Amcrest NV4108-HS Not Able to Show All Streams

[triXter]

Hello

I have an Amcrest NV4108-HS and for most parts, it's working well. I have 6 Dahua cameras currently connected to to it and looking to add an old Amcrest and another Dahua shortly. All cameras are max 2MP / 30 fps. The NVR is connected to a TV (720p) and outputs a livestream to this TV (NVR output also set to 720p).

The issue I'm having is that NVR is not able to livestream all 6 camera feeds when I have the 8 panel configuration. Even when I do a 4 panel configuration, only cameras 1 - 4 will stream fine, cameras 5 - 6 will not. What's weird is that when I bring up the Sequence (and need to enter my admin password), all 6 streams will show up just fine. It continues to display just fine until I'm logged out automatically (I presume) from admin and then the stream 5 - 6 no longer display.

What's even weirder is that when I use Amcrest Surveillance Pro app (or even Smart DSS) on my computer, I can display all 6 streams without issue for long periods of time.

I reached out to Amcrest Support and after some discussion, they're saying it's due to limited compatibility and resources on the NVR which is why it cannot show all 6 streams. I asked them what I should be setting the camera streams to to ensure that all streams can work but they could not give me answer. I even halved the bitrate on all 6 cameras (they were initially set to VBR with a value of 5 and bitrate of 4096, I've since dropped it to 2048) but that still does not help.

I've also tried displaying substreams for all 6 cameras but no luck. Amcrest Support seems adamant that it is a compatibility issue.

What are my options here if I want to display all 6 (and soon all 8) streams at once on this TV? I would prefer to keep the current NVR and tweak the settings (could I do that but maintain the recording settings for the higher quality) but open to other suggestions. Was even contemplating using a Pi box and TinyCam as a last resort.

Thoughts?

 

[mat200]

Hello

I have an Amcrest NV4108-HS a..

The issue I'm having is that NVR is not able to livestream all 6 camera feeds ... Amcrest Support seems adamant that it is a compatibility issue.
..

Hi @triXter

Definitely not a "compatibility" issue as the Amcrest NVR is a Dahua OEM.

Perhaps a config issue - so I would double check the substream info. ( this is typically an issue with Lorex branded Dahua OEM NVRs
update: Lorex NVRs do not plug and play fully with Dahua OEM cameras so you will need to check the substream settings - please see the Lorex Thread(s) for more info on this. Also remember you may need to sync IP, port, substream, user / passwords for any IP camera and NVR / VMS setup. )

Typically the multiple camera display options use substreams to allow the NVRs CPU power not to be over loaded with decode and scaling the streams.

 

[bigredfish]

^^^^^^^^
THIS

You need to be using the substream past about 2 cameras. Any NVR can only handle so much data.

 

[triXter]

Hi @triXter

Definitely not a "compatibility" issue as the Amcrest NVR is a Dahua OEM.

Perhaps a config issue - so I would double check the substream info. ( this is typically an issue with Lorex branded Dahua OEM NVRs )

Typically the multiple camera display options use substreams to allow the NVRs CPU power not to be over loaded with decode and scaling the streams.

Thanks! I got all my Dahuas from Andy so I don;t think they're Lorex versions. I'll go ahead and use substreams for all and see if that helps.

Just to ensure I'm on the same page, on the livestream page, if I manually selected all substreams and see a degradation in quality, can I assume that substream is selected and I should be good?

 

[bigredfish]

In settings in SmartPSS choose Adaptive stream. It should load the low res substream in the windows by default, if you close it out like that and have "Resume Last prevew" checked.

Then when you double cliick a camera/window you get the full stream for that one camera. Double cliick gthat and it should revert to original smaller size and substream. Works for me like that on many PC's

 

[triXter]

In settings in SmartPSS choose Adaptive stream. It should load the low res substream in the windows by default, if you close it out like that and have "Resume Last prevew" checked.

Then when you double cliick a camera/window you get the full stream for that one camera. Double cliick gthat and it should revert to original smaller size and substream. Works for me like that on many PC's

Thanks! I was able to do that on SmartPSS but when I went back to the NVR, it shows that it is using the Main stream. I tried to manually set it to substream 1 and most of the streams were not loading. Not sure why but below is the typical setting I have for each substream:
Encoding: H.265
Resolution: up to 640x480 (or whatever is closest, depending on camera model)
FPS: 20
VBR
Quality: 3
Bitrate: 512

Is this still considered too high? Should I not be using H.265 for sub?

 

[bigredfish]

Wow low bitrate, can’t look very good

Yeah the Lite NVRs don’t have a lot of horsepower

 

[triXter]

Wow low bitrate, can’t look very good

Yeah the Lite NVRs don’t have a lot of horsepower

That's my take too! It's 8 times less (I use 4096 on main stream per camera) so I imagined that 6 substreams would be sufficient if I could previously run 4 livestreams at main stream.

