Uniview NVR with Foscam cameras

[LightGuy48]

I'm trying to monitor some Foscam IP cameras (FI9805EP) with a Uniview NVR304E and I'm running into a few issues that have me scratching my head. If I use ONVIF the cameras will connect up just fine but the Encoding Stream Type keeps coming up as Normal vs. Event type so I'm unable to draw/mark my Motion detection regions. So far I have been unable to find a setting on the cameras that seems to satisfy the NVR that it's an Event type stream.

My next thought was to do a Custom Protocol and try to do H.264 by manually entering the stream information but I've been unable to make that work either, in that manner using the URL, port, etc. it never connects, the Resource Path I've entered is rtsp:/<ip>:<port>/videoMain which should connect to the primary H.264 stream.

Anyone familiar with making this combination of equipment work? Thanks!

 

[wittaj]

That is kinda common whenever you mix brands. Even though everything is ONVIF, you usually lose functionality.

 

[LightGuy48]

That is kinda common whenever you mix brands. Even though everything is ONVIF, you usually lose functionality.

As I'm digging further I'm now figuring out that I guess the motion detection functionality is actually off-loaded to the camera in the Uniview systems and I assume there is some kind of triggering sent when a recording needs to occur and if you use ONVIF some cameras support motion detection via ONVIF and some don't....

 

[wittaj]

You will find in many instances ONVIF doesn't mean much. Even as a standard, there is no "standard" that every manufacturer follows.

In reality, ONVIF is a paid designation, so a camera can set up their protocol however they want, but if they belong to ONVIF, they can slap ONVIF on their stuff. Some manufacturers are better than others at providing a standard that can be used with other devices.

Best bet is to match brands of cameras and NVR, otherwise it is a crap shoot if it will work.

https://www.onvif.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/onvif-brand-standards-20220315.pdf

 

[LightGuy48]

I'll be interested over the weekend to test this NVR with some Hikvision cameras I have. They have an option to 'notify surveillance center' which seems like some kind of embedded notification for motion detection, I'm curious to see if it's compatible or not.