Videos settings on DS-2CD2087G2-L(U) camera?

[dbrewood]

A quick question guys, our ColourVu cameras (and NVR) were set up by a third party installer. The cameras were set up on medium quality video and bitrate 2560. Can it cause any problems if I change the settings to 4096 bitrate and video quaity to highest?

I've changed one of the cameras settings and left the NVR as it is.

This has resulted in a great improvement on the camera image (checked via RTSP in VLC), and I'm now thinking I should change the NVR as other cameras.

So is there any reason not to make the changes?

 

[Kyle]

The higher resolution ColorVu and Acusense cameras are quite bitrate-hungry compared to the older models, so it's easy to hit the incoming bitrate budget on an NVR if you have a few of them and set all of the video settings to the maximum - this is the only reason your installer would have set them to that

Once you hit the NVR's bandwidth budget then the cameras will start to cut out - the 4MP cameras can reach >15Mbps regardless of the max bitrate setting - setting the video quality to "highest" has the biggest impact on this, so it may be worth trying "higher" if you see problems.

There's some more information in this thread:

Please Read: - Strange Bitrate Discovery when Testing Latest 8MP G2 AcuSense Cameras

We have not had much hands-on experience with the latest 8MP G2 AcuSense cameras, but just today we have been testing a camera that was returned to us by a customer and when analysing the cameras video settings and stream output we noticed big bitrate spikes from both a 2386G2 and an older...

www.use-ip.co.uk

Provided you keep within the NVR's budget then there won't be any adverse effects to changing the settings to those ones that you've found significantly improve the picture/video.

If you have several cameras, I would change one at a time and assess both day and night to make sure everything remains stable.

NB - change these video settings on the NVR for each camera, as this takes precedence, rather than logging into each camera directly and changing them there.

 

[dbrewood]

Interesting, I'll check that thread out. It seems we have variable settings on the Cameras and the NVR. The NVR is a : DS-7608NI-K2 / 8P, and the three cameras: DDS-2CD2087G2-L(U).
Settings are currently NVR:

Cameras:

Re checking for cutting out etc I need to use iVMS-4200 on the Mac?

 

[Kyle]

The changes should carry across, but I would set them to be the same on both the cameras and NVR.

This tool should help with setting the correct max bitrate based on the video settings.

This is another good thread discussing other settings you could try on the ColorVu cameras:

HikVision ColorVu DS-2CD2347G1-LU - What's your favorite Image settings?

Hi Guys, I just registered to say Thank You! I was able to resolve several questions I had about the DS-2CD2347G1-LU ColorVu camera and this forum was the only one that was really helpful to me. As I'm getting used to the camera, I would love to hear from you about your favorite Image...

www.use-ip.co.uk

Yes, iVMS-4200 on Mac or the NVR's local interface are the best ways to check, just keep an eye on the playback timeline and make sure the footage isn't jumpy when there's lots of activity and light in the scene.

 

[dbrewood]

Okay thanks for that, I've increased the settings to use a constant bitrate (8192) and harmonised the settings between cameras and the NVR, all seems okay so far. I'll monitor over the next day or so....

 

[Kyle]

No problem - if those are your only cameras then you shouldn't see any issues

 

[dbrewood]

Fingers crossed, I'll post back if I do get any issues Thanks for the assistance.

 

[JB1970]

Okay thanks for that, I've increased the settings to use a constant bitrate (8192)

I'd advise keeping to Variable Bit Rate for the main stream.

With Variable Bit Rate you set the Quality (compression level) and a bit rate. The camera will vary the bit rate automatically according to the amount of motion (changed pixels) in the scene. With the scene fairly static the bandwidth is low. When there's a lot of motion the bandwidth is higher and it will burst above the maximum that has been set. However, so long as you've set an appropriate bit rate for the resolution and frame rate, you should get a constant quality, as while the bit rate varies, the compression level should remain constant.

With Constant Bit Rate, you set the bit rate and that's it. It will use all of it whether the camera is looking at a plain white wall, or Piccadilly Circus at rush hour. It does that by varying the compression level. When there's little movement it will lower the compression (raise the quality) to use the bit rate, while when there's a lot of movement, it will raise the compression level (lower the quality) to produce the stream within the bit rate that's set. So in a busy scene you'll potentially see the image start to pixelate, when the camera can no longer raise the compression any higher to stay within the bit rate.

I tend to use VBR for the main stream and CBR for the sub stream (as that may be helpful when viewing the cameras remotely on a phone with a less than perfect mobile data connection)

 

[dbrewood]

Okay so VBR for main, and CBR for the sub stream. What settings would you recommend for the best quality on the main stream and best for stable on the sub-stream? I assume that they need to be the same on the cameras and NVR.

