New M Series NVR - First Impressions

[JB1970]

I swapped out my DS-7616NI-I2/16P on Monday with the DS-7616NI-M2/16P. I'm a geek for new tech and have to say this has been one of the most boring upgrades I've done. Externally the NVR looks the same, internally the NVR looks the same, the menus look the same. However my first impressions are good...

My home system consists of 9 cameras currently - 3 x DS-2CD2387G2 (8MP G5 ColorVu Turret), 1 x DS-2CD2347G1-LU (4MP ColorVu Turret 1st gen), 1 x DS-2CD2346G2-ISU/SL (4MP G3 AcuSense Turret Live Guard), 2 x DS-2CD5A46G0-IZS (4MP 2.8-12mm 'ultra' bullet), 2 x DS-2CD2386G2 (8MP G3 AcuSense Turret)

In general everything worked quite well on the I series. However I was seeing a few issues more recently. Sometimes the local UI was sluggish and would lock up temporarily while switching from normal to smart playback (multiple buttons would show pressed, calendar would temporarily vanish). The playback of the 8MP models could be temperamental and would sometimes playback slowly at around 1/2 speed as if the machine were struggling to decode for playback.

Although with the 9 cameras I was comfortably within the 160Mbps incoming bandwidth limit for the I series, I wondered whether the newer M series performance would be noticeable. It is. I've maxed out all of my 8MP cameras to 25FPS with max bitrate of 16,384. The 4MP are also at 25FPS with max bitrate of 8192. Both of those settings are over the top for H265 but I wanted to stress it a bit just for giggles.

• The local UI is far more snappy, responding instantly when searching playback etc
• The occasional playback issue on the I series with one 8MP camera is eliminated. I can play all five 8 MP cameras back simultaneously with no lag. This can only be down to the additional performance of the new NVR, as I moved the existing hard disks from the I series and can discount those as a cause for the previous issues.

There are a couple of minor ish bugs I've found so far:

1. A few issues with the web GUI that have been reported in another thread (lag, preview images missing)
2. I seem to be getting a loss of HDMI for 1/2 a second every few minutes. This is not so minor. I first thought this was just while I had the menu screen displayed but it's just occurred while on live view. The NVR is connected directly to my Samsung 4K TV at 4K 60Hz exactly as the I series was. It could be my setup, but nothing has changed apart from the NVR.
3. On the local GUI while in multiscreen. If you're in live view with fullscreen selected (no menu strips) the pop up toolbar that appears when you hover over each camera view fits correctly. However when you have the top and side menu visible, those pop up toolbars are not resized and are wider than the image, overlapping into the adjacent segment.

It's certainly a worthwhile upgrade for anyone with a number of 8MP cameras.

 

[Ianc]

I was considering pulling the trigger on a shiny new 7068NI-M2 now that the I series is going end of life.
I am a little concerned about some reported bugs

missing preview images​

random camera disconnections​

web browser access​

​

I only have four cams at the moment on a 4 port NVR, two ColorVu and two IR but will be wanting to add a 5th cam soon.
Wondering if its best to wait a little longer for bugs to be ironed out before considering purchasing the 'M' series or just go for the tried and trusted 7068NI-I2 instead?

 

[JB1970]

I was considering pulling the trigger on a shiny new 7068NI-M2 now that the I series is going end of life.
I am a little concerned about some reported bugs

missing preview images​

random camera disconnections​

web browser access​

​

Wondering if its best to wait a little longer before purchasing the 'M' series or go for the tried and trusted 7068NI-I2 instead?

The missing preview images is minor and I'm sure will get resolved. I suppose it's a PITA if you do all config in the web browser. I personally have mine hooked up to a TV, but yeah it's nice when everything works exactly as it should. I've not seen any camera disconnections, has that been reported on here? I've a niggling HDMI loss that's concerning me but it's difficult to discount my TV. I'll maybe need to reset it. Again the web browser access - bar some preview images it is working with Safari for me.

Wondering if its best to wait a little longer before purchasing the 'M' series or go for the tried and trusted 7068NI-I2 instead?

The issue there is that it's about to stop being manufactured as @Phil pointed out in another post so I don't know if I'd recommend buying one as at some point it'll be end of life and firmware updates will stop. What we don't know that perhaps someone could confirm, is whether just the standard I series are being discontinued or whether it includes the NXI model I series. If you have 8MP cameras (or intend to) the M series is the one to go for I think. There might be a mint condition 7616NI-I2 on eBay at some point that a certain 'fireblade954rr2' will be wanting to move on.....

 

[Phil]

FYI the I-series EOL Post is here:
FAQ - Which 8, 16, or 32 channel Hikvision NVR should I buy in 2023?

And what @JB1970 says about firmware updates is the main concern - Hikvision have a tendency to focus on a lead series at any given time - that will be the M-series now.

Hopefully they will quickly sort out the issues that are being discovered and fed back by users as the new NVRs roll out ...

Latest M-series firmware Post link:

Firmware - Latest firmware for the new Hikvision M-series NVRs?

Any new firmware for the M-series. Just having a few issues with getting off the ground - random cam disconnections and freeze. Thanks Update: After some IP juggling, it's looking better. It's more fun when it gets better.

www.use-ip.co.uk

 

[John A]

I am finding playback a little jumpy when hitting events, but not really in the know about best IPC settings on the G5s.
Still need to resolve problems with onboard POE. This weekend I'll try more settings.

 

[JohnD]

I swapped out my DS-7616NI-I2/16P on Monday with the DS-7616NI-M2/16P. I'm a geek for new tech and have to say this has been one of the most boring upgrades I've done. Externally the NVR looks the same, internally the NVR looks the same, the menus look the same. However my first impressions are good...

My home system consists of 9 cameras currently - 3 x DS-2CD2387G2 (8MP G5 ColorVu Turret), 1 x DS-2CD2347G1-LU (4MP ColorVu Turret 1st gen), 1 x DS-2CD2346G2-ISU/SL (4MP G3 AcuSense Turret Live Guard), 2 x DS-2CD5A46G0-IZS (4MP 2.8-12mm 'ultra' bullet), 2 x DS-2CD2386G2 (8MP G3 AcuSense Turret)

In general everything worked quite well on the I series. However I was seeing a few issues more recently. Sometimes the local UI was sluggish and would lock up temporarily while switching from normal to smart playback (multiple buttons would show pressed, calendar would temporarily vanish). The playback of the 8MP models could be temperamental and would sometimes playback slowly at around 1/2 speed as if the machine were struggling to decode for playback.

Although with the 9 cameras I was comfortably within the 160Mbps incoming bandwidth limit for the I series, I wondered whether the newer M series performance would be noticeable. It is. I've maxed out all of my 8MP cameras to 25FPS with max bitrate of 16,384. The 4MP are also at 25FPS with max bitrate of 8192. Both of those settings are over the top for H265 but I wanted to stress it a bit just for giggles.

• The local UI is far more snappy, responding instantly when searching playback etc
• The occasional playback issue on the I series with one 8MP camera is eliminated. I can play all five 8 MP cameras back simultaneously with no lag. This can only be down to the additional performance of the new NVR, as I moved the existing hard disks from the I series and can discount those as a cause for the previous issues.

There are a couple of minor ish bugs I've found so far:

1. A few issues with the web GUI that have been reported in another thread (lag, preview images missing)
2. I seem to be getting a loss of HDMI for 1/2 a second every few minutes. This is not so minor. I first thought this was just while I had the menu screen displayed but it's just occurred while on live view. The NVR is connected directly to my Samsung 4K TV at 4K 60Hz exactly as the I series was. It could be my setup, but nothing has changed apart from the NVR.
3. On the local GUI while in multiscreen. If you're in live view with fullscreen selected (no menu strips) the pop up toolbar that appears when you hover over each camera view fits correctly. However when you have the top and side menu visible, those pop up toolbars are not resized and are wider than the image, overlapping into the adjacent segment.

