Hikconnect issues / VCAs

[JB1970]

I’ll give those a try. I’m attaching some images of my scenes using what I think are the best settings. Do you think anything could be improved?

They look fine to me

The issue I’ve noticed, well not really an issue. Fine tuning say the contrast and sharpness in the day, makes the image look poor at night. I get it’s all about finding the balance.

When the cameras are set to auto day/night that's what you will get and as you've found you have to find a balance. The only way around that is to use a different image profile for day and night and that cannot be automatic; it either needs to be timed or commanded. Using the image profiles you can have different exposures, image settings, gain level etc.

They can be timed to switch but as sunrise/sunset are drifting on a daily basis, you'd need to use something like @johnfitzy 's app which allows you to set your location along with an offset to sunrise/sunset and sends the times to the cameras. You then need to just alter your settings to suit.

I do it a little differently and use the light level from an external sensor to trigger the camera between three modes - one for day, one for night and one for low light (dawn, dusk, overcast). That's more complicated and requires other systems and settings.

Regardless of the above I wouldn't spend too much time chasing the perfect picture - it doesn't exist.

 

[Brocky120]

I also have choppy playback, it’s like slow motion, I use Hik Connect and not local, it’s always been ok but last 2-3 week its been awful.

 

[badayuni92]

@JB1970

I hope you’re doing well.

I think I’ve got to the bottom of the issue I was having with high bitrate settings causing choppy playback.

When I first posted I was on virgin media broadband but using their old coax connection. The connection seemed okay, I always got 1gig download and 100 meg upload.

Openreach have finally installed their FTTP on my street. I’m now seeing speeds of 1.7 gig download and 120 meg upload. Since running with fttp broadband touch wood I don’t seem to be seeing choppy playback now when I have bitrate settings when viewed in Hik-Connect.

The issue I don’t think was with speeds but with the virgin connection having ridiculously high latency as well as constantly dropping packets.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[JB1970]

@JB1970

I hope you’re doing well.

I think I’ve got to the bottom of the issue I was having with high bitrate settings causing choppy playback.

When I first posted I was on virgin media broadband but using their old coax connection. The connection seemed okay, I always got 1gig download and 100 meg upload.

Openreach have finally installed their FTTP on my street. I’m now seeing speeds of 1.7 gig download and 120 meg upload. Since running with fttp broadband touch wood I don’t seem to be seeing choppy playback now when I have bitrate settings when viewed in Hik-Connect.

The issue I don’t think was with speeds but with the virgin connection having ridiculously high latency as well as constantly dropping packets.

Thanks for all your help.

Interesting. I do see the choppy playback myself at times. It's almost regular in that it'll play for a second pause for a second when viewing clips. I'm also on VMs 1 Gig service seeing 1,150 down, 100 plus up. As you say latency can be 30 ms plus, and looking at Think Broadbands monitor that latency has massive variability, especially when streaming or during heavy downloads.

There's no such luck for me with full fibre availability. My neighbourhood doesn't even have fibre to the cabinet available so I'm stuck with VM. The likelihood is that VM will upgrade their network to full fibre before Openreach do anything. I guess with most householders having a 'fast' VM connection here there's little incentive for Openreach to install fibre

 

[badayuni92]

Interesting. I do see the choppy playback myself at times. It's almost regular in that it'll play for a second pause for a second when viewing clips. I'm also on VMs 1 Gig service seeing 1,150 down, 100 plus up. As you say latency can be 30 ms plus, and looking at Think Broadbands monitor that latency has massive variability, especially when streaming or during heavy downloads.

There's no such luck for me with full fibre availability. My neighbourhood doesn't even have fibre to the cabinet available so I'm stuck with VM. The likelihood is that VM will upgrade their network to full fibre before Openreach do anything. I guess with most householders having a 'fast' VM connection here there's little incentive for Openreach to install fibre

I’ve continued to test, it’s been a week since I’ve had Openreach FTTP installed and things remain stable. I don’t really see any choppy playback or skipping frames now. I do get the occasional freezing but that’s normal.

