Pre-event recording to SD card

wopi82

wopi82

IPCT Contributor
Feb 9, 2017
117
804
Poland
Hi all. I’ve been using Dahua cams for a 1.5 year now, and I’m pretty happy with this equipment. There is however one thing that is bothering me. I use my cams only with micro SD cards. It makes the system as simple as possible. Every cam is powered by separate 12V UPS, which makes every cam “self sufficient”, even in case of power shortage or network failure. I use motion detection for recording. However there is an option in Record control called Pre-event record. It means the camera is actually recording all the time, 24h/7 days a week, and leaves only moments, when event occurs, plus prerecorded period. And so, the micro SD card is under constant usage, even if nothing is happening. After a year or two, such card is dead no matter what. Now the question: if I set the pre-event recording time to 0 seconds, will the camera stop the process of constant recording? Can someone please confirm that?
 
I can not confirm the question. What i can say is that of the 10 or so cameras that i have that record 24/7 to the uSD card, none have failed in 2 years (knock on wood). I use the 128GB Samsung Evo drives. i get about 3 -4 days before overwrite. I believe this class of drive is rated at 1 write per day for 3 years, or based on my pattern 10 years. I should therefore see one fail per year in my set of 10, so i guess i am doing well.
 
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Ok. Maybe I wrote it incorrectly. The cards are not dead, but lot of errors occur. Some files are unreadable or choppy (lot of dropped frames). I use 64GB Sandisk Ultra A1 class micro SD.
 
I’m getting some new cameras soon and will likely put up my first camera before I have my PC up and running. That said, what’s a good SD card to use for motion events? I was able to buy buy 64GB micros for $20 each last Black Friday so it would be nice to know what my best bet is.
 
wopi82 said:
Ok. Maybe I wrote it incorrectly. The cards are not dead, but lot of errors occur. Some files are unreadable or choppy (lot of dropped frames). I use 64GB Sandisk Ultra A1 class micro SD.
Click to expand...

I only use u3 class 10 sd card after experiencing drop frames with u1 class 10 card. u3 cards from Sandisk and Samsung are very good based on my own test. And watch out for counterfeit cards from eBay, especially the ones selling for unusually cheap. I caught one after testing it. Fortunately, the seller refunded my money after sending it back.
 
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bugsysiegals said:
I’m getting some new cameras soon and will likely put up my first camera before I have my PC up and running. That said, what’s a good SD card to use for motion events? I was able to buy buy 64GB micros for $20 each last Black Friday so it would be nice to know what my best bet is.
Click to expand...

U3 class 10 cards from Samsung and Sandisk are very good. Look out for cheap counterfeit cards from eBay. There are simple utilities available on PC to test the performance of the card. I always run them to test my newly purchased sd card.
 
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Ernesto... That will work. Record direct to the SD card.
 
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