NVR16CH-16P-2AI Questions

captain_astronaut

captain_astronaut

n3wb
Dec 31, 2024
3
0
Los Angeles
I have some questions about the NVR16CH-16P-2AI 16. I only found a couple of reviews on this device and wanted to know of if others shared the same experiences of these reviewers? Perhaps there have been software/firmware improvements since these reviews were posted.


Good feature set, mediocre software implementation

This NVR works well with the EmpireTech IPC-Color4K series cameras I previously purchased as well as the Western Digital 14TB Purple hard drive. I interact with the NVR using its local interface - a wireless mouse and a 1080p monitor. The features are pretty good but the "fit and finish" and design of the UI leaves something to be desired. For example in the search feature, a color coded time-bar is shown for up to 4 channels. The colors represent alarm types as well as times when the channels are recording. At times these colors wash each other out and you can miss an alarm to review. There's nothing in the search feature that is sticky, meaning each time you enter the search screen you have to waste time getting it set back up the way you want it to operate. Another example is the external monitor. To switch between 1080p and 4k, you have to change a setting then reboot the NVR. Note that I didn't see any image improvement between 1080p and 4k even though my cameras are recording in 4k.

The NVR is a Dahua rebrand so the hardware and software design is 100% Chinese and is closed source. If you put this in your network make sure it's firewalled away from assets you don't want compromised and don't allow it unfettered access to the internet. Based on my firewall logs I haven't seen any evidence of bad behavior, but I'm not taking any chances due to past history of Chinese malfeasance.


Not for remote viewing

Setup was relatively easy. Prior to getting disks set up the "no disk" beep is annoying but that's a nit pick. Cams got found pretty quick and the local UI is relatively intuitive short of only one USB for the mouse and you have to hunt/click your way through passwords and getting CAPS is...odd.

The big ding on this system is the fact they include a Web based UI, but it's still using outdated tech (ActiveX) in order to provide the more useful functionality. EG: Want to watch multiple camera playback in sync with each other? Nope, gotta have Internet Explorer with their unsigned plugin to do that. No joke, I found some people that actually run Windows98 in a VM in order to use the WebUI properly.

Since that's my primary means for viewing (cam termination is in a closet) this goes back.


Thank you,
 
You are going to find there is no perfect system, but that is one of the go to systems and appears the reviewers don't want to put the time in for a better system and would prefer Ring and Nest lol.

Not sure what you are getting at.

Regarding the first review:

Most people will use the DMSS app on phone or SmartPSSLite for a Windows computer for viewing and what not.

That reviewer indicates they don't have a 4K monitor then of course the image will look the same for 1080P or 4K. And one shouldn't be arbitrarily changing resolution.

Best practice, regardless of who makes any IoT is to isolate it from your system and if possible not to give it access. Same recommendation would be made if it were made in the USA.

Regarding the 2nd review:

All the real heavy lifting is done within the web GUI which is done on a computer. Gives you more access to additional features and you get to use a real mouse and keyboard.

Most people use Pale Moon or Edge with the IE tab to access the web GUI. However, there are some cameras/features that may only show up with Internet Explorer, but it is still baked into all versions of Windows and is still available. That plug-in is far safer than any IoT you may have on your network.

So this reviewer says since that is his primary means of viewing, he returned it. Really? Many people here have the NVR in a closet or somewhere out of the way.

As I mentioned, after the initial setup of the system, day-to-day viewing is done with DMSS or SmartPSS or monitor hooked to HDMI cable.


But you will find regardless of who makes it, they all have the same or different quirks.

Just keep in mind that NONE of the better grade systems are true plug-n-play either. At a minimum you need to manually set shutter speeds.

If you want true plug-n-play simplicity, then just continue to go with one of the consumer brands - Ring, Arlo, Reolink, Nest, Blink, etc. They are true plug-n-play because those cameras all run on default/auto settings with very little, to no ability to change camera parameters. Just recognize nighttime motion quality will be poor.

Simply download their app and scan the camera QR code and you are up and running, with a better app experience also.

But their plug-n-play simplicity comes at a cost of nighttime performance and ability to customize stuff, but obviously many do not seem to care about that as those systems are popular and those consumer grade systems are a perfect fit for those that want simplicity and not having to learn how to use an NVR or other type of VMS system.
 
Both reviews show a lack of understanding of the equipment. They are worth exactly what you paid for them.

