Hikvision PCNVR - Holy File Size Batman

[ride525 0]

I got the Hikvision iVMS4200 PCNVR program working on my desktop. Set aside separate drive, formated and allocated it to the program. Started recording continuously, it looks like it's creating a 249MB file every nine minutes. Just set up one camera to be monitored, my Hikvision 12mm.

 

But a single camera would "only" have recording of about 25 days on a 1TB space. What if there were eight cameras? You could only record about three days?

 

file size ------ 249 MB

file length ------ 9 min

min in day -- 1440

file/day ------ 160

MB/day ---39,840

GB/day ------- 39.84

Days/TB ------ 25.1

[Securame 0]

You can download Hikvision tools, it has a disk calculator.

[ride525 0]

You can download Hikvision tools, it has a disk calculator.

 

Thanks, I just tried that, it is a bit more accurate, than my method.

(I think my estimate of 9 minute files was just a bit high, they are really somewhere between 8 and 9 minutes.

 

But, I got similar results with the Hikvision disk calculator. It said my one camera could record for 19 days on a 1 TB drive. So that means just over two days if you were recording on 1 TB drive space with 8 cameras.

[JoeyJoey 0]

It all depends on the camera's:

 

datarate

resolution

frame rate

 

and most importantly:

 

motion only record (set to 5 second pre and 5 second post event)

continuous record

[MaxIcon 0]

If you're using CBR, it only depends on bit rate and motion detect. Resolution and frame rate don't make any difference. VBR won't usually make much difference until it's dark, and then noise can keep it from dropping much.

 

It looks like your bit rate is 4096 kb/s (bits). Divide by 8 to get 512 kB/sec (bytes).

 

That gives you 30MB/minute, 1GB/hour, etc. Using this calc, your 9 minutes would be 270MB, which is pretty close to what you see.

 

Reduce the bit rate to cut the file sizes, but you might lose detail in scenes with a lot of motion and/or fine detail.

 

Here's a link to Hik's recommended bit rate technical bulletin:

ftp://ftp.hikvisionusa.com/Technical%20Bulletin/2014/IP%20Camera%20Recommended%20Bitrate%20v2.0_20140219.pdf

[ride525 0]

If you're using CBR, it only depends on bit rate and motion detect. Resolution and frame rate don't make any difference. VBR won't usually make much difference until it's dark, and then noise can keep it from dropping much.

 

It looks like your bit rate is 4096 kb/s (bits). Divide by 8 to get 512 kB/sec (bytes).

 

That gives you 30MB/minute, 1GB/hour, etc. Using this calc, your 9 minutes would be 270MB, which is pretty close to what you see.

 

Reduce the bit rate to cut the file sizes, but you might lose detail in scenes with a lot of motion and/or fine detail.

 

Here's a link to Hik's recommended bit rate technical bulletin:

ftp://ftp.hikvisionusa.com/Technical%20Bulletin/2014/IP%20Camera%20Recommended%20Bitrate%20v2.0_20140219.pdf

 

Could you explain CBR and VBR?

 

And you need a name and password for the link.

[buellwinkle 0]

When I recorded full time with I believe I had 6 cameras at the time, 2 1TB drives and I got a few days out of it. Why do you want to record full time? Just record events, if anything, the Hikvision cameras are pretty sensitive and will record more than you need anyway. Currently, with 10 cameras, i get a few days with a 1TB, so I bought a 3TB drive so i can hopefully get 10 days.

[ride525 0]

It all depends on the camera's:

 

datarate

resolution

frame rate

 

and most importantly:

 

motion only record (set to 5 second pre and 5 second post event)

continuous record

 

Good call, JoeyJoey (and Buellwinkle). Setting it to trip on motion will help a lot.

 

Thanks

Edited May 18, 2014 by Guest

[dexterash 0]

You can download Hikvision tools, it has a disk calculator.

 

Thanks, I just tried that, it is a bit more accurate, than my method.

(I think my estimate of 9 minute files was just a bit high, they are really somewhere between 8 and 9 minutes.

 

But, I got similar results with the Hikvision disk calculator. It said my one camera could record for 19 days on a 1 TB drive. So that means just over two days if you were recording on 1 TB drive space with 8 cameras.

Imagine you are watching a movie. How much does an 1.5 hour movie take at BlueRay/FullHD Quality?

 

Your best bet is 3.6GB/hour for FullHD in surveillance. VBR will/might make you lose important frames in motion.

[MaxIcon 0]

If you're using CBR, it only depends on bit rate and motion detect. Resolution and frame rate don't make any difference. VBR won't usually make much difference until it's dark, and then noise can keep it from dropping much.

 

It looks like your bit rate is 4096 kb/s (bits). Divide by 8 to get 512 kB/sec (bytes).

 

That gives you 30MB/minute, 1GB/hour, etc. Using this calc, your 9 minutes would be 270MB, which is pretty close to what you see.

 

Reduce the bit rate to cut the file sizes, but you might lose detail in scenes with a lot of motion and/or fine detail.

 

Here's a link to Hik's recommended bit rate technical bulletin:

ftp://ftp.hikvisionusa.com/Technical%20Bulletin/2014/IP%20Camera%20Recommended%20Bitrate%20v2.0_20140219.pdf

 

Could you explain CBR and VBR?

 

And you need a name and password for the link.

 

ftp://ftp.hikvisionusa.com

Name: hikfirmware

PW: Hikvision123 (note the H is capitol )

 

CBR is constant bit rate. The bit rate is the same regardless of the other settings. 4096k stays at that bit rate whether you're at 1 FPS or 30 FPS. If you have CBR, a high frame rate, and a small i-frame setting, video quality may degrade due to the large number of i-frames per second using a lot of the bandwidth.

 

VBR is variable bit rate. The exact meaning depends on the camera's firmware. On Hiks, the bit rate setting is a maximum, I believe, so it will never go over that, but may go under it if the scene isn't detailed or if there's little motion. VBR has a quality setting, and lower qualities will reduce bit rate at the expense of image quality.

 

With high quality setting, if there's a lot of visual complexity and/or a lot of motion, CBR and VBR are essentially identical, in that both use the max of 4096k or whatever your setting is.

 

Other cams, like my old Vivoteks, will go above the baseline bit rate if there's a lot of activity, giving better image quality.

 

In general, VBR reduces the bit rate to reduce bandwidth when there's no need for a high bit rate, and lets you set the acceptable quality. If you point it at a blank wall, you need a lot lower bit rate than if you're watching a constant stream of cars going by. I haven't seen a lot of difference with VBR in my environment, but I haven't tested it much, and only on high quality.