What error message do you see on the screen?

We need to identify first the error message that your screen shows.

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 (from a DVR-4900/8075)
 (from a DVR-5580/5680)

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Here is an overview of the things we need to check:

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1. Camera to extension cable connection

For some of you who installed the cameras already and forgot to test the cameras first, that’s alright. You can skip this step for now. You just need to make sure that the 2 connectors of your camera are both connected firmly to the extension lead; otherwise, you might end up with a powered camera but no video connection or a powerless camera with a video connection. Check the image below, that’s how your camera needs to be connected to the extension cable.

a. Connect the power connector

b. Then connect the BNC video connector

Here is what it should look like after the connection.

2. Extension cable to power splitter

The extension will have 2 connectors on each end and you already used one end for the camera’s video and power connection. The other end of that cable needs to be connected to the power splitter especially if you have multiple cameras on your setup (disregard the splitter if you are dealing with an additional camera since it will come with its own power supply). The splitter will have 4 leads on one end and a single lead on the other. Pick one lead from those 4 and connect the power lead of the extension cable to it. See the image below on how it should be connected.

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3. Power splitter to the power adapter

Grab the single lead from the splitter and connect it to the power adapter. Use the provided 12v power adapter from the kit. Then plug the power adapter into a working power point, wall outlet, or power board.

4. Extension cable to the DVR

Going back to the extension cable, we are left with one connector. That connector will be connected to the ports at the back of the DVR. These ports are normally labeled as Video In or Video Input. You need to push the BNC connectors and twist them to lock them firmly to the DVR. Check below on how to connect the BNC cable to one of the video connectors at the back of the DVR.

You are all set! Live feed from the cameras should now display on the TV/monitor. If in case it didn’t, you might want to check Video Loss Troubleshooting for DVRs for some advanced troubleshooting.

Swann DVR Troubleshooting Guide

Read More : Swann Camera Troubleshooting

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Hard drive warning: Unformat error / Status: Abnormal 

This applies to recorders that were pre-installed with internal hard drives (HDD) and worked before. This error or warning appears when the hard drive is no longer recording or can no longer be accessed but is still detected.

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A. The HDD LED is solid, indicating the hard drive is still detected but is not reading/writing.

B. The HDD status (Menu > Device > HDD) shows “Abnormal” or “Unformat error”.

C. The HDD Free/Total capacity shows 0GB.

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A. & B. If Unformat error / Abnormal error shows

Do each step in the following order to remedy the issue:

A. & C. If Total Capacity is 0GB

Do each step in the following order to remedy the issue:

Note: Formatting will not erase the Swann firmware.

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No hard drive or hard disk found 

This applies to recorders that were pre-installed with internal hard drives (HDD) and worked before. The following are signs that the hard drive is no longer detected in your DVR / NVR:

A. The HDD LED is off.

B. The HDD status (Menu > Device > HDD) is blank, meaning No. 1 is empty.

C. You may have experienced an outage or changed the power adapter.
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A. & B. If you changed the hard drive recently

Bear in mind that only certain types of hard drives are compatible with CCTV security systems.

• We recommend using a surveillance-rated hard drive of the same size dimensions and storage capacity as your recorder’s hard drive, such as the Western Digital Purple, Seagate Skyhawk, or Toshiba Surveillance range of drives. If you wish to know the maximum capacity and size compatible with your DVR or NVR, you can request a Chat for “hard drive” and follow the prompts.

• Solid State Drives (SSD) for DVRs are NOT ideal for continuous recording, operation in high temperature setting, and large disk space. A DVR’s intention is reliability not speed. SSDs are very fast, but it will wear out eventually when writing happens frequently. Using an SSD is at your discretion.

• Desktop hard drives are not recommended as their low speed can cause playback skipping and errors. They are not optimized to support 24/7 read-and-write access.

Please visit Installing an additional Internal Hard Drive (HDD) for 16-channel Recorders for an example of how to change the hard drive of your recorder.

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A. & C. If you experienced an outage recently

The power adapter for your recorder was designed to protect the DVR or NVR in the event of a surge or power outage as adapters can be replaced easily unlike the whole recorder. Chances are the power adapter may be providing insufficient power for full recorder function (which includes the hard drive).

1.Ensure you are using a power adapter with the correct output rating for your recorder. See What power adapter should I use? for your DVR, NVR or NVW.

2.In the event of an outage, unplug all connections at the back except the TV, mouse and power adapter. This is to check whether the hard drive will be detected and whether the power adapter is still providing some power.

3.Change the power adapter to a known working one that has the same output rating as in step 1.

If the hard drive is detected after unplugging the cameras, chances are the power adapter is providing insufficient power and requires replacement.

If you are already using a compatible hard drive and a known working compatible power adapter, chances are the hard drive needs to be replaced. Please check What hard drives can I use with my DVR or NVR?

Swap DVR Power Adapters for Boot Issues 

The power adapter of the DVR and the power adapter of 4 PRO- camera models are interchangeable as long as they have the same output rating of 12V 2A.

We do this to test whether the power adapter is faulty or the DVR is faulty. Power adapters are designed to protect the DVR in the event of power outages or power surges.

Warning: Do NOT use a power adapter higher than 12V on the DVR. Doing so will void your warranty.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Note: If you have 8 cameras or more, you can swap the cameras’ power adapters instead of the DVR power adapter as long as both camera power adapters have the same output rating.

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What hard drives can I use with my DVR or NVR? 

This applies to Swann recorders with pre-installed internal hard drives for recordings. The type of hard drive compatible with Swann DVRs and NVRs are surveillance-type hard drives, which are connected via SATA cable. Before you decide to upgrade your internal hard drive, you MUST know the type, capacity, and size that your model is compatible with:

Compatible Type by Brand

 The following surveillance hard drives are compatible with Swann recorders:

• Seagate Skyhawk by Seagate

• Western Digital Purple by Western Digital

They vary in capacity and size, so check below to identify what is compatible with your recorder.

Compatible Capacity

This is the maximum number of storage capacity in gigabytes or terabytes that a hard drive has which varies in compatibility with your recorder.

Most Swann recorders are pre-installed with a hard drive internally. If you wish to upgrade the capacity of your hard drive, you need to check with our Technical Support for the maximum capacity that your recorder model will support. The maximum capacity varies by model number.

Customers with Swann Security and HomeSafe View app-compatible products can inquire via phone.

Compatible Size

Should you wish to upgrade your hard drive, ensure to acquire the same size dimensions as the one in your recorder. Surveillance-type hard drives come in two sizes:

If you are unsure, customers with Swann Security and HomeSafe View app-compatible products can inquire via phone.

Compatible with External Hard Drives

If your DVR or NVR has an eSATA port on the back panel, it means your recorder is capable of connecting an external surveillance-type hard drive.

The function of the external eSATA port may either be for exporting recordings or recording depending on the chipset of your recorder model. For example: Can I use an external SATA hard drive to my DVR8-3000 to increase recording capacity?

The following recorder series have an external eSATA port for a hard drive of up to 3TB in capacity for external recording:

Compatible microSD Cards 

If your recorder model contains a microSD slot, it can support up to 128GB capacity for the microSD card.

The following recorder models are compatible with up to 4TB capacity for the hard drive and 128GB capacity for the microSD card.

Note: Simultaneous recording to both the internal hard drive and microSD card is not supported. If there is a hard drive internally, recording to the hard drive will be prioritized.

Not Compatible

DVR/NVR went offline after an outage or changing routers or Internet Service Provider 

This article applies to DVRs or NVRs that are hardwired to your router, and affects mobile or computer streaming, push notifications, and other features requiring internet connectivity.

The DVR or NVR going offline is a common occurrence when changes were made to the router, its settings, an outage, or changes in IP by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). In order to get it back online, you must have physical access to the DVR or NVR to check the following:

1. If there was a Power or Internet Outage

Normally, turning off the recorder and then turning it back on again will get the DVR or NVR to re-establish communication with your router. However, this will only work if its Network setup is set to DHCP by default. This ensures that the router is able to detect the DVR/NVR via ethernet and update its IP address.

If rebooting did not work, please try additional steps from this article: Remote Access – Basic Router/Network Troubleshooting.

If the live view is blank, then the outage may have affected the power supply. Check this article to troubleshoot: Troubleshoot a Boot Failure or Rebooting issue of a Recorder (DVR/NVR/NVW).

2. If you changed or replaced the router (changed ISP)

See types of routers that may or may not work with the DVR or NVR in this article: Network Setup: What do I need for my DVR/NVR to go online?

If the router is compatible, then the connection between the recorder and the router just needs to be refreshed. See this article for the first few steps to re-establish the network connection: Remote Access – Basic Router/Network Troubleshooting.

3. If you added another router or extender

Ensure that the network connection setup has not changed. If the DVR or NVR is still connected to the same router, but that router was connected to a cable modem instead of a wall, then the setup is no longer a direct connection but a bridged connection.

See why the DVR or NVR may not work with a bridged router or particular extender in this article: Network Setup: What do I need for my DVR/NVR to go online?

How to factory reset my DVR / NVR (V8) 

Default Settings VS Factory Reset

To load settings to default in recorder models, you must be logged into the recorder via TV and mouse or computer software.

How to restore settings to factory default via TV and mouse

You must know the user name and password of your recorder in order to do this method. If you do not know the password, you need to perform a password reset instead. See How to reset the password or get the recovery code of your DVR/NVR/NVW

1.Right click on Live View or go to the Task bar.

2.Choose the first icon: Setup.

3.Go to Advanced > Maintain (tab).

4.Click on Load Default.

5.Check System> Save.

You will be taken to the Startup Wizard to set a new password. See Frequently-asked questions and tips to complete the Startup Wizard

How to restore to factory default via Windows software

The DVR or NVR must already be added in the software beforehand and is online in order to do this method. If your DVR or NVR has not been added, you need to perform a password reset instead. See How to reset the password or get the recovery code of your DVR/NVR/NVW

Via HomeSafe View software: 

Go to Control Panel > Group Device Management > Devices: hover over Device > click on Remote Config (wrench icon) > Advanced > Load Default > Check the appropriate box > Save.

Via Swann Security VMS software:

Go to Device Management > Advanced > Load Default > Toggle the appropriate options > Save.
 

Warning: Once you have restored the recorder’s settings to default via software, you are required to set a new password via TV and mouse hardwired to the recorder. If you are unable to login to the Main Menu nor access your recorder via software, you need to do this: How to reset the password or get the recovery code of your DVR/NVR/NVW

Troubleshoot a Boot Failure or Rebooting issue of a Recorder (DVR/NVR/NVW) 

If you your Swann recorder (DVR, NVR, NVW or wireless recorder) is experiencing the below issues, then your unit may have a boot failure problem:

To isolate, consider following the steps below

• Power rating – the common output rating for DVR PSUs is 12V / 2A (2000mA) and 12V / 1.5A – 3.75A for NVRs depending on the model of the recorder. 

 Note: Some of the older DVR PSUs use 12 V / 3A and 48 V / 5 A for NVR. For a list of Power Adapter (PSU) ratings appropriate for your device, please check this What power adapter should I use article.

• Red tag label – most of the power adapter included has red sticker along the power cable to indicate its use (e.g. DVR/NVR or Camera).  

2.Plug to a wall outlet – to eliminate possibility of faulty extension cable or UPS.

 

3.Unplug some cables – if you have an Ethernet cable or cameras already connected, disconnect them for the meantime. Only leave the power plug and monitor connected.

4.Secure connection – ensure that the power plug is connected securely to the recorder and not loose.                            
Note: Some of the older NVR PSUs use a larger Barrel plug.

5.Turn on the recorder – some units may have power switch at the back. Ensure that it is switched ON.                                        

6.For DVR and NVW-800/AllSercure 650 units, if the NO power issue still persists, swap the camera PSU with the recorder to isolate problem. Check this article for the guide.

Note¹: If the recorder remains turned Off, check if the wall outlet where the Power Adapter (PSU) is plugged in has power.

Note²: If the recorder turned On but seeing a black screen, consider checking if your monitor support the correct screen resolution by following this guide – Video Mode Not Supported or Signal Out of Range or No Signal.

Why does my DVR / NVR / camera stop recording motion after a minute? 

DVRs and NVRs are set to record PIR/motion by default. Wireless standalone cameras can only record by PIR/motion. Where the camera is mounted can have an impact on how effective movement is picked up and recorded.

Mounting any camera with thermal and motion sensors in the wrong location and angle can prevent recordings of certain movement. For example:

• Movement in the directions indicated by green arrows are more likely to be detected.

• If the movement is toward and away from the camera at a short distance, the camera sensors may not be able to identify the changes between frames because the differences are subtle.

• If the movement stops, the DVR / NVR will stop recording. This means an intruder could still be standing on the same spot with subtle movements long enough to thwart the PIR/motion sensors.

Please see the fixes specific to your model for working around PIR/motion:

Fix for DVR: Set the already-mounted DVR camera to record continuously

This setting is ideal if you mounted your camera above your front door, and you expect the camera to record regardless of motion.

See How to Set Up 24-hour continuous recording for a Camera (DVR or NVR only)

Fix for NVR with V8 firmware: Set up Analytics for your NVR camera.

Perimeter Intrusion Detection (PID) with PIR can be configured for one NVR camera if you have a V8 recorder and camera.

