FYI - LeChange / Dahua 8x 8MP/4K UHD IP PoE cameras + 16 channel port PoE NVR 2/3TB HDD $899 7/13/18

[mat200]

..
I have mine set to record all channels continuously and also record all IVS events, however I may re-visit that. I think it's a lot to ask for from the NVR to process all of that. ...

@mfish123

FYI -

The Cameras should be doing a major share of the compute when you have smarter cameras + the same brand NVR.

The cameras in this kit are good ones, which have significant compute power compared to lower end models. ( of course, there are even higher end models... but imho I think the cameras in this kit are very good for the value. )

The data from Dahua OEM API should be what the NVR picks up from the camera and then the NVR does it's share. While this will cause some load on the NVR ( or the Dahua VMS if you are using that ) the load should be significantly less than VMS products and NVRs which do not understand the proprietary Dahua API. ( same applies to Hikvision products ).

I like to keep all my cameras recording continuously, and get alerts / marks on the time line from IVS functions.

 

[SuperYellowTang]

Glad that got rid of the haze for you.

And actually I gave the Lechange app another whirl. I'm actually finding it more stable than gdmss. i suggest you give it a try. Lately gdmss has been freezing on me or if I stream the mainstream the video just stops streaming after a short amount of time. I cleared the cache and that didn't help. I'm not having these problems with the Lechange app. You actually can get the Lechange app to display more than 4 cameras - although its not very intuitive to figure out what the buttons do. Only real issue with it is if I switch to the main stream (they call it "HD) it fails the first time I try to load it but does work the 2nd time. Still better than the complete lock up or completely stopped streaming on gdmss. When viewing on a small phone screen the sub stream isn't that bad and loads much quicker. Both apps can do push notifications when they get an IVS trigger.

I have mine set to record all channels continuously and also record all IVS events, however I may re-visit that. I think it's a lot to ask for from the NVR to process all of that. Maybe video would be smoother and less apt to drop frames if I only do one or other. If I had to chose, I would chose to only record IVS since its pretty useless to watch endless hours of continual recording to see if anything worth noting actually happened.

For IVS (in the web interface setup) there is a "post record" setting where you can increase the amount of seconds after IVS is triggered that it records. I wish there was also a "pre record setting" (although the NVR would have to really be recording continuously for a feature like that to work) as sometimes I think there is a bit of a delay between when IVS is triggered and when the recording starts. Maybe if I turn off constant recording that will get rid of that as I'm sure the hard drive and processor has a heck of a time recording 8 channels continuously and then on top of it is being asked to trigger recording instantly when it detects and IVS trigger.

I think I know why I can't gdmss. I am running the latest Android Pie version so the app might not ready for it yet. I tried gdmss on an older Android device with older OS and it is working fine. I like to have it record continously and also record IVS event but you can always check to see when something happening.

 

[SuperYellowTang]

@mfish123

FYI -

The Cameras should be doing a major share of the compute when you have smarter cameras + the same brand NVR.

The cameras in this kit are good ones, which have significant compute power compared to lower end models. ( of course, there are even higher end models... but imho I think the cameras in this kit are very good for the value. )

The data from Dahua OEM API should be what the NVR picks up from the camera and then the NVR does it's share. While this will cause some load on the NVR ( or the Dahua VMS if you are using that ) the load should be significantly less than VMS products and NVRs which do not understand the proprietary Dahua API. ( same applies to Hikvision products ).

I like to keep all my cameras recording continuously, and get alerts / marks on the time line from IVS functions.

@mat200, Do you know if there is the firmware update for the LeChange kit from Dahua?

 

[mfish123]

So I've learned some things in playing with settings. My mainstream video was "choppy" and skipped frames both viewing live on the NVR, smartpss and web interface as well as recorded video. Also, my snapshots often had the bottom half cut off. These settings fixed it.

1. Definitely do this - Not sure if this is a default setting or something I changed but in the storage settings --> schedule, snapshots tab make sure to de-select continuous. I believe with this selected it was taking snapshots on all channels, every 10 seconds bogging down the NVR. Now I only have IVS selected for snap shots. That completely fixed my cut off IVS triggered snapshots and makes the video smoother with reduced (maybe even no) skipped frames. Be sure to change for all active channels.

2. This may not be optimal as there are multiple variables to test but is an improvement over my previous settings. These settings are the worst for conserving hard drive space but good for smooth video, not loosing frames and full snapshots. Originally I was using H.265, smart codec on, and VBR with max resolution and max frame rate. I don't think IVS and smart codec play nice so I'm 99% sure both should not be enabled simultaneously. I'm now using H.264H, smart codec off, CBR, max resolution and max frame rate and notice an improvement in smoothness. Also, with the old settings the mainstream took longer to load in gdmss and in the lechange app I'd have to try twice in a row to get the mainstream to load. Now mainstream loads much faster in gdmss and loads the first time in the lechange app. I'm pretty certain I'm going to leave smart codec off, since I use IVS, no matter what. When I have more time I'll play with VBR vs. CBR and H.264H vs. H.265 to see if I can maintain the improvements and save some storage space. Maybe just disabling smart codec was what really made the improvement? Also, I may only just play with VBR vs. CBR, because - Look closely at video quality of H.264H vs. H.265. On my front yard cam that see's the road, the pavement was a bit more pixelated with H.265 and looked better with H.264H - that's with smart codec off. Conversely with smart codec on, I found the H.265 video quality slightly better. At the end of the day, lot's of possible setting combos to methodically compare. Worst case, if the settings I have are best for smoothness I'll just buy a bigger or additional hard drive.

Other tips I had already implemented and seem to be best practices

- For encoding make sure main stream settings for continuous, MD, and alarm are all exactly the same.
- Probably best to disable able sub stream 2. Even if it is enabled I can't seem to access sub stream 2 resolutions from the mobile apps so I see no point to make the NVR work harder. When I have time, I'll try disabling sub stream 1 and only enabling sub stream 2 and see how that behaves
- In general only enable the features you need and use. Pretty sure the more you enable, the more you over work the CPU, GPU and hard drive leading worse video performance. Less is more!
- System ---> general date & time tab: I've heard if the time gets out of sync the NVR acts screwy. Make sure you have the correct time zone selected. Setup DST properly. And enable NTP. I recommend an interval of "1" for the ntp so that it frequently updates and keeps your time accurate.
- In storage --> scheduling I highly recommend my suggestion above about snapshots. As far as the recording I only have continuous and IVS enabled.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ubiware]

So I've learned some things in playing with settings. My mainstream video was "choppy" and skipped frames both viewing live on the NVR, smartpss and web interface as well as recorded video. Also, my snapshots often had the bottom half cut off. These settings fixed it.

1. Definitely do this - Not sure if this is a default setting or something I changed but in the storage settings --> schedule, snapshots tab make sure to de-select continuous. I believe with this selected it was taking snapshots on all channels, every 10 seconds bogging down the NVR. Now I only have IVS selected for snap shots. That completely fixed my cut off IVS triggered snapshots and makes the video smoother with reduced (maybe even no) skipped frames. Be sure to change for all active channels.

2. This may not be optimal as there are multiple variables to test but is an improvement over my previous settings. These settings are the worst for conserving hard drive space but good for smooth video, not loosing frames and full snapshots. Originally I was using H.265, smart codec on, and VBR with max resolution and max frame rate. I don't think IVS and smart codec play nice so I'm 99% sure both should not be enabled simultaneously. I'm now using H.264H, smart codec off, CBR, max resolution and max frame rate and notice an improvement in smoothness. Also, with the old settings the mainstream took longer to load in gdmss and in the lechange app I'd have to try twice in a row to get the mainstream to load. Now mainstream loads much faster in gdmss and loads the first time in the lechange app. I'm pretty certain I'm going to leave smart codec off, since I use IVS, no matter what. When I have more time I'll play with VBR vs. CBR and H.264H vs. H.265 to see if I can maintain the improvements and save some storage space. Maybe just disabling smart codec was what really made the improvement? Also, I may only just play with VBR vs. CBR, because - Look closely at video quality of H.264H vs. H.265. On my front yard cam that see's the road, the pavement was a bit more pixelated with H.265 and looked better with H.264H - that's with smart codec off. Conversely with smart codec on, I found the H.265 video quality slightly better. At the end of the day, lot's of possible setting combos to methodically compare. Worst case, if the settings I have are best for smoothness I'll just buy a bigger or additional hard drive.

Other tips I had already implemented and seem to be best practices

- For encoding make sure main stream settings for continuous, MD, and alarm are all exactly the same.
- Probably best to disable able sub stream 2. Even if it is enabled I can't seem to access sub stream 2 resolutions from the mobile apps so I see no point to make the NVR work harder. When I have time, I'll try disabling sub stream 1 and only enabling sub stream 2 and see how that behaves
- In general only enable the features you need and use. Pretty sure the more you enable, the more you over work the CPU, GPU and hard drive leading worse video performance. Less is more!
- System ---> general date & time tab: I've heard if the time gets out of sync the NVR acts screwy. Make sure you have the correct time zone selected. Setup DST properly. And enable NTP. I recommend an interval of "1" for the ntp so that it frequently updates and keeps your time accurate.
- In storage --> scheduling I highly recommend my suggestion above about snapshots. As far as the recording I only have continuous and IVS enabled.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the info!

I bought the 4 camera system when the sale was going on. However, I only have two cameras installed at the moment. The wide FOV is good enough to cover most of my property for the time being. I have been playing around with various settings as well because I have intermittently been getting ghost target squares going down the road. I was freaked out by this initially, but I noticed choppy playback around the same time when trying to review the footage. I am hopeful that turning off the continuous snapshot option will resolve the issue.

Thanks again for sharing your settings. This is definitely a learning process and it is good to see that I am not the only one having fun with all the fine tuning!

 

[mfish123]

Thanks for the info!

I bought the 4 camera system when the sale was going on. However, I only have two cameras installed at the moment. The wide FOV is good enough to cover most of my property for the time being. I have been playing around with various settings as well because I have intermittently been getting ghost target squares going down the road. I was freaked out by this initially, but I noticed choppy playback around the same time when trying to review the footage. I am hopeful that turning off the continuous snapshot option will resolve the issue.

Thanks again for sharing your settings. This is definitely a learning process and it is good to see that I am not the only one having fun with all the fine tuning!

You're welcome. I hope you notice an improvement. Let me know me know how you make out after "turning the knobs"!

 

[ip_poe]

Does anyone know when these orders are supposed to ship? Mine is still in back-order

Still waiting on mine, it's been 6 weeks now :-/ I've asked their customer service twice and they have no idea, they only claim that they're still waiting on it from the manufacturer. They said they would sent a request for an ETA but I never heard back. I'm getting restless because winter is coming, but unfortunately nothing has come close to the deal since it posted.

I'm hoping it's not a one-and-done shipment, but for them to not have a new shipment yet is concerning.

 

[Ubiware]

Still waiting on mine, it's been 6 weeks now :-/ I've asked their customer service twice and they have no idea, they only claim that they're still waiting on it from the manufacturer. They said they would sent a request for an ETA but I never heard back. I'm getting restless because winter is coming, but unfortunately nothing has come close to the deal since it posted.

I'm hoping it's not a one-and-done shipment, but for them to not have a new shipment yet is concerning.

It's definitely a feature rich dvr system (especially for the sale price). I am assuming that you ordered online and do not have a Fry's close by. I suspect that the retail locations are separate from the online store. A couple of stores in my area have the DVR in stock. Perhaps it would be worth asking about.

 

[SuperYellowTang]

So I've learned some things in playing with settings. My mainstream video was "choppy" and skipped frames both viewing live on the NVR, smartpss and web interface as well as recorded video. Also, my snapshots often had the bottom half cut off. These settings fixed it.

1. Definitely do this - Not sure if this is a default setting or something I changed but in the storage settings --> schedule, snapshots tab make sure to de-select continuous. I believe with this selected it was taking snapshots on all channels, every 10 seconds bogging down the NVR. Now I only have IVS selected for snap shots. That completely fixed my cut off IVS triggered snapshots and makes the video smoother with reduced (maybe even no) skipped frames. Be sure to change for all active channels.