Yeah it just goes to show speed isn’t everything. I think with virgin is the main issue is the connection isn’t clean. Although the speeds are fast enough, the latency is really high. My connection was also dropppig a lot of packets which will have been contributing to my issue. My VM was also on their old DOCSiS / Coax connection. My next door neighbour recently installed Virgin and they put him on their new XGSPON connection and the speeds and ping are all comparable to openreach. Hopefully they’ll upgrade your connection soon.

It’s annoying though as if there’s no competition olin your area they’ve got little incentive to do so.

 

[JB1970]

My next door neighbour recently installed Virgin and they put him on their new XGSPON connection and the speeds and ping are all comparable to openreach.

Even that would probably prove an issue for me. I believe that VMs XGSPON version of the Hub 5 cannot be put into bridged mode/modem mode. I have a Unifi setup that does all WiFi and routing so would end up with a double NAT situation.

 

[badayuni92]

Ah that’s annoying.

How are you finding your unifi set up? I’m currently running an WiFi 7 Orbi mesh system. I run it on AP mode though.

One issue I’m having is that my devices hardly ever switch over to the closest satellite. The tend to stick to the one they’re connected to. I know it’s the devices that negotiate their connection but there’s hardly any settings you can tweak to help the situation.

Im considering getting rid of it and going for the unifi WiFi 7 pro wall aps plus a unifi Poe switch. I’ve heard you can tweak wireless band power , min rssi fast roaming etc which I think will help with devices hanging o the wrong satellite

How do you find unifi gear? How are the speeds?

I’ve currently got a ring doorbell I was considering upgrading to their new g6 entry doorbell but then saw it only has a 90 odd fov in the height. You’d have to be stood right in front of it to capture a full person.

Ring I’ve just launched a 4k Poe one so might just go for that.

 

[JB1970]

Ah that’s annoying.

How are you finding your unifi set up? I’m currently running an WiFi 7 Orbi mesh system. I run it on AP mode though.

One issue I’m having is that my devices hardly ever switch over to the closest satellite. The tend to stick to the one they’re connected to. I know it’s the devices that negotiate their connection but there’s hardly any settings you can tweak to help the situation.

Im considering getting rid of it and going for the unifi WiFi 7 pro wall aps plus a unifi Poe switch. I’ve heard you can tweak wireless band power , min rssi fast roaming etc which I think will help with devices hanging o the wrong satellite

How do you find unifi gear? How are the speeds?

I’ve currently got a ring doorbell I was considering upgrading to their new g6 entry doorbell but then saw it only has a 90 odd fov in the height. You’d have to be stood right in front of it to capture a full person.

Ring I’ve just launched a 4k Poe one so might just go for that.

UniFi has been great for me. I have a UDR as my router and two separate U6 Lite APs - one upstairs and one in the garage which also serves the back garden. I’ve hardwired both AP’s and the roaming works flawlessly. You can lock devices to a preferred AP but if you reboot that AP the devices will move to another and go back again once it’s online. I only have one of the switches currently as I have a basic setup and to me ‘a switch is a switch’. The benefit of going full UniFi is that you can view the topology with all of your devices mapped out; it displays incorrectly with third party switches.

If I was doing UniFi again, I’d probably go with one of the gateways that doesn’t have an integrated AP. My older Dream Router is limited to about 800 meg download and slower still where some of the firewall features are used. Performance is better on the non AP routers. I see on the communities that there have been a lot of teething issues with firmware on the new Dream Router (UDR7). That shouldn’t be an issue for those of us who are used to Hikvision’s foibles!

 

[Smoggie89]

Sorry to jump on this thread but im guessing it's easier than creating another HC thread.

JB do you know if there is 3 of us with HC (Me , the missus and our son) if one of us changes the Arm/Arm Silently should it then change it for everyone else also? Ive been messing around tonight but when I turn to Arm Silently my missus is still showing as armed. Thanks

 

[JB1970]

Sorry to jump on this thread but im guessing it's easier than creating another HC thread.

JB do you know if there is 3 of us with HC (Me , the missus and our son) if one of us changes the Arm/Arm Silently should it then change it for everyone else also? Ive been messing around tonight but when I turn to Arm Silently my missus is still showing as armed. Thanks

If all three of you are using the same Hik-Connect login, then yes. However the app view on the other phones doesn't dynamically refresh so it'll look like it's still armed until the screen is dragged to refresh on the other devices.