 A perimeter intrusion region can be used to define specific areas that you want to monitor for motion. For example, a rule can be defined so that your NVR will alert you if one or more objects have entered the boxed region from a particular direction and stayed within the intrusion region for a particular time.

Please see the user manual for your NVR on how to set up PID: User Manual (V8 units – 8580, 8580RN, 8780, 8780RN,)

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Fix for any camera, especially WiFi cameras: Reposition the camera or add another camera for a different angle of view.

The ideal position of the camera is 7-8 feet high, pointing downwards at an angle to cover the area where people will be walking across the camera’s path

Step 1

From the Main Menu select Account

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Step 2

Select User ➞ Click on Add User to create a new Username and Password

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Note: You cannot modify the systems defaulted User Names.

Step 3

Create a Username and Password for your new account

Select the permissions you would like the account to access

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Step 4

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If successful, you should now see your new user listed below

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Audio Recording Setup

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From the Main Menu, go to Camera->Encode

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Click the More Settings option

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Click Audio on, Okay and then, Apply

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SCS Pro XVR full installation guide

Read More : Dahua NVR XVR Basic Setup Initial Setup

How to Setup Push Notifications via SCS Pro

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The following guide will apply to the SCS Pro App on the iOS App Store or Google Play Store.

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Start by opening the App. On the Home screen you will tap on the … next to the DVR/NVR you want to enable alerts on.

Then you will tap on Device Details.

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On the Device Details page you will tap on Multi-channel Alarm Subscription.

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Enable the alarm notifications by sliding the switch at the top of the screen.

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Select which type of alert you would like to enable below. This example will show motion detection alerts.

Select the cameras you want to enable Motion Alerts for by tapping on the circle on the right. You can also tap on Select All in the top right if you want to enable alerts for all your cameras. Once you have made your selections tap on the back button on the top left.

Tap on Save at the bottom of the page.

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.You will now be receiving alerts on your mobile device. You may need to alter your SCS Pro App settings inside of your phone or tablet to allow notifications.

Changing Camera Names

This guide will assist you with changing the name of the camera in the Live View Display.

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First you will need to access the main menu by right clicking anywhere on the screen. Left click on Main Menu and enter your password. Then click on Camera under settings.

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In the camera settings click on Camera Name on the left .You will see a list of all the camera channels with their default names. Click in the text box next to the camera you want to modify and type with the on screen keyboard.

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For this example we will name the Channel TEST and then click the apply button on the bottom right.

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You should now see the updated channel name on the Live View screen for that camera.

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NOIP DDNS SETUP INSTRUCTIONS

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Step 1

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Go to https://www.noip.com and Sign Up for an account.

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Make sure to Check the box “Create my hostname later” and create your account.

Step 2

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Once your account is created and verified proceed to the Login Page https://www.noip.com/login?ref_url=console

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Login with your account from here.

Step 3

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Once you login you will be greeted by the dashboard, from the top left proceed to Account > Account Info page.

From the Account Info page, you will need to go to username and add a username. See Figure 1 below. This is for your device to login with later.

Once done, the NVR/DVR can be bound to the account and trace the Public IP from your Local Network and send that information to NOIP.

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Figure 1

Step 4

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Once the account info has been configured go to Dynamic DNS > NOIP Hostnames and create a Hostname

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When creating a hostname, you would put in the hostname spot a name or address that is easy to remember. For example, if the hostname is myhost211 and the domain is set to ddns.net when it is created it will look like “myhost211.ddns.net”

See Figure 2

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Figure 2

Step 5

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Once your DDNS is created, you can go into your system’s Main Menu > Network > DDNS page and select NOIP for the DDNS type. Then you would type in your login information to the username and password area of the system and type in the full domain name.

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i.e., Username: (NOIP Username) Password: (NOIP Password) Domain: “YourNOIPDomain.quickddns.com”

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If setup correctly NOIP will Dynamically update the IP as needed on its own. NOIP is a subscription service so if you do not have a subscription you will need to manually re-apply for your DDNS once every month.

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To enable this on older DVR’s pre 2015 you may need to go to Settings > Network > Advance Settings > DDNS and Double click on the setting then Enable it.

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With the DDNS configured on the system you will need to then port forward your router with either the TCP or HTTP ports for your system.

The Default ports that need to be opened for the Blue / Black line systems are TCP 80 for Web and TCP 37777 for the Apps.

You can learn more about Port forwarding on your router here.

How To Set Up Port Forwarding – Port Forward

With the steps above correctly setup your system will be configured to the NOIP Server.

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If you have any questions or issues please contact our Support team at

support@cctvsecuritypros.com or (888-653-2288) ext 3

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How to Reset Password via SCS Pro

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The following guide will apply to the Blue and Black Line recorders.

If using a Blue line NVR, make sure all cameras are connected.

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Start by Right Clicking with your mouse anywhere on the screen. Then select

Main Menu

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If you previously setup a Pattern Login. You will select Forgot Pattern

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On the Login Screen select the Forgot Password option on the right..

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On the Next Page. Please read and select OK at the bottom

This is the Password Reset screen. This screen shows a QR code on the Left that you will scan with your Smartphone or Tablet using the SCS Pro App.

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Once correctly scanned with SCS Pro. The email at the bottom of your screen will receive a Security code to reset your password. Please ignore the Mobile Client QR code on the Right.

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The steps on the next page will be using the SCS pro application on your Smartphone or Tablet

Once you have SCS Pro installed and opened. Click Setting at the bottom right.

Tap on Tool Manager at the middle of the page.

On this page, Select Password Resetting. This will bring up your Camera to scan the QR code. Please allow any permissions for the app.

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You can then Scan the QR code on the Left of your Password Reset screen.

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If scanned correctly, a Security Code will be sent to the email at the bottom of your Password Reset screen. Type the security code in at the bottom and create a new password. If asked to Sync Password with Remote Devices select Yes.

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Any issues please contact us at Support@cctvsecuritypros.com

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SMTP Setup Guide for

Blue/Black Line NVR on Gmail

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Step 1.

Go to https://myaccount.google.com

Navigate to Security > How you Sign in to Google and Enable Two Step Verification.

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Once the 2-Step Verification is Enabled you need to go into your Google Account Security page and Search for App Passwords at the top

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Select a Custom Device from the Right Dropdown Menu

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Once done click Type in a name for the Device and click Generate

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Copy the Generated Password Google gave you and save it somewhere safe.

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You will need the password here for the next step.

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From the system interface you will now navigate to the Main Menu > Network > Email

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Input the following account information as listed in the image below.

Perform a test to confirm you are able to send emails from the SMTP Service.

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You can set up Alarm Event / Trigger Actions for the cameras on their corresponding Alarm

or AI page.

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For Example on the system under Main Menu > Alarm > Motion Detection > More you can enable it to Send Email alerts whenever there is a motion event.

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This can be applied to any screen with the Send Email function.

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With that you should be able to configure your Blue and Black Line system for email alerts. If you have any questions or issues please contact our Support team at support@cctvsecuritypros.com or (888-653-2288) ext 3

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Date & Time Setup

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In order to change the Date and Time you will need to go to Main Menu->System

Inside of System Settings navigate to the General Tab on the Left and Date & Time. Enter in your System Time. You may change the Format of the system time from a 24 Hour clock to a 12 Hour clock if you prefer. You may enter the Daylight Saving Time settings under “DST”.

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Be sure to Save your System Zone and click Apply at the bottom when you are done.

Remote Viewing on Mobile Devices

To access your recorder remotely you must first connect it to your modem or router using an Ethernet cable and power on the recorder.

Go to Main Menu->Setting->Network–TCP/IP and Enable “DHCP” Inside of the Network settings and Save.

*Some models require you to click “Edit or Modify” next to NIC1 to find the DHCP option to enable.

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Make sure DHCP is enabled. Click OK at the bottom.

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Be sure to Save / Apply these settings before moving on.

Navigate to the Main Menu-> Setting -> Network -> P2P (sometimes called Easy4IP) Enable P2P at the top of the menu and select Apply

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Your P2P status will show “Online” now. If P2P shows “Online” you can proceed to the next steps in this guide.

If you are still getting an “Offline” status

You may want to leave this menu up since we will be using the Device SN QR code in the next few steps.

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Downloading SCS Pro on your Mobile Device

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You must use our mobile application SCS Pro on your iOS or Android device. This can be found in the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store. Search for SCS Pro and download our free application.

Launch SCS Pro once it has been downloaded from the App Store or Play Store. Select your Region / Language. Once you are on the Home section of SCS Pro. Click on the + Icon at the top right corner. Select SN/Scan. Scan the Device SN QR code found on the right hand side of your P2P menu on your DVR or NVR. This screen may still be up on your system if you are following this guide. Once the code has been scanned you will see the Device SN appear on your device. Click Next.

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Select DVR/XVR or NVR. Enter a Device Name, your username (admin) and the Password you use to log into your DVR or NVR with. Click Save. The Live View will appear once the device has been saved.

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Note: If your P2P status shows “Offline” your cameras will not connect. Please make sure your system is connected to a router or modem with Internet service with an Ethernet cable and that DHCP is enabled.

How to Setup Motion Detection Regions

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The following guide will show you how to adjust the Motion Detection Region settings on your system

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Navigate to Main Menu->Alarm

Select Video Detection on the left Column. Then you will select Setting next to Region

on the right hand side

Once you select Setting you will see the camera come up in full screen with Red blocks. At the top of the screen you can adjust the Sensitivity and Threshold of the Motion Detection.

This should be adjusted if you feel the Motion is not recording accurately.

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Sensitivity is how sensitive the motion detection will be. The lower the number the less recording you will get. Recommended range is 40-80.

Threshold is how much motion needs to occur in order to trigger the recording. Adjust this only if you plan on recording larger objects (Cars/trucks) only and would like to filter out smaller objects (People/Animals)

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The areas in Red is where the camera will detect motion. This means the recording will only start when motion occurs in the Red areas. If motion occurs in an area that is not Red, the system will not record that event. You can click and drag with your mouse to make the adjustments.

Once you have created the areas that you would like recorded when motion occurs,

Right Click with your mouse and then select Apply to save the settings.

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Motion Detection Setup

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Your DVR/NVR is setup to record 24/7 right out of the box. There is no need to follow this guide if you would like to continue recording 24/7. If you would like to conserve some of your Hard Drive space please follow the guide below.

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This guide will show you how to set up Motion Detect. Navigate to the following menus, Main Menu → Storage

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Inside of Storage, Click on Schedule on the left column. Now Click on The Gear Icon on the right hand side of Sunday

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Inside of the next menu you want to remove the check box from General and place in next to Motion under Period 1. Be sure to Copy ALL days of the week at the bottom. Press OK once it looks like this below.

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Your Schedule Menu should look like the one below. Be sure to Copy to any Channel you would like set to Motion Detection at the bottom left of the screen. Click Apply.

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We have now successfully setup a Motion Detection Schedule. We now want to make sure Motion Detection is Enabled for each Channel. This can be done by going back to the Main Menu → Alarm

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Inside of the Alarm Settings Click on Video Detection. Make sure to check each Channel number and Click the Enable Check Box. Do this one Channel at a time. NOTE: Do not use the Copy button on this menu!  Apply once all Channels have been enabled.

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Port Forwarding Guide

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Step 1) Make sure you have an Ethernet cable connecting your DVR and your router. Step 2) Enable DHCP mode on your DVR in the Network tab and reboot the system. Step 3) Go back to the Network screen and make note of the IP address.

Step 4) Enter the IP address of the DVR in to your web browser to verify it’s connected with Web Service.

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Step 5) Log in to your router and find the Port Forwarding section, if you are unfamiliar with configuring your router, contact an IT professional.

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Step 6) Forward ports 80/37777 using TCP protocol to the IP address of your DVR (Info and services for port forwarding can be found at www.portforward.com)

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Step 7) Use www.canyouseeme.org to test the ports are open, you should see ‘Success’.

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Step 8) Your public IP address may change so we recommend utilizing a Dynamic DNS service like Quick DDNS or NO-IP.

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PLEASE NOTE: We recommend using Peer-To-Peer (P2P) instead of a port forwarded connection for security and reliability reasons. P2P is available on most CCTVSecurityPros models as of 1/1/16.

Sharing Remote Access / Configuring User Permissions

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This guide will show you how to share remote access to your NVR/DVR and also how to configure User Account permissions.

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First you will need to access the Main Menu by right clicking anywhere on the screen and then left clicking the Main Menu option.

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Once you are logged in, you will select Network under settings.

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In the Network Settings you will select P2P on the left hand side.

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You will find the Serial Number underneath of the QR code labeled Device SN. You can scan this QR code with SCS Pro or DMSS or you can manually enter the Serial Number. If you decide to manually enter the Serial number, keep in mind that no Serial Numbers will use the letter O, it will always be a zero.

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To configure a new user account you will go into the Account Settings on the Main Menu.

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In the Account Settings you will go to the User tab and click Add at the bottom.

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In the Add window you will create the Username, Password, Confirm the Password and then under Permissions you can customize what settings and cameras the User has access to.

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Welcome to our updated comprehensive how-to guide for getting started with your Hikvision IP CCTV system. IP systems are taking over the surveillance world and whether you’re setting up your brand new Hikvision system, or you need help adding more cameras to an existing setup you have, the step-by-step guides in this Megaforum should be all you need to get up and running!

