How to get Live View across multiple monitors / devices with DS-7608NI-K1/8P

M

MeltdownSpectre

n3wb
Jun 16, 2022
12
2
Pakistan
Hi,

My parents recently had some HikVision IP/PoE cameras installed at their house, all cameras are connected through a DS-7608NI-K1/8P NVR.

The NVR itself is in the study / home office with HDMI running to a 27" monitor showing Live View for the 6 installed cameras.

However, they'd like to be able to see 'Live View' from other locations in the house. Initially I thought of just typing the IP address of the NVR into a web browser and having access to Live View there, but it seems HikVision is still living in the past requiring weird plug-ins and the use of Internet Explorer to get Live View working in the browser.

Is there another way to get Live View working on something like a Raspberry Pi for example?

Having one of those plugged into a 1080p monitor seems far easier to setup than having multiple Windows machines using now discontinued IE and some shady plug-ins.

I've been reading about iVMS-4200 but not quite sure if that would help us in this case, I assumed it was some sort of Blue Iris alternative that the user would install on their own machine instead of using an NVR.

I'm unfamiliar with CCTV setups in general since I've never had to use them before, so I'd appreciate some help from the experts here that are well-versed with HikVision's products.

Thanks
 
If the view to all monitors were to be the same, consider a 4-way HDMI splitter at the NVR then a HDMI extender over CAT-5e/6 from there to each of the monitors.
No RPi or PC involved.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lawnboy1 and MeltdownSpectre
TonyR said:
If the view to all monitors were to be the same, consider a 4-way HDMI splitter at the NVR then a HDMI extender over CAT-5e/6 from there to each of the monitors.
No RPi or PC involved.
Click to expand...

This was the first thing that came to mind since I essentially just want to duplicate the HDMI output from the NVR to the existing monitor on all the other monitors where live view is required.

However, running Cat6 to all the desired locations, buying an HDMI splitter and at least 3 HDMI-Cat6 extenders would be quite expensive, especially considering the extenders cost around $50 each on Amazon.

Seems like an awful lot of expenditure for something so simple, it's a shame these great cameras have been crippled by terrible software.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TonyR
Not sure about your budget or distances to monitors, but if you find the total cost of the splitter plus extenders too much, consider this unit; it combines the splitter AND extender function into one unit and the monitors can be up to 130 feet from the splitter ==>> Low-Cost HDMI Splitter/Extender via CAT5e/6: 4-Port
 
MeltdownSpectre said:
However, running Cat6 to all the desired locations.......
Click to expand...
It seems running cable of some sort from the NVR to the monitors is necessary regardless of which scheme or technique you attempt (video or network), as HDMI over wireless is a headache waiting to happen. :blankstare:
 
  • Like
Reactions: MeltdownSpectre
hajalie24 said:
Can't you just access the cameras directly bypassing the NVR interface? You can use an app like tinycam, ipcamviewer, etc.
Click to expand...
Not a bad idea if the OP can run an app on an Android tablet with HDMI video out (I recall he wants to avoid a PC).
And Tinycam could likely stream from the NVR as well.

I put TinyCam Pro on a Sony smart TV (Android) and streamed select Blue Iris cams to it.

Or he could plug a Firestick into the monitor's HDMI port and side-load TinyCam onto it to stream the NVR or the cams.

Any method, networked or HDMI over cable, is going to require cable from NVR vicinity to monitors.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MeltdownSpectre
I'm using an HDMI TV modulator (ZVPro 820). It takes the HDMI output from the NVR and converts it to an unused HDTV channel. My installation's whole house antenna amplifier (Channel Master CVT-2/8PIA-II) has a modulator input on it so that's where I tap into the TV coax distribution.

With these gadgets every TV in the house has access to my Dahua NVR's display. Seeing the camera view is the same as changing to any other TV channel. Audio is available too, but only when the 8-camera view is used. Going on two years with this setup and it has been working great.

There are more affordable HDMI modulators than the one I used, such as the VeCOAX MINIMOD-2. But cost is still a bit steep regardless of brand. HDMI stuff must be made of gold.

- Thomas
 
  • Like
Reactions: Griswalduk, MeltdownSpectre and TonyR
TonyR said:
Not a bad idea if the OP can run an app on an Android tablet with HDMI video out (I recall he wants to avoid a PC).
And Tinycam could likely stream from the NVR as well.

