Noob Requiring Assistance (Ghosting / Unstable Network / Access Cams Directly)

[JerseyBailiff]

Hello all,

Long time reader, and this is maybe my second or third post. I have had a HikVision system since the back end of 2018, and, well, it's never really ran as well as I think it should. I seem to suffer a lot from ghosting on live playback as well as downloaded recordings and for the life of me I can't figure out a solution. I stumbled across "DNR" settings on one of the threads, but then I cannot seem to log in to each camera to access each individual camera settings.

My current set up is this:
NVR - DS-7608NI-K2/8P
Cams x 3 - DS-2CD2385FWD-I/G20

All the cameras plug directly into the ports at the rear of the NVR. The NVR has an ethernet cable going into my router. I generally access the system via the user interface on iMac or on iPhone app.

I'll try and break the various issues down as best as I can without over confusing matters, or myself!


1. Ghosting / Freezing:
I seem to get a fair bit of this on both live playback and downloaded clips.

Is this literally down to the camera settings? Changing the res or frame rate? This infamous DNR?


2. "Network Is Unstable"
This is a message I seem to get a lot when using the Hik-Connect app; usually when I try and view a camera in HD rather than BASIC or try and watch a previously recorded clip. This still happens even when I have 4g or when I am on the home Wi-Fi.

Again; is this down to the camera settings? Am I expecting too much and somehow lagging out the NVR?



3. Accessing Cameras Directly
From what I have read I am able to change further camera settings by logging into the cameras directly. When accessing the web interface on my iMac over Wi-Fi I can see the camera links; however when I click on them it comes to another splash page which does not accept my usually NVR log in details. I have used the SADP tool; which does not show the cameras...unless I plug an ethernet between my iMac and NVR; but even the links in the SADP do not even take me to the splash page. I have also changed my password and ticked the sync to cameras box whilst on the web interface but I just cannot seem to log on. The cameras may be on different sub-nets, is it, which may effect this?

List of cameras as per web interface ^^

Current IP address of NVR as per when I log onto the web interface ^^

What I see on the SAPD tool when I have an ethernet cable plugged into both my iMac and the NVR ^^


Any help is very much appreciated. As I say, I seem to be getting nowhere fast and I've had the system for around 18 months.

Many thanks,

JerseyBailiff

 

[David]

@JerseyBailiff I always setup test and troubleshoot using the monitor and mouse connected to the nvr. when that is good i move on to the next problem. Do NOT be tempted to find problems with the web gui or iPad apps, they could mislead you.

 

[JerseyBailiff]

Thanks for the reply David. I will try and view on the NVR to see if I have any ghosting or freezing issues.

I am assuming I am correct in thinking that this still won’t assist why I cannot log on to the cameras directly? Can anyone shine any light on this?

 

[David]

when I view from my NVR direct all my cameras play back perfectly. Using my iPad on my Wi-fi network playback sometimes freezes and breaks up. I had lots of problems with hikconnect playback I stopped using it. When you leave your home network there are many external factors that will affect your playback quality.

 

[Kyle]

Hi @JerseyBailiff

For the ghosting/freezing, update the firmware versions on everything. Also, see if reducing the framerate from 15-20FPS makes any improvement.

Latest firmware for DS-7608NI-K2-8P - V3.4.109 - Hikvision UK Portal
Latest firmware for DS-2CD2385FWD-I - V5.6.5 - Hikvision UK Portal

This thread has a few other things to try, the last comment discusses a driver that's needed on certain PCs to address ghosting: New 8MP Camera not giving me smooth playback / Motion Blue / Ghosting

Accessing the individual cameras:
Set the correct Gateway for each camera in SADP (your router's IP address).

Do the passwords work in the individual cameras in SADP? Are you being told that the passwords are actually incorrect?

Make sure you have the macOS plugin installed and use Chrome or Safari when accessing the cameras. The plugin can be downloaded
here: Hikvision - Web Plugin for Mac OS V3.0.6.23

You may have set up both an "Activation password" as well as the NVR's password during the initial setup, it is this activation password that will be passed on to cameras that are connected directly to the NVR, do you remember setting this?

 

[David]

@JerseyBailiff How-to: - [Tutorial] Using a Hikvision NVR's "Virtual Host" Feature

 

[JerseyBailiff]

Hi David and Kyle

Thanks again for your words of advice. I have had a look at the virtual host thread before; but for the moment, I'm going to stick a pin in all my problems and go to something Kyle mentioned.