Part 1: How do I install a Hard Drive in a Hikvision NVR?

Any setup with an NVR will need a hard drive to function as it is what all your footage is saved to. The WD Purple Drive is our go-to recommendation for the vast majority of IP setups as it designed with the high workload requirements of 24/7 surveillance solutions in mind. Please see the guide on picking the right HDD to better understand your storage needs and why we don’t recommend using HDD’s that aren’t optimised for use in a CCTV system.

Please see the five simple steps below for getting your hard drive installed into your NVR:
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Step 1:
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Firstly, you’ll need to locate and remove the screws that secure the NVR’s casing to the base so that you can access the inside of it. Typically, you’ll find two of these screws on the back of the unit and, depending on the NVR model, more on the sides – Do not lose these screws!​

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Step 2:
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Once inside, your NVR will look something like this. The parts in here you’ll need to identify are the:​

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Now look at your HDD – fewer things to identify here:​

Step 3:
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Get your hard drive and NVR connected – You can screw the drive into its bay in NVR first if you wish, but it’s normally easier to wire everything up first. Plug one end of the SATA interface cable into the HDD and the other into the corresponding port on the motherboard, then do the same with the SATA power cable. If the power cable has come already connected to the motherboard, then just plug the other end into the HDD’s SATA power port.​

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Step 4:
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You now just need to screw the HDD into the bottom of the NVR via the screw holes located in the HDD and corresponding holes in the HDD bay (insert the screws from underneath the NVR into the HDD inside – it can be a bit fiddly).​

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Step 5:
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Finally, screw the NVR’s casing back onto the base. Your HDD is now installed and ready to be formatted during the initial NVR setup, which is explained in Part 2.​

Part 2: How do I complete the basic setup of my Hikvision NVR?

You now need to configure the NVR so that it’s ready to connect to your network. Don’t worry – this is simpler than it sounds. This initial setup is simplest when done on the local GUI, using a directly connected monitor. The following steps walk you through this initial setup process:

Note – Avoid plugging anything into the back of the NVR until instructed to do so in this tutorial.

Firstly, you’ll need to look at the back of your NVR and make sure you can identify the following parts that are needed for this stage:
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[1] – PoE (Power over Ethernet) ports (Most Hikvision NVRs have PoE ports which will power any camera via the network cable. Those that do not will require you to connect the camera across remotely, using a separate PoE injector or switch for power.)
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[2] – VGA display port
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[3] – HDMI display port
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[4] – USB port(s) (and mouse – one should come included with the NVR)
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[5] – LAN port (and ethernet cable – Cat5e or Cat6 is fine)
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[6] – Kettle power socket (the power lead is included with the NVR)​

Now, follow these steps. It is easier if you leave your cameras disconnected until prompted later in this guide:

Step 1:
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Plug the kettle plug into the power inlet to connect the NVR to a power supply.​

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Step 2:
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Connect your NVR to a display (this can be any monitor or television) by connecting either an HDMI or VGA cable from the monitor to the corresponding port in the back of the NVR.​

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Step 3:
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Plug your USB mouse into one of the NVR’s USB ports.​

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Step 4:
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Use an ethernet cable to connect your NVR to your local network – Plug one end of the cable into the RJ45 ports into a network access point (such as an ethernet port on your router), and the other into the LAN port in the back of your NVR.​

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Step 5:
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Turn the NVR on and let it boot up. Ignore the beeping noise, it’s completely normal and just the NVR telling you that it isn’t properly configured yet.​

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You may get a prompt to adjust the NVR’s resolution to match the connected display, click “yes” to view everything in the best resolution supported by your display.​

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Step 6:

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Set your language when prompted.​

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Step 7:
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Set a password for the NVR , as well as a “Channel Default Password”, which will be passed onto any inactive device that is directly connected to the NVR’s PoE ports. We recommend keeping these passwords the same for simplicity’s sake. It’s key that you set a password that the NVR defines as strong and that you remember this password, as resetting the passwords on Hikvision devices can be a hassle that you want to avoid, if possible.​

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Note – If you have lost your password then please see our guide on How to Reset the Password of your Hikvision Camera/NVR in 5 steps using the SADP Tool​

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Step 8:
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Now set a valid “reserved email” address for the NVR, which Hikvision will use for verification if you need to reset your password.​

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Step 9:
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Next, set an unlock pattern of your choice by using your mouse to draw any shape you like – you will be asked to do this twice to confirm the pattern. This will be used to quickly login to your NVR in the local GUI.​

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Step 10:
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Now, set your time zone, your preferred date format, and date/time.​

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Step 11:

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On the Network Setup page:​

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Leave the “NIC Type” as it is.​

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Either leave the “Enable Obtain DNS Server” box ticked, or untick it and use one these recommended public DNS servers.​

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It is best to leave the “Enable DHCP” box unticked here. Instead, set the “IPv4 Address” of the NVR to an unused IP address on your network, which is within your gateway’s range. Your Gateway will typically be the IP address of your router. E.g. if your router’s IP address is “192.168.1.1”, you’ll want to give the NVR an IP address within the range of “192.168.1.x”, where “x” is any unused address between “2” and “254”.​

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Note – DHCP can be left on during this stage of the setup to automatically assign your NVR an open IP address if you like, just be sure to turn it off again once your system up and running. To disable it again once set up, just go to: ​

System/Configuration→ Network → TCP/IP → DHCP Off → Apply​

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Input the Subnet Mask of your network (typically it’s “255.255.255.0”) and “IPv4 Default Gateway”. If you’re unsure of these, see the below articles which explain how to check what they are and if a particular IP address is available:​

How to setup Hikvision IP CCTV System

How-to: How do I find my router and PC’s IP address using a Windows PC?​

How-to: How do I find my router and Mac’s IP address using a Mac?​

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The “Internal NIC IPv4 Address” can be left as it is, this just refers to the NVR’s own LAN address (so Plug and Play cameras will use IP addresses on this range).​

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Step 12:
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You can now stop the annoying bleeping! Select your hard drive(s) from the list and click “Init” to format it, and then “Next” when the formatting has completed.​

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Note – This will completely wipe the drive, so please make sure that any that are being reused to not have data that you might need on them. ​

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Step 13:

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The next page is for the Camera Setup. As mentioned earlier, we recommend connecting any cameras after the NVR setup process has completed, so you can skip this page.​

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Note – Please see part 4 for the instructions for adding cameras to your NVR after the initial setup. ​

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Step 14:
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You will now be taken to the platform access page. Again, skip through and leave this for now.​

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Note – Please see part 12 for adding the NVR to the Hik-Connect app, which revisits this page. ​

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Step 15:
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Finally, you’ll be taken to the Change Password page and given the option to set a new admin password. Ignore this, unless you actually want to change your password. Remember, your admin password is different from your activation password, which you’ll need to use when activating individual cameras on your network.​

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Click “Exit” and “Yes” on the “Exit Wizard” popup.​

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That’s the initial setup of your NVR complete. You should now be taken to the NVR’s live view page (you won’t see your cameras until these are connected in Part 4), with your main navigation menu at the top of the screen.​

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Part 3: How do I find my Hikvision device and edit its network settings?

You probably want to be able to view your camera feeds remotely wherever you are; either in a web browser, the iVMS-4200 software, or the Hik-Connect mobile app. All IP CCTV devices communicate over your LAN (local network) and have a unique location on the network. So, you will need to be able to locate where the device you want to view is and make sure it has the right settings for it to work on your LAN. You will then be able to access the device from a PC or mobile device, and connect it with the rest of your CCTV system.

Please follow the steps beneath to find and correctly set your Hikvision device’s network settings.
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Step 1:
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The first step is to work out if you need Hikvision’s SADP tool or not. If you only need to discover and access an NVR and some Plug and Play cameras connected directly to its PoE ports, then you don’t need to use it.​

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If you aren’t using the SADP tool:​

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Or, on the NVR’s local GUI (Graphical User Interface – when operating the recorder from a connected monitor and mouse), go to:​

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System → Network → TCP/IP​

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Here, you can view and change the NVR’s network settings to match your LAN which is explained in step 2 – you can then ignore the rest of the steps.​

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If you are using SADP:​

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If your cameras are connected to your LAN, rather than to an NVR’s PoE ports, you will need to install the SADP tool. This scans for all Hikvision devices on your LAN by their MAC addresses. Now, follow steps 2-5 below.​

Step 2:

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You now need to identify some of your LAN’s settings, which you need to set to match on your devices.​

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From a Window’s PC, you will need to use the Command Prompt tool to find these.​

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If you’re using a Mac, then you can find these by launching System Preferences, and then going to:​

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Network → Advanced (make sure your Wi-Fi/Ethernet connection is selected on the LHS) → TCP/IP​

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Make a note of the following numbers, as you will need to use them when changing your device’s network settings:​

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IPv4 Address – This is the IP address of the computer that you are using. This address is therefore already occupied, so you will not be able to assign any other devices to this specific address. The digits after the final decimal point indicate where the device is located within the range of your local network, which spans 1-254. You’ll need to change the number after the third period (or full stop/dot) to something that is between “1” and “254” and not already occupied by another device on the LAN.​

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NB – Please see these guides for instructions on checking if a proposed IP address is occupied:​

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How-to: How do I find my router and PC’s IP address using a Windows PC?​

How-to: How do I find my router and Mac’s IP address using a Mac?​

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Subnet Mask – This shouldn’t need to be changed on the NVR, it will usually be “255.255.255.0”.​

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Default Gateway – This is the IP address that’s been assigned to your router. Any device being added to your system needs to be within the range of your gateway in order to be discoverable.​

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Step 3:

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Now, launch the SADP tool again. It should show a list of all the Hikvision devices on your local network and their default network settings. Provided the device is being powered and has a connection to your LAN, then it will show up here. You can also alter the device’s network settings here, and check things like the model number, serial number, the firmware version installed on it.​

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NB – Remember that any camera that is directly connected to your NVR’s PoE ports will not show up in SADP. This is because the NVR hides any cameras directly connected to it from SADP on its own “subnet”, which is separate from your local network. Don’t worry though, as you won’t need to change the settings for these cameras. ​

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Step 4:

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Tick the box beside your device to view and edit the network settings.​

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If the device hasn’t yet been connected to the network then it will show as “Inactive”. You will be asked to set a password for it when you click the tick-box for it. For more instructions on activating your device, please see Part 6.​

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Once activated, ticking the box beside your device will change the network settings in the “Modify Network Parameters” window, so that they match your LAN. You need to make sure that you enter the password for that device before clicking “Modify” for these changes to be saved.​

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Step 5:
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Check that these changes have been reflected in the SADP device table – you may need to wait a few minutes before refreshing. If they have, then you should be to carry on with getting this device connected to the rest of your system.​

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NB – If you aren’t the camera’s first owner then you will need to perform a hard reset on it. This will reset the device to its inactive factory state so that you can set new password by activating the camera in SADP. Once this has been done, SADP will allow you to modify each network setting edit the network settings to match your LAN so that you can use the device standalone or add it to your NVR remotely.

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Part 4: How do I add a Hikvision device to my NVR?

There are a couple of methods for getting your IP camera connected and recording to your NVR:
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Plug and Play – This is the most popular and simplest method for smaller setups, as all you need to do is plug your camera straight into the PoE ports in a Hikvision NVR. The NVR will then do the rest of the work. Please note that for Plug and Play to work, the device will need to be inactive or activated with the same password as the NVR.​

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Remote connection via IP – If you can’t have a wired connection to the NVR, you can instead remotely add a camera on the same network as your NVR to it using the camera’s IP address. For this to work, you will need to make sure to do two things:​

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1. Replace the power supply that would normally come from the NVR’S PoE ports. Using a PoE switch or injector is usually the best way, as it means you can still add power to the device over the same ethernet cable used for everything else. If not, most will let you connect to a separate PSU.​

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2. You have connected the camera and NVR to the same LAN and that its network settings are correct for the LAN’s range.​

The following steps will guide you through adding new devices using both of these methods. Part 1 covers doing this on the NVR’s local interface (GUI) and part 2 covers how to do this remotely using a web browser.
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Method 1 – Via the NVR’s GUI:

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Step 1:​

On the NVR 4.0 menu at the top of the screen, go to:​

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Camera → Hover over the desired channel → Click on ‘Edit’ (small icon in the bottom-left corner of channel thumbnail)​

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Step 2:​

An edit window should appear, fill out the fields to add your camera as follows:​

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Option 1 – Using “Plug and Play”​

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Connect the camera to the corresponding PoE port number on the NVR (I.e. D1 corresponds to port 1). Then, just select “Plug-and-Play” from the “Adding Method” dropdown, and then click OK to add the camera to that channel – the camera feed should appear after a few seconds to confirm that it’s been picked up.​

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Note – If you haven’t activated and set a password on the device in SADP, then the IP address should automatically work. The password will be the Activation Password set on your NVR in the initial setup.​

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Option 2 – Adding manually via IP​

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Change the “Adding Method” to “Manual”, which will let you alter the other fields.​

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Now edit the other fields to point your NVR to the camera’s location on the network, like below:​

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Adding Method – Select “Manual”.​

