telljcl

I don't get the motion in green either, but, as you mention, the motion events are sent to the SW I use. How does the ROI (Region or Interest) feature work in 5.1? (and what does it do exactly, etc...)

Thanks! Thought I had tried that already but I guess not - works as it should now, and can view either stream also. Thanks again.

I've been using "IP Cam Viewer" https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rcreations.WebCamViewerPaid&hl=en to view multiple older analog cams (through a DVR) as well as a few odd ip cams and it works great, but I can't seem to get the image from my Hikvision 3mp bullets (the cheap, common ones that many around here use) to display. I've tried port 8000, which seems to be the one they are set to by default, but if anyone uses this app and these cams, I'd love to know how you set it up. I've forwarded the ports properly through the router - that's not it - I'm just not somehow getting to the image of the cam. Thanks!

They are 3 axis. I would also avoid a dome camera for not only IR bleed but also reflections off the dome and other potential distortion. Also easier to clean as the plastic domes are fairly easily scratched based on my (limited) experience.

I just installed one (4mm). I compared it to the Hikvision 3mp bullets that everybody uses (I have a few I'm trying at the moment - can't remember the model) and I think this cam is essentially the same thing using the turret design. I noticed a very slight increase in IR range to my eye, and maybe a little less ir washout in close-to-cam subjects, but I'd call image quality VERY comparable, if not identical. Same features best I can tell - didn't notice anything different in the menus. One thing to note, and that is the IR is very visible to the eye - looks like a fairly bright LED power light. It may be no brighter than the bullet IR when you look straight at it, but its in a much smaller area (less than 1 square inch), and the bullet etc... has the LEDs spread out over maybe 3X that much space (or more) so it doesn't grab your attention like this camera does. That may be a good thing, depending on how stealthy you want to be, but just a note. I was surprised at how bright it is. You will notice there is a camera there if you glance in its direction. It is very well made, and very heavy duty (esp compared to the little Dahua ball cam - really cheap). It's a bit bigger than the Dahua as well, but still fairly compact. I've got it mounted up high on a porch ceiling, which is white, and (at least during the day) it is almost invisible up there due to just the 2 small black "circles" (lens and ir) and the tiny light sensor. Without the larger black lens/ir face of the bullet it's harder to notice against something that's white. Seems like a solid value to me - I ordered another after testing out this one.

Just purchased a Chinese Hikvision DS-2CD2332-I from Wrightwood, and can't see anywhere to "tell" the camera to not be PAL. I realize that NTSC / PAL aren't that relevant in the progressive scan digital age, but it is limiting my frame-rate to 25fps in any resolution. Also, the 15fps that should be attainable in the 3mp resolution is only 12.5. Am I missing a simple setting somewhere? I looked at the firmware version on the camera, and it was pretty recent (not the newest, but I've seen a few comments on issues with 5.1). I saw the HikVision USA site had the same FW version on their site that was on the camera, so downloaded and "updated" the firmware (to the same version, but US), but I still have the same issue. Are the Chinese cams "stuck" at 25fps max? I've never seen that anywhere before - maybe I've missed this point. Thanks!

Thanks for the input.

So does anybody know if you can TFTP the firmware across the network (not physically plugged into your PC) IF: 1) Set your PC's ip to 192.0.0.128 (I think it is anyway...), make sure the FW update file is in the directory as advised by HiKvision instructions 2) Physically unplug the network cable (from the POE switch) going to the camera you want to update - wait 10-15 seconds and plug back in (Resets power to cam) 3) Wait at your PC for that one camera to start the boot sequence and "find" the TFTP software on the PC 4) Pray the process works Am I missing something or should this work if I want to apply US firmware to a Chinese camera? Obviously 5.1 has been posted here and there for the Chinese version, but if a newer update hits and I don't want to wait around, this may be the way to go. Thanks !

Well I guess you're right - no reason not to use the Chinese version. I do realize you could still use the web interface to do future FW updates, but I was hoping that once you went Chinese->US, you could then do future US updates via web interface, and I don't think that is possible. The way I understand it is EVERY FW update you do that is not the original "region" coded into the camera MUST be done via TFTP. The only reason I really would be averse to using the Chinese version is just that maybe the US may be available sooner, or be easier to get / find, etc... but maybe that isn't the case.

Trying to decide if buying a Chinese version of a Hikvision is worth the FW hassles, and think I have a handle on how to put US firmware on a Chinese camera using TFTP tool (seems pretty simple - hope I'm not missing something). As I understand it, even after I flash US firmware to it, in the future I'll still be unable to put any US FW on it via the web interface - I'll have to use TFTP tool every time. So, if that is true, I guess my question is can I use TFTP tool across the network? I understand I'll have to change my PC's ip address to whatever the one is that TFTP tool uses (or that the camera looks for at bootup), but do I have to specifically connect it to the PC with a network cable (isolate the PC and camera from the LAN in my house). Seems like the camera could find 192.0.0.128 (or whatever it looks for at boot) no matter if it is connected directly to the host PC running TFTP tool or across the network. It would be a pain to go move cables around or take down a camera to update FW, but just using TFTP doesn't seem like that big of a deal. I'm also assuming that the US and Chinese cams are identical - if anybody has info to the contrary I'd love to know about it. Thanks for any help!!

...Got BI to work with the Dahua cams. Just picked H.264/RTSP I think it was, and did NOT hit "inspect", then just changed the ports to the ones the cams are using and it worked. BI uses ALOT more power than Xprotect, but since I've got the trial I can't see how "direct to disk" helps that, if any. M Xprotect, though expensive, is a really well thought out and polished piece of SW - I think that may be the direction I go, but BI at $50 +$10 for the mobile viewer is a great deal.

Thanks for the info on Blue Iris. I actually installed that first, but it wouldn't pick up any of the cameras no matter what I did. Xprotect picked all of them up (even the Q-see NVR itself) in seconds. Blue Iris I've heard is really a high CPU use program, and in watching power use by my PC, Xprotect (as long as I'm not monitoring any video) essentially is at idle power. If it is in use 24/7, this can be something to think about. Just to be thorough, is there a trick to setting up these type of cams on Blue Iris? I clicked the "inspect" button and it filled in alot of the network info, but I don't know if it is correct. what are the main ports, settings etc... to verify? I can check what the cam is set to and then input that into BI I suppose. Thanks!

I'm new to all this, so please bear with me. I've purchased a NVR kit (Sam's, Dahua/Q-see) and don't like it as it is really rough firmware / sw wise. Anyway, in playing with the cameras, I'm trying Xprotect, PSS, etc... for a software NVR solution. Question is, before I get too deep into these SW packages, I'm wondering what the cams can do without any of that. I can view them just fine in a variety of ways, and I don't really need to review the footage that often (home use) so that could be a little inconvenient I guess. So, I've set up an FTP server on my QNap NAS, but can't seem to get the cams (one is q-see 7005b, the other is Dahua 2mp bullet) to "FTP" (or in any way save) the video from a motion event to where I want it to go (hopefully the Qnap - I put IP (on standard port 21) in the camera, but the camera doesn't want to take "/" character for directory structure. I'm not that familiar with FTP, so maybe I'm missing something simple. BTW, XProtect seems great, but it's massive and seems overly complex for what I need (basic home monitoring). It will also cost $ if I add 5-6 channels, but that's ok if there isn't a simpler solution. Also, the Q-see cams seem to drop from web browser or Xprotect frequently - then reboot I guess, then show back up. The Dahua 2mp branded cam does not disconnect from server like that - any ideas? Thanks for any help