It is the go-to NVR at the moment and if you know what you're doing and are willing to spend more than 5 minutes learning it, AND your life doesnt revolve around consumer phone apps, its actually a great NVR
 
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The 1st reviewer is using a mouse and monitor and has no clue the web interface exists, let a phone app and desktop view/playback software SmartPSS Lite. Useless

The 2nd reviewer hasn't tried very hard. Using Pale Moon works on 99% of the NVR WEB UI features, as does MS Edge in IE Mode. There is 1 feature on playback that requires IE, though on newer FW I understand that is no longer needed.

My NVR is in the closet.

I manage it via my laptop, from my desk or 2000 miles away using the Web UI. No HDMI cable needed to manage it

I view Live/playback 99% of the time using the app or SmartPSS Lite on my laptop, again via the web UI, from my desk, my back porch, or a bar in lower Mozambique.

This is the Unit, EmpireTech rebrands it to sell here in the US
www.dahuasecurity.com

NVR5216-16P-EI - Dahua International

NVR5216-16P-EI
www.dahuasecurity.com www.dahuasecurity.com
 
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In addition, I have no idea where you are seeing those reviews, but so many times reviews on purchase sites are really operator error or naive to what it is they are looking at. Look how many wonderful reviews there are about Ring and Reolinks, yet most here are not going to recommend them and can point out why.

Spend some time looking that NVR up here and see how people are using it and look at the screenshots and videos and what not.
 
I agree with at least some of those review comments. I use smartPss for viewing and think it's much easier to use than either the native or web interface of the NVR. One glaring example is the event color bars are not visible on the NVR interface unless you stretch out the timeline. In smartPss there's a minimum color bar width so they're always visible. Where the NVR shines for me is in its rock-solid reliability. As good as smartPss is, it's far from perfect. BI has a bunch of viewing features that are way better, at the cost of a steeper learning curve, and a few things that are less good than smartPss. Running both at the same time I find myself viewing almost all the time with BI, but when wanting to home in on a small detail, I often go to smartPss after seeing the big picture on BI.
 
tigerwillow1 said:
I agree with at least some of those review comments. I use smartPss for viewing and think it's much easier to use than either the native or web interface of the NVR. One glaring example is the event color bars are not visible on the NVR interface unless you stretch out the timeline. In smartPss there's a minimum color bar width so they're always visible. Where the NVR shines for me is in its rock-solid reliability. As good as smartPss is, it's far from perfect. BI has a bunch of viewing features that are way better, at the cost of a steeper learning curve, and a few things that are less good than smartPss. Running both at the same time I find myself viewing almost all the time with BI, but when wanting to home in on a small detail, I often go to smartPss after seeing the big picture on BI.
Click to expand...

Note the first Review- I interact with the NVR using its local interface - a wireless mouse and a 1080p monitor

Thats the machine interface nobody should use except for initial setup.
The Web UI view is much better, and I agree SmartPSS even better yet.
 
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wittaj said:
let the record show that I didn't bring up BI but @tigerwillow1 did :lmao:
Click to expand...
Sounds like you owe me :). If I had to give up one of them today I'd keep the NVR. Since I can keep both, I'll use each one as it benefits me the most.
 
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You can run both, ( I Do) and compare and contrast. See what end up being your go to, when you have gotten used to both.
The NVR mobile app ( amcrest ViewPro) is stupid simple for the other person I share the house with.
I put Blue Iris on her phone, and her OCD couldn't handle an App with a red number tag ( Events/Alerts) reading in the 1000-2000 range.
She can't hear me when I say, "that's not 1000 alerts taking up space on your phone, its 1000 alerts from the BI system.
Vietengrish " oh yeah but don't like all the number"
make me worry and crazy......
phookmi
kill me now.
Scotty Beam me up.
IMG_4745.png
 
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Flintstone61 said:
You can run both, ( I Do) and compare and contrast. See what end up being your go to, when you have gotten used to both.
The NVR mobile app ( amcrest ViewPro) is stupid simple for the other person I share the house with.
I put Blue Iris on her phone, and her OCD couldn't handle an App with a red number tag ( Events/Alerts) reading in the 1000-2000 range.
She can't hear me when I say, "that's not 1000 alerts taking up space on your phone, its 1000 alerts from the BI system.
Vietengrish " oh yeah but don't like all the number"
make me worry and crazy......
phookmi
kill me now.
Scotty Beam me up.
View attachment 212187
Click to expand...
phookmi?
NO! phooku!
:lmao:
 
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Hey guys, I'm very new here but recently purchased the 8-CH model of this NVR along with 4x T54IR-ZE (5442-ZE) cams from Andy. There is still a lot to learn in how to make this system work the way I want it to, and it honestly hasn't been an intuitive experience, nor is it problem free. I'm still figuring stuff out daily, but sometimes it seems like it's 1 step forward and 3 back. Not a lot of the fine tuning is covered or even mentioned in the manuals, so I've been resorting to keyword searches here, in google, reddit, youtube etc.