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IP Camera Address – Enter your camera’s IP address here (as explained in the introduction, this will need to match the range of your LAN).​

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Protocol – Select the device’s manufacturer if it is on the list, or “ONVIF” if it is an ONVIF conformant product.​

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Management Port – “8000” by default will work fine, or whatever you’ve set the device’s Server Port to if it’s been changed.​

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Channel Port – This refers to the channel that you want to add the camera to, so leave this as the corresponding number for the channel that you would like to edit.​

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Transfer Protocol – Set this to “Auto”.​

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Username – The username you set up when activating the device, usually “admin”.​

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Password – The camera’s password, which you will have set when it was first activated.​

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Use Channel Default Password – If you have assigned the NVR and camera the same password during their activation, then you tick this box. This will use the NVR’s password to add the camera and will save you from entering it again in the future.​

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Enable IP Camera Time Sync – Tick this, as it means the camera will synchronise with the time set on the NVR.​

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Use Default Port – You can leave this unticked, as you have specified the management port already.​

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Verify Certificate – Leave this box unticked too.​

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Click OK to save your changes, the NVR should pick the camera up after a few seconds and show the feed on that channel’s thumbnail to confirm this.​

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Step 3:​

To rename the camera, go to:​

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Camera → Display​

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Then, select the camera’s channel from the dropdown, and use the field below to set a new name.​

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Click “Apply” to save your changes.​

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Step 4:​

You may want to rearrange the Live View screen to show the new camera on a particular tile. To do this, first, go to:​

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System → Live View → View​

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Then, select the output port for your connected display that you would like to show the camera on, click on the selected tile and then double-click on the new camera to add it to that tile.​

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You can select different layout options, or create a customised layout using the toolbar at the bottom of the page.​

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Click “Apply” to save the new layout.​

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To check the new layout, launch “Live View” using the NVR’s main menu, and then select that layout using the toolbar in the bottom right-hand corner.​

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Method 2 – In a web browser:

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Step 1: ​

Browse for NVR’s IP address in a web browser, and log in with your username and password for it.​

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Step 2:​

Now, navigate to:​

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Configuration → System → Camera Management → IP Camera​

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You’ll be shown a table of all the NVR’s channels, showing which are occupied by cameras, and which aren’t.​

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These channels normally correspond to the same-numbered PoE ports on the back of the NVR.​

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Click on the channel that you want to add your device to, and then the “modify” button above the table.​

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Step 3:​

A window titled “IP Camera” should appear allowing you to change the “Adding Method” and “IP Camera Address” set for that channel.

If you haven’t already, you will need to make sure that the camera has a valid IP address and correct network settings for your LAN’s range.
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Option 1 – using “Plug and Play”:
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You just need to make sure that:​

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Note – If you haven’t activated and set a password on the device in SADP prior to connecting it to the NVR, then the IP address should automatically work and the password will be the “Channel Default Password” set on your NVR in the initial setup (see step 7 here)​

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Option 2 – Adding manually via IP:​

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Change the Adding Method to Manual, which should let you alter the other fields.​

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Now alter the other fields to point your NVR to the camera’s location on the LAN, like below:​

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IP Camera Address – Insert the camera’s IP address​

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Protocol – Select the brand of your camera here, or ONVIF if it is ONVIF conformant and the manufacturer doesn’t appear in this list.​

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Management Port – This is the camera’s network port, which is usually 8000 by default.​

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Username – The username that you set for the camera, which is usually “admin”.​

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Password – The password assigned to the camera upon activation in SADP. If you have automatically activated the camera by plugging it into your NVR’s PoE ports, this will the the “Channel Default Password” set during the NVR setup.​

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Confirm: Retype this password.​

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Transfer Protocol: This is fine for you to leave as “Auto”.​

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Green ticks should appear beside each field to indicate that what’s inside is valid. Once completed, you can click “OK”:​

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The “Security” column should be “Strong” and “Status” should change to “Online” on the “IP Camera” page – If they do, then you’re finished, just return to the Live View page to check that the camera’s feed is now visible.

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Note – Clicking the “Start All Live View” button in the toolbar at the bottom of this page will show all of your working cameras feeds at the same time.​

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Click on other pages for more.

with a wealth of intelligent products, we strive to identify and satisfy diverse demands by delivering intelligence at your fingertips; through innovative AIoT applications, we are dedicated to empowering every individual to enjoy a better future by building an intelligent world that is more convenient, efficient and secure.

Hikvision ‘How To’ Tutorials

Here you can find all of the Hikvision-related ‘How-To’ Tutorials that the team at use-IP have created

How Do I Configure the Camera’s Onscreen Display Text?

All Hikvision users will have seen that when you first log in to a camera the live view will have overlayed text stating the date & time and the default name of the camera “IPcamera 01”, depending on your requirements you may want to change some or all of this overlay text and below is the instruction for how to do that.

Method 1 – In a Web Browser

Log in to the camera and go to Configuration > Image > OSD Settings
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Below we will take you through each of the above settings and what they do:

Character Set – This lets you select the characters/language the OSD settings use, by default all UK stock will come with this set as GBK for English characters but if you are a European customer and you want to enter special characters from your particular language (e.g. é, ü, ç, etc…) you can switch it to EUC-KR to access those characters (do this will require the camera to reboot).

Display Name / Date / Week – These tick boxes let you show/hide the camera name (Display Name), the current date (Display Date), and the day of the week (Display Week)

Camera Name – This box lets you set the displayed name of the camera, it will also change the name of the camera shown in the System menu and if added to an NVR it will change the name shown in the live view camera list and the Camera Management list.

Time Format – This dropdown lets you select how the time appears in your live view, either 24-hour format (00:00 – 23:00) or 12-hour format (00:00 – 12:00)

Date Format – This dropdown lets you select how the day, month, and year are displayed. Your options are DD/MM/YYYY (UK format), MM/DD/YYYY (US format), and YYYY/MM/DD (Chinese/International Standard format). You also have the option of separating the day, month, and year with either a “–” or a “/“.

Text OverLay – On most cameras, you should have the option to add up to 4 additional text overlays to the live view. You can use all of them or none of them depending on your requirements.

Display Mode – This dropdown lets you choose how the text behaves on screen, by default it will usually be set to Not Transparent & Not Flashing which means the text will obscure objects/people behind it and it will be onscreen all the time. You have the option to change it to one of the following – Transparent & Flashing / Transparent & Not Flashing / Not Transparent & Flashing – When set to transparent the text will become semi-transparent so that you can see objects/people behind the text and if set to flashing the text will flash on & off screen every few seconds (there are no controls for the flashing duration).

OSD Size – Technically this setting should adjust the size of the OSD text but we’ve found that when changing it there was little change to the text and so we would just stick to the default Auto option because this will allow the text size to adapt based on where you are viewing the live image (e.g. whether a small phone screen or a large TV).

Font Color – This dropdown lets you select the colour used by the OSD text, by default the camera will use Black&White Self-adaptive which means the text colour will automatically switch between black & white based on what is behind the text (e.g. if a person walks through the text) and for high-security sites, this can be an important feature for using the footage in court because the adaptive text shows that the image/text has not been manipulated in post. If the scenario requires it you can select Custom which will allow you to pick the text colour from a standard colour table.

Alignment – Again like OSD size this setting doesn’t appear to have a huge impact so we would just leave it as the default Custom and you can adjust the positioning/alignment of the OSD text by dragging the red boxes around the live view window above (these red boxes are only for adjusting the text position and will not appear on the actual live view image).

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Hikvision Full installation guide

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Read More : How To basic setup of Hikvision NVR

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Method 2 – Via the NVRs GUI

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You can access similar OSD settings from the NVR by going to Camera > Display and selecting the camera you want to configure.

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Although, as you can see from the above screenshot you won’t get all the settings that can be found by logging into the cameras directly.

How do I set up ‘Rotate Mode’ on my Hikvision IP camera for the best picture in narrow scenes?

Corridor mode is a really useful feature available on many different CCTV cameras that can be utilised to effectively monitor a space that is more vertical, rather than horizontal, in shape. These types or areas include hallways, pathways, staircases, shopping aisles, tunnels and roads. When installing and viewing a CCTV camera, you want the image frame to include as much of the area of interest, while cutting out as much of the redundant areas, like the walls and ceiling, as possible.

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Corridor mode allows you to rotate the camera’s lens and the video image 90 degrees so that it’s in a portrait, rather than a landscape format. As a result, you can use the camera to really focus on those areas of interest of within in your frame changing the image’s aspect ratio from 16:9 to 9:16 to suit narrow monitoring settings. The image below is taken from a camera making use of this function and illustrates the differences between the corridor and standard settings:
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This guide will show you how to utilise corridor mode on Hikvision’s three most popular camera types: domes, turrets, and bullets. I will cover how to activate this useful setting in iVMS-4200, a browser, and locally through your NVR’s GUI so that, irrespective of your setup, this guide should be of help.

Part 1: How do I activate the corridor mode function in my camera’s settings?

We suggest getting your camera set up on your network and activating corridor mode in its settings before you try to rotate and position the lens. This way, you can use the live video stream, in the correct aspect ratio, to point the lens in your optimum direction. Positioning the lens often involved a bit of trial and error to get the best result specific to your space.

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Note – For the G2 AcuSense models, you will need to connect to the camera directly in a web browser and change the “VCA Resource” to Monitoring Mode by navigating to:​

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Configuration → System→ System Settings → VCA Resource​

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Please note that this will disable most of the smart event options, leaving only Scene Change Detection available to use. ​

Locally (via a monitor connected to an NVR):

If your camera is connected to an NVR, then you can easily configure corridor mode in the setting through the NVR’s GUI menu. Just Navigate to:

Menu > Camera > Image

Pick your camera from the top drop-down box beside Camera and then select “Clockwise 270 degrees” in the Enable Image Rotation box

Then, just click Apply

Through iVMS-4200:

If you’re not using an NVR, or don’t have easy access to your NVR’s GUI, then an option is to use iVMS-4200 to set up corridor mode by accessing the camera directly.

To do this, first, you’ll need to navigate to:

Menu > Device Management

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Find your camera in the device list. If accessing a camera connected to an NVR, you’ll need to open your NVR within the Group section of the Device Management screen and then the particular camera within the NVR’s device list.

Click Configure (the small cog) on your camera.

If your camera isn’t connected to an NVR, then open Basic Settings, if it is then open Advanced Function.

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In the popup window, open the Image tab in the sidebar. You should then see either a tick-box or drop-down that allows you to turn on Rotate, tick or select ON in the applicable box or drop-down and then Save. The camera view should now have been rotated.
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In a web browser:

The other method commonly used to access cameras and NVRs is through a web browser. You will only be able to configure the image rotation settings for a remote camera. The image for cameras connected directly to an NVR cannot be rotated in this menu due to the restricted access to the camera’s settings.

To access your camera in a browser, simply input its IP address into the browser’s address bar and hit enter. You’ll be taken to a login screen, here you’ll need to fill out the username and password combination you created for the camera when you first set it up. If correct, you should be taken to a page displaying the camera’s live video stream.

The process of rotating the camera’s image is relatively similar to that in iVMS-4200, just go to:

Configuration > Image > Video Adjustment > Rotate > On

The setting should be automatically saved, you’ll see a popup in the bottom-right corner of your window confirming this. That’s it!

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Part 2: How do I position and rotate my camera’s lens correctly?

Rotating the camera’s image through its settings will rotate the image 270 degrees. To rotate the final video stream to the desired 180 degrees, you will manually need to turn the camera’s lens 90 degrees in the opposite direction as compensation. The entire process allows the rotated image to properly fit a 9:16 portrait aspect ratio. You’ll need to follow the below steps in order to rotate the camera’s lens.

For Domes / Mini Domes:

Domes and mini domes are the fiddliest type of camera to move and rotate the lens on. You can do this with the camera either installed or taken down. You’ll need to take the outer casing off the dome first to allow you to move the lens inside.

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Then, loosen the locking screw located to the right of the lens rotate to allow you to move the lens and bracket. Now twist the lens bracket (the bit that can turn surrounding the lens, see the picture below) 90 degrees anti-clockwise, so that the gap in it is in the 3 o’clock position. You should see the “90” marker in the middle of the gap once in this position.

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Now twist the lens (see the picture below) 90 degrees anti-clockwise, holding the lens bracket in place while doing this helps, so the “90” marker is at 12 o’clock and the “0” marker is in the 3 o’clock position. It may take a bit of wiggling and feel unnatural but the lens will move to this position, you won’t break anything!

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Finally, rotate the lens bracket 90 degrees clockwise so that the gap is at 6 o’clock, and then move the lens so that is fits into this gap, so it looks like the picture below. This next stage takes a bit of trial and error on your part to get your desired camera view.

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You’ll need to fiddle around with the lens while looking at the camera’s live stream to ensure it is straight and something you’re happy with. Viewing your stream through iVMS-4200 or Hik-Connect is best as you can look at the image and remotely while fiddling with the lens position at the same time.

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For Turrets:

Rotating the lens on a turret camera is a slightly more straightforward process. First, you’ll need to remove the trim ring (shown in the picture below) by twisting it anti-clockwise and lifting it off the base of the camera.

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This should expose the locking screw, you’ll need to loosen this using a Phillips-head screwdriver enough for Turret’s ball to be rotated. You shouldn’t need to take the screw out entirely. All these parts are labeled in the picture below. The “UP” marker on the ball indicates the top of the camera.