 

[bigredfish]

I would certainly think so, the 20 Im staring at are running substream at 704x480 15fps and 1024 bitrate

 

[triXter]

Tried playing with it a bit more without any luck. I think my only option at this time is to find another device to do the video output (probably Raspberry Pi). Have an old system that I guess I could use for Blue Iris but that seems overkill for now.

 

[bigredfish]

To be clear I use SmartPSS fir viewing the cameras. Not the NVR live view that in my experience is ok for 1 or 2 cameras but begins to suck with more as it uses the main stream

 

[triXter]

To be clear I use SmartPSS fir viewing the cameras. Not the NVR live view that in my experience is ok for 1 or 2 cameras but begins to suck with more as it uses the main stream

Yeah, no issue with SmartPSS as well for me. Even with NVR liveview for 7 cameras (1 main and 6 sub stream), it can only do 4 which is disappointing.

 

[c_snyder]

The specs for the 4108HS show it should be able to handle those cameras. Unless the one you have is not the 4KS2 model and a lower model.

Decoding Capability - 2ch@4K(30fps)/8ch@1080P(30fps)

I was thinking about getting this NVR (dahua oem) so this is interesting.

 

[jack7]

H.265 decoding does take more cpu cycles than h.264, so try h.264. Also make sure it's the NVR monitor that's being set to use camera substreams.

 

[tubac]

Tried playing with it a bit more without any luck. I think my only option at this time is to find another device to do the video output (probably Raspberry Pi). Have an old system that I guess I could use for Blue Iris but that seems overkill for now.

Yeah, no issue with SmartPSS as well for me. Even with NVR liveview for 7 cameras (1 main and 6 sub stream), it can only do 4 which is disappointing.

I have Dahua OEM 16 channel 16 built in POE switch with the 3xxx series firmware. I run 12 cams at 1920X1080 and I was confounded by the same problem on the monitor from the NVR.
I’ve attached a jpg of a stream from the monitor showing a bunch of icons at the top right portion of one of one of the streams, when you roll over that portion of the stream with the mouse.The last icon is a “switch screen” icon, here showing that the main stream signified by the M is set for this stream. Two other choices are available S1 and S1. When I checked the stream which was black at the time showing only the green camera icon, I selected M and low and behold the video appeared! Hope this fix works for you.

 

[triXter]

The specs for the 4108HS show it should be able to handle those cameras. Unless the one you have is not the 4KS2 model and a lower model.

Decoding Capability - 2ch@4K(30fps)/8ch@1080P(30fps)

I was thinking about getting this NVR (dahua oem) so this is interesting.

Not sure about the 4KS2 model, since mine just says 4108-HS. I believe this is the link to the product page for the device I have: Amcrest NV4108 1080p Wireless NVR (4CH 1080p/8CH 720p) Network Video Recorder (Black) - Supports 8 X 720p (1MP) IP Cameras OR 4 x 1080p (2.1MP) IP Cameras @ 30fps Realtime, Quick QR Code Smartphone Access, Feature-Rich OSD with Multiple Trigger and Alarm Events, ONVIF Compliance, USB Backup, Supports up to 4TB HDD (Not Included) and More

 

[triXter]

H.265 decoding does take more cpu cycles than h.264, so try h.264. Also make sure it's the NVR monitor that's being set to use camera substreams.

Did have it on 265 and brought it down to 264 for both main and substreams. A couple of the camers had 264, 264B and 264H. Any recommendation which one I should be using?

 

[triXter]

I have Dahua OEM 16 channel 16 built in POE switch with the 3xxx series firmware. I run 12 cams at 1920X1080 and I was confounded by the same problem on the monitor from the NVR.
I’ve attached a jpg of a stream from the monitor showing a bunch of icons at the top right portion of one of one of the streams, when you roll over that portion of the stream with the mouse.The last icon is a “switch screen” icon, here showing that the main stream signified by the M is set for this stream. Two other choices are available S1 and S1. When I checked the stream which was black at the time showing only the green camera icon, I selected M and low and behold the video appeared! Hope this fix works for you.

Unfortunately this did not help. I checked the streams with a black screen and selected M, S1 and S2 and neither of the streams would show up for any camera after the first 4.

What's most interesting is that when I go to Sequence view (where I am displayed 9 camera streams), all of my 7 streams show up without issue. Granted, I have to enter my credentials to bring up this view so it would suggest that the issue is more about credentials than compatibility. When the system times out and I'm signed out, only the first 4 cameras show up, showing black screen for the other 3 cameras. When I check those 3 cameras, it shows M, but doesn't help even when I switch to S1 or S2 streams.

 

[triXter]

Thanks for all the help!

Was not able to resolve it but came up with an interim solution that seems to work for me: TinyCamPro on Fire TV Stick.

Does what I want and beats having to get a new NVR (for now).