I will say that the worst experience so far with this equipment is in fact the local web interface. I've tried it on Chrome and Edge, and it isn't useable for live stream or playback on either. I'll install the Pale Moon browser shortly and see if I can get the browser interface working any smoother - I've never heard of Pale Moon until reading this thread...

My installation is also in a closet (top cupboard in a kitchen actually), but I installed a monitor and wireless keyboard w trackpad up there since I had that stuff laying around - hopefully I wont need to use them. Playback is fast on DMSS, medium on PSSLite and absolutely impossible within the web browser. It's more of a 2-5 FPS kind of experience with frequent jitter, freezing, etc. Oddly the streams also take ages to load up as if there is a significant bandwidth bottleneck, but it's the same plugged in to Gbe ethernet or via wifi, so I'm not sure exactly what the issue is.

All of that said, being a total noob I can even question why is someone changing resolutions between FHD and 4K on an FHP monitor and expecting to see any kind of discernable difference in "quality". As for the browser complaints, I'm feeling it but it sounds like Pale Moon might be a fix and if not - there is PSS Lite, which is adequate, although AI searching doesn't seem to be working for me yet, nor is uniform through the various interfaces. Animal detect but no animal search? Animal results show vehicles? Not perfect, but it's pretty good at the same time.
 
So... Pale Moon also runs like trash. I've even ensured the browser is being forced to use the dedicated GPU. Very choppy, slow to respond and hangs. Is this typical? Loading up the interface and clicking on "Live" does nothing, it's just a black screen. Clicking "Fast Live" will populate the 4 channels but can take several seconds to get a picture up on screen, and then it's only a couple of frames per second. A car driving through the frame might be there for only a few frames before it's gone. Perhaps one every 20-30 ft, and the time counter jumps erratically. I'm on a laptop, but it's no slouch.

Win 11
Ryzen 7 6800H
Radeon RX 6850M XT
32 GB DDR5
2.5 Gbe Nic
2x 4TB NVMe
 
These types of issues are either network bottlenecks or hardware/computer issues.

Unlike streaming services, these cameras never buffer, so it is quick to show problems with one's system.

Now your computer is way better than mine and I don't experience it, so unless it is throttled with a slow ethernet card or wifi, I would look for a bottleneck somewhere.
 
I'm 450-650 Mbps via wifi between the NVR and laptop, or 1 Gbps via ethernet. PSSLite streams fine on the same computer with the same connection. Ethernet card is 2.5 Gbe gaming model which exceeds the capabilities of my home network and the WiFi card is an Intel 6E AX210 which is essentially the standard for performance WiFi cards in laptops.

Networking hardware is all brand new UniFi stuff. It's quick - and this is the only device showing any sort of 'lag'. I think it may be more to do with the application/browser than the datalink between the NVR and the laptop myself.
 
Current connection to internet
1737347065962.png

Current traffic from NVR to laptop 4x 2K streams via SmartPSS Lite ~32Mbit
1737347649591.png

Current traffic from NVR to laptop 4x 2K streams via Chrome web interface ~32Mbit
1737347851342.png

The issue seems to be software if ~32 Mbps is an expected stream rate for a 4 channel system? CPU usage was lower using Chrome, but performance was also substantially lower. Memory usage is a wash.
 
Confirm which model you have - what is the bandwidth capability of the NVR and how much are you using? There is a screen in the NVR to show that. Let's confirm you don't have a 40Mbps model.

Is this a POE NVR or are your cameras connected to a POE switch?

Are you using H264 or H265?
 
NVR Model
NVR8CH-8P-2AI - HW Ver: 1.0
System Ver: V4.005.0000000.2.R

1737350782258.png

It should be the 384 Mbps model (200 Mbps AI). I'm using H265 on all channels with the embedded POE switch. I don't see the page on the NVR that shows bandwidth, but it DOES have a gigabit NIC, so it should be much more than 40 Mbps.

All cams are connected directly to the NVR switch (Enhanced Mode is NOT enabled), the NVR is connected by gigabit ethernet directly to a UniFI Express AP, which is connected to a switch and then the router. Pretty standard home network. All APs are hardwired back to the switch so there isn't any mesh dependencies interfering with bandwidth to and from the Express.



1737351020825.png
 
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