I've now set the camera to:

Does that look right?

And the NVR as:

Again does that look okay?

If you can confirm I'll adjust the other cameras to match.

 

[JB1970]

This should be a sticky thread on the forum - I must have posted this around 100 times on this forum by now!

"Don't mess with settings in both the camera and NVR - THEY ARE THE SAME". What is displayed on the NVR camera settings is just read from the camera. You are causing issues in that what is displayed in the NVR may not match what is set in the camera. When you skip the NVR and make a change directly on the camera, it is effective immediately, but the NVR will not update it's display to match the change until it reads the config from the camera again - perhaps not until the NVR is next rebooted.

Set up the camera using the NVR - it is applied and saved on the camera. Think of the NVR camera settings page as a shortcut to the camera settings. If there is something specific on the camera that is not accessible via the NVR, you can alter that directly on the camera afterwards (if it needs to be adjusted)

Redo the configuration from the NVR only and do not touch the settings page of the camera.

Main Stream

• Stream - Video & Audio
• Resolution - 3840 x 2160
• Bit Rate Type - Variable
• Video Quality - Higher
• Frame Rate - 20
• Max Bit Rate - 8192
• Video Encoding - H265 (H264 will consume way too much bandwidth and would need a massive bit rate for 4K resolution)
• H265+ - Off

Sub Stream

• Stream - Video & Audio (otherwise you won't get the audio on your mobile app)
• Resolution - 640 x 360 (to maintain widescreen format but not overly important)
• Bit Rate Type - Constant
• Video Quality - Medium (you can always switch to the main stream while viewing in the app if needed)
• Frame Rate - 12
• Max Bit Rate - 768
• Video Encoding - H264 (not too important on a new mobile - H264 uses more bandwidth but requires less processing to decode)
• H264+ - Off

On the camera directly - set the I frame to 40 for the main stream and 24 for the sub stream (or 2 x the frame rate)

 

[dbrewood]

Okay understood, two things though before I go changing things.

• I have to use H264 as that is needed for Homebridge / Apple Home kit integration. If anything else is used that will fail.
• Understood, configure using the NVR only However you did say 'On the camera directly - set the I frame to 40 for the main stream and 24 for the sub stream', so do I do that on the camera and then set via NVR? Or am I missing what you are saying on that part?

 

[JB1970]

Okay understood, two things though before I go changing things.

• I have to use H264 as that is needed for Homebridge / Apple Home kit integration. If anything else is used that will fail.
• Understood, configure using the NVR only However you did say 'On the camera directly - set the I frame to 40 for the main stream and 24 for the sub stream', so do I do that on the camera and then set via NVR? Or am I missing what you are saying on that part?

I have to use H264 as that is needed for Homebridge / Apple Home kit integration. If anything else is used that will fail.

You will have issues then with previously posted settings. The recommended bit rate for that resolution at 20 frames per second H264 is 12288 at medium quality. You may have to modify frame rate and bit rate if you must use H264 as the NVR has a maximum 80Mbps incoming bandwidth. I guess the use of Homebridge was the reason you wanted direct access to the third stream on the camera on one of your previous posts (which would have gotten around this issue)? I have a similar dilemma getting streams onto my dashboards - the main stream is too large, the sub stream is insufficient quality, and I have to run them through a Raspberry Pi to get them into MJPEG. I didn't actually realise you could get them into Homebridge. I use Hubitat with a Homebridge integration. I just use HikConnect for remote access and HomeKit/Homebridge mainly to enable voice control of everything.

However you did say 'On the camera directly - set the I frame to 40 for the main stream and 24 for the sub stream', so do I do that on the camera and then set via NVR? Or am I missing what you are saying on that part?

Generally the camera I frame interval is not accessible in the NVR web menu and often not available on the menu on the local monitor. It depends on the model of NVR and also it's firmware version as to whether it is available without going directly into the camera.

