NVR5216-16P-4KS2E

Night-Owl

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Hello All,

I am planning on buying the above to replace my 8 channel Lorex box as I need more channels. Can anyone advise if this will stop anything working on the Lorex cam's i.e 2 way talk etc or any other reason I should not buy this NVR. Apart from buy BI instead please :).

I believe it's a top if the range box and all should be well. But I want to be 100%. I am running a mix of 4K and 4 MP cams 24/7 and currently have 9 cams, with more pending :)

Thank you
 

wittaj

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What is wrong with Blue Iris? An NVR is a stripped down computer after all....

When I was looking at NVRs, I realized that not all NVRs are created equal, and once I priced out a good one, it was cheaper to buy a refurbished computer than an NVR.

Many of these used computers are business class computers that have come off lease. The one I bought I kid you not I could not tell that it was a refurbished unit - not a speck of dust or dents or scratches on it. It appeared to me like everything was replaced and I would assume just the motherboard with the intel processor is what was from the original unit. I went with the lowest end processor on the WIKI list as it was the cheapest and it runs my system fine. Could probably get going for $200 or so.

With that said, the NVR you are looking at is a good one and was the one I was originally looking it, but make sure it can run all your gear as you intend to run it.

NVRs cap out incoming bandwidth (which impacts the resolution and FPS of the cameras), so make sure you are getting video into the NVR the quality you want. For example, 4 channels will run 4K...total bandwidth limited to 320Mbps...Now keep in mind your Lorex NVR is even less capable and probably maxed out at 80Mbps and truly only one or a couple that could run 4K. I do not know which box you have, but my neighbors was limited to that and he is all upset it isn't 4K for all eight channels and he was capped out at 4096 bitrate on each camera.

So if it looks good to you with the Lorex NVR, it will look fine with this. Personally I couldn't see the difference on my neighbors TV with the little 2.8mm lens cameras and not all of them showing 4K that the cameras were "capable" of, but he swore he could see a difference on which ones were down-rezed.

Spec sheet for this NVR shows:

Display
Interface:1 HDMI, 1 VGA
Resolution:HDMI: 3840 × 2160 , 1920 × 1080 , 1280 × 1024,1280 × 720 , 1024 × 768 ; VGA: 1920 × 1080 , 1280 × 1024,1280 × 720 , 1024 × 768
Decoding Capability:4-ch@8MP(30fps), 16-ch@1080P(30fps)
Audio and Video
IP Camera Input:16 Channel
Two-way Talk :1 Channel Input, 1 Channel Output, RCA
Recording
Bit Rate:16Kbps ~ 20Mbps Per Channel; Max 320Mbps Incoming total Bandwidth
 

Night-Owl

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What is wrong with Blue Iris? An NVR is a stripped down computer after all....

When I was looking at NVRs, I realized that not all NVRs are created equal, and once I priced out a good one, it was cheaper to buy a refurbished computer than an NVR.

Many of these used computers are business class computers that have come off lease. The one I bought I kid you not I could not tell that it was a refurbished unit - not a speck of dust or dents or scratches on it. It appeared to me like everything was replaced and I would assume just the motherboard with the intel processor is what was from the original unit. I went with the lowest end processor on the WIKI list as it was the cheapest and it runs my system fine. Could probably get going for $200 or so.

With that said, the NVR you are looking at is a good one and was the one I was originally looking it, but make sure it can run all your gear as you intend to run it.

NVRs cap out incoming bandwidth (which impacts the resolution and FPS of the cameras), so make sure you are getting video into the NVR the quality you want. For example, 4 channels will run 4K...total bandwidth limited to 320Mbps...Now keep in mind your Lorex NVR is even less capable and probably maxed out at 80Mbps and truly only one or a couple that could run 4K. I do not know which box you have, but my neighbors was limited to that and he is all upset it isn't 4K for all eight channels and he was capped out at 4096 bitrate on each camera.

So if it looks good to you with the Lorex NVR, it will look fine with this. Personally I couldn't see the difference on my neighbors TV with the little 2.8mm lens cameras and not all of them showing 4K that the cameras were "capable" of, but he swore he could see a difference on which ones were down-rezed.

Spec sheet for this NVR shows:

Display
Interface:1 HDMI, 1 VGA
Resolution:HDMI: 3840 × 2160 , 1920 × 1080 , 1280 × 1024,1280 × 720 , 1024 × 768 ; VGA: 1920 × 1080 , 1280 × 1024,1280 × 720 , 1024 × 768
Decoding Capability:4-ch@8MP(30fps), 16-ch@1080P(30fps)
Audio and Video
IP Camera Input:16 Channel
Two-way Talk :1 Channel Input, 1 Channel Output, RCA
Recording
Bit Rate:16Kbps ~ 20Mbps Per Channel; Max 320Mbps Incoming total Bandwidth
Thanks wittaj nothing wrong with blue iris and I would aim one day to get a standalone machine and run BI, But at this time I am just interested in a good NVR. My Lorex can run all 8 channels in 4K but at only 15FPS and low bitrates. It only allows 80Mbps as you say. Strangely as I have learned to stop chasing Megapixels as ultimately I want a clear face shot at a good range in pitch black, most of my cameras are now only the 4MP Dahua's as these seem good for my needs, however I don't want to throw £280 at a new NVR and find out I should have bought a slightly better one or something :). For reference my current kit is from Costco being Lorex 8 Channel 2TB NVR with 8 x 4K Ultra HD Smart Deterrence Security Cameras | Costco UK

Thank you
 

wittaj

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In that case, then I think you will be fine. I do not think this one has AI capability, but not a deal killer as you can use the AI in the camera to trigger motion events. That one was the finalist on my list for NVRs.