 

[Smoggie89]

If all three of you are using the same Hik-Connect login, then yes. However the app view on the other phones doesn't dynamically refresh so it'll look like it's still armed until the screen is dragged to refresh on the other devices.

Sorry to be stupid here , but when you say the same login do you mean using the same login details as in name/password, or is it fine if we have different login details but have been shared the cameras ? Thanks mate

 

[JB1970]

Sorry to be stupid here , but when you say the same login do you mean using the same login details as in name/password, or is it fine if we have different login details but have been shared the cameras ? Thanks mate

If you have different login details the 'owner' (the account to which the NVR is registered) is in control of sharing to other users. If when sharing was set up, alarms were included in the sharing, then that user can also arm/disarm alarms. Arming/Disarming applies to the NVR/DVR/Camera, so one user disarming will affect everyone. As said previously if you disarm on one device, it will still appear to be armed until you drag the Home Screen on the other device to refresh.

 

[badayuni92]

Even that would probably prove an issue for me. I believe that VMs XGSPON version of the Hub 5 cannot be put into bridged mode/modem mode. I have a Unifi setup that does all WiFi and routing so would end up with a double NAT situation.

Just regarding this. I’m not exactly sure if virgin xgs pon is the same. But for openreach fttp their ont serves as the modem. I’ve connected my unifi cloud way gateway max straight to the ont and it works fine.

 

[JB1970]

Just regarding this. I’m not exactly sure if virgin xgs pon is the same. But for openreach fttp their ont serves as the modem. I’ve connected my unifi cloud way gateway max straight to the ont and it works fine.

Yeah apparently Virgin do it a bit differently and the ONT is actually part of their Hub 5 (they have a different version of the Hub 5 with this functionality). Apparently there is a workaround using a flashed SFP module. That allows you to put the SFP into a switch or router and connect the fibre directly to that. All detailed here:

fttppro - VM XGSPON Workaround

It could be some time before I need to worry about that. Until then I'll put up with my DOCSIS coaxial broadband and it's inherent latency :-(

I just checked the Openreach site. As usual 'planned', 'could be in the next year' etc. I won't hold my breath:

• We're planning to build in this area​

  This means that while we're planning on building to your area in the future, our plans to build to this property aren't confirmed yet. But they could be soon as we're aiming to build Full Fibre to 25 million homes and businesses by December 2026 and we're not stopping there.
  
  
  We intend to keep building after that too. That's further and faster than any other broadband network in the UK.
  
  
  If you register your interest, we’ll keep you updated and let you know as soon as Full Fibre is available - so you can upgrade to the UK’s most reliable broadband technology.

 

[Smoggie89]

Sorry to jump on this post again , but JB do you have any idea what i could do to get line crossing events.

My G3 with alarm used to work fine in regards to arm/arm silently but for some reason it’s not triggering events anymore , if i go on live view you can see it picking up people with the green box around them , but when they cross the line ive set it isnt triggering anymore. I have double checked the notify surveillance centre etc and everything is how it was before if stopped working.

I have disabled/enabled notify surveillance centre, log in/out of the app, restarted nvr and the camera it’s self but nothing is working.

I have manually turned on the light alarm and the audible alarm and they are working fine so im baffled as to why it’s just stopped working.

PS - the other 3 cameras are working as normal with intrusion/line crossing its only the one camera which is a G3 the other 3 are G2H. Thanks

 

[Smoggie89]

Sorry to jump on this post again , but JB do you have any idea what i could do to get line crossing events.

My G3 with alarm used to work fine in regards to arm/arm silently but for some reason it’s not triggering events anymore , if i go on live view you can see it picking up people with the green box around them , but when they cross the line ive set it isnt triggering anymore. I have double checked the notify surveillance centre etc and everything is how it was before if stopped working.

I have disabled/enabled notify surveillance centre, log in/out of the app, restarted nvr and the camera it’s self but nothing is working.

I have manually turned on the light alarm and the audible alarm and they are working fine so im baffled as to why it’s just stopped working.

