I have a LaView system with 16 cameras. The NVR has many issues in the GUI (flickering, sticky keys, etc.). I have ordered two new NVRs, a Hikvision and an Empiretech. The more I read online the more I understand how important is to match the vendor for camera and NVR. In my case the winner should be Hikvision because LaView was their rebrand. But I want to check if I can pull off using Andy's Empiretech. I messaged him and he also mentioned that things may not work well with unmatched cameras. My cameras are 1080p, they code in H264, and except motion detection, they don't seem have any other special features. But I would like some expert's opinion here on what is the best way to check for compatibility and mismatched before I return one of the NVRs and keep the other? Your thoughts are appreciated.
More background info:
Thank you.
More background info:
- I have all passwords for my cameras and can probably move them easily to a new NVR without painful resetting.
- Everyone says Hikvision is supposed to be the best, but I tried to use their iVMS software (2 of the many variants they provide) and sometimes has some weird flickering it faulty overlays of the GUI similar to my broken NVR. The Hikvision brand cannot even pull a decent add without multiple mistakes in English (like writing "angel" instead of "angle" on an official ad). This makes me think they are doing a shitty job generally.
- Also, looks like nobody officially sells Hikvision NVRs in the USA anymore. There is only some "international versions" on Amazon, sold by shady Chinese companies. No support offered, and they are probably lying when promising any warranty or support. Hikvision does not support anything sold on Amazon anyway. So, being stuck with a semi-reputable brand just because I have some old Chinese cameras does not seem a good investment. Hikvision has also the reputation of having backdoors and trying to contact Chinese servers, which makes most people block their internet access.
- More info: I am not checking the cameras often and don't care much for motion detection. I used to set all cameras to record continuously on my two HDDs (8Tb and 2Tb), but recently put all to motion only in the hope of fixing the LaView NVR gui issues. I don't plan to use the NVR to get notifications either. But who knows, if the new system is good enough to stop thinking every raindrop constitutes motion, I may use it more. For now, I just need a decent future proof NVR that I can use to do smart search by frame region if something happens in a specific portion of a camera.
Thank you.
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