However our company have blocked use of USB memory sticks to prevent risk of viruses.

Ask IT department to connect the DVRs to your company's network and then use Hikvision software on your computer to export/download the footage.

6 hours ago, tomcctv said:

burning off to cd or DVD is a thing of the past and police have always been careful when footage is passed to them on a dvd. 
with usb at least they can check for viruses 

Because a USB can have it's data deleted, renamed, alerted and added to.

A DVD is read-only data. Police don't want to be held legally responsible of people accusing them of modifying data.

Point to point wireless radios is one thing that might possibly do for your scenario?

Something like two Ubiquiti Loco M2's in bridge mode. It's basically a wireless link and depending on models they can easily go miles (but proper alignment is needed).

13 hours ago, SB_Jim said:

Hello - I'm attempting to send a Message to one of my favorite members - but I receive a message instructing me to make more space in my Inbox.  I cannot determine  how to do that.. or where to find such "inbox".

Thanks in advance - Jim

You can access CCTV forum messages from the message bubble icon at the top right corner of the website.

This directs you to www.cctvforum.com/messenger/ .

1 hour ago, drfletch90 said:

I have a building that I would like to install some cameras on. This building is located in another town but it does have internet access available. I have a few extra reolink cameras, and I have a server at home that I would like to record to.

What I'm struggling with is finding what kind of VMS to use to connect to the cameras on my server. Ideally, I'd prefer to stay away from any subscription based software but I am alright with paying for something. I was looking at Shinobi or Zoneminder, from what I can tell they might be what I'm looking for.

Subscription usually means you utilise someone else's computer on the internet (someone's server). This is the easiest because you pay them for the work and they are responsible for network security.

If you are good with networking, I would look into using a site-to-site VPN on your routers. This may mean purchasing a new router for both sites. 

What this will do is bridge the two networks together, through an encrypted route.

This is NOT a replacement to having an NVR/VMS at the remote site because constantly sending data across the internet is going to encounter a few dropouts occasionally. Having a local recording system also means that building can be self sufficient in the event your own system fails.

1 hour ago, drfletch90 said:

One other thing I would like to do would have another viewer at this building that can connect to a tv to just view a live feed of the cameras. If there is also an app that can be installed would be great, one where you can view the live feed but not touch the recordings.

If you use an NVR at the remote building for redundancy this will likely have an HDMI/VGA output for a monitor.

Depending on how far away the TV is from the NVR, you could use 'HDMI over Ethernet' adaptors. If the TV is close then just use an HDMI cable.

Or (my favourite), as mentioned on ipcamtalk.com forum: There is such a device called a 'TV modulator'/'RF modulator. This takes an input and encodes the signal into the same standard as your country's TV broadcast, you then wire the device into your building's TV antenna wiring and each TV in the building picks it up as a standard TV channel. Some modulators have HDMI input, or IP modulators can take an RTSP stream directly from the cameras/NVR.

6 hours ago, adikumar2010 said:

Requirements :

1. Pan/Tilt : So I can rotate and zoom in remotely.
2. Ethernet + POE : I just want to run single cable as I have to bring it from 2nd floor to ground floor which will be a long run.
3. Cloud : Cheapest cost per year (Max $35/year) & saving footage of last 2 weeks minimum. I could buy NAS or DVR but that can also get corrupted and needs power backup too.
4. Clould recording : If possible nonstop video recording 24x7. Not just the video clips when a movement is detected by camera.
5. Bullet or dome type anything will do
6. Good night vision recording.
7. Two way audio communication so I can talk to someone outside the building using the phone app.
8. Siren/alarm incase of intrusion. So camera should have a speaker.
9. Desktop/windows/browser app will be a huge bonus point.
10. Budget : $60 per camera cost.

I am noob in CCTV world. It is a very weird list of requirements.

• Good night vision is nothing below $200usd. Cheaper to just install extra lighting.
• Drop the hope of getting two-way audio/siren unless the budget per camera doubles.
• Small PTZ cameras are at least $150usd.
• A camera need power too..... what's the issue with an NVR because it needs backup power? The camera need backup power on their POE switch anyway!
• Relying on cloud only is a false sense of security. You need some local storage in case the video being sent to the cloud gets corrupted. An SD card in the camera or NVR can do, most systems use both so if one device fails the other keeps recording.

$60 a camera is dreaming. Unless you are wanting to buy a disposable camera from AliExpress with the terrible software.

Budget at least $120usd but that will not get you a PTZ or two way audio for the price.

With such a tight budget, get a POE camera that has a built-in SD card slot to record to. That saves paying for cloud storage and you can easily intergrade an embedded NVR later down the road.

1 hour ago, ggmaury said:

I have 2 8 port NVRs on the same router and they recognize each other and mix the cameras on both.

