NVR Recommendations/compatibility

[mmmburritos]

I've been reading this forum for quite some time and I've learned a good amount about the Dahua cameras, but one thing I don't see a lot of talk about is the NVRs.

Is there a common Dahua NVR model that is the go-to recommendation for most people? In my case I've got a couple of the cheaper Chinese turret cameras (IPC-HDW4421C and a 4431C-A I think it is) and recently purchased a SD49225T-HN PTZ camera. I intend to add a couple more cameras in the future, but I don't ever see myself having more than 8.

For comparison sake, say I am looking at the 'lite' model NVR4108-8P-4KS2, this seems to cover all of the basics and would support H.265 and more than enough resolution for my current cameras. What would I get by moving up to something like the NVR5216-4KS2?

I'm not looking for someone to do all of my research for me, but I'd appreciate if someone could point out some of the key differences you get as you move up to the higher end models. Is it safe to assume that any current model Dahua NVR will support the PTZ functionality of my SD49225T-HN?

 

[mat200]

I'm still learning, and with all the reading I have been doing here I would think that you should take a closer look at Blue Iris as an option.

The NVRs are not perfect - I picked up a NVR5216-4KS2 with the POE ports - works well enough, however a number of us would like to see more frequent software / firmware updates - and that is not happening. Also a number of us have been experiencing some reboot issues which still need to be better addressed - I am still reading up on it - and have experienced a few reboots myself which has me wondering what is going on. You can read more about the NVR in the thread Dahua NVR5216-4KS2 / NVR5216-16P-4KS2

My impression is that you can have a better solution with a Blue Iris box - if you are willing to spend a little bit more than vs a NVR.

If you are on a tighter budget - I would only look at the 4K NVRs today - as during the life of the NVR you may find a good 4K camera you want to hook up to your system.

 

[mmmburritos]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've seen a lot of mentions of Blue Iris and it seems to be the superior option by all accounts, however I'm a little bit put off by having to run a full fledged PC 24/7 and a Windows one at that. I've also seen mention of needing some pretty beefy hardware, i5 or i7 processor and so on.

I think my needs are pretty simple, although they may grow over time. I've got a QNAP TS-212 which is pretty slow, I never got surveillance station to work right with my Dahua (it seemed to bog it down so bad at 4MP that it just crashed the application). So I currently have my 4421 mount it via NFS and write video and snapshots when motion triggered. This is somewhat clunky, the playback process unless I'm doing it wrong leaves a lot to be desired if I'm trying to look back for a particular event. Having to use the Dahua app and go through clip by clip is what I mean by clunky. I've also got a low power Linux server (J1900 processor, 16gb RAM) that already runs 24/7, it sounds like most of the Linux based NVR software is pretty poor though.

So the QNAP or Linux server solution are both mediocre at best, that's what got me looking at the Dahua NVRs, the idea is just to have something dedicated to the cameras nothing more. I'll probably throw in a decent size HD maybe 4TB or so and just have them record 24/7. If anything major happens I don't anticipate needing more than a few days of backlog to review. I live in a somewhat rural area, so I'm not very concerned with getting all kinds of email alerts and things like that. Although that might be all the more reason to setup some proper IVS rules or motion detection alerts as there is less chance of false alerts.

Do most people leave a monitor or TV connected to the NVR? The rebadged Hikvision NVR my dad has is pretty noisy to have in a living area and I expect the Dahua to not be much better. I've debated putting the NVR in the basement and running a long HDMI cable upstairs to a TV or monitor, but then I have to deal with keyboard/mouse and/or IR input if I want to control it.

 

[mat200]

..I've debated putting the NVR in the basement and running a long HDMI cable upstairs to a TV or monitor, but then I have to deal with keyboard/mouse and/or IR input if I want to control it.

Happy to help out.

The NVR I have does not seem to readily take a keyboard

The software appears to be designed for mouse and remote control use.

The unit I have is a bit noisy - thus I would recommend keeping it out of the bedrooms and your media center area ( where you watch movies and the like )
Some have replaced the fan/fans with other models which are quieter.

You do not have to have a monitor connected to it - it is nice to, I have an older LCD monitor attached to mine - and would consider running a long hdmi to the media center area ( large TV ) so I can easily switch to it if needed.

Also, the NVRs have a web interface which you can view also. So there are various ways to view the videos.

While I see a few areas the NVR I have need work, I also didn't want to get a new PC for Blue Iris, and thus it is an acceptable solution.