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You’ll now need to rotate the ball 90 degrees anti-clockwise so that this marker moved from the 12 o’clock to 9 o’clock position. Now, tighten the locking screw back up and replace the trim ring to its original position. The lens should now be appropriately rotated.

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For Bullets and Mini Bullets:

The camera models that allow for the easiest rotation of their lenses are bullets and mini bullets.

It is important to note that the sun shield on these cameras cannot be moved to be above the lens when rotated, which presents a drawback so using them for corridor mode.

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The sun shield will sit to the side of the rotating lens in this case so you’ll need to make sure that you shelter the camera somewhat (such as under the eaves of a roof) if setting a bullet or mini bullet for corridor mode.

Mini bullets have a locking nut (shown below) at the end of their base which will allow you to rotate the camera when loosened. Larger bullets will require you to loosen the locking screw, which is the screw furthest to the right of the base if looking at them (shown below).

Once you’ve loosened the locking screw/nut as appropriate, rotate the main body of the camera 90 degrees anti-clockwise, so that the sun shield is in the 9 o’clock position. This will rotate the lens. Once you’ve done this, tighten the screw or nut again to secure the camera in its newly rotated position.

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Part 3: How do I change the layout of my camera streams to accommodate for corridor mode?

Once your camera is all set up in corridor mode, you’ll want to be able to adjust the way that you view the grouped cameras to avoid the camera’s live stream being reduced in size to fit the standardised landscape 16:9 frame. This is easily done by simply merging two of the landscape frames to make a portrait, 9:16 frame to which you can dedicate your camera.

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This custom view layout can be set up in an NVRs local GUI and in iVMS-4200. Please see the guides below for an explanation on how to customise your stream layout to accommodate corridor mode.

In iVMS-4200:

Click on the small icon made up of several small boxes at the bottom of your Main View screen in the program, this should bring up the window division page. Click Add to create a Custom Window Division.

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In the Add Custom Window Division popup, set the name and dimensions of your new stream layout as desired.

Now, click and drag your mouse over the two frames you want to merge to select them both. Once they’ve both been highlighted by a surrounding red box, click Joint to merge them. Now click Save.

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Once back in the Main View, click on the Window Division icon in the bottom right-hand corner again and select your new custom layout from the list. Your new stream layout should load ready for you to assign the individual cameras to.
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Locally through your NVR’s GUI:

Please Note – This option is only available on NVRs that are running Version 4 firmware. There is not currently an option to customise your stream layout on K-Series recorders. If you’re running Version 3 firmware then your only option is to configure your layout as per above in iVMS-4200.

It’s also useful to be able to customise the stream layout as viewed directly from your NVR’s GUI as this is many people’s preferred method for observing and configuring their camera feeds.

To do this, firstly, you’ll need to navigate to:

Configuration > Live View > View > Set Custom Layout (small cog in bottom-left hand corner)
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In the Custom Layout Configuration popup, set the name and dimensions of your new stream layout as desired. Now, click and drag your mouse over the two frames you’re going to merge and click the Joint button in the top toolbar, followed by Save.
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Once back in the Live View, click on the Split button in the bottom-right hand corner of your screen. Then, select your new custom layout from the Custom Layout list that appears to load your new stream layout. You can then add the camera streams to each frame as appropriate.
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You should now be up and running with corridor mode set up properly on your camera! Feel free to start a new thread or comment below with any other questions or suggestions. Thanks for reading!

How Do You Setup Event Pre & Post Recording for a Hikvision Camera?

To Adjust the smart event pre-record and post-record you need to follow these steps:

1) Log in to the NVR/Camera

2) Go to Configuration > Storage > Schedule Setting > Record Schedule

3) Click the ‘Advanced’ button at the top right of the record schedule
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4) Select the duration you want from the pre/post record dropdowns and click OK
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One thing to be aware of with event pre/post-recording is what Hikvision call a Buffer Zone. The buffer zone is simply a bracket of footage around the current moment in time that is continually recording/erasing, this buffer zone allows you to record only by event but still have access to footage before and after the trigger event without having continuous recording enabled.

The issue is that the buffer zone is limited to around 2-4MB of storage and so the higher your resolution and stream settings the larger the files sizes are and thus the maximum duration of the buffer you can use is limited.

So basically an 8MP camera will not be able to have as long pre/post recording durations as a lower-spec 4MP or 2MP model. (unless you reduce the resolution/stream settings of the 8MP camera)

We recommend that to get the longest duration possible from your pre/post recording you should set them to the not limited option to use the full 2-4MB buffer capacity.

(One other thing to be aware of, there is no advantage or disadvantage for pre/post recording when using an NVR. Although the NVR is managing the event recording, each channel on the NVR is still set to the same 2-4MB buffer, the same as the individual cameras. So you would not get more pre/post recording capacity with 1x 8MP than you would with 8 x 8MP cameras on an NVR.)

How do I stop my Hikvision NVR from beeping?

If a Hikvision NVR notices what it deems to be a critical error, or “exception”, it will make a constant beeping sound to draw your attention to this.

These exceptions can occur when:
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• A hard drive has not been installed or properly formatted

• There is an error with the hard drive, it has been damaged, or the cameras are just not recording properly

• A hard drive has been filled and not set to overwrite

• There is an IP conflict, preventing the NVR from operating properly

• The NVR detects an illegal login

• The NVR loses its network connection

Of course, ignoring these exceptions are not recommended. However, you can disable the beeping while you address whatever the issue is by following the steps below.
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Step 1:​

Connect to your NVR in a web browser by using its IP address and logging in.​

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Step 2:​

Check what the exception that is causing the beeping is in the NVR’s logs. To find these, go to:​

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Configuration → System → Maintenance → Log​

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Set the log search so that the “Major Type” is “Exception”, with the start and end time covering a period when the beeping has occurred.​

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For example, you can see that it is an IP address conflict causing it in this case.​

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Note – Camera disconnections will not cause the NVR to beep. ​

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Step 3:​

Go to:​

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Configuration → Event → Basic Event → Exception​

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Find the “exception type” identified in step 2 in the dropdown on this page.​

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Step 4:​

Select the exception shown in your logs from the dropdown.​

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You will see that “Buzzer” is ticked as a “Normal Linkage” action, which is what is causing the NVR to beep.​

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Step 5:​

Untick this, click “Save”, and the beeping should stop.​

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My Hikvision NVR has both HDMI & VGA connections, can I connect two monitors to my NVR?

This question gets asked a lot and we have always assumed that as the larger Pro NVRs (9600 Series) have 2 x VGA & 2 x HDMI that they were the only models that would support any kind of multi-screen setup.

Today we did some tests with a selection of demo NVRs we have in our office to see if it was possible to connect two monitors to an NVR that only had 1 x VGA & 1 x HDMI, below are our findings from testing K-series & I-series NVRs

K-series (DS-7604NI-K1-4P(B) / DS-7608NI-K2-8P / DS-7616NI-K2-16P / DS-7716NI-K4-16P / DS-7732NI-K4-16P)

When we connected a monitor to both the VGA & HDMI of a 7604 4-channel NVR we were able to see the usual K-series GUI on both screens at the same time, but with the older K-series GUI when viewing on two monitors your actions will be synchronised (e.g. when you move the mouse on one screen the mouse will do the same movement on the 2nd screen, and this is the same for any action whether it’s opening menus and selecting individual live streams).

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So the main disadvantage of this is that you can’t have different live views streaming on each monitor, both monitors will show exactly the same thing and the only difference will be that one will be a VGA quality. The advantage of these synchronised displays is if you have a setup with say a large wall-mounted monitor and a smaller desktop monitor,

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you can have the HDMI output to the big screen while you operate from a smaller VGA screen, this kind of setup would be useful for any situation where you need to demonstrate a feature of the NVR or play back footage in real-time to a large group of people.

I-series (DS-7608NI-I2-8P / DS-7616NI-I2-16P / DS-7716NI-I4-16P /DS-7632NI-I4-16P / DS-7732NI-I4-16P)

We have a 7716-I NVR as part of our demo system in the office and when we connected two monitors to the VGA & HDMI connections on the back we got the live streams displayed on both monitors just like we did with the K-series NVR. The difference with the I-series NVRs is that they use the latest 4.0 GUI, and on the live view page of this new interface you will find an icon in the bottom right

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of the screen labelled ‘AUX Monitor’ (see image below), clicking this icon allows for you to switch control between the HDMI & VGA screens and allows you to move through the NVR menus on one screen whilst keeping the cameras streaming on the 2nd screen.
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Now that you have the ability to switch between and control multiple screens you would obviously want to be able to set each screen up with their own camera stream layouts, to do this simply go to the System page (cog icon at the top of the 4.0 GUI) and then click the Live View tab and select the view page from the dropdown options. On this page you can switch between the HDMI & VGA screen and set the camera stream layout for each monitor (see image below).

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There are limitations to how you can set the layouts, you can set the same camera to appear on both screens in the same place or in different positions and you can also spread all 16/32 cameras out across

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the 2 screens, the main thing you can’t do is have a camera appear in different positions when using different live view layouts on the same screen (e.g. if you put camera 1 in the top left position for the 2*2 layout it will also appear in this top left position when you switch to the 3*3 layout).
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9600 Series, Deep in mind, and Other NVR models

We don’t tend to get hands-on with these larger, top of the range NVRs but as you will see from the product pages and datasheets for these models a lot of them have 2 x VGA & 2 x HDMI connections. We assume that the 2 x connections on these models takes the multi-screen setup one step further by allowing you to seamlessly

move your mouse between screens (like you can with a 2 screen setup on a PC), thus allowing you to adjust each screens layout with ease and see all your camera streams in full quality via HDMI connection on both screens. (be aware that you will only see the full resolution stream of each camera when you select to view main-stream)

If anyone out there on the forum has had experience using two monitors with a 9600 Series NVR (or any other top of the range NVR with dual VGA/HDMI ports) then please share any information you have in this thread.

How do I set my Hikvision ColorVu camera’s built-in light to turn on during event periods?

We’re often asked if a ColorVu camera’s built-in supplementary white light can be programmed to turn on during VCA event trigger periods, such as during instances of motion detection, intrusion detection, or line crossing detection.

After testing, we can confirm that this is now possible on all 2nd Generation ColorVu cameras (any with a ‘G2’ in the part number) and works reliably.

In effect, it means the light on the camera can be used like a PIR floodlight, but with more control over a number of variables. Notably, trigger object type (human, vehicle, or both), the motion detection area, and direction of trigger object movement.

Please see the below steps for instructions on doing this.
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Step 1:​

Connect to your camera directly in a web browser, even if it is recording to an NVR.​

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If your camera is connected to your local network, just use its local IP address to do this.​

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If it is directly connected to your NVR’s PoE ports, then you will need to use the virtual host feature to connect to the camera via your NVR’s Camera Management page.​

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Step 2:​

If you have a ColorVu camera from the G3 platform, then make sure you have installed the firmware, version 5.5.800 (build 210628), or later.​

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If you have one of the G5 models (indicated by a ‘C’ at the end of the part number), install version 5.7.2 (build 211228).​

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You can also check your camera’s platform when connected to it in a web browser by going to:​

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Configuration → System→ System Settings → Basic Information​

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The platform will then be indicated by either a “G3” or “G5” in the “Firmware Version Property” box:​

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Note – Please see this guide for instructions on how to check and update the firmware on your camera.​

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Step 3:​

Once you’ve logged in, navigate to:​

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Configuration → Event → Basic Event (for motion detection) / Smart Event (all smart event options support this) → Select your preferred event type​

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Step 4:​

Enable and set your event up in the Area Settings and Arming Schedule pages, this guide explains how to set up motion detection, line crossing, and intrusion detection.​

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Step 5:​

Navigate to the “Linkage Method” page, tick the “White Light” box, and set how long that you want it to remain on for on event triggers (in seconds) in the “Duration” box.​

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Click “Save” once this is done so the settings are kept.​

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How do I use a Hikvision NVR’s “Virtual Host” feature?

One of the most successful selling points of a Hikvision NVR to many small-setup customers is the “Plug and Play” functionality that simplifies the setup process of their surveillance system.

However, plugging a camera directly into a port on the NVR, unfortunately, does not allow you to access the camera via its own internal LAN IP using a browser due to it being on the NVRs internal network, and this can significantly reduce the number of configuration options you have access to.

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The NVR does allow you to configure many options for each connected camera, but some essential features are only accessible via connecting to the camera itself (such as audio codec options). This was of course a big problem previously.

With the advent of newer firmware and models of NVR, Hikvision has introduced a feature called Virtual Host. Activating this feature turns your NVR into a “host” for the cameras allowing you to connect to them via a browser. Essentially, the NVR forwards all traffic received from your browser to the appropriate camera you’re trying to connect to, eliminating the biggest problem of plug and play functionality.
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Step 1:​

First of all, access your NVR via a web browser. If you do not know the LAN IP of your NVR, download Hikvision’s tool SADP tool, which scans your network for any Hikvision devices that are connected and allow you to see and change their network settings, including the IP address.​

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Download SADP for Windows ​

Download SADP for MacOS​

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Step 2:​

Once you’ve logged in, navigate to: ​

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Configuration → System → Camera Management​

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This screen displays all the connected cameras on your NVR. Notice that the final column labelled “Connect” is currently empty. We’ll be coming back here in a moment.​

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Step 3: ​

Now, navigate to:​

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Network → Advanced Settings → Other ​

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Turn on the Enable Virtual Host option.​

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Note – Your NVR will reboot when you click “Save”.​

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Step 4:​

Now, navigate back to the Camera Management window from earlier. You’ll notice that the previously empty connect tab now features links for each camera currently connected to your NVR.​

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Step 5:​

Click on any of these links to access the respective camera via your web browser:​

That’s it, you’re done!