 

[dbrewood]

Right understood, so I should be okay than as i'm using HomeBirdge / Homekit with the Sub Stream only, so I can go with your recommended settings of:

Main Stream

• Stream - Video & Audio
• Resolution - 3840 x 2160
• Bit Rate Type - Variable
• Video Quality - Higher
• Frame Rate - 20
• Max Bit Rate - 8192
• Video Encoding - H265 (H264 will consume way too much bandwidth and would need a massive bit rate for 4K resolution)
• H265+ - Off

Sub Stream

• Stream - Video & Audio (otherwise you won't get the audio on your mobile app)
• Resolution - 640 x 360 (to maintain widescreen format but not overly important)
• Bit Rate Type - Constant
• Video Quality - Medium (you can always switch to the main stream while viewing in the app if needed)
• Frame Rate - 12
• Max Bit Rate - 768
• Video Encoding - H264 (not too important on a new mobile - H264 uses more bandwidth but requires less processing to decode)
• H264+ - Off

And yes quite correct as to my original investigations. As the Cameras in Homekit are only for quick checks (motion detection is not supported etc) and there was the issue with the third stream what I ended up with in the end worked well enough using the Sub Stream.

Can you please advise on he query I placed above:

• Understood, configure using the NVR only However you did say 'On the camera directly - set the I frame to 40 for the main stream and 24 for the sub stream', so do I do that on the camera and then set via NVR? Or am I missing what you are saying on that part?

If you can clarify that final bit of info then I guess I'm good to start reconfiguring.

 

[Juiceof2limes]

With regards the Sub Stream settings, I've had something very similar but noticed when in Hik Connect app, if I change the video stream from HD to SD, it goes and resets the camera Sub Stream settings to lower values permanently which is annoying.

Bit Rate changes back to Variable
Video Quality is medium
Frame changes to 10
Max Bitrate changes to 256

Selecting SD in Hik Connect should really only switch to Sub Stream and not go amending settings.

 

[JB1970]

Can you please advise on he query I placed above:

• Understood, configure using the NVR only However you did say 'On the camera directly - set the I frame to 40 for the main stream and 24 for the sub stream', so do I do that on the camera and then set via NVR? Or am I missing what you are saying on that part?

If you can clarify that final bit of info then I guess I'm good to start reconfiguring.

Generally the camera I frame interval is not accessible in the NVR web menu and often not available on the menu on the local monitor. It depends on the model of NVR and also it's firmware version as to whether it is available without going directly into the camera.

Carry out all of the settings posted on the NVR. Once you've done that, login to each camera directly. The I Frame will be unchanged (your previous post shows that both the main and sub stream I frame is 15). Change the I Frame to be double the frame rate for both the main stream and sub stream. If your main stream is 20 frames per second, set the I frame to 40, if the sub stream is 12 frames per second, set the I frame to 12. That will make the camera send a complete frame every two seconds. You can set the I frame to match the frame rate so that it sends a full frame every second, but it will increase the bandwidth and may not yield better results.

 

[dbrewood]

Thanks guys I know where I'm going now. I'll look to do the changes ASAP (likely tomorrow) unless I can get out of some chores.

 

[JB1970]

With regards the Sub Stream settings, I've had something very similar but noticed when in Hik Connect app, if I change the video stream from HD to SD, it goes and resets the camera Sub Stream settings to lower values permanently which is annoying.

Bit Rate changes back to Variable
Video Quality is medium
Frame changes to 10
Max Bitrate changes to 256

Selecting SD in Hik Connect should really only switch to Sub Stream and not go amending settings.

That sounds like a bug, possibly.

If you connect directly - IE using IP address/domain rather than HikConnect, you get three options - Clear, Fluent, Custom
Clear - Connects to the Main Stream
Fluent - Connects to the Sub Stream
Custom - Allows you to set the stream, but it effectively reprograms the sub stream

When using the HikConnect service (NVR registered and app logged in to your account), Hik Connect manages the bandwidth and gives options of HD and SD. I'm not sure the mechanics of what it does, but I'd have thought it shouldn't permanently reprogram a stream setting (which is similar to 'Custom' above)

Maybe make a separate post as I've never seen this behaviour on my own system.

 

[JB1970]

Thanks guys I know where I'm going now. I'll look to do the changes ASAP (likely tomorrow) unless I can get out of some chores.

Thanks for the Homebridge heads up - I don't use it a lot but have just found a Hikvision plugin to try out.

 

[dbrewood]

Not a problem, good to be able to give back. The best plugin to use is:

Homebridge Camera FFmpeg (homebridge-camera-ffmpeg v3.1.4), and I can post settings that work for me if you need them.

 

[JB1970]

Not a problem, good to be able to give back. The best plugin to use is:

Homebridge Camera FFmpeg (homebridge-camera-ffmpeg v3.1.4), and I can post settings that work for me if you need them.

Yeah please do. The one I installed kept rebooting as it needs FFmpeg first. I was a little confused over the config file as I wasn’t sure which port it needs. It’s defaulted at 443 for the https port