DS-2CD2342WD-I Camera Settings Help

[JM20]

Hi-

Anyone by chance have any recommended camera settings for my setup?

Hikvision NVR Model: DS-7608NI-EV2/8P, Firmware: V3.4.92, Build 170629 - 2TB
(6) Hikvision Camera's, Model: DS-2CD2342WD-I, Firmware: V5.5.53, Build 180730 (All six installed outdoors covering a residential property, day & night)

Current Main Stream Config:

Substream:

Also having an issue with enabling H.264+. If enabled I'm unable to view "HD" in the HIk-Connect App. Basic live view is fine. Disabling H.264+ the HD view will come right up, but with only having 2TB of storage I'm concerned I'll only get a day or two? My internet is 200 Mb down…12Mb up. I have UPnP enabled, DDNS disabled.

Also, looking to see if I should change the Video Quality, Frame Rate & Max Bitrate?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!
Thank you!
Joe

 

[Phil]

I think deal with achieving best local recording first.
That seems like an older NVR, so, not sure if you'll run into any limitations with it.

Set the camera resolution to the highest that it offers - that's what you paid for.
Bitrate variable is correct.
Video Quality; set it to Highest - why wouldn't you.
Frame rate - 15fps is quite high - reduce it to maybe 6fps.
[You need one good image, six in every second should give you that - if you experience no other problems (and are happy with your system's recording duration i.e. that it lets you look back two weeks or whatever you require), then feel free to increase it]
Max bitrate - consider this as a clamping top limit - set it high, let the cameras have the bitrate capacity to deliver 'all the goodness' they can provide. If you run into problems you can reduce it, but be aware that you are clamping/reducing the quality they can deliver to you.
CODEC - use the most efficient option available to you. THE most efficient is h.265+. Lots of people are using that now. There seems no reason not to do so (if your kit offers it). H.265+ saves up to 70% bandwidth/storage over h.264 (which was previously the best we had available for a period of some years.

NB - fps has perhaps the greatest impact. It is linear. Go from say 6fps to 12fps and you are doubling the bandwidth you require. Doubling the storage you require, or halving the recording retention period (using up your HDD capacity twice as quickly).

We very rarely adjust the sub-stream settings.
They are only used for your on-screen multi-views and/or remote viewing.
You may want to reduce the settings if you are experiencing problems with either of those.
But otherwise, they are not really that important.

What's really important is that your camera's best primary stream is being recorded locally as good as it can be.

ALWAYS - check the playback performance you are achieving from your recording setup.
And, check day AND night performance.
And, check people within the recorded scenes - i.e. do a walk test.

In the unfortunate event that you need to review your recordings for real (after an incident), it is likely to be 'faces' that you seek.

 

[Phil]

Here's a copy of the contextual help on video settings.

Contextual help is available for all of the Configuration pages on Hikvision devices, just click on the Help button at the top right of any Configuration page:

Video Settings

1. Enter the Video Settings interface.
2. Select the Stream Type.
3. Supported stream types are listed in the drop-down list.
   Note: The main stream is usually for recording and live view with good bandwidth, and the sub-stream can be used for live view when the bandwidth is limited.
4. Customize the following parameters for the selected stream:
   Video Type: Select the stream type to video stream, or video & audio composite stream. The audio signal will be recorded only when the Video Type is Video & Audio.
   Resolution: Select the resolution of the video output.
   Bitrate Type: Select the bitrate type to constant or variable.
   Video Quality: When bitrate type is selected as Variable, 6 levels of video quality are selectable.
   Frame Rate: Set the frame rate. The frame rate is to describe the frequency at which the video stream is updated and it is measured by frames per second (fps). A higher frame rate is advantageous when there is movement in the video stream, as it maintains image quality throughout.
   Max. Bitrate: Set the maximum bitrate to 32 to 16384 Kbps. The higher value corresponds to the higher video quality, but the higher bandwidth is required.
   Note: The limit of the maximum bitrate value varies according to different camera platforms. For some certain cameras, the maximum limit is 8192 Kbps or 12288 Kbps.
   Video Encoding: The camera supports multiple video encodings types, such as H.264, H.265, MJPEG, and MPEG4. Supported encoding type for different stream types may differ. H.265 is a new encoding technology. Compared with H.264, it reduces the transmission bitrate under the same resolution, frame rate and image quality.
   Note: Selectable video encoding types may vary according to different camera models.
   H.264+ and H.265+:
   • H.264+: If you set the main stream as the stream type, and H.264 as the video encoding, you can see H.264+ available. H.264+ is an improved compression coding technology based on H.264. By enabling H.264+, users can estimate the HDD consumption by its maximum average bitrate. Compared to H.264, H.264+ reduces storage by up to 50% with the same maximum bitrate in most scenes.
   • H.265+: If you set the main stream as the stream type, and H.265 as the video encoding, you can see H.265+ available. H.265+ is an improved compression coding technology based on H.265. By enabling H.265+, users can estimate the HDD consumption by its maximum average bitrate. Compared to H.265, H.265+ reduces storage by up to 50% with the same maximum bitrate in most scenes.
5. You need to reboot the camera if you want to turn on or turn off the H.264+/H.265+. If you switch from H.264+ to H.265+ directly, and vice versa, a reboot is not required by the system.
   Notes:
   • Upgrade your video player to the latest version if live view or playback does not work properly due to compatibility.
   • With H.264+/H.265+ enabled, the parameters such as profile, I frame interval, video quality, and SVC are greyed out.
   • With H.264+/H.265+ enabled, some functions are not supported. For those functions, corresponding interfaces will be hidden.
   • H.264+/H.265+ can spontaneously adjust the bitrate distribution according the requirements of the actual scene in order to realize the set maximum average bitrate in the long term. The camera needs at least 24 hours to adapt to a fixed monitoring scene.
6. Max. Average Bitrate: When you set a maximum bitrate, its corresponding recommended maximum average bitrate will be shown in the Max. Average Bitrate box. You can also set the maximum average bitrate manually from 32 Kbps to the value of the set maximum bitrate.
   Profile: Basic profile, Main Profile and High Profile for coding are selectable.
   I Frame Interval: Set the I-Frame interval from 1 to 400.
   SVC: Scalable Video Coding is an extension of the H.264/AVC and H.265 standard. Select OFF/ON to disable/enable the SVC function. Select Auto, and the device will automatically extract frames from the original video when the network bandwidth is insufficient.
   Smoothing: It refers to the smoothness of the stream. The higher value of the smoothing, the better fluency of the stream, though, the video quality may not be so satisfied. The lower value of the smoothing is, the better quality of the stream would be, though it may appear not fluently.
7. Click Save to save the settings.

Note: The video settings vary according to different camera models.

 

[JM20]

Thanks so much for the information and your time Phil!!! Yes I recently discovered my NVR is old...funny thing is it was just installed two months ago by a professional company. I have an E2 (now a end of life/discontinued product) and I see Hikvision is up to Q2. I'm not happy they sold me an old device, but shame on me for not investigating the model number before the installation took place. I was even half tempted to contact Hikvision to see if I could somehow upgrade/trade it in due to security fears. Do you by chance know if they offer any type up upgrade service? But the unit does appear to be working and stable at the moment. I am going to apply your recommended settings and perform a walk test. Thanks again!!!

 

[Phil]

That's shameful that an installer fitted that NVR for you just a couple of months ago!
Unfortunately, I don't think Hikvision will offer you any kind of upgrade / trade-in; they would expect the installer to take care of you.