PS - the other 3 cameras are working as normal with intrusion/line crossing its only the one camera which is a G3 the other 3 are G2H. Thanks

Just to add , when it picks up someone with the green box , once they cross the line it isn’t turning red, it’s asif the line isn’t set

 

[JB1970]

First check the logs - is it registering a line crossing event for that camera? Pointless checking any further if the event is not triggering.

Second - set the line crossing up from the NVR NOT the camera. Deselect ‘notify surveillance center’ save then deselect it and save.

Third - Have you accidentally blocked that alarm - easily done. In Hik-Connect click three dot menu next to your site name, Settings, Notifications. You should see the two usual options for push and events or events only. Beneath that is there ‘Blocked Events’? If so click on it and unblock them. I have all my intrusion alerts set up to Notify but then block them as I’m only using them to trigger security lighting through another device.

Other than that I can’t think of anything else (bar checking the camera to make sure in system it’s set to smart events and not face capture or monitoring.

Edit: Actually if the above doesn't assist, maybe factory default the camera before reconnecting it to the system and setting up again. Then if all else fails:

Followed by:

Multiply quantity to suit mood level...

 

[Smoggie89]

First check the logs - is it registering a line crossing event for that camera? Pointless checking any further if the event is not triggering.

Second - set the line crossing up from the NVR NOT the camera. Deselect ‘notify surveillance center’ save then deselect it and save.

Third - Have you accidentally blocked that alarm - easily done. In Hik-Connect click three dot menu next to your site name, Settings, Notifications. You should see the two usual options for push and events or events only. Beneath that is there ‘Blocked Events’? If so click on it and unblock them. I have all my intrusion alerts set up to Notify but then block them as I’m only using them to trigger security lighting through another device.

Other than that I can’t think of anything else (bar checking the camera to make sure in system it’s set to smart events and not face capture or monitoring.

Edit: Actually if the above doesn't assist, maybe factory default the camera before reconnecting it to the system and setting up again. Then if all else fails:

View attachment 13397

Followed by:

View attachment 13398

Multiply quantity to suit mood level...

Hahaha , the hammer was at the ready as ive been getting stressed out with it lol. I Haven't fully worked it out yet but I think it might be to do with the Min/Max box sizes. My neighbour brought my bins in for me today and it triggered the line crossing and the audible alarm , but when I came home it didn't do either.

I have made the max size box massive (not full screen) and it did trigger when I just went off the drive but it didn't do it coming back on the drive, so I don't know if I need to up the sensitivity to the highest etc. I mainly want it for on a night time so if anyone comes onto the drive it sets off the alarm

P.S how/where do I check for the logs I have updated the firmware on the NVR and its all changed where things are etc lol

 

[JB1970]

Hahaha , the hammer was at the ready as ive been getting stressed out with it lol. I Haven't fully worked it out yet but I think it might be to do with the Min/Max box sizes. My neighbour brought my bins in for me today and it triggered the line crossing and the audible alarm , but when I came home it didn't do either.

I have made the max size box massive (not full screen) and it did trigger when I just went off the drive but it didn't do it coming back on the drive, so I don't know if I need to up the sensitivity to the highest etc. I mainly want it for on a night time so if anyone comes onto the drive it sets off the alarm

P.S how/where do I check for the logs I have updated the firmware on the NVR and its all changed where things are etc lol

I'd always advise setting up intrusion/line crossing initially without min/max boxes to ensure they trigger. Once working you can introduce those to filter out false alerts.

I forget which NVR you have but if you're looking at the local UI you'll find it in the top right corner of the screen near the download icon. I think you click more then maintenance and you'll find the logs there (my NVR on V5 has a totally different layout)

 

[Smoggie89]

I'd always advise setting up intrusion/line crossing initially without min/max boxes to ensure they trigger. Once working you can introduce those to filter out false alerts.

I forget which NVR you have but if you're looking at the local UI you'll find it in the top right corner of the screen near the download icon. I think you click more then maintenance and you'll find the logs there (my NVR on V5 has a totally different layout)

I have the 7604 NXI mate , is there a way to take off the min/max ? I’ve tried not drawing one and clicking save but it just keeps reappearing and if clear all and try redo it , it is full screen as standard lol