NewEgg 2TB HD - But now recorded video "pulses" ?

[QC444 1]

I just bought a new Hard Drive from NewEgg. It's a 2TB Western Digital hard drive that is specifically supposed to be for DVR's and recording streaming media.

 

Today I was viewing some recorded video and noticed something odd. There is a noticeable "pulse" in the video. Let me describe what I mean.

 

While viewing the video, you can clearly see a rhythmic "distortion" of the image. It's very consistent. Like a heartbeat.

 

The video will appear clear then you will see it "glitch" slightly and during that glitch (which last only for a fraction of a second, like a heartbeat), the image is slightly blurry compared to that time when it is not in the middle of one of these pulses. The duration of each cycle is about equal to a human heartbeat. Maybe 1 second between pulses.

The "distortion" is not horrible, but it is noticeable.

 

---------^---------^---------^---------^------ (like this, the caret would be the distortion)

 

I never noticed this before I replaced the hard drive so I'm suspecting it's related to the hard drive.

The pulse is not there in live viewing.

 

Anyone else ever see this?

 

NOTE:

I have submitted a ticket to WesterDigital Customer Support.

I'll post back what ultimately becomes of this case.

Edited January 27, 2013 by Guest

[tomcctv 187]

I just bought a new Hard Drive from NewEgg. It's a 2TB Western Digital hard drive that is specifically supposed to be for DVR's and recording streaming media

 

 

 

Hi yes sounds like your drive. low power startup drives are no good for standalone unit

 

it will work if you set dvr to always record but not set for motion av drive have a slow start up.

[QC444 1]

I just bought a new Hard Drive from NewEgg. It's a 2TB Western Digital hard drive that is specifically supposed to be for DVR's and recording streaming media

 

 

Hi yes sounds like your drive. low power startup drives are no good for standalone unit

it will work if you set dvr to always record but not set for motion av drive have a slow start up.

 

On all the recoded video with blurs in it, it IS already set to continuous record.

[ssnapier 0]

What model number is the drive?

[QC444 1]

What model number is the drive?

 

WD20EURS

[ssnapier 0]

Yeah, I use those all the time and I have zero issues with them. I wonder if you maybe got a faulty drive. What sort of hardware are you using this drive in?

[shockwave199 0]

I've noticed this as well and not just on my q-see either, for real time remote viewing . I always thought it had to do with remote viewing/frame rate/internet. Whereas, the higher the fps the less noticeable it is and the lower the fps the more noticeable it is. But it's an every second thing, perfectly in time with passing seconds. It does not do this locally when viewing in real time right on the monitor at the dvr. I don't believe it's on my backup footage though. I believe if I view my backup footage remotely, which I almost always do, it does it. But I think playing back footage in the dvr it doesn't. Pretty sure that's correct because I do demo vids with backup footage and it's not recorded within that footage. And that's why I thought it was just inherent to remote viewing/network speed or something.

[ssnapier 0]

I've noticed this as well and not just on my q-see either, for real time remote viewing .

 

You are talking about using the same hard drive? I used to have issues like this when I recorded to SD cards that were not rated correctly for the task.

[shockwave199 0]

No not the HD, only the symptoms.

[Securame 0]

That is a WD green drive. I would also advice to stay away from them for CCTV and standalone DVRs, from WD we only use blue, red and black, price difference between green and blue is so small that it is just not worth it.

 

Which one will depend on the DVR and how it will be working (depending the number of cameras, resolution, FPS and Mbps, recording 24h or motion, etc).

[tomcctv 187]

That is a WD green drive. I would also advice to stay away from them for CCTV and standalone DVRs, from WD we only use blue, red and black, price difference between green and blue is so small that it is just not worth it.

 

Which one will depend on the DVR and how it will be working (depending the number of cameras, resolution, FPS and Mbps, recording 24h or motion, etc).

 

 

+1. Not many standalone can run green drives

 

Q-see (TVT) also says in manual not supported

[Kawboy12R 0]

Ripped from NewEgg's details on that exact drive number- "These drives are designed to last in high temperature always-on streaming digital audio/video environments such as PVR/DVR, DVR recorders and surveillance video recorders."

[Horizon 0]

Hi there. Your description of the glitches sound like compression artifacts.

I think you're viewing some heavily compressed mpeg. There are some video conferencing cameras I've used that do the same glitching.

How many cameras, and what is the frame rate that the DVR is recording? Are you using composite video cameras? Not megapixel IP?

 

It's possible that the 2TB hard disk has a lower bandwidth than the old disk, so the DVR has increased the compression (lowered the quality) to compensate.

 

Check what the DVR video quality/compression settings are, and see if you can change them for better playback. You might need to stop recording some of the cameras to do this. How many cameras do you have, and what make is the DVR?

[thewireguys 3]

I always use Black or RE WD drives and I never have recording issues.

[Securame 0]

Ripped from NewEgg's details on that exact drive number- "These drives are designed to last in high temperature always-on streaming digital audio/video environments such as PVR/DVR, DVR recorders and surveillance video recorders."

 

Well, Western Digital manufactures those hard drives, and not NewEgg, and I am quite sure WD would not approve that description.

[Kawboy12R 0]

Ripped from NewEgg's details on that exact drive number- "These drives are designed to last in high temperature always-on streaming digital audio/video environments such as PVR/DVR, DVR recorders and surveillance video recorders."

 

Well, Western Digital manufactures those hard drives, and not NewEgg, and I am quite sure WD would not approve that description.

 

You sure about that? Their literature specifically mentions that it is approved for use in DVR/PVRs and video surveillance applications.

 

http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-701250.pdf

 

If they commonly don't work with lots of DVRs then it seems like the recorders aren't playing nicely with a drive that is designed for them. That makes is a doubly good idea to doublecheck with the DVR manufacturer about which drives are supported. The "best" or obvious choices might not work.

[ssnapier 0]

Here is the product page for the EURS line: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=150

 

To clarify this is NOT recommended for RAID setups, and I can testify to the horrible results if you were going to try it. We tested two 4 bay NAS units with these drives, one in RAID 5 and one in RAID 6 with 10 cameras going to each. I had three drive failure in six months.

 

If you need an equivalent drive for RAIDor critical data purposes, you want the RED line seen here:

 

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=810

 

The part numbers are WD20EFRX for 2TB and WD30EFRX for 3TB. There is a true enterprise drive above that, but the costs go up quickly. If you wanted to check them out look at the FYYZ line, the last letter varies a bit, but that is referred to as the RE line.

[tomcctv 187]

You sure about that? Their literature specifically mentions that it is approved for use in DVR/PVRs and video surveillance applications.

 

 

 

hi . its not the hard drive thats the problem....... older units like the TVT will not support green or low RPM drives.

 

if the software is writen for 7200 rpm then green IntelliPower will have problems.

 

newer DVR/NVR will now run both 7200 5800 but only if DVR manufacturer recommends it. newegg ebay amazon can print what they like but they know nothing of the unit its being installed into

[Kawboy12R 0]

That's what I figure. If the firmware of whatever it goes into makes incorrect assumptions about drive performance or availability then it is kinda sorta a dvr "problem", but not really. It might not even be a firmware problem exactly but a lack of enough cache or other memory buffer in the dvr to allow it to wait in the short term for the drive to catch up in the longer term. Hard to say except that using a drive recommended by the dvr manufacturer is better than one that "should" work. If one doesn't have or doesn't check the list then trial and error can cost time and money.

[Securame 0]

I had about two years ago a pain in the ass customer that got a 4 camera system installed. He was a cheap guy, so he thought that the price we were giving him for a 1Tb HD was way too high (it was a WD blue; I quoted the price we pay for it +20EUR for installing on the DVR, formating, and configuring the DVR, we only have to cross the street to but the HD).

 

So he asked if he could bring his own HD, we said sure. He purchased somewhere a 1Tb external HD, ripped the enclosure case, and brought us the HD so we would install it for him free of charge (fine, after all, he was buying everything else). It was a 1Tb WD green, and he was even telling us how much cheaper he had bought it for. He got his 4 channel D1 25fps set up up and running, and we didn't hear from him in about 4-5 months.

 

So he comes back with the DVR under his arm, his unit was beeping all the time. We check it, the DVR is fine but the HD is dead (the DVR was complaining, "HD failure"). So since he had not purchased the HD from us, I told him that he was on his own to get it repaired. I told him quickly how to remove/install a new HD, and he left. And a few months later, he comes back yet again with a beeping unit, and of course the same problem. No idea if he got the HD replaced the time before (I doubt it, he bought an external HD and destroyed the external case) or bought a new one, but he had again a non working HD, and again a WD green unit.

 

He told us that maybe DVR was defective and was killing the HDs. I checked the DVR settings, and found out that he had reprogrammed the unit to record not just on event/movement, but 24h continuous recording an all 4 cameras.

 

This is when I explained to him that there were different HDs. And that he had purchased a WD green USB external disk, which was supposed to be used maybe for backups, movies storage, whatever, and had it installed it on a DVR powered 24h/day; and not only that, he also had reconfigured the DVR so that the HD would be recording non stop until the drive died. He then understood why the HD we were selling him the first time was a little bit more expensive, bought a second (or third) HD from us, and left our shop for the last time (of course I also charged him one hour for all the hassles fixing his mess, and testing his non working HDs).

 

That is I think the last time I have seen a WD green on a DVR. I am not saying they can not work with certain DVRs, and under certain configurations, but with the small price difference with blue units, I think it is not even worth trying.

[QC444 1]

Ripped from NewEgg's details on that exact drive number- "These drives are designed to last in high temperature always-on streaming digital audio/video environments such as PVR/DVR, DVR recorders and surveillance video recorders."

 

Well, Western Digital manufactures those hard drives, and not NewEgg, and I am quite sure WD would not approve that description.

 

Do you think NewEgg arbitrarily adds their own suitable use specifications to hard drives?

You are saying that Western Digital did not supply that description? How would NewEgg decide

what a specific hard drive is best suited for?

 

This "verbage" was why I bought the drive. Not because it was black, blue or green.

 

But, I'm thinking the bandwidth issue may be something to look into.

[Securame 0]

Maybe I didn't pick the right words with "I am quite sure WD would not approve that description".

 

Just go ahead and feel free to try. There are many kinds of "DVR enviroments", if you think that "DVR enviroment" might cover recording 4 CIF streams with motion detection and at the same time might cover recording 16 D1 streams 24/7, just give it a shot in your given setup.

[Kawboy12R 0]

I'm not saying that they are great, fast, or reliable drives, but WD certainly thinks so. They might need to tone down the rhetoric a bit if their overall failure rate is as high as folks on here find it. According to WD "They are optimized with SilkStream™ technology to capture data from up to 12 simultaneous HD video streams." That beats the bandwidth of 16 D1 channels by a long shot. I'm not saying you're wrong at all, just that WD believes in their green drives more strongly than real-world experience seems to back up.