This should be useful when you want to access options on your camera that your NVR doesn’t feature. If you have any further questions feel free to ask, we’re happy to help.

Why am I not able to tilt my Hikvision PTZ camera upwards?

Hikvision PTZ cameras are not usually set by default to have their full range of movement enabled. This often means that cameras that are advertised as being able to tilt upwards are not able to do so straight out of the box, as this needs to be enabled in the camera’s settings.

You can check the movement range available on your camera in the PTZ section of its datasheet. Below is an example of this range shown for the DS-2DE5425IW-AE (S5):
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0˚ tilt refers to the camera being in its home position, where it running parallel to the ground beneath and looking straight out at the scene.​

Any negative figure (e.g. -15˚) here refers to the angle that it can tilt to upwards of the 0˚ position.​

Any positive figure (e.g. 90˚) refers to how the angle of tilt available below this 0˚ position.​

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Cameras with “auto flip” will rotate 180˚ and then flip their image when it reaches its full 90˚ downwards tilt, which will give the illusion of you having a full 180˚ (or more) range when you try to continue to tilt beyond this 90˚ position.​

To change the movement range currently set on the PTZ, you will need to connect to the camera directly in a web browser.
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NB – If your camera is directly connected to an NVR’s network ports, then you will need to use the Virtual Host feature to access the camera’s backend. If it is connected to your local network, then you can just browse for its IP address to do this. ​

Then, go to:
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Configuration > PTZ > Basic Settings > Max. Tilt Angle​

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You should have some different options in this dropdown, depending on the maximum tilt range of your camera. If you want to enable the complete range of movement, then select the option with the largest range between the two figures (in this case, “-15 – 90˚”).​

Once you have chosen an option that you’re happy with, make sure to click “save” at the bottom of the page so that these changes are updated on the camera.

How do you Shutdown a Hikvision NVR?

This is a common question by Hikvision users so we thought we would create a short forum post to give a clear answer on the possible ways to shutdown an NVR.

Direct Monitor Access
If you are accessing your NVR from an HDMI/VGA monitor then it is possible to shutdown the NVR from within the menus, depending on the NVR model the menus and shutdown process is slightly different as you will see from the below explanations:

I-series (76xxNI-I2 / 77xxNI-I4 / 96xxNI-I8 / 96xxNI-I16) & K-series (7604NI-K1/4P(B) / 76xxNI-K2 / 77xxNI-K4) NVRs – In the top right corner of the live view you will see a power icon which if you hover over will bring up text that says either ‘Power’ or ‘Power Off’, click the icon and a pop-up menu will appear with 3 options, one of which will be shutdown.

Click shutdown and a box will appear saying ‘shutting down…’ and then after 20-30 seconds, new text will appear asking you to switch the NVR off at the back to complete the shutdown.

(Above is for I-series and K-series NVRs that are running 4.0 GUI and EUI GUI respectively, if your NVRs are running older firmware and not using the latest user interface you will need to follow the below instructions)

7604NI-K1, E-series (76xxNI-E1 / 76xxNI-E2 / 77xxNI-E4), SE-series, and other older generation NVRs – Right-click the live view page and select the main menu from the dropdown, one of the menu options should be clearly labelled ‘Shutdown’ which when clicked should bring up the same 3 options as mentioned above.

Click ‘Shutdown’ and a window should appear with the text ‘shutting down…’ and roughly 20-30 seconds later new text will appear asking you to switch the NVR off at the back to complete the shutdown.

Browser Access
if you are accessing the NVR primarily from a browser then your only option for shutting the NVR down is to simply flick the switch on the back of the NVR because the browser menus do not include a button to shut the NVR down like you can with the direct monitor.

How do I know if the lens on my Hikvison mini dome is orientated correctly?

It’s easy to install your Hikvision mini dome only to turn it on and find that the image is upside down. If you’re not familiar with Hikvision cameras, adjusting the lens and settings can be confusing. This post will explain the two different ways that you can rotate your camera’s image by:
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1.Manually rotating the lens itself.

2.Rotating the cameras image 180° in the image settings.

Part 1: How do I orientate my camera’s lens manually?
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1.Remove the mini dome’s cover by loosening the screws surrounding the glass dome, shown in the image below:

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2.You should now be seeing something like the image below. Loosen the locking screw to the right of the lens, and then the lens bracket which locks the orientation of the lens in place. The lens is effectively attached to the camera body via a ball and socket joint, so this can be orientated however you like.

Part 2 of this guide explains rotating the lens in more detail, as well as how to rotate the lens on the turret and bullet styles of camera – How-to: How do I set up Corridor Mode on my Hikvision Turret, Bullet or Mini Dome IP CCTV camera?

NB – This image shows a camera with the lens rotated 180°, you’ll actually need this 90° marker to be in the 3 o’clock position, and the 180° marker pointing towards the bottom of the unit.

Hata! Dosya adı belirtilmemiş.

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3.The lens should be positioned like the one shown in the below image. The small line marker located directly parallel to the 180° marker signifies the top of the lens. So, this needs to be pointing up, towards the top of your scene. This will orientate the camera’s view correctly. You should also make sure that the lens bracket is repositioned correctly so that the thicker part surrounds the top half of the lens.

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4.Now, tighten the locking screws and fasten the dome cover back in place, making sure the cover screws are tight to prevent water ingress into the camera. It’s always worth checking your camera stream before doing this to make sure that the camera view is orientated as you like.

For a guide on installing you Hikvision IP camera correctly to ensure it is properly waterproofed, please see this guide – Please Read: IMPORTANT – Installing Hikvision IP Cameras Correctly

Part 2: How do I orientate my Hikvision camera’s view through its settings?
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1.Log into your camera’s web browser interface (not your NVR’s), by entering its IP address into the browser’s address bar. This will only work for cameras that are on the same LAN as your PC. If the camera is directly connected your NVR’s PoE ports, then you will need to use the NVR’s ‘VIrtual Host’ feature to access the camera’s own browser view, which gives you access to a wider range of settings.

NB – It is recommended that you use Internet Explorer if possible. If you are a macOS user, the best web browsers for this seem to be Google Chrome or Apple’s Safari. You might need to install Hikvison’s macOS Web Plugin as well.

2.When you have access to the cameras in a web browser, go to:

Configuration > Image > DIsplay Settings > Video Adjustment

The different options are will adjust your image as described below:

Left/Right: The image will be flipped horizontally, so it appears as a typical mirrored image.
Up/Down: The image will be flipped vertically, which will still show a mirrored image of the default view as you are not actually ‘rotating’ the image 180°
Center: This will be the option that you need to select to rotate the image 180°, which will show the same view as physically rotating the lens would.

If you only need to rotate the image 90°, then setting the Rotate option to ON will do this, as shown below.

To rotate your view 270°, set the Mirror dropdown to Center, and then set Rotate to ON.
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Thanks for reading – hopefully, this will prove helpful to some of you in the future! As always, please feel free to post any questions or feedback that you have below or by creating a new thread.

Hikvision Password Reset Options – 4 Ways the User can reset their Passwords

The new video from Hikvision (linked below) takes you through the 4 password reset options that the user can do themselves, these are:

1. Reset Password by reserved email
2. Reset Password via Hik-Connect App
3. Reset Password via Security Questions
4. Reset Password via GUID File

IMPORTANT: Not all of the above options will be available on all Hikvision products, also be aware that all the above options do require some level of pre-configuration to use them so if you have done none of the setups explained in the video you will have to follow the traditional reset file method as described here (remember though that we at use-IP will only reset passwords of our own customers)

How to Set up the Hikvision 2nd Generation Modular Intercom

We get asked a lot of questions by people looking to buy or who have already bought Hikvision’s 2nd Gen modular Intercom solution and for a long time, we have had to take the majority of those questions to Hikvision Support as we just don’t have enough hands-on experience with the intercom solution to answer them confidently.

Now we have finally found time to get a demo intercom system set up, test some of the features, and give you a guide of how to get a basic intercom solution up and running.

The below guide will initially** be split into 3 key sections with multiple sub-sections:

Single Module Setup (Video Intercom Module)
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• Setting up the Video Intercom Module

• Setting up the Indoor Station

Three Module Setup (Video, Indicator, Keypad)
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• Sub Modules & Dip Switches

• Setting Room Numbers & Unlock Codes

Six Module Setup (above + Display, RFID, nametag)
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• Nametag & Display Modules

• Card Reader Module

The reason we have decided to cover it this way is that the modular nature of the solution means there are too many variations to cover specifically, so instead we will cover the details of the 3 most common setups and once you know the basics of all 3 any combination of modules should be achievable.

(**IMPORTANT – This will be a continual work-in-progress thread and we will add new posts with explanations of new features & settings as we test the intercom further and learn things from customers & Hikvision Support, this initial post will basically be a contents page for the entire thread)

Will the smart tracking feature on a Hikvision PTZ camera allow it to zoom in to its maximum zoom ratio automatically?

We’re frequently asked if Hikvision PTZ cameras will automatically zoom in to their maximum ratio when they are automatically tracking a target. After talking to Hikvision, we found out that you’ll need to do the following to enable the camera to do this:

On the camera’s menu (via a web browser) navigate to:

Configuration > PTZ > Smart Tracking

Here, set the Zoom Ratio to its maximum value, which will then allow the camera to automatically zoom to this maximum ratio.

Do It Youself – How To Silence a HikVision DS-7608NXI-I2/4S AcuSense NVR

Hi Guys,

I’m new to business here, but have made a video tutorial to decrease fan noise on my AcuSense 7608-NXI-i2-4S device. Maybe this helps others as internal construction of many NVRs from HikVision seems to be almost the same.

I also have some questions towards the community.
1. What is my latest firmware available for my NVR?
It is an AcuSense 7608NXI-i2-4s, but as I see it is not a full i-series device.
i-series are up to 4.22, but mine seems to be different. Can I use firmware here or not: Firmware – Latest HikVision Firmware for I-Series NVRs – V4.22.005

2. Scene change detection+alarm seems to be problematic. My cameras are AcuSense 2086G2 Bullet, but they do only detect scene change when going completely dark scene to normal recording scene. If I let them record a normal scene situation and then simulate a camera removal from wall situation – camera does not trigger a scene change event.

How to update the Hik-Connect App on your Android phone using Hikvision’s App Store

The method for updating the Hik-Connect App on Android devices has recently changed to mean that users can no longer update via Google’s Play Store. To use Version 4.1.0 of the app Android users now need to access Hikvision’s own App Store and update via the .apk file which is downloadable from there. The reasons for this change have been discussed in this post, as well as our thoughts on the situation.

This simple tutorial has been put together to walk you through this new method for updating in 5 easy steps, so that you can ensure you install the latest version of the Hik-Connect app is installed properly on your Android device.

Step 1:
Open Hik-Connect if you have it already installed, and press the Upgrade Now button in the popup. If you don’t have the app installed or do not get this popup upon opening the act, this link to the Hikvision App Store will take you to the update file.

You need to make sure you open this page on the Android device that you wish to install the updated software on, as this will be the device that the update file is saved to! In the App store, make sure Android is selected in the top-left hand corner and then select Download beneath Hik-Connect to get the .apk update file.
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Step 2:
Press Download when the prompt to do so appears at the bottom of your screen. Don’t worry, this is a safe and secure link!
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Step 3
Select Install when the prompt to do so appears at the bottom of the screen.
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Step 4
The installation will begin, wait for the progress bar to complete… Go and put the kettle on!
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Step 5
If you get the same screen as the one below, then you’re all done. You should now have the latest version (V4) of Hik-Connect installed on your device. You can either press Open to launch the app, or Done to return back to whatever you were previously doing. If your screen doesn’t say App installed with a tick above, then you’ll need to repeat steps 1-4 again!
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How do I set up an alarm to work with an external device on my Hikvision NVR?

We often have customers ask us “how do I get my new NVR to work with an existing alarm system I already have installed” or “how do I connect something to the IN/OUT ports of my NVR?” Indeed, for such an important feature for the NVR’s to have, it is not the most straightforward to get set up with.

We thought it would therefore be useful to put together this guide to walk you through how to configure the alarm function, either through locally through your NVR and monitor, or through Hikvision’s iVMS-4200 software, in 10 easy minutes.

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Contents:

Part 1: How to wire my alarm system into my NVR’s alarm input and output ports?

Part 2: How do I configure the alarm function settings of my NVR locally via a monitor?

Part 3: How do I configure the alarm function settings of my NVR remotely via iVMS-4200?​

Part 1: How to wire my alarm system into my NVR’s alarm input and output ports?

