Total recording time is now reducing?

[TomThumb]

Has anyone got any pointers to help me resolve this issue please.

In May (2024) I estimated the total recording time to be about 50 days. When checked in June it was around the 51-52 days mark.
At about this time I swapped cameras D1 for D11 and my notes suggest 4-days later I was still on the 52 days worth of recordings.

Since July I've noted a drop in the recorded days; the rate averages out to a about -0.4 day / day.
Now I am down to a total recorded time of 38 days (from c.52) and it is still dropping.

I did think any changes made (maximum bitrate etc.) would have ironed out by now, I may be left with a new consistent (lower) duration but I'd understand that.

I've looked for locked recordings. I did find one, quite a short duration, and unlocked it.
I can't see anything else that would be using up the recording space at such a rate (no added new cameras).

For the heck of it I restarted the box on the 15/7 but that hasn't put a stop to it yet.

iDS-7716NXI-I4/X(B) - 8TB
9x DS-2CD2186G2-ISU
1x DS-2CD2786G2-IZS

All set for continous record, main stream only (9 with audio).
Smart looks okay. Nothing I see in the logs suggest a problem.

How many days of recording might you expect from 10x 8MP (8192kbps - 2 are at 16384kbps) full resolution, highest quality, max frame rate, H265 (only).

 

[alfaclvi]

Possibly the difference between Daylight and night. Night has less activity, less motion, less detail

 

[Dan]

Hi @TomThumb

When you say you "checked in June it was around the 51-52 days mark.", are you saying that the NVR had been recording for several months and had 51-52 days of footage stored or was this just an estimate of the total storage?

 

[TomThumb]

Mid-May it was 50 clear (full) days, throughout all of June was 51-52 days (more acurate calculations), July dropping steadily (but slowly).
I can't say further back than that with any certainty - the system was repurposed in March and allowed to settle down (and tweaked).


alfaclvi - noted. Valid point, but surely around 22/6 would have been the recovery point (although I'd have never spotted that as a reason!)

 

[Dan]

Thanks @TomThumb

How long has the system been running and have all 10 cameras been connected from day 1? If you did add the cameras at different times, can you explain when those cameras were added?

Back in May/June, did you actually go into the NVR playback, scroll 50 days back, and view footage from then?

I'm trying to understand the details because, from my calculations, it wouldn't be possible to store 50 days of continuous recordings for 10 x 8MP cameras on a single 8TB HDD.

 

[TomThumb]

From early March all ten cameras were on - albeit most under test conditions (running, powered but not finally positioned - indeed some now are sitting inside on a window ledge looking at the horizon).

I certainly played back some footage - but can't say every channel, every day. I usually used one particular channel for reference. The calendar looked fully populated and odd gaps in the time bar where I'd moved them or the network but usually that was over and done in hours.

If you estimate a lot less than 50 days, then that's where I'm heading. What might be a good guess where I'll end up ? (3x are indoors normally dark and static images running on IR).

NB. 2x 4TG HDD but configured as 1-group - I can't tell which is in use at any one time.

Thanks.

 

[Dan]

Thanks @TomThumb

From our calculations, we would expect each 8MP camera to record around 3-5 days of continuous footage if all the cameras are on max. settings.

If you were to reduce the frame rate to 15fps, the video quality to medium, and increase the compression CODEC to H.265+ on all 10 cameras (all of which would have minimal impact on the image quality), you would get around 10-14 days of continuous recording for each camera.

 

[TomThumb]

Oh, way less than I was thinking.
Maybe the odd, one by one tweak I've made has upset the party big time. No worries as long as that is all it's likely to be.

If there doesn't look to be anything amiss I'll let it be and see where it settles now (and not panic too much if I see it right down at 3-5 days).

Yes, when more sorted I'll be reducing the frame rates and getting back some of that recording duration (5-days isn't going to do it for me!).

I shied away from H.265+ after I'd read that it did affect the recorded quality (I liked the idea of a 30% or so gain). Is this wrong, should I just use (switch on) 265+ for the future. I do also have another 4T drive but thought I wouldn't need that too.