I would suggest looking into the single ethernet port version and then supply your own POE switches. It sucks to have the POE go out on the NVR and have to buy a whole new unit. Or worse all the heat generated from all those POE ports fries another component in the NVR. I have had no NVR last more than 2.5 years because I had whatever software is running an NVR die on two units, an HDMI port die on the third unit, and POE on the 4th unit.

That was when I went on the journey to buy a higher grade NVR and learned from here about how they are not all equal (too many people think an NVR is an NVR and I was in that camp) and finally decided that with a computer, if the HDMI port goes out for example, I can replace just that. Can't do that with an NVR. And I found the interface of BI to be far superior to any NVR and associated app. But I also know many on here prefer the NVR configuration and app, which is fine.

I just wanted to share with you my journey and experience...how long again have you had that Lorex kit :cool:

The nice thing is once you decide to make the jump to Blue Iris, you can use that NVR as a backup and feed the video into Blue Iris from that unit.
 

Night-Owl

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In that case, then I think you will be fine. I do not think this one has AI capability, but not a deal killer as you can use the AI in the camera to trigger motion events. That one was the finalist on my list for NVRs.

I would suggest looking into the single ethernet port version and then supply your own POE switches. It sucks to have the POE go out on the NVR and have to buy a whole new unit. Or worse all the heat generated from all those POE ports fries another component in the NVR. I have had no NVR last more than 2.5 years because I had whatever software is running an NVR die on two units, an HDMI port die on the third unit, and POE on the 4th unit.

That was when I went on the journey to buy a higher grade NVR and learned from here about how they are not all equal (too many people think an NVR is an NVR and I was in that camp) and finally decided that with a computer, if the HDMI port goes out for example, I can replace just that. Can't do that with an NVR. And I found the interface of BI to be far superior to any NVR and associated app. But I also know many on here prefer the NVR configuration and app, which is fine.

I just wanted to share with you my journey and experience...how long again have you had that Lorex kit :cool:

The nice thing is once you decide to make the jump to Blue Iris, you can use that NVR as a backup and feed the video into Blue Iris from that unit.
I have all my cameras going into Poe switches already with only one internet ethernet going into the NVR but from what I see, if I want my internet on the 192.168.0.x subnet and the Cameras on the 192.168.1.x subnet, I need to buy a NVR with a switch as the NVR switch can be set to 192.168.1.x subnet in order to see and receive video from those cameras while the NVR stays on 192.168.0.x subnet to allow it to talk to internet, use gDMSS etc. This is only reason I am buying the one with ports i.e a switch inbuilt. A Virtual LAN would be better but that's not viable at the moment for me.
 

Night-Owl

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The Lorex is under 1 year old, once I have swapped out all cameras I will take back to Costco I expect :)
 

Night-Owl

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Hello, am I reading this correct in that it can only run 4 channels at 4k ?. My Lorex can show all 8 channels in 4k at 15FPS. Not that I plan on running 16 all in 4K but I would expect a decent NVR to be able to do such or am I dreaming ? :)
 

avspin

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I just bought this NVR last week and I have 14x 4k cameras plugged into its POE ports running 4K at 30fps. And 2x wifi 3MP cameras. It replaced a Q-See QC826 (same thing). I currently run them at 15fps. though. I do plan to move the cameras onto a POE switch in the future for more options.
I also have BI and build computers for fun. Just not ready to make the switch and wanted an easy option as I had.
 

Night-Owl

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Hello.

Received my NVR today and I already have issue which may be my fault. The NVR sits on the 192.168.0.x subnet my cameras sit on the 192.168.1.x subnet, I have changed the switch setting from 10. To 192.168.1.x but even though I can see the cameras on the NVR, it cannot get the picture i.e connect. If I change camera back to 192.168.0.x subnet, all is fine. The only reason on bought this one i.e with the inbuilt ports is because on my Lorex player I could change the subnet of the switch and even though the cameras are not connected to the switch I e they are all on other Poe switches, the NVR was able to see the cameras fine.

I have one internet cable going into the internet port or the NVR only, like I did the Lorex.

Any ideas ?
 

wittaj

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Um, go with Blue Iris :p

This will help even though the thread title says built-in:

 

Night-Owl

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I figured for some silly reason I have to plug the lead coming from my switches into one of the switch ports and then take another lead from internet to internet port. It works fine then but I am hoping those inbuilt switch ports are 1G and not 100Mb Ports. I will read above also later, thank you
 
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