Looking for camera recommendations for LaView LVN9808C8E NVR

[randomcam]

Hi,

I have a LaView NVR LVN9808C8E 8 Channel H.264 POE. It says up to 6MP resolution recording: 6MP/5MP/3MP/1080P/UXGA/720P/VGA/4CIF/DCIF/2CIF/CIF/QCIF
Not sure if that means per camera or total combined resolution.

Anyway, I have 3 laview cameras and want to add 5 more cameras. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for brands/models. I'm familiar with Dahua (have 2 Dahua NVRs), but it seems LaView uses Hikvision hardware??? If it really is Hikvision, I'm wondering if it is better to just buy Hikvision cameras instead of LaView branded cameras. I'm wondering if I buy Hikvision or Dahua cameras, will the features be limited instead of buying LaView. I'm interested in line crossing/tripwire type features, human AI detection, and also active deterrence type features (e.g., flash lights/sound siren if a person/not an animal detected if a pre-defined zone (e.g., Dahua TiOC series). It seems this NVR doesn't have a lot of AI type features. I'm not too clear on what happens if you buy an advanced camera with a lot of AI type features, but your NVR can't support them, is it wasting money? Or, perhaps is it a situation where I can use the NVR for just basic things like recording and can configure the camera directly to fully utilize all of its AI features? Guess I'm not clear on what I lose by using ONVIF compatible cameras versus the branded LaView camera.

Thanks for any clarification. Would appreciate any recommendations on models/brands / vendors.

 

[mat200]

Hi,

I have a LaView NVR LVN9808C8E 8 Channel H.264 POE. It says up to 6MP resolution recording: 6MP/5MP/3MP/1080P/UXGA/720P/VGA/4CIF/DCIF/2CIF/CIF/QCIF
Not sure if that means per camera or total combined resolution.

Anyway, I have 3 laview cameras and want to add 5 more cameras. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for brands/models. I'm familiar with Dahua (have 2 Dahua NVRs), but it seems LaView uses Hikvision hardware??? If it really is Hikvision, I'm wondering if it is better to just buy Hikvision cameras instead of LaView branded cameras. I'm wondering if I buy Hikvision or Dahua cameras, will the features be limited instead of buying LaView. I'm interested in line crossing/tripwire type features, human AI detection, and also active deterrence type features (e.g., flash lights/sound siren if a person/not an animal detected if a pre-defined zone (e.g., Dahua TiOC series). It seems this NVR doesn't have a lot of AI type features. I'm not too clear on what happens if you buy an advanced camera with a lot of AI type features, but your NVR can't support them, is it wasting money? Or, perhaps is it a situation where I can use the NVR for just basic things like recording and can configure the camera directly to fully utilize all of its AI features? Guess I'm not clear on what I lose by using ONVIF compatible cameras versus the branded LaView camera.

Thanks for any clarification. Would appreciate any recommendations on models/brands / vendors.

Hi @randomcam

Perhaps this is a good time to try Blue Iris and a PoE switch?

Remember, you need to match the cameras and NVRs with the same OEM as well as with the same features to get better functionality.

I do not recall the older LaView NVRs support some of the features you are mentioning.

 

[wittaj]

You can certainly use the NVR for basic recording and log into the camera gui directly to take advantage of the features of the camera.

What you lose is that a matched system (same brand cams and NVR) that are AI capable for example, you might be able to do searches based on the AI trigger. Say the NVR allows you to upload faces and you want to search by faces, you could do that if the camera and NVR are the same brand (and that is a feature of the NVR LOL).

With a different brand camera than the NVR, you are relying on the ONVIF compliant functions, so the NVR may be able to accept the trigger to record, but not populate the face for example. Or you might not be able to turn the siren or flashing lights on.

+1 on considering a Blue Iris/computer combo as an NVR. Keep in mind an NVR is a stripped down computer after all....and isn't true plug-n-play like people believe. You still have to dial the cameras into your setting. Once you do that, might as well go with something that has the best chance of working with many different camera brands. And I have found Blue Iris to be more robust and easier than an NVR. As always, YMMV...

Many of us purchase a refurbished computers that are business class computers that have come off lease. The one I bought I kid you not I could not tell that it was a refurbished unit - not a speck of dust or dents or scratches on it. It appeared to me like everything was replaced and I would assume just the motherboard with the intel processor is what was from the original unit. I went with the lowest end processor on the WIKI list as it was the cheapest and it runs my system fine. Could probably get going for $200 or so. A real NVR will cost more than that.

A member here just last month found a refurbished 4th generation for less than $150USD that came with Win10 PRO, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB drive. Blue Iris has a demo, so try it out on an existing computer and see if you like it. You can pull the cameras from the Laview NVR right into Blue Iris by simply adding in the IP address of the DVR in the camera IP address of Blue Iris and then down about halfway is a camera # and you just select the camera number to bring in.

There is a big Blue Iris or NVR debate here LOL. Some people love Blue Iris and think NVRs are clunky and hard to use and others think Blue Iris is clunky and hard to use. I have done both and prefer Blue Iris. As with everything YMMV...

And you can disable Windows updates and set up the computer to automatically restart in a power failure, and then you have a more powerful NVR with a nice mobile viewing interface.

 

[randomcam]

Thanks for the responses. So, it looks like if I want to use a non-LaView camera, I would probably have to rely on the camera itself instead of the LaView NVR to take advantage of things like AI features. I was hoping that maybe I could change the LaView NVR firmware to like a Hikvision firmware and use Hikvision cameras on it if the underlying LaView hardware is really Hikvision. Not sure if I want to mess with that in case I brick it. I'm more experienced w/ Dahua cameras/NVRs though. I forgot to mention that I also have like 7 indoor cameras (mix of Foscam, Wyze) where I'm just accessing them directly or via cloud.

So, I will likely exceed the 8 channels of the LaView NVR if I want to have all of my cameras on an NVR. So, maybe I should add a non-camera-vendor specific NVR like Blue Iris to help consolidate the different camera vendors. I do have a bunch of old servers, but I'm concerned about the resources needed by BI. I've also looked at Zoneminder. I'm comfortable w/ Linux, but a little hesitant if there is a steep learning curve. For me, there was a learning curve for the Dahua NVR (had issues w/ getting tripwire to notify me). Can anyone comment on the AI (person detection) features of BI or zoneminder? Wondering if they are better than the AI features that come with Dahua or Hikvision cameras.

 

[wittaj]

If you follow EVERY optimization wiki, you can get by with almost a bare boned server.

Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage

Blue Iris uses a lot of CPU time. In most Blue Iris installations, your CPU is the limiting factor which determines how many cameras you can have. As such, it is extremely important to optimize your configuration to ensure you can get the most out of your system while consuming the least...

ipcamtalk.com

See if you can piece together from your parts something like one of these units:

Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris

Buy refurbished. Don't build or buy new. The most cost-effective Blue Iris computers are refurbished business-class systems such as "HP EliteDesk" and "Dell OptiPlex". You can usually get a good deal by searching [URL='http://www.ebay.com/']Ebay[/URL] for specific CPU model numbers, and...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[Flintstone61]

Here's how I feel about my experiences with the limitations of packaged retail Nvr/dvr systems.