Dahua vs HikVision

[cosmo]

I have a HikVision 8 port POE NVR (DS-7608NI-E2/8P) with some Hik cameras but I am thinking of switching to Dahua.

The reviews of the Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z) seem uniformly good. I'm guessing it's better to pair a Dahua NVR with their cameras.

Can anybody comment on some differences between Dahua and HikVision NVRs, especially remote view and playback?

Which model(s) Dahua would generally be recommended for a 5 x 2MP camera residential installation? I'm not sure which ones has POE ports. I haven't decided whether to use a switch or not (Yes, I know I should for camera control and remote reboot of the NVR...)

(I may go motion only. I don't know what Dahua's remote software is like, but HikVision's is terrible. You can't record 24x7 and then search on motion as well for remote playback, so you HAVE to do only motion recording to find anything. Close to useless for real surveillance. I put up with it because I have no local access.)

 

[alastairstevenson]

You can't record 24x7 and then search on motion as well for remote playback, so you HAVE to do only motion recording to find anything.

What remote software do you have to do that with?
And by remote, do you mean from the internet?

 

[Jack B Nimble]

You can't record 24x7 and then search on motion as well for remote playback, so you HAVE to do only motion recording to find anything.

I record 24/7 continuous and on events, on the playback bar I double click the events and it will scan through all the events but if i want can look before and after as it was all continuous recorded as well. Do you use "events" ?

 

[cosmo]

What remote software do you have to do that with?
And by remote, do you mean from the internet?

By remote, I mean over the Internet.

Let me clarify the setup. The remote site has HikVision cameras and a HikVision NVR. There are no PCs there locally.

HikVision gives you two options for remote access. The iPhone/Android App iVMS4500 or web access through HikVision's DDNS service. Your OS and browser has to be compatible with the way they make their video available. That's another discussion unto itself, but it's not the main problem.

The main problem is if you want to do something as elementary as playback or search for something remotely other than 24x7 recording, such as motion.

If you watching a monitor connected locally to the NVR, on the timeline, recording shows in green, then events in blue and motion in red. So if you have continuous recording, you see a solid green line for the 0 through 24 hour period, then maybe patches of blue below the green line where there was some kind of event trigger (line crossing etc), then below the blue line there might be patches of red where motion was triggered. You can search and playback for just motion.

If you are watching on your mobile or in the web, there is only space for one line, and it's all green. No blue line, no red line. So you can't scan or search effectively for any activity.

The only way, as I've found, to track motion events, is to turn off continuous recording, which any security expert will tell you is not a good idea because you can't prove that something didn't happen. That way you only have the one line - red patches - when the motion appears.

It's typical of HikVision's hodge podge software which works differently on different devices. Very, very limited for remote monitoring.

I am wondering if Dahua's is better.

 

[cosmo]

I record 24/7 continuous and on events, on the playback bar I double click the events and it will scan through all the events but if i want can look before and after as it was all continuous recorded as well. Do you use "events" ?

I'm using motion and line crossing at the moment. I can't actually pull it up at the moment as the phone line for the DSL has gone down today at the remote location. But if you have continuous recording and motion detection, I am curious how you see this in your web browser. I get a solid green line all the time for continuous, so I can't search for motion. I might have to try a few other things when the line comes up.

Nonetheless, you've probably noticed that the remote web app doesn't include all the things that the local NVR app does.

It's like changing camera settings in the NVR interface, then looking at the same settings or changing them directly on the camera. I can never figure out who's driving the bus. The NVR or the camera? I get weird results. Try changing the motion detection areas in the NVR then on the camera. That's totally weird. They conflict.

There just seems to be no standardization.

 

[alastairstevenson]

But if you have continuous recording and motion detection, I am curious how you see this in your web browser.

Example via web browser:

Try changing the motion detection areas in the NVR then on the camera. That's totally weird. They conflict.

They both have the ability to change the camera settings.
The camera is the prime location. In the NVR, a subset of configuration items are available for convenience, so you can get the system as a whole set up the way you want, from one location. And the NVR will periodically refresh the target camera with your required settings.

Nonetheless, you've probably noticed that the remote web app doesn't include all the things that the local NVR app does.

That is true, they do not have exactly equivalent functionality.

 

[cosmo]

Example via web browser:

I notice continuous recording in blue between 20:40 and 21:00 and alarms in red at 21:05, 21:10 etc. The blue and the red are on the same line at different times.
What do you see if you have continuous recording and alarms at the same time?

 

[cosmo]

They both have the ability to change the camera settings.
The camera is the prime location. In the NVR, a subset of configuration items are available for convenience, so you can get the system as a whole set up the way you want, from one location. And the NVR will periodically refresh the target camera with your required settings.

Does this mean that if you modify a motion area in the camera that is different to the NVR, that the NVR will 'periodically' overwrite the Camera's motion area?
Or only if you subsequently modify the NVR's motion area?
If motion is off at the NVR, then you turn it on at the camera, will the NVR at some point turn it off? If not, what if you turn it on then off at the NVR? Does it think there's no change and do nothing? Or push the off setting down?

I hope you can see that when you test this stuff on site and see differenced between the camera and the NVR, it can get very confusing as to what to expect. I don't see anything in the HikVision documentation about periodic pushes of NVR settings down to the camera. Then again, there are a lot of things like this with HikVision that are 'test and see'. Great cameras. Incomplete documentation.

 

[alastairstevenson]

I notice continuous recording in blue between 20:40 and 21:00 and alarms in red at 21:05, 21:10 etc. The blue and the red are on the same line at different times.
What do you see if you have continuous recording and alarms at the same time?

That's what was happening at the blue line.
That was from my 2nd NVR, the one I experiment with, which normally just records events, not continuous. I temporarily set one channel on continuous just to show that both events and continuous can be seen on playback.

Here is an example from today, from my first NVR, which is set to record everything on continuous and also with event recording enabled.

 

[cosmo]

There's no more alarms in red visible anymore. The continuous recording in blue obscures them. At least that's the way I see it. Or am I still missing something?

 

[alastairstevenson]

Or am I still missing something?

You don't see the multiple red event lines underneath the blue line in the screenshot above?
Admittedly they are quite narrow in this example, as they were short events.

 

[cosmo]

You don't see the multiple red event lines underneath the blue line in the screenshot above?

I do. But now the multiple red event lines that were ON the blue line would now be obscured.

Go back to your original screen shot. At about 21:15, there are three red events on the same line as the blue line. How would you see those if the recording was continuous. My contention is that you won't.

I agree with you about the red events UNDER the blue line. They are still visible.

BTW, what is the difference between the red events on the blue line and the ones underneath it? I can't set this up myself at the moment as my DSL line in Australia is still down so I can't access my NVR.

 

[alastairstevenson]

Go back to your original screen shot. At about 21:15, there are three red events on the same line as the blue line. How would you see those if the recording was continuous. My contention is that you won't.

OK, I see what you mean now.
I mentioned that I had only temporarily enabled continuous mode for recording on that channel, for the duration of the blue line, just as an example to show what the playback screen would look like with both motion and continuous. The left hand side of the screenshot.
If continuous was not enabled, and therefore there was no blue line, the red events would be where the blue line would have been, if the swizzle selector has not been used.

 

[cosmo]

If continuous was not enabled, and therefore there was no blue line, the red events would be where the blue line would have been, if the swizzle selector has not been used.

What's the swizzle selector?

 

[cosmo]

BTW, in the image below, taken from your earlier posting, can you tell me the difference between the red patches in the upper line from those in the lower line?

 

[alastairstevenson]

All events vs motion events I believe.

What's the swizzle selector?

Probably not the best term for it, all I could think of at the time.
The drop-down to select the type of events for display, in between the view pane selector, and the non-working EagleEye mode selector.
This thing:

 

[cosmo]

Ah. Okay. Maybe I missed that. I'll check it out once the Telco reconnects my DSL. It's a major pain when your system is on the other side of the globe and the Telco stuffs up the wiring in the street.