Spec me a CCTV System

Brozart · 19 Aug 2017 at 18:58

Dynix said:
Decided to bite the bullet and just go for the Hikvision ones above and found a suitable NVR to go with it. Just need to buy a HDD to whack in it, buy a reel of outdoor ethernet and figure out the best way to run the cables for the camera positions. Would love to hide the cables but easiest will be to clip them onto brick.

Make sure the cameras and NVR are for the same region, a Chinese Hik camera and European Hik NVR isn't compatible.

Consider running the cables from the attic or under the floorboards, it's a much cleaner job in the long run

azibux1 · 19 Aug 2017 at 21:09

Brozart said:
I wouldn't worry about the trade only statement from use-ip, in reality once the cameras are installed and working I don't see the benefit of going for a UK supplier. You may have a 3 year warranty and some hand holding support but you do pay a premium for it and I'm yet to see a Hikvision camera fail on me. I've started going through reputable resellers on ali and so far the only inconvenience I've had is waiting a couple of weeks for them to arrive. The only time I would be reluctant to go through Ali is on the higher end PTZ cameras, they cost more £££ and have more moving parts which could fail.

Has anyone considered the move to Dahua cameras? I really like the look of the Dahua 2MP Starlight IPC-HDW5231R-Z camera - motorised lens and excellent low light performance. It's just a shame their mobile app isn't as polished as Hikvison's offering yet...

What's the warranty with aliexpress purchased Hik kit? 1 year direct to seller (or manufacturer?)?

Paul11 · 20 Aug 2017 at 09:40

silly question: if you have a hikvision camera and want to add more cameras later, can you add a different brand ? (mix brands on one system)

using a NAS and synology survelance software

azibux1 · 20 Aug 2017 at 10:30

Paul11 said:
silly question: if you have a hikvision camera and want to add more cameras later, can you add a different brand ? (mix brands on one system)

using a NAS and synology survelance software

Especially based on the fact you are using Synology and not a Hikvision NAS, I'd say that would definitely be fine

Brozart · 23 Aug 2017 at 10:20

azibux1 said:
What's the warranty with aliexpress purchased Hik kit? 1 year direct to seller (or manufacturer?)?

To be honest, I wouldn't waste money on the postage sending it back.

For cameras around £70, it's worth the risk - I bought a 3MP Hik cube for just under and it hasn't missed a beat. For the pricier PTZ cameras, you can save over £100 but more can go wrong with them.

azibux1 · 23 Aug 2017 at 21:40

Brozart said:
To be honest, I wouldn't waste money on the postage sending it back.

For cameras around £70, it's worth the risk - I bought a 3MP Hik cube for just under and it hasn't missed a beat. For the pricier PTZ cameras, you can save over £100 but more can go wrong with them.

Hmm fair enough. I guess you're less fussed like you say if you get them that much cheaper in the first place

Ingenious TROLL · 27 Aug 2017 at 09:03

Hello you lovely lot at OcUK.

So I've been glancing over this thread opposed to starting a new one and there's lots of good recommendations but a good amount of conflict of opinion haha.

So I'd very much appreciate some recent and relevant advice if anyone could be kind enough to help?

I am looking for a 4 camera home CCTV system. Budget would push toward the £300 end at most but the better value for money, the better! I see a lot of talk about wireless and wired setups alongside DVR's. Initially I think I may need to take the wireless approach but would take a wired one if the security and imagery was improved. Is 1080p the one to get or are lesser resolutions still good considering the DVR's don't push out that res recorded if I am not mistaken? It will be for more of a live viewing anyway with recording at night as an addition.

Thanks for reading!

pallys · 27 Aug 2017 at 14:39

What's the dome equivalent of the hikvision 2335 lowlight? Wanted turret but now worried about vandals as it won't be mounted high enough? Thx

godinman · 27 Aug 2017 at 15:59

If they're intent on smashing it up a dome wont protect itself for long, stick with exir turret and at least get a clear image of them before they smash it.

Thebug · 27 Aug 2017 at 20:25

Has anyone come across an error in ivms4200 with a hikvision nvr when trying to change motion detection settings? I keep getting a fatal exception then force close when trying to adjust settings, it worked fine when i first set them up, tried it on 2 different computers and both do the same.

pallys · 31 Aug 2017 at 19:59

Brozart said:
Make sure the cameras and NVR are for the same region, a Chinese Hik camera and European Hik NVR isn't compatible.

Hi, how do you know this is true?