I put TinyCam Pro on a Sony smart TV (Android) and streamed select Blue Iris cams to it.

Or he could plug a Firestick into the monitor's HDMI port and side-load TinyCam onto it to stream the NVR or the cams.

Any method, networked or HDMI over cable, is going to require cable from NVR vicinity to monitors.
Click to expand...

TinyCam could work. I have an extra Chromecast with Google TV lying around that I can plug in to one of the monitors.

What sort of set up would be required on the NVR for me to be able to view the cameras (live view) through TinyCam?

I believe the NVR has the cameras on a different subnet (192.168.254.x) so I'm not quite sure how to go about streaming directly from the cameras or NVR.
 
ThomasCamFan said:
I'm using an HDMI TV modulator (ZVPro 820). It takes the HDMI output from the NVR and converts it to an unused HDTV channel. My installation's whole house antenna amplifier (Channel Master CVT-2/8PIA-II) has a modulator input on it so that's where I tap into the TV coax distribution.

With these gadgets every TV in the house has access to my Dahua NVR's display. Seeing the camera view is the same as changing to any other TV channel. Audio is available too, but only when the 8-camera view is used. Going on two years with this setup and it has been working great.

There are more affordable HDMI modulators than the one I used, such as the VeCOAX MINIMOD-2. But cost is still a bit steep regardless of brand. HDMI stuff must be made of gold.

- Thomas
Click to expand...

Definitely an interesting solution, but far out of budget.

The cost of the modulator alone is more than what was paid for the NVR + 6x IP cams.
 
ThomasCamFan said:
I'm using an HDMI TV modulator (ZVPro 820). It takes the HDMI output from the NVR and converts it to an unused HDTV channel. My installation's whole house antenna amplifier (Channel Master CVT-2/8PIA-II) has a modulator input on it so that's where I tap into the TV coax distribution.

With these gadgets every TV in the house has access to my Dahua NVR's display. Seeing the camera view is the same as changing to any other TV channel. Audio is available too, but only when the 8-camera view is used. Going on two years with this setup and it has been working great.

There are more affordable HDMI modulators than the one I used, such as the VeCOAX MINIMOD-2. But cost is still a bit steep regardless of brand. HDMI stuff must be made of gold.

- Thomas
Click to expand...

I like your thinking. @MeltdownSpectre I am considering doing the same and looking at these. Cost is more realistic


Good luck
 
MeltdownSpectre said:
What sort of set up would be required on the NVR for me to be able to view the cameras (live view) through TinyCam?

I believe the NVR has the cameras on a different subnet (192.168.254.x) so I'm not quite sure how to go about streaming directly from the cameras or NVR.
Click to expand...
With Tinycam you'll stream from the NVR, not the cams. Each cam in TC will have an identical URL for the streams, just the channel number will be different, as outlined below. NOTE: Insure you place 2 "/" after "RTSP:", as the forum software won't display 2 consecutively here!

RTSP without Authentication
rtsp:/<NVR-LAN -IP>:<RTSP port>/Streaming/channels/<channel number><stream number>
NOTE: <stream number> represents main stream (01), or the sub stream (02)

Example:
rtsp:/173.200.91.70:554/Streaming/channels/101 – get the main stream of the 1st channel
rtsp:/173.200.91.70:554/Streaming/channels/102 – get the sub stream of the 1st channel

RTSP with Authentication
rtsp:/<username>:<password>@<NVR-LAN -IP>:<RTSP port>/Streaming/channels/<channel
number><stream number>

Example:
rtsp:/Hikvision:guest@173.200.91.70:554/Streaming/channels/301 – get the main stream of the 3rd channel
rtsp:/Hikvision:guest@173.200.91.70:554/Streaming/channels/602 – get the sub stream of the 6th channel
 
  • Like
Reactions: looney2ns and MeltdownSpectre
TonyR said:
With Tinycam you'll stream from the NVR, not the cams. Each cam in TC will have an identical URL for the streams, just the channel number will be different, as outlined below. NOTE: Insure you place 2 "/" after "RTSP:", as the forum software won't display 2 consecutively here!
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. Seems like it's worth exploring.

I started experimenting with RTSP on a Raspberry Pi, but then I tried TinyCam like you suggested.

Installed it on a Chromecast with Google TV, and Live View works, albeit not particularly well. Although I don't think this is the fault of the cameras, but actually due to the fact that the Chromecast is an underpowered turd and it drops a lot of frames despite viewing the 720p sub-stream of the cameras.