When checking the firmware on the NVR I usually enter the web interface and click on the little button to check for updates. It alway comes back saying there is no further updates to install. Since you posted the above link however, Kyle, it appears that my firmware isn't up to date. I have clicked on the button again but it does not update. I have downloaded the files from the link but then I am unable to browse to select a file to upload (this has happened on both my iMac and Windows laptop). I have also connected a screen directly to the NVR to check for an update that way but again says that the firmware is up to date.

Any ideas?

I have also downloaded some footage from yesterday onto a memory stick which was plugged into the NVR. I have then taken this footage off the memory stick, put it on my iMac and watched it via VLC. The footage still ghosts, still has sections where the colours go, and I am unable to skip on the timeline without it crashing. I know it looks like I am a way away from sorting this element but thought I would keep you updated.

Many thanks,

JerseyBailiff

 

[JerseyBailiff]

Hi guys,

Following on from earlier; I have been able to update the firmware on both the NVR and cameras now (well it says updated but not sure where I am actually looking to see that it has been).

Having read that thread you linked me to, Kyle; I have changed the camera settings via the web interface. Hopefully this will have some impact.

Now to tackle this IP / SADP based issue to see if I can access the cameras directly...

THANKS!

 

[JerseyBailiff]

Further update:

So, I have the NVR connected to my iMac via ethernet; and turned off my wi-fi.
I have opened the SADP tool and seen this:

So I can see the NVR and three cameras (NVR showing a slightly different IP?).
I am unable to change any of the IP addresses however as my admin password is not being accepted. I have the boxed ticked in the web interface to "sync my passwords" but that doesn't work. I have tried admin and 1234 also with no success.

My next idea was to change the IP address of my iMac; so I did this and put it on the same as the cameras. I was then able to search for the camera IP address in Safari and the HikVision sign in window appeared! But again, none of my passwords were accepted.

And now, here I am, out of ideas. Ha ha. I see my particular cameras have a hard reset button? Would a reset in this method reset the password to the camera?

Many thanks!

JerseyBailiff

 

[Kyle]

Hi @JerseyBailiff

You don't need to change the IP's of any cameras directly connected to the NVR's PoE ports, keep them as their default 192.168.254.x, this keeps them on the NVR's private subnet, which you want. You only need to change the IP addresses of cameras you're adding remotely across the network

Have you tried the NVRs password, Activation password on the NVR (if you set one up) or any passwords you tried changing to on the cameras - the admin password? If none of these work, then yes, you'll be best resetting the cameras using that button, which will allow you to reset the password when you activate it in SADP (don't plug it straight into the NVR and then NVR to the router, connect the camera to the router and use a separate 12V power supply/PoE switch while you activate it in SADP), or assign it the NVRs password if you plug it straight into that.

Here's how to hard-reset the cameras using the pushbutton: How-to: How do I Reset a HikVision IP camera using the pushbutton? - updated 30th October 2018

You might find the easiest thing is to is just reset all of the cameras, then set everything up again by closely following this guide on connecting cameras to your NVR in our Megathread, and see if there are any issues after this

Sorry if I've missed anything, I'm not 100% sure what stage you're at and what problems you're having now as you've progressed it a lot since my last post!

 

[JerseyBailiff]

Greetings, Kyle!

I write with good news this morning. After spending several hours yesterday afternoon cursing and hard resetting all cameras and defaulting the NVR; I appear to have all three cameras connected and I am able to log in to the cameras individually now. My password is now being sync'd to the cameras as well which is great!

So, that's one issue ticked off...now the others! To address the ghosting and freezing issues, I assume it's just going to be about tinkering with the settings to see what works best?

My current settings are:

All settings as default; except I have changed the video quality to higher. Are there any obvious suggestions? Should I be turning on the H.265+?

To test the night vision, on one of the cameras I have upped the exposure to 1/50, turned on the smart support light, set the WDR to Auto and lowered the DNR to 25.

Any tips and guidance greatly appreciated as always!

JerseyBailiff

 

[David]

@JerseyBailiff I've used H265+ for a long time now and have had no problems. I always troubleshoot playback freezing problems from the NVR using the monitor / mouse. I've been led on so many false trails by my iPad etc not having the processing power to handle the video. If I do use the web GUI I try to use a wired ethernet connection that avoids any wifi congestion problems.

if playback freezes during an event have you checked Configuration>Video/Audio MainStream(Event)?

using the NVR monitor / mouse check your LAN / WAN incoming (Rx) bandwidth is not exceeding the maximum allowed for your NVR. My max incoming WAN BW is 80Mbps so I've tweaked all my cameras to run at about 60Mbps during max video activity. That gives me 20Mbps of contingency. my security cameras have better video quality settings and the wildlife cameras lower quality settings. I have a hedgehog house live video feed here www.hogcams.co.uk