As daunting as it may seem when you look at the multiple different alarm ports in the back of your NVR, this part is simple enough once you know what you’re doing. If you’re struggling to find you alarm IN/OUT ports, they are the block of green connections which should be labeled as “ALARM IN/OUT” on the device.

The number of connections will vary here depending on the size of your NVR, the picture shown is of a smaller Hikvision DS-7608NI-K2-8P 8 Channel NVR. Larger NVRs will have more of each connection, but nonetheless, the process is the same.

Firstly, make sure you can locate the NVR’s “ALARM IN ” and “ALARM OUT ” ports, with their corresponding “Ground/G” ports. If you’re connecting a device to trigger your NVR cameras with an external event (e.g. a smoke alarm, PIR senor etc) then you’ll need to run the wires from the device into one of the input ports and its corresponding ground port.

If you’re connecting a device to be triggered by a smart event set up on your NVR (e.g. a siren or warning light), then connect the wires to the output port and corresponding ground port. All the ports are marked up in the picture below but should also be clearly labelled on your unit.
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Part 2: How do I configure the alarm function settings of my NVR locally via a monitor?

Now that all the necessary connections are made, you’ll need to set up your NVR’s alarm function for it to alert the alarm system that you’re connecting to it.

Firstly, I’ll show you how to do this locally. You’ll need to boot up the NVR, once in the menu, navigate to:

Menu > Configuration > Network > General

Here, you’ll need to insert your network’s IPv4 address, IPv4 subnet mask, IPv4 default gateway and your preferred DNS server:

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• If you’re unsure of your IPv4 address, subnet mask or default gateway, our tutorials on How To find your router and PC’s IP address using a Windows PC or How To find your router and Mac’s IP address using a Mac show you how to do so. Please note, you need to make sure the PC you use to find these is hard wired via a network/Ethernet cable do make sure this turns up the correct addresses for your network/router.

• Unless you know of a preferred DNS server that you’ve set up yourself, Google’s public DNS server address (8.8.8.8) should work fine. It’s worth entering an alternate backup DNS too beside Alternate DNS Server, Cloudflare’s public DNS address is a good option (1.1.1.1). Follow this link for a list of the best publicly available DNS servers.

Now, navigate to:

Network > Email

At this screen, you’ll need to fill in all the fields as appropriate to your Email account. If you’re unsure of these, then complete the fields as below:

Enable Server Authentication: Tick/check this box
User Name: Insert your email address here
Password: Insert the password you use to access this email account
SMTP Server: If you don’t know this, follow this link for “finding your SMTP server address”
SMTP Port: Insert either 25 or 587 here
Enable SSL: Leave this box unticked
Sender: Insert the first part of your email address (everything before @)
Sender’s Address: Insert your email address here
Select Receivers: Insert “Receiver 1/any name” here
Receiver: Insert your email address (same as Sender’s Address)
Enable Attached Picture: Tick/check this this box, it will mean that you’ll receive picture of anything that triggers your cameras’ alarms in an email.
Interval: Insert 5s (5 seconds)
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When you’ve completed these fields, navigate to:

Menu > Camera

Ensure all your cameras are properly connected to the NVR and are visible on this screen. If you haven’t yet added any cameras to your NVR, this guide on adding Hikvision cameras to an NVR walks you through how to do so.
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Now, navigate to:

Menu > Configuration > Alarm

This should take you to the Alarm Status menu. This menu lists the status all your alarm IN/OUT ports and any alarms that have been configured/assigned to these ports.

You’ll need to use this screen to check that you’ve set the correct Alarm Type for the alarm/device that you’re connecting. The options you have are N.O (Normally open) and N.C (Normally Closed). In brief, N.O alarm types use switches/sensors that normally remain open with no current flowing through them, so closing the switch allows for the flow of current and activates the alarm.

N.C alarm types, on the other hand, use switches/sensors the normally remain closed with current flowing through them, so opening the switch stops the flow of current and activates the alarm. There’s a lot to be said about N.O and N.C alarms but for now, you only need to know which category the alarm that you’re using falls under. If you want to take a journey down the N.O vs N.C rabbit-hole, I found this article on the differences between N.O vs N.C useful.
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To assign an alarm to one of these IN/OUT ports, navigate to:

Alarm > Alarm Input > Settings (click on the small cog) > Trigger Channel

Choose the channel that you would like to trigger your alarm. In this case, we’ve selected channel 1.
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Now, navigate to:

Settings > Arming Schedule

Select the hours that you would like to schedule your alarm to be turned on for. Typically, this would be 24/7, so set the schedule for Monday, Week 1 as 00:00-24:00. Now, copy this schedule to the rest of the week by clicking Copy and then checking the box for All in the popup window. If you only want your alarm scheduled for certain days, then select the specified days in this popup from the list of 1-7 (1 = Monday, 2 = Tuesday etc).Once you’ve done this, click Apply.
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Finally, navigate to:

Settings > Linkage Action

Tick the boxes for Notify Surveillance Center and Send Email and then click Apply so that you email notifications whenever the alarm is triggered. If you have connected a separate device to be activated by the alarm in the NVR’s Alarm OUT port, then ticking the box for Trigger Alarm Output will activate this device when your alarm is triggered.
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That’s it for the local setup section of this tutorial! Your NVR’s alarm function should now be set correctly.

Part 3: How do I configure the alarm function settings of my NVR remotely via iVMS-4200?

The first thing you’ll need to do is ensure you have the most up to date version IVMS-4200 installed and that you’re able to view the live feed of your camera(s) through the software.

If you haven’t already added your NVR to the program, navigate to:

Maintenance and Management > Device Management > Add
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Add your NVR here by filling out the fields in the popup window, ensure the boxes beside Export To Group and Synchronise Time is checked and then click Add.
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Now find the NVR on your device list and select:

Remote Configuration (the small cog listed beside your NVR) > [Basic Settings] > Event > Alarm
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NB the configuration menu layout you will see henceforth will vary between two depending on the model of NVR that you have. I have included both variations for each step, so don’t worry if some of the below screenshots look unfamiliar.

Fill out the alarm parameters here, e.g. as follows:

Alarm Input: Select your NVR’s channel that you would like to trigger your alarm (e.g.: A<-1)
IP Address: Local
Alarm Name: Name your alarm as desired
Alarm Status: Normal/Remain Open or Normal/Remain Closed depending on the type of alarm, see the first half of this tutorial to understand the differences
Enable Alarm Input Handling/Enable Alarm Linkage Actions: Check this box
Arming Schedule: All-day Template
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Open Arming Schedule, pick an arming template or a custom schedule of hours that you want your alarm active for.
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Now, Click Settings beside Linkage Method. Check the boxes for Notify Surveillance Centre, Email linkage and Trigger Alarm Output (if you’re connecting an external alarm device to an output channel), then set the desired Triggered Camera.
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Click Save, and then Save again in the alarm configuration window.

Switch back to Main View and select your NVR from the side panel.

Now, click the small alarm picture and speaker icons at the very bottom toolbar so that they’re both enabled and look like the second image below. This will enable the alarm’s function to send an image of its trigger, as well as the audio.
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That’s it for the remote setup! It’s always worthwhile testing your alarms to check everything is now working as it should be.

If you have any questions or comments to make, please do so in a separate thread mentioning this tutorial and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

How to Unbind a Hikvision Device using SADP on a PC

Unbinding a Hikvision device is not something that is required all that often, in most cases you can do the unbind from within the app. There are though some rare cases when the user does not have access to the Hik-connect account that the device is bound to, for example, if you have purchased a used device that has not been properly disconnected from its previous owners Hik-connect account or if you added the device to an employee’s account and they leave without removing the device from the app correctly.

As long as the Hikvision device has been set up correctly on your local network, then the process of unbinding should be pretty simple:

Step 1 – Open SADP on a PC
Step 2 – Click Refresh and select the device you want to unbind by ticking the box next to the device on the far left of the list
Step 3 – Click Unbind
Step 4 – Enter the current username and password of the device (this is NOT the username & password of the Hik-connect user you are trying to unbind the device from)
Step 5 – Enter the Verification Code and click confirm

You should then see a quick pop-up with a green tick saying Unbind Successful, If the device does NOT unbind and you get an error message like “The device is Offline” or “connecting device failed” then the most likely problem is that your DNS settings for the device are not set correctly.

You can change the DNS settings by logging in to the device using a browser and go to Configuration > Network > Basic Settings > TCP/IP and you will see the 2 DNS boxes at the bottom. We recommend that if you are unsure of what DNS to use that you enter default/most commonly used DNS servers which are shown below:

Prefered DNS – 8.8.8.8
Alternative DNS – 8.8.4.4

Once you have saved these DNS settings the unbind process should work

How do I update HikVision Firmware in just nine simple steps?

Updated 20-2-19 – corrected the link to the portal as Hikvision changed their url (again). Otherwise all is good. We use this method every day. Now viewed over 38,000 times.

Here’s how to upgrade your HikVision camera or NVR to the latest firmware version in just nine simple steps:

Step 1: Download the latest HikVision firmware to your PC.

Step 2: Extract the digicap.dav file (which is the actual firmware file) from the zipped file you downloaded.

Step 3: Copy that digicap.dav file to your PC’s root folder e.g. C://

Step 4: Browse to your NVR, camera, etc – using Internet Explorer:

Step 5: Login and navigate to Config -> Maintenance (screenshot attached below)

Step 6: Scroll to the bottom of the screen you’ll see Upgrade Firmware.

Step 7: Click the Browse button at the right-hand side.

Step 8: Browse to and select the digicap.dav file in your C:// drive

Step 9: Click ‘Upgrade’.
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I have seen reports that you cannot leap updates, but not encountered the problem myself for some time (applies to old firmware of older models). If you do not succeed in upgrading from your current version to the latest version in a single step, please try interim releases.

Additional helpful tips:
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1.Use a PC

2.Use a wired connection – PC and camera/NVR wired to your network

3.Use Internet Explorer browser (not Edge)

4.Move the digicap.dav file to your C:// folder (root of your HDD)

5.If you select/download firmware for the wrong camera family or device you will see an error message which states – “The type of upgrade file mismatches”

If you need any help finding the latest Hikvision firmware for your device:

Tutorial videos from HikVision Technical Support:

HikVision Firmware Update using Internet Explorer on your PC

HikVision Firmware Update using a monitor connected to your NVR

NVR Firmware update using a USB memory stick

Upgrade devices using IVMS-4200

NB We cannot guarantee outcomes – if you are one of our customers you will of course have our full support. We have only ever supplied official UK version HikVision cameras & NVRs. If you sourced your HikVision products from another supplier you may want to check their recommendations.

How To Set Up Live View & Playback Audio on Hikvision Cameras

There is a small selection of Hikvision cameras that support some sort of audio – audio I/O, built-in mic, 2-way audio – but on multiple occasions, customers have come back to us saying they are getting no audio on live view or playback. So to avoid this problem in the future we are creating this post to take you through the steps that must be completed to get audio from a Hikvision camera.

Step 1 – Update Firmware

Keeping firmware up to date is always important so it is always where we start with any issue, now most firmware should support the audio but if you’ve had a model for several years and never updated it you are likely on an old firmware and so updating just removes any potential problem that might be caused by out of date firmware.

EU Firmware Portal
UK Firmware Portal

The most common audio cameras will be EasyIP 2.0+ (2xx3G0) and EasyIP 3.0 (2xx5FWD/2xx5G1) which all use the same G1 Firmware.

Step 2 – Video & Audio

Login to the camera, go to the Configuration page and open the Video/Audio menu where you will see all the video settings. The important one for audio is the Video Type which needs to be changed from Video Stream to Video & Audio as shown below:
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Make sure you also switch the Video Type of any other streams you are using, the main one for most cameras will be the sub-stream which is used when viewing the camera from the Hik-connect app. Also, if your camera is connected to a Hikvision NVR make sure to check the camera is set to Video & Audio in the NVRs Video Settings.

Step 3 – Audio

The final Settings to check are the Audio settings which more often than not out of the box is set up correctly and should look like the below screenshot:
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The only setting that might change depending on the model you have is the Audio Input option. If you have a camera with only a built-in mic or 2-way audio then the only option you will have is MicIn, but if the camera only has audio I/O connectors or has both options then you will have both MicIn and LineIn input options. Make sure if your camera has both options that you select the correct input for your setup, LineIn will be used if you have a more powerful audio device connected like an amplifier or a stereo microphone, while MicIn will be for smaller standard Mono microphones.

With all 3 of these steps completed, you should now have live audio from the camera on the browser, app, and direct monitor live view, but there is one final step to have your camera record audio.

Step 4 – Record Audio

Login to your camera/NVR and go to Configuration > Storage > Schedule Settings and select the camera with audio, once you have the schedule for that camera onscreen you will need to click the Advanced button which you will see in the top right of the schedule. A pop up will appear and you will see an option to Record Audio, tick this option and click OK to apply the setting, now all the recorded footage from that camera will have audio.
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The below guide will initially** be split into 3 key sections with multiple sub-sections:

Single Module Setup (Video Intercom Module)
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Three Module Setup (Video, Indicator, Keypad)
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Six Module Setup (above + Display, RFID, nametag)
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The reason we have decided to cover it this way is that the modular nature of the solution means there are too many variations to cover specifically, so instead we will cover the details of the 3 most common setups and once you know the basics of all 3 any combination of modules should be achievable.