It's certainly a worthwhile upgrade for anyone with a number of 8MP cameras.

Hi, thanks for your detailed description of the new M series NVR - appreciated. A quick question - how noisy is the NVR box? I'm thinking of having it in the lounge room in the TV cabinet but am worried it might be too noisy / distracting (note I haven't had an NVR before so all new to me, and I'll be having 8 x 8MP cameras connected). Thanks.

 

[JB1970]

Hi, thanks for your detailed description of the new M series NVR - appreciated. A quick question - how noisy is the NVR box? I'm thinking of having it in the lounge room in the TV cabinet but am worried it might be too noisy / distracting (note I haven't had an NVR before so all new to me, and I'll be having 8 x 8MP cameras connected). Thanks.

The fan noise from different models of NVRs varies. I’d personally say that it might/will be too noisy for you, even inside a cabinet.

The M series (like the outgoing I series) has two fans; one on the right hand side of the case and another in the internal power supply at the rear left. You may read on here and elsewhere of so called ‘silent fans’. For the main fan, connected to the PCB, it’s an easy modification to replace it, taking a few minutes. However it won’t eliminate the noise, only reduce it. Although the replacement fans are practically silent, the noise that can be heard is caused by the air being pushed through the perforations in the case and that can’t be eliminated.

My advice would be to install the NVR remote from your living area and to factor in to the installation what’s needed to get HDMI video to your TV and mouse control from that area. If the alternative location is not too distant it can be direct cabled with a 10 metre ultra high speed HDMI cable and 10 metre USB extension (into which you would connect the receiver for a wireless mouse [I use Logitech M185]). For greater distances you can get a HDMI and USB over CAT5 KVM allowing more flexibility.

I have mine in a loft space directly above my living room extension.

 

[JohnD]

The fan noise from different models of NVRs varies. I’d personally say that it might/will be too noisy for you, even inside a cabinet.

The M series (like the outgoing I series) has two fans; one on the right hand side of the case and another in the internal power supply at the rear left. You may read on here and elsewhere of so called ‘silent fans’. For the main fan, connected to the PCB, it’s an easy modification to replace it, taking a few minutes. However it won’t eliminate the noise, only reduce it. Although the replacement fans are practically silent, the noise that can be heard is caused by the air being pushed through the perforations in the case and that can’t be eliminated.

My advice would be to install the NVR remote from your living area and to factor in to the installation what’s needed to get HDMI video to your TV and mouse control from that area. If the alternative location is not too distant it can be direct cabled with a 10 metre ultra high speed HDMI cable and 10 metre USB extension (into which you would connect the receiver for a wireless mouse [I use Logitech M185]). For greater distances you can get a HDMI and USB over CAT5 KVM allowing more flexibility.

I have mine in a loft space directly above my living room extension.

Thanks for that and yes was thinking to do the same if too much noise.

Some other thoughts I’m thinking about which I’m sure you have also considered:

- Install silent fans but use a controller to run the fan at a slower speed.

- Replace the NVR cover with wire mesh only (similar to the wire mesh some PC cases come with).

- Not use an NVR at all and use a PoE switch and connect straight to cloud.

 

[JB1970]

Thanks for that and yes was thinking to do the same if too much noise.

Some other thoughts I’m thinking about which I’m sure you have also considered:

- Install silent fans but use a controller to run the fan at a slower speed.

- Replace the NVR cover with wire mesh only (similar to the wire mesh some PC cases come with).

- Not use an NVR at all and use a PoE switch and connect straight to cloud.

- Install silent fans but use a controller to run the fan at a slower speed.

You could do that. Some of the silent fans come with resistor that plugs in line and runs it at a lower speed. Unfortunately once you hear the fan, you can't un-hear it. You tend to find yourself listening for it. Additionally you'd struggle to do that for the internal PSU fan due to space limitations. I'm sensitive to noise and although my NVR is 8' above me now through plasterboard and 12" of insulation I can here a slight knocking...which is the chatter of the disks reverberating through the joist I mounted the shelf on.