How to configure them so I show 16 cameras in the main NVR (the newest and higher resolution) and display them?

What brand is your system?

It's probably going to be achieved by adding the RTSP URL from the second NVR's channel output to a channel input on the main NVR.

On 1/23/2023 at 11:17 PM, fourtytwo said:

Thanks for the replies, in the end I opted for Reolink RLC-810A 2.8mm

This has a 1/2.49" sensor so not the best BUT it's POE 4K with IR, internal storage & "smart" movement detection so I am hoping it will meet my needs at least until something else comes along.

Good luck to you.

I've found Reolink to have poor quality and doesn't let you adjust settings for better night performance.

On 1/22/2023 at 4:54 AM, fourtytwo said:

I am looking for a 4k external camera with >90deg fov with an SD card slot, wifi interface, night vision and smart movement detection.

Also cheap cameras at a higher resolution perform awful at night.

A good brand of camera will give a specification sheet.

For 4k (8MP), you would want near 1/1.2" cmos or larger... not a tiny 1/3" or 1/2.5" cmos sensor.

In Reolink's video you can see how the person 'ghosts' into the background at points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Oxhxk8lxM

Ghosting happens with a cameras exposure is too long for the amount of movement. A typical reason for a CCTV camera to have a long exposure is because the imaging sensor cannot capture enough light to capture a decent image.

You can help reduce motion blur by adding external IR flood lights, but that adds extra power consumption.

15 hours ago, DaveFix said:

Is there a way I can use a third party NVR, such as Duhua, to record them but still use Control Center for monitoring and playback?

I do not know for sure if this would work.

Motorola Solutions acquired IndigoVision in 2020.

Before this time, some of the cameras were just rebranded Dahua cameras.

I do not think IndigoVision used Dahua NVRs. So likely playback from Control Centre would not work.

As tomcctv is hinting to, I also think it maybe a power supply issue.

tomcctv is suggesting to unplug many devices so there is less power being used from the plug adaptor. Working for a while then failing is a sign the power supply is likely dying.

Smart PSS can export as an MP4 and other formats.

15 hours ago, narinesa said:

What brand nvr should i be looking at and model number ?

I can suggest all required devices from a brand I know... But the total is around $17,000 for 30 * 8MP cameras with face recognition, 2 * LPR and a low end $2,600 32ch NVR that supports face recognition/LPR.

Realistically, $20,000 total for cabling, junction boxes, HDDs, switches.

Tips for you to get closer to the budget:

• Don't chase facial recognition.
• LPC (licence plate capture) instead of LPR (licence plate recognition).  LPC just means the camera captures a clear image of the plate. The camera/NVR is not automatically reading the text, it is a manual process to read the text.

16 hours ago, narinesa said:

LPR and Face Detection.

Budget Less than $1,500 USD

A 16ch NVR that does Face recognition and LPR support is about $1,200. The LPR cameras are about $600.

And why do you require 4K?

8MP worth of video is a huge amount of data.

103TB for 30 days worth of footage... that is a VMS solution worthy of server equipment and double that for raid configuration redundancy.

https://ipcamtalk.com/tools/calculators/hdd/

Not to mention that 4K is a waste unless it's a $400+ camera with decent imaging sensor.

Cheap 4K cameras just produce a blurry mess at night capturing moving objects.

Seriously reconsider what you want this system to accomplish.

4K is hyped beyond realistic outcomes, you don't need 4K to capture usable footage.

On 8/14/2022 at 7:30 PM, Joseph Vilvaraj said:

Thank you we agree. But we cannot use 24v. is there any other device supply 12v. for example.

Does the system need to work at night?

A batteries voltage drops as power is drawn from it.

Once the battery goes below 12, the 12v regulator will stop working and your cameras will turn off.

Most charge controllers do not output exactly 12v, as you have said.

This is where you would use a 24v solar system and a voltage regulator device set to output 12v.

Using a 12v regulator device on a 12v solar system can be done, but it will turn off if the input voltage drops below a threshold, e.g. 12.5v (refer to the specifications).

The input on these regulators always has to be higher than the output voltage.

15 hours ago, Gula said:

research on the subject of wizsense, SMD plus, acusense, AI, etc. but I'm still not very clear about choosing one.

Different brands have their own names for smart detection algorithms.

SMD and Wizsense (a Dahua brand term) have some differences.

SMD is a step up from standard motion detection, to 'Smart Motion Detection'. Wizsence is for analytics like Trip wire, intrusion, etc.

For most people, SMD is enough. It just detects if there is a person/vehicle moving within the video.

Wizsence is detecting a person/vehicle moving past a certain boundary or entering/exiting an area. The main term for this is 'IVS rules'.

Hikvision has their version of Wizsence called 'Acusense'.