(**IMPORTANT – This will be a continual work-in-progress thread and we will add new posts with explanations of new features & settings as we test the intercom further and learn things from customers & Hikvision Support, this initial post will basically be a contents page for the entire thread)

Single Module Setup (Video Intercom Module)

The Single Module setup is the entry-level intercom solution for smaller residential & business installs, for this solution you will need:

1 x DS-KD8003-IME1 Video Intercom Module Door Station (or -IME1/Surface if you want the surface mount included)
1 x Indoor Station
1 x iVMS-4200 Client Software

How to Set up the Hikvision 2nd Generation Modular Intercom

Read More : Hikvision AX PRO Configuration Full Setup &#8211; Video

Setting up the Video Intercom Module

Step 1 – Connect the Video Intercom Module to a source of PoE (either a PoE Injector or Switch)

Do NOT directly connect the Intercom to the PoE ports on an NVR as this stops the device being visible on the local network

Step 2 – Install & Open iVMS-4200

Step 3 – Go to Maintenance & Management > Device Management > Device and click Online Device
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Step 4 – Select the Intercom module from the online device list, click Activate and set a password for the device
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Step 5 – Once activated you will need to click Net Info (small world icon) and change intercom’s network details to match your own network
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(If you know your local network details and have a specific IP address in mind you can manually set the IP and gateway address, if you do not know your network details you can tick DHCP, enter the device password, click OK and DHCP will automatically assign an open IP address on your network to the device)

Step 6 – With the Network details set you can now select the device from the Online device list and click Add to add the device to the iVMS software
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Setting up the Indoor Station

It is possible to run the Video Intercom without the Indoor Station but that requires all calls from the Intercom to go to the iVMS software, setting up this way means you have to have a dedicated PC running iVMS-4200 24/7 and that PC would need a camera and/or microphone connected to it for calls to be answered. This solution only really makes sense for installs where you will have security staff to monitor the system. (e.g. Shopping centres, large office buildings, etc…)

For most setups, especially single module setups, using the Indoor Station is much easier and more discreet (small screen can be wall-mounted or stood on a side table) way of completing your Intercom solution. The Indoor Station can be set up in 2 different ways, using iVMS-4200 or directly using the touchscreen, if you set up and activate using iVMS-4200 then the initial steps are identical to those for the Intercom shown above.

The only different step is after you have activated and added the Indoor Station to the iVMS software you will need to click Remote Configuration for the Indoor Station and go to Network > Linked Network Configuration > and set the (Main) Door Station IP address to the IP address of the Video Intercom to link the 2 devices together.
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(If you are planning to use iVMS-4200 instead of the Indoor Station then you need to make sure the Master Station IP address is set to the IP address of the PC running iVMS-4200, if you don’t know the PC’s IP address you can use this forum guide to help you find it. Even if you are not using iVMS as your main access point of the intercom we would still recommend entering the Master Station address.)

If you are setting up via the touchscreen then you simply follow the wizard guide (shown below) which is basically just a simplified version of the step discussed above.

(The only step during the touchscreen set up that you won’t automatically see in iVMS set up is step 3 shown below – Indoor Station Type – this step is important if you are connecting multiple indoor stations to the intercom and we will discuss this in more detail in the 3-module set up section. For now, if you are only using one monitor or this is your first monitor of the set up just leave it as the defaults shown in the picture)
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Once you have both devices activated, added to iVMS, and linked to each other the basic setup is almost complete. The only other things we would mention are to check firmware, you can follow these links to find the latest firmware for the Video Intercom and the Indoor Station and once you have downloaded the firmware you can go to Remote Configuration > System > System Maintenance and load the firmware.
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Finally, for now, we would also recommend that you check which device the Intercom is calling, if you go to the Video Intercom in iVMS and click Remote Configuration > Intercom > Dial > you will see a page with the options to call Management Center (iVMS-4200) or Call Indoor Station, depending on your specific setup make sure the right option is selected and Save that setting.
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Three Module Setup (Intercom, Indicator, Keypad)

A 3 module setup is something you are more likely to find on a small apartment block or a medium-sized office building with multiple businesses inside where you might need a name tag module and/or keypad module to call different flats/offices. The steps to activate and add a three module intercom to iVMS are exactly the same, the only difference is the steps you perform before powering the Intercom on and a few settings after everything is activated.

For the specific three-module solution we are talking about in this guide you will need:

1 x DS-KD8003-IME1 Video Intercom Module Door Station
1 x DS-KD-IN Video Intercom Indicator Module
1 x DS-KD-KP Video Intercom Keypad Module
1 x DS-KD-ACW3 Surface / -ACF3 Flush Mounting Accessory
1 x Indoor Station
1 x iVMS-4200 Client Software

(Obviously, any of the sub-modules can be used in a 3 module setup but we settled on these 2 as they are a common choice for the examples I mentioned above and are also easier to set up than some other modules as they have no settings of their own)

Sub Modules & Dip Switches

The first thing you have to do when setting up any multi-module intercom solution (whether that’s 3, 6, or any number/combination of modules) is to set the Dip Switches on each sub-module.
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There is a table and instructions in the manual provided with the Intercom as to how to set the Dip switches, but for absolute beginners, these instructions are not all that clear so I will expand upon them here.
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Each Intercom setup can have a maximum of 8 sub-modules connected to the initial Video Intercom module and each module features a set of 8 dip switches/digits on the back. The first 4 switches/digits are used for coding the unique addresses of each module (1-8), digits 5,6,7 are reserved and should be just left OFF and finally, there is digit 8 which is a 120Ω resistor and should be set as ON on all modules.

As you can see from the above table each sub-module address has a unique layout of ON/OFF switches/digits and each module you add to your setup can only use one of the 8 module addresses once in that setup, so once you add your first module and set it to address 1 no other module connected to the same Video Intercom can also use address 1.

The best way to set the sub-module addresses is sequentially based on how you have them laid out. So in our example of a 3 module layout, we have the Indicator module as the 1st sub-module using address 1 (ON/OFF/OFF/OFF) and the keypad module as the 2nd sub-module using address 2 (OFF/ON/OF/OFF).

Once you have the Dip switches set you can link the sub-modules together and connect them all back to the main Intercom module using the Module-Connecting cables that come with the Intercom module and/or the mounting accessory.

(IMPORTANT – If installing with the Surface mount, make sure before connecting the module cables that you have threaded them underneath the crossbars that divide the different module spaces on the mounting brackets as shown in the user manual and the below image. If you don’t you will trap the cables as you try and fit the modules into the bracket and you won’t be able to secure the modules without damaging the cable.)

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Correct (behind the crossbars) ——- | ——- Incorrect (in front of the crossbars)​

Once you have all the modules connected you can then connect the Video Intercom module to your PoE source, slot all the remaining modules into the mounting bracket, and screw the front cover of the mounting bracket back on to secure the modules.

At this point, the activation and adding to iVMS process is exactly the same as with the single module set up and so you can just follow the steps from the first section of this guide to activate the Intercom and sub-modules, as well as activating the Indoor Station.

Setting Room Numbers & Unlock Codes

After all the steps are completed and you have everything added to iVMS-4200 then there are 2 key things you will need to look at in relation to this example 3 module setup that is using the keypad & Indicator modules.

The first thing is room numbers, if you are using one or multiple indoor stations as individual stations that you want the ability to call from the main intercom using the keypad then there are some settings you need to check. Go to Remote Configuration for each Indoor Station you have in your setup and click Intercom > ID Configuration > and you will see the below options:
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Device Type – There are 2 options, Indoor Station or Station Extension, for our demo setup we will leave it as Indoor Station as we only have the one station that we need to reach.​

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Call/Room No. – depending on the number of Indoor Stations you have this can be set to any number between 1-9999, as we only have the 1 station we will leave it as 1.​

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Floor No. – again this depends on the location of the indoor station so that if you have 2 rooms on different floors that for example are both labelled room 10 you can have both indoor stations set to room 10 but each one have a different floor number set so that both stations still have unique ID numbers. Again the floor number can be set as any number between 1-9999​

As mentioned above the stations do support up to 9999 room/floor numbers but this is not the max. Number of stations the software supports, each iVMS client can only support a maximum of 512 Indoor Stations and the room/floor numbers only go higher because the building you are installing the system in may use a certain numbering system and may have room & floor numbers higher than 512. (e.g. an apartment on the 10th floor may have room number 1020 to signify floor No. and room No. on that floor)

The other Device Type mentioned above is Station Extension and this makes a chosen Indoor Station slave to the main Indoor station, you link the slave Indoor Station to the master Indoor Station by entering its (Main) Door Station address as the IP address of the master Indoor Station and then when the Master Indoor Station is called then all the Station linked to that master via Station Extension will ring at the same time. When you select Station Extension you have to set an Index No. which has to be between 1-5 as the maximum No. of extensions that can be connected to one master station is 5.

Once you have set the room and floor No. for all your indoor stations and all the stations are linked back to the Video Intercom module or are set as extensions to other indoor stations, then you can use the keypad on the intercom to type in Call/Room No. + Floor No. + # key and the intercom will ring that selected indoor station. (If you only have one floor of indoor stations then just enter the Call/Room No. + # key instead)

The 2nd thing to set up after room numbers is unlock codes/passwords, if you have wired a magnetic door lock, motorised gate, or similar access control device to the intercom then you will want a password you can enter on the keypad to unlock/activate those access control devices.

There are 2 ways to set these unlocking passwords depending on if you want to set a public password which you can share with multiple people or a private password if you have lots of individual apartments/offices and you want to give each their own access password. For the public password you will need to go to Remote Configuration of the Video Intercom and click Intercom > Permission Password > and you will see a drop-down to select 1 of 3 passwords (you can have a max. of 3 public passwords) and 2 boxes to enter and save the new public passwords.
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(If you have set any of these passwords before you will also see an Old Password box and will have to enter the old password before changing it to new password)

Once you have saved 1, 2, or all 3 public passwords you can then go to the keypad module and type # + (Public Password 1/2/3) + # and you should get an audible confirmation that the door/gate is unlocked and the unlock icon on the indicator module should light up as well.

The process for setting a private unlocking password is almost exactly the same, the only difference is that the password is set in the Indoor Station settings and not the Video Intercom. When you go to Remote Configuration > Intercom > Permission Password > for the Indoor Station you will see 3 different Password Types to choose from:
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Arming/Disarming Password – this connects directly to the Zone Alarm setting so that in a scenario where you may have alarm devices linked to the Intercom (e.g. burglar alarm, PIR motion detector, smoke alarm, etc…) you can use this password to quickly arm and disarm the alarm devices connected to the intercom when you leave or arrive at the property.​

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Unlocking Password – This is the private door/gate unlocking password​

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Duress Code – In a scenario where someone is threatening you and/or forcing you to enter the unlock code for the door/gate, you can set a duress code that is different to the other 2 passwords and when you enter it the intercom will give you the same audible and visible notification that the door is unlocked. But it doesn’t unlock the door and instead sends a notification to the iVMS software to alert a member of security staff.​

In our demo scenario, we only need to set the unlocking password, by default the unlocking password is set to 888999 so you will need to enter this in the Old Password box before entering and confirming the new password and saving this password.

Once the Password is saved you can go to the keypad module and just like with the public password enter # + (Unlocking Password) + # and the door/gate should be unlocked.

And that is all the basic functions and settings of a 3-module set up using the Keypad and Indicator modules.

ALIBI Vigilant NVR User Manual, This manual describes how to use your NVR locally and on the Web interface.
In this manual, the terms “IP camera” and “IPC” both refer to “network camera”, which requires a connection to the network. The IP device mentioned in this manual refers to either an IP camera (also known as network camera) or a Digital Video Server

Preface

This manual describes how to use your NVR locally and on the Web interface.

In this manual, the terms “IP camera” and “IPC” both refer to “network camera”, which requires a connection to the network. The IP device mentioned in this manual refers to either an IP camera (also known as network camera) or a Digital Video Server (DVS).

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Part I Local Operations

An NVR supports two types of operations: local operations and web-based remote operations. With local operations you connect a monitor and a mouse to the NVR and use the mouse to operate the system. If your NVR has buttons on the front panel or is delivered with a remote control, you may also control your NVR by pressing the front panel buttons or using the remote control.

The NVR has an embedded web server that allows web-based operations. To do this, you need a PC that has a network connection to the NVR and is installed with a web browser. You just need to navigate to the NVR’s IP address and log in to the Web interface like you log in to the system locally.

This section describes local operations.

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1 before you begin

Please be aware that the parameters that are grayed out on the system user interface (UI) cannot be modified. The parameters and values displayed may vary with device. Figures in this manual are for illustration purposes only.

User Login

Use the default username admin and password 123456 for your first login.

j^ CAUTION!

The default password is intended only for the first login only. It should be immediately changed to a strong password. Strong Passwords contain at least nine characters that include letters, numbers and special characters.

Local Operations

You can refer to Initial Configuration and complete a quick configuration.

NOTE!

Unless otherwise specified, all operations described in this manual are performed with a mouse by the right hand. See Mouse Operations for details.

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Mouse Operations

Table 1–1 Mouse Operations

Front Panel Buttons

The front panel buttons may vary with NVR model.

Table 1–2 Front Panel Buttons 1

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Table 1–3 Front Panel Buttons 2