As a few of us discovered in the firmware update thread - it looks like there are a number of vendors selling PAL format Dahua NVRs to the North America market without really noting they're PAL anywhere on their ads. I didn't realize it until I went to upgrade the firmware :mad-new:. After installing HDs and working on it for a few weeks, though - I suspect my opportunity to swap or return it is over, so I'm trying to figure out how to make it work. I'm hoping someone with more experience may have some pointers, though, because I'm stumped.
PAL vs NTSC
Before I updated my firmware, the menu had an option to work in NTSC or PAL mode, which seemed like it may work around the format issues. After upgrading to the latest firmware, however, that option is no longer available. It is set in PAL mode only now, and the NTSC firmware would NOT install. This seems like a huge drawback to applying a firmware update if you're stuck with a PAL NVR! I believe PAL only works in 25 fps and with some odd resolution and frequency settings. Is it as simple as changing the camera settings to be compatible? I know the 25 fps is an option on the cameras, although I suspect there's little one can configure beyond that. A normal monitor works fine with the NVR, so the camera stream seems to be the only concern. Replacing several thousand dollars of cameras to work around a few hundred dollar NVR is obviously not an option.
Panasonic Camera compatibility
Prior to the firmware upgrade, I was operating the NVR in NTSC - and could never get the NVR to discover my cameras. The light on the camera config screen remained red, and I never saw any video of course. For better or worse, I standardized on the Panasonic outdoor dome IP camera line (primarily the WV-NW484s). I have about a dozen of them installed, and they work great via web browser. I still can't get my NVR to discover them, though. I use a 192.168.1/24 network on the front end (like most I suspect), and left the NVRs 10.1.1/24 network on the camera side (since that's how it came configured). I was able to view the cameras from a laptop on the 10.x segment, but the NVR would never discover them. I manually configured them in the configuration menu, of course (using custom settings and the Panasonic native settings), but could never get the green light on the camera config screen. I'm unclear whether this is related to the NTSC vs PAL issue - because they wouldn't discover while in NTSC mode. Does anyone who's worked on the Dahua NVRs have any pointers?
Thanks all!
PAL vs NTSC
Before I updated my firmware, the menu had an option to work in NTSC or PAL mode, which seemed like it may work around the format issues. After upgrading to the latest firmware, however, that option is no longer available. It is set in PAL mode only now, and the NTSC firmware would NOT install. This seems like a huge drawback to applying a firmware update if you're stuck with a PAL NVR! I believe PAL only works in 25 fps and with some odd resolution and frequency settings. Is it as simple as changing the camera settings to be compatible? I know the 25 fps is an option on the cameras, although I suspect there's little one can configure beyond that. A normal monitor works fine with the NVR, so the camera stream seems to be the only concern. Replacing several thousand dollars of cameras to work around a few hundred dollar NVR is obviously not an option.
Panasonic Camera compatibility
Prior to the firmware upgrade, I was operating the NVR in NTSC - and could never get the NVR to discover my cameras. The light on the camera config screen remained red, and I never saw any video of course. For better or worse, I standardized on the Panasonic outdoor dome IP camera line (primarily the WV-NW484s). I have about a dozen of them installed, and they work great via web browser. I still can't get my NVR to discover them, though. I use a 192.168.1/24 network on the front end (like most I suspect), and left the NVRs 10.1.1/24 network on the camera side (since that's how it came configured). I was able to view the cameras from a laptop on the 10.x segment, but the NVR would never discover them. I manually configured them in the configuration menu, of course (using custom settings and the Panasonic native settings), but could never get the green light on the camera config screen. I'm unclear whether this is related to the NTSC vs PAL issue - because they wouldn't discover while in NTSC mode. Does anyone who's worked on the Dahua NVRs have any pointers?
Thanks all!
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