- Replace the NVR cover with wire mesh only (similar to the wire mesh some PC cases come with).

Yeah that would work if you could keep the dust to a minimum.

- Not use an NVR at all and use a PoE switch and connect straight to cloud.

I'd scratch that one of the list of possibilities. Firstly to record in any reasonable quality you'd need a huge upload speed and cloud storage requirements. Also you would lose a lot of the functionality/ease of use that comes from using an NVR such as the ease of configuration and searching for relevant event footage.

The fan is drawing warm air out of the case. In reality depending on where the unit is located (both climate and installed location), it may not be needed at all. I've several installations where the customer has pulled the fan from a DVR without issue. If I were to take the lid off mine now and check the temperature it would be barely warm and I doubt the (case) fan is doing much at all. In some circumstances the NVR would be installed in an enclosed rack enclosure, stacked and co located with other heat generating equipment and the fan would be essential. Of course that would undoubtedly invalidate a warranty (if it could be proven....)

Honestly though my recommendation would be to install a KVM over CAT5 unit. They're less than the one 8MP camera so shouldn't blow the budget. Additionally it may actually simplify the installation of the wiring overall if you consider the location of the NVR carefully with respect to the camera wiring routes.

 

[JohnD]

You could do that. Some of the silent fans come with resistor that plugs in line and runs it at a lower speed. Unfortunately once you hear the fan, you can't un-hear it. You tend to find yourself listening for it. Additionally you'd struggle to do that for the internal PSU fan due to space limitations. I'm sensitive to noise and although my NVR is 8' above me now through plasterboard and 12" of insulation I can here a slight knocking...which is the chatter of the disks reverberating through the joist I mounted the shelf on.


Yeah that would work if you could keep the dust to a minimum.


I'd scratch that one of the list of possibilities. Firstly to record in any reasonable quality you'd need a huge upload speed and cloud storage requirements. Also you would lose a lot of the functionality/ease of use that comes from using an NVR such as the ease of configuration and searching for relevant event footage.

The fan is drawing warm air out of the case. In reality depending on where the unit is located (both climate and installed location), it may not be needed at all. I've several installations where the customer has pulled the fan from a DVR without issue. If I were to take the lid off mine now and check the temperature it would be barely warm and I doubt the (case) fan is doing much at all. In some circumstances the NVR would be installed in an enclosed rack enclosure, stacked and co located with other heat generating equipment and the fan would be essential. Of course that would undoubtedly invalidate a warranty (if it could be proven....)

Honestly though my recommendation would be to install a KVM over CAT5 unit. They're less than the one 8MP camera so shouldn't blow the budget. Additionally it may actually simplify the installation of the wiring overall if you consider the location of the NVR carefully with respect to the camera wiring routes.

Thanks again for your thoughts. My security guy who came to quote up the camera install for me told me that he unplugs the case fans a lot for clients to get rid of the noise, and as far as he knows, has never seen a problem (they provide a 3 year warranty on all installs incl equipment) and no call outs on NVR failure yet.

I’ll ponder it further but might end up using a low noise case fan on reduced speed to get rid of airflow-through-case noise. If that doesn’t work well i can get extra cabling put in and relocate the NVR to the laundry room and maybe just plug in a monitor on occasions when I need to use/access the NVR itself.

 

[Basim]

A simple question, in Hik-Connect app when watching Playback, do the colors appear? The event-human-vehicle, like picture

 

[JB1970]

A simple question, in Hik-Connect app when watching Playback, do the colors appear? The event-human-vehicle, like picture

View attachment 9235

Yes - the latest version (4.63.000) introduces those. However there is a bug and it's no longer possible to disable/enable notifications from the app (the bell icon or the setting that it switches). Hikvision have said that the bug will be fixed in the next version when released.