Because I was gonna go with the same combo until I read your note.
I found this link and said it would work ok?

Dandle · 31 Aug 2017 at 22:01

pallys said:
Hi, how do you know this is true?

Because I was gonna go with the same combo until I read your note.
I found this link and said it would work ok?

It's rubbish and not true. I have used Chinese cameras with two different UK version Hikvision NVRs and they work perfectly.

pallys · 2 Sep 2017 at 12:00

Dandle said:
It's rubbish and not true. I have used Chinese cameras with two different UK version Hikvision NVRs and they work perfectly.

Thanks - and when you say perfectly I assume that was without using the generic ONVIF compatibility mode?
Cause I understand they will work in ONVIF compatibility mode but then you lose some dedicated features compared with the direct hikvision to hikvision setup.

Dandle · 2 Sep 2017 at 13:34

I can control all the features of the camera through the software on the NVR or you can remote in to the cameras directly through it.

wildest_jjk · 2 Sep 2017 at 13:49

Hi all,

I'm currently looking for an internal wireless IP camera that can be pointed at the back door of the house. It's for some added security when the door is left open for the dog. What would be ideal is that it will be motion sensing and be able to alert me/others when appropriate. Of course the dog will set it off as well but not quite sure how I can get round that...

Has anyone got any similar setups to this?

BoozerDawg · 2 Sep 2017 at 18:41

I bought a Hikvision NVR, all setup and working OK, but still annoyed that the "scrub" bar (i think its called) only shows a continuous blue line, with no motion detected events on top of it. Its recording the motion events, as I can play them through iVMS. Searching around the web it seems many others have the same problem, and no-one has an answer.

The other thing, playing back recorded footage (through iVMS or the web interface), its no longer smooth, very choppy, missing seconds at a time. Downloading the videos they play fine however.

Thinking it was a bit of a waste buying one, my hack job PC setup was a bit better than this :/

Thebug · 2 Sep 2017 at 18:49

That constant blue line means its recording constantly? I have mine setup for motion detection but only to record 10s before then the event then 10s after it, saves loads of hdd space.

As for chopiness whay do you have the image bitrates at

pallys · 3 Sep 2017 at 09:03

BoozerDawg said:
I bought a Hikvision NVR, all setup and working OK, but still annoyed that the "scrub" bar (i think its called) only shows a continuous blue line, with no motion detected events on top of it. Its recording the motion events, as I can play them through iVMS. Searching around the web it seems many others have the same problem, and no-one has an answer.

The other thing, playing back recorded footage (through iVMS or the web interface), its no longer smooth, very choppy, missing seconds at a time. Downloading the videos they play fine however.

Thinking it was a bit of a waste buying one, my hack job PC setup was a bit better than this :/

I can't decide whether to get a NAS Synology/QNAP or an NVR...
I want mainly for recording motion detection and live view to see who rang the door bell on TV.

BoozerDawg · 3 Sep 2017 at 13:17

Thebug said:
That constant blue line means its recording constantly? I have mine setup for motion detection but only to record 10s before then the event then 10s after it, saves loads of hdd space.

As for chopiness whay do you have the image bitrates at

It is set to continuous recording, and also all day template for motion recording. I was hoping that the motion events would appear on top of the blue bar, to make seeing exactly when movement was detected easier to see. At least, this is how it works on the CCTV at where I work. Others apparently said this used to work in previous firmware revisions, but the latest ones don't ?

I tried playback again, it actually was working perfectly last night, about an hour before it switched to night vision and all through the night, actually able to view the files running in 4X without any choppy playback. Mid day playback has gone back to being choppy. The max bitrate option is set to 6144, frame rate 20, highest video quality (tried lowering it, made no difference). On my PC video storage server playback was fine with these settings, but on the NVR its stuttery.

Brozart · 3 Sep 2017 at 17:06

Dandle said:
It's rubbish and not true. I have used Chinese cameras with two different UK version Hikvision NVRs and they work perfectly.

Good to know, there used to be issues back in 2015 with chinese firmware NVRs that weren't compatible with newer cameras.

BoozerDawg said:
It is set to continuous recording, and also all day template for motion recording. I was hoping that the motion events would appear on top of the blue bar, to make seeing exactly when movement was detected easier to see. At least, this is how it works on the CCTV at where I work. Others apparently said this used to work in previous firmware revisions, but the latest ones don't ?

There used to be a bug where it would only show motion alerts through a screen plugged directly into it. What model NVR and firmware version are you running?