2. This may not be optimal as there are multiple variables to test but is an improvement over my previous settings. These settings are the worst for conserving hard drive space but good for smooth video, not loosing frames and full snapshots. Originally I was using H.265, smart codec on, and VBR with max resolution and max frame rate. I don't think IVS and smart codec play nice so I'm 99% sure both should not be enabled simultaneously. I'm now using H.264H, smart codec off, CBR, max resolution and max frame rate and notice an improvement in smoothness. Also, with the old settings the mainstream took longer to load in gdmss and in the lechange app I'd have to try twice in a row to get the mainstream to load. Now mainstream loads much faster in gdmss and loads the first time in the lechange app. I'm pretty certain I'm going to leave smart codec off, since I use IVS, no matter what. When I have more time I'll play with VBR vs. CBR and H.264H vs. H.265 to see if I can maintain the improvements and save some storage space. Maybe just disabling smart codec was what really made the improvement? Also, I may only just play with VBR vs. CBR, because - Look closely at video quality of H.264H vs. H.265. On my front yard cam that see's the road, the pavement was a bit more pixelated with H.265 and looked better with H.264H - that's with smart codec off. Conversely with smart codec on, I found the H.265 video quality slightly better. At the end of the day, lot's of possible setting combos to methodically compare. Worst case, if the settings I have are best for smoothness I'll just buy a bigger or additional hard drive.

Other tips I had already implemented and seem to be best practices

- For encoding make sure main stream settings for continuous, MD, and alarm are all exactly the same.
- Probably best to disable able sub stream 2. Even if it is enabled I can't seem to access sub stream 2 resolutions from the mobile apps so I see no point to make the NVR work harder. When I have time, I'll try disabling sub stream 1 and only enabling sub stream 2 and see how that behaves
- In general only enable the features you need and use. Pretty sure the more you enable, the more you over work the CPU, GPU and hard drive leading worse video performance. Less is more!
- System ---> general date & time tab: I've heard if the time gets out of sync the NVR acts screwy. Make sure you have the correct time zone selected. Setup DST properly. And enable NTP. I recommend an interval of "1" for the ntp so that it frequently updates and keeps your time accurate.
- In storage --> scheduling I highly recommend my suggestion above about snapshots. As far as the recording I only have continuous and IVS enabled.

Hope this helps!

wow. Those are very good tips. I noticed that the snapshot setting is set for continuous. Even though I can't set up the snapshot to work and not knowing to set it up, I turn it off already
I follow your new setting, the Lechange app connected to the cameras right away.
I've tried to removed the Lechange app and reinstall it back but I still can't get push notification to my phone anymore.
Is push notification setting coming from the NVR, webbase or the Lechange app?
In the Lechange app, I have enabled motion detected in the alarm section like you told me.
NVR, SmartPSS, and Web i make sure that motion detected is checked also. It's very strange.

 

[gregbert]

The mention of LeChange makes me shiver.

The mention of Frys makes me shiver.
Actually I do shop there since there's one across the street from work. But I never buy stuff from them which has a rebate. Tons of failures.

 

[Ubiware]

Here are internal pics. Maybe the Dahau gurus can now figure out what NVR this is equivalent too.

The fan in the PSU is loud as hell. I took the fan out of the psu and turned it on and its not as loud. Pretty sure the grates behind the fan add additional wind noise. I'm seriously contemplating cutting those out. I'm also researching replacement fans that may be quieter. And may even look into replacing the PSU out right.

Or I might stick the NVR in a closet. The wires actually come in from the knee wall through the back of the closet so it wouldn't be that hard to relocate it. i do have an AC plug in the closet too. I'll then just need a longer usb wire for the mouse and HDMI cable.

I've also seem some guy unplug the PSU fan and then cut a whole in the top of the NVR and put a bigger 80 mm above it. A bigger fan means it doesn't have to spin as fast and should be quieter.

Still weighing my options....

Hi Mfish,
Were you ever able to determine if the nvr is a NVR4216-16P-4KS2 or an NVR5216-16P-4KS2? I just picked up the 16 channel 8 camera package from Fry's yesterday that is on sale again.

The 8 channel, 4 camera version that I have has been working smoothly after making the tweaks that you recommended. I will probably sell that kit if I decide to keep the one with the larger nvr.