The RPi wasn't particularly trouble-free either, trying to view 6 streams simultaneously was a mess, it was stuttering and lagging and the live view through VLC was basically unusable since it also dropped a lot of frames.
 
Small update:

Viewing the RTSP stream through a powerful Windows machine also results in occasional dropped frames and a significant 3-4 second delay compared to Live View from the NVR directly. Is this normal behaviour?

The issue happens with both H.264 and H.265 codecs.
 
Nice, I like the price of that HDMI to DVB-T modulator.

But I wasn't as lucky. I'm in the USA and a HDMI to ATSC modulator is needed because typical USA TV sets do not support DVB-T (a broadcast format for nearly every country but us).

- Thomas
 
  • Like
Reactions: Griswalduk
MeltdownSpectre said:
Hi,

My parents recently had some HikVision IP/PoE cameras installed at their house, all cameras are connected through a DS-7608NI-K1/8P NVR.

The NVR itself is in the study / home office with HDMI running to a 27" monitor showing Live View for the 6 installed cameras.

However, they'd like to be able to see 'Live View' from other locations in the house. Initially I thought of just typing the IP address of the NVR into a web browser and having access to Live View there, but it seems HikVision is still living in the past requiring weird plug-ins and the use of Internet Explorer to get Live View working in the browser.

Is there another way to get Live View working on something like a Raspberry Pi for example?

Having one of those plugged into a 1080p monitor seems far easier to setup than having multiple Windows machines using now discontinued IE and some shady plug-ins.

I've been reading about iVMS-4200 but not quite sure if that would help us in this case, I assumed it was some sort of Blue Iris alternative that the user would install on their own machine instead of using an NVR.

I'm unfamiliar with CCTV setups in general since I've never had to use them before, so I'd appreciate some help from the experts here that are well-versed with HikVision's products.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Try using Hikvision NVR Zero Channel feature. It should send a single 1920x1080 video stream with all your cameras displayed just like on your NVR monitor. It should provide smooth viewing of your cameras with significantly less bandwidth. Your Hikvision apps for camera viewing on ios, android, and windows should support it, with no Web Ui. The proper RTSP url for it should also work. Use your Hikvision resources or Google it to read more about zero channel.
Connect the stream to hdmi monitor as appropriate. There are many ways.
I use Dahua NVR Zero channel to quickly see all the cameras on a remote Dahua NVR. Hikvision should work too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MeltdownSpectre
ThomasCamFan said:
Nice, I like the price of that HDMI to DVB-T modulator.

But I wasn't as lucky. I'm in the USA and a HDMI to ATSC modulator is needed because typical USA TV sets do not support DVB-T (a broadcast format for nearly every country but us).

- Thomas
Click to expand...

I originally came across the idea on here. I could be mistaken but I think the original poster was resident in the USA. I took for granted similar technology was being used.

Does a Google show anything for ATSC you mention?

Edit - a google here shows up this modulator. I'm not sure if it's suitable but mentions switchable output including ATSC.

www.hypex.co.uk

Wisi Encoder Modulator HDMI in DVB-C/T; ATSC-T/C; DTMB

Wisi OE 01 Encoder Modulator enables HD video & audio encoding and digital modulation into an RF signal, compatible for distribution over coaxial cable.
www.hypex.co.uk www.hypex.co.uk
 
jack7 said:
Try using Hikvision NVR Zero Channel feature. It should send a single 1920x1080 video stream with all your cameras displayed just like on your NVR monitor. It should provide smooth viewing of your cameras with significantly less bandwidth. Your Hikvision apps for camera viewing on ios, android, and windows should support it, with no Web Ui. The proper RTSP url for it should also work. Use your Hikvision resources or Google it to read more about zero channel.
Connect the stream to hdmi monitor as appropriate. There are many ways.
I use Dahua NVR Zero channel to quickly see all the cameras on a remote Dahua NVR. Hikvision should work too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this.

I got Channel-Zero enabled in NVR settings, however the RTSP stream is 704x576 instead of 1920x1080. The NVR settings do not offer an option to change the resolution, only the frame rate and the bitrate (which tops out at 2 Mbps).

It's perfect otherwise since it shows the same 1+5 view that I have on the monitor that's connected to the NVR directly. Just need to figure out why it isn't in 1080p, or at least 720p for that matter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom