Hikvision NVR: Attached Email Images Distorted/ Obscured

[Fulcrum45]

Hi All,

Apologies off the top- this is my first post here and I'm rather new to the IP Camera world. Long story short I have a Hikvision NVR working with a few Hikvision IP Cameras and my email alerts are working fine. My only problem is the images attached come in distorted (See attached). Is this likely an issue with my mail service? Or is there a setting somewhere that I'm missing? I read somewhere that the sub-stream settings may have an effect on this but I haven't had any luck with that.

NVR: Hikvision DS 7608NI-E2/8P (firmware: v3.4.2 bld 160205)

IP Cam:Hikvision DS-2CD2132F-I (firmware: v5.4.0 bld 160530)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've Googled everywhere but it seems like the primary obstacle for most people is getting the emails in the first place

**EDIT** Here's the image I receive as an email attachment.

 

[triumph202]

The picture attached won't work for me....

 

[Fastb]

Fulcrum45,
Welcome to the forum!
I wouldn't like that image either.
This is what I get:

 

[Fulcrum45]

Thanks, Fastb. Perhaps I should have embedded that image into my post instead of attaching it. I have just edited my first post to display the image as well. As you can see it's not "distorted" exactly but certainly unusable. I'm just wondering if there is a setting I should look at or if it's just an issue with my mail server (MS Exchange). I appreciate everyone for their time.

 

[zero-degrees]

Thanks, Fastb. Perhaps I should have embedded that image into my post instead of attaching it. I have just edited my first post to display the image as well. As you can see it's not "distorted" exactly but certainly unusable. I'm just wondering if there is a setting I should look at or if it's just an issue with my mail server (MS Exchange). I appreciate everyone for their time.

Still doesn't work - now it says can't be displayed becuase the file contains errors...

 

[Fulcrum45]

Still doesn't work - now it says can't be displayed becuase the file contains errors...

Oh, it's got errors alright- just not sure why it wont post here Let me try to attach it again and point to the URL in this post. I appreciate everyone's patience.

 

[zero-degrees]

Still broke.

Open it on your phone, then do a screen capture on your phone and upload that. Should be a round about way so we see what you do

 

[Fulcrum45]

Ok, here's a different photo uploaded via my phone. All of my email attachments appear this way: I get a time stamp and a little of the top portion of the pic and that's about it- the rest is dead space.

 

[zero-degrees]

does everything display and work properly when viewing/replaying locally on the device?

 

[Fulcrum45]

does everything display and work properly when viewing/replaying locally on the device?

Yes, sir. Live view, playback and even snapshots taken from the camera itself display properly.

 

[triumph202]

Yes, sir. Live view, playback and even snapshots taken from the camera itself display properly.

So it's okay on the NVR or you referring to using the web app logged into the camera itself? From what I've read it's the substream that is used for Email pics- so check your substream is okay on both.

(I had one camera that the NVR kept saying "Substream is wrong bit rate or resolution." I couldn't access the substream on the NVR but logged into the camera it was fine. I ended up resetting both NVR and that camera to factory defaults and now it's working.)

 

[Fulcrum45]

So it's okay on the NVR or you referring to using the web app logged into the camera itself? From what I've read it's the substream that is used for Email pics- so check your substream is okay on both.

(I had one camera that the NVR kept saying "Substream is wrong bit rate or resolution." I couldn't access the substream on the NVR but logged into the camera it was fine. I ended up resetting both NVR and that camera to factory defaults and now it's working.)

On both the NVR and the Web App the main-stream and sub-stream appear OK. I haven't seen any errors in regard to to the bit rate or resolution but I'll check that that out and let you know. I have a theory that since it's event driven it could be trying to cut over to Event Mainstream as well? Almost as though it doesn't give itself enough time to adjust the streams when this happens and thus we get half "half photos". Wasn't able to look at it today but I'll give it a look tomorrow.

 

[Fulcrum45]

Update: So I decided to take a camera off the NVR (and it's subnet) and have the camera send pictures directly to my mail server. They come in crystal clear. This seems to point at an issue with the NVR's firmware but since I'm thinking I have a European Region model I don't want to go and just update the firmware in fear of bricking the thing. I've reached out to Hikvision (overseas) in regards to this so we'll see. Speaking of regions, is this a common issue with Hikvision? I'm in the States but the NewEgg distributor (not NewEgg themselves) sent me another region. When I called Hikvision USA they couldn't find my serial number and said it was most likely for a different region. What gives?

 

[triumph202]

I did the opposite and bought locally for the tech support/ warranty should things go wrong. I then went to the local Hikvision website and there is absolutely no firmware upgrades for my NVR, so I tried the European firmware and got locked out (didn't recognise password.) I got it unlocked by contacting my supplier, but he said I shouldn't have tried the O/S firmware as they're region specific. So you buy locally for support and there aren't any firmware upgrades or you risk buying O/S but can get firmware! You can't win (at least in Australia.)

I'm sticking with the O/S firmware as it's a lot better than my original (which refused to let you view more than one camera when playing back footage.)

Perhaps try resetting your NVR and adding that camera again? I haven't tried the Email function as mine isn't networked to the internet. There's also a post on here that shows you how to decode the serial/ model number on Hikvision products- you could try that and then might be able to work out the best firmware to try? Also contact your seller first and see if they can generate the unlock file if the worst happens.