Thanks!

 

[Ubiware]

Hello all,

I got an answer from support on this one. The Lechange units from Fry's are definitely lite versions.

"The LeChange NK168P083 is comparable to the Dahua NVR4216-16P-4KS2, which is a Lite Series unit.”

 

[bargaindeal]

Hi guys,

When you guys first connected the nvr, did you guys use tv(cdmi) or monitor(vga)? I don't have a vga monitor at the moment, but when I connect the hdmi to tv, there is no connection. I don't even see the source. what lights turn on on your nvr? my status and power lights are the only ones on, the net and hdd is off. Do i have a lemon? I connected using the weblink, changed password, changed the display setting to the highest setting, still doesn't work on my tv, it's like getting no signal from hdmi. I would love to get this fix, is there any way to enable the hdmi connection without a vga monitor?

did you guys get junction boxes for the cameras?

 

[looney2ns]

Hi guys,

When you guys first connected the nvr, did you guys use tv(cdmi) or monitor(vga)? I don't have a vga monitor at the moment, but when I connect the hdmi to tv, there is no connection. I don't even see the source. what lights turn on on your nvr? my status and power lights are the only ones on, the net and hdd is off. Do i have a lemon? I connected using the weblink, changed password, changed the display setting to the highest setting, still doesn't work on my tv, it's like getting no signal from hdmi. I would love to get this fix, is there any way to enable the hdmi connection without a vga monitor?

did you guys get junction boxes for the cameras?

You need to set the resolution to the same as your TV. If it's too high, it won't display.

 

[bargaindeal]

You need to set the resolution to the same as your TV. If it's too high, it won't display.

I did. I login using the weblink. But there's no signal. When I press source on my Samsung TV, there's not even an option to click on that HDMI connection.

Also, how are the lights on the nvr? My status light and per light are the only ones turned on, not hdd or web.

 

[Ubiware]

I did. I login using the weblink. But there's no signal. When I press source on my Samsung TV, there's not even an option to click on that HDMI connection.

Also, how are the lights on the nvr? My status light and per light are the only ones turned on, not hdd or web.

The same thing happened to me when I tried to connect the nvr to my TV. I ended up connecting it directly to my PC monitor with a VGA cable. I set the resolution, then connected it back to my TV and it worked fine.

 

[bargaindeal]

The same thing happened to me when I tried to connect the nvr to my TV. I ended up connecting it directly to my PC monitor with a VGA cable. I set the resolution, then connected it back to my TV and it worked fine.

i connected to a vga monitor, it worked. tried changing all the resolution. none of them worked. I changed to 1920x1080 and connected to 4k tv, no signal. thinking of either sending in for warranty repair or just return it altogether. Not sure if something goes wrong down the line. How's the quality on nvr, supposedly it's dahua's nvr?

 

[looney2ns]

i connected to a vga monitor, it worked. tried changing all the resolution. none of them worked. I changed to 1920x1080 and connected to 4k tv, no signal. thinking of either sending in for warranty repair or just return it altogether. Not sure if something goes wrong down the line. How's the quality on nvr, supposedly it's dahua's nvr?

Have you tried a different HDMI cable?

 

[bargaindeal]

yes, i believe i tried all different combinations, 3 hdmi cables, 3 tvs, using vga monitor, 3 different hdmi ports on tv. Nothing, no signal. I believe one of the camera is kind of off also, a little off color.

on a side note, i was playing with the software and the labels on some of the cameras are different (time and camera label); some have smaller font, some with non-white labels, is there anywhere I could change this setting? I can't find it anywhere on the nvr software. Thanks in advance

 

[looney2ns]

yes, i believe i tried all different combinations, 3 hdmi cables, 3 tvs, using vga monitor, 3 different hdmi ports on tv. Nothing, no signal. I believe one of the camera is kind of off also, a little off color.

on a side note, i was playing with the software and the labels on some of the cameras are different (time and camera label); some have smaller font, some with non-white labels, is there anywhere I could change this setting? I can't find it anywhere on the nvr software. Thanks in advance

Those settings must be set in each camera, not the NVR.