DVR Hard Drive Storage Issue

[rkalip]

I recently installed a Hikvision CCTV system with 5 5MP Turbo Varifocal Motorised Cameras, and a
DS-7208HUHI-K1 DVR with a Western Digital Purple 2TB Hard Drive
Although the estimated recording time in days says 16 days, I noticed that It has actually recorded
46 days so far and used only about 5GBG of the 2T Hard Drive.
What could be causing this discrepancy?

 

[Phil]

I'm afraid we don't offer the Turbo / DVR / HD over co-ax range, so have very little hands-on experience.
Does that camera/DVR combination offer you the latest h.265+ CODEC, and is that what you are using?

I suspect that because that newest h.265+ CODEC is so efficient (uses approx. 70% less bandwidth/storage than h.264) that it is this which is causing the discrepancy between estimates and actual.

Always check your recordings.
Play them back.
Check you are getting the play back performance that you hoped for.
Before you experience any criminal activity and NEED your recordings, take a good look at the images saved - especially overnight.
As you illustrate, you may have the HDD capacity available to increase resolution, image quality, frame rate, etc.

Just for general note / interest:
We have a 3MP camera running on a 7604 NVR with a 4TB HDD installed.
The camera is being recorded at Highest Quality and 10fps.
When I check today (15th January 2019) I can still access and play back recordings made on November 27th 2017 - 414 days!

 

[rkalip]

Thank you for your response.
I was thinking…...If the capacity is increased by 70% due to h.265+ CODEC then the recording
time should increase to 27 days.
I neglected to mention that thinking that the problem emanated from the hard drive itself,
I formatted the hard drive to no avail.
However, if this current storage reading in my system is correct then the hard drive would
store about 84 days of continuous recording. (The quality of the recording is okay.)
I am no expert on this matter but this is truly baffling to me.