Plug and play NVR - is there such a thing?

[CamNewb1985]

I'm trying to avoid making more of a science project out of my security system thank it already is, and so asking for advice in choosing an NVR that will be reasonable to setup and reliable. I have (had) cameras 1, 2 below somewhat workign with Surveillence Station but the settings don't seem to stick for more than a few days and the overall perfomance is crap.
I have 2 cameras:
1) Hikvision 4MP IP Camera DS-2CD1143G0-I, 2.8MM
2) one of these

https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Security-30xOptical-Detection-AT-500PE20/dp/B0828BP186

Described as Outdoor 5MP PTZ IP POE Onvif RTSP Support AT-500PE20
3) one I haven't bought yet but need, cause only 2 cameras supported by SS and I'm not throwing more money at Synology.

Brand wise I guess I'm leaning toward Hikvision NVR but I can't establish whether the ONVIF PTZ camera will play nice with any NVR.

Advice and recommendations please. (yes, I know I screwed the pooch by not going with a single brand system)

 

[Mark_M]

Plug 'n play for an NVR relies on the cameras being the same brand as well.

Setting up ONVIF takes a bit of effort and likely networking knowledge. The POE ports on the back of NVRs often isolate devices from one-another. So sometimes trying to login to the camera directly is a pain.
An NVR with separate POE switch solves that problem but then you have the next issue of it not becoming plug and play to setup separated networks.


Absolute plug and play is the same brand of everything. As soon as you go cheap out on something it will take a bit of effort.

 

[wittaj]

Nothing in this arena is true plug-n-play if quality and able to IDENTIFY is important.

All cameras need to be dialed in to the field of view. Even the best cameras left on default will result in motion blur and ghosting at night.

If you want true plug-n-play and do not care about nighttime motion quality, then 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. Their plug-n-play simplicity comes at a cost of nighttime performance, but obviously many do not seem to care about that as those systems are popular.

If you want to mix and match brands, then your best bet is Blue Iris.

 

[Flintstone61]

I have a 16 Ch DVR( HIK)Nightowl- running at the Condo property, and a BI machine with 18 cams. After spending time with both, reviewing " footage" to give the Police, or solving " who dunnit's" for the home owners association, I can say it's faster and more convenient to go backwards in time thru the cams on BI than thru a NVR/DVR interface. If it's " all quiet on the Western Front" at your camera location, maybe an NVR isn't so bad. But in my setting at work, I would choose to manage the BI machine over the DVR/NVR for it's review speed. and heads up, cascading display of latest motion events.

I have that PTZ under another name brand in a 2MP version. ( JideTech) optical quality is sharp. User interface is sparse. It's crap for anything except being a static Cam at the Condo. So it's now just recording motion events in BI. Occasionally I will manually turn it but at the end of the day, I learned I really didn't have use for a PTZ at the Condo. Just well placed Static cams.


At home i'm running an Amcrest Xvr that plays well with Blue Iris. Not much happens here at the house as far as crime. I put the system in to appease the Homeowner, who has to keep up with the Nguyen Dynasty (The Joneses) that is her Wifi NVR wielding Cousins.
So knowing nothing 3 years ago we bought the Nightowl ( Hik) OEM 8 channel bane of my existance DVR. What a piece of shit. I can only say that looking backwards. know that I knoe the industry a little better. I would not do the same. No More HIK for me.
I like that i can have the simple function of the Amcrest XVR, yet also port those streams to BI on my Desktop computer. I was able to add the Amcrest doorbell thru Blue Iris, and I'm not sure I could have done that with the XVR.


So I've begun following the wisdom of the herd here with the Dahua cams that I saw reviewed here, and watched a lot of threads, and have been pretty happy with my 2 and 4 MP Ball / turret cams with optical zoom. ( and audio)
Going forward I will only be getting cams with audio.
I don't know how many times, the sound from a camera has alerted me to action happening outside. Someties it's nothing, Sometimes It means I gotta go to the Front door whether it be home or Work. heres the 2Mp PTZ shot. not horrible.

 

[wittaj]

I found with DVR/NVRs that I had over an 8-10 year span before I moved to BI that I was more reactive with an NVR, meaning I only looked at the footage LONG AFTER something happened like a neighbor asking if my cams caught anything. The false triggers and pulling up the slow interface and what not just got too time consuming so I could go months without looking at it. Most people I know turn off notifications from their NVR because they are just too many.

With BI - I only get notifications for actual events - not shadows, leaves, rain, etc. I am notified BEFORE someone comes to my door. In addition to knowing IF someone came close to my house in the middle of the night, in literally less than 30 seconds I can scrub the entire nighttime videos for anything unusual. It could take longer than that just to key in the search parameters on the NVR....and then wait and wait and wait...

I have found the customization to set up motion triggering events to be much more granular with BI than an NVR.

Granted much of my experience was before AI came into the NVRs, but even before that, I had my motion detection down in BI to not give me false triggers. Could never get anywhere close to that with the NVR.

 

[wittaj]

I got into cameras about 14 years ago or so and started with the all-in-one box kits.

So I have experienced the DVR, NVR and Blue Iris route. Many on this site run an NVR and Blue Iris. Some run just Blue Iris and love it. Some run NVRs and love it. Comes down to personal preference.

I have had whatever the NVR operating system is running on go out. TWICE. Got to buy a whole new NVR - TWICE

I have had the ethernet port go out on an NVR. Got to buy a whole new NVR.

I had the HDMI port go out on an NVR. Got to buy a whole new NVR.

An NVR is simply a stripped down computer, but without the ability to swap out components when they go bad (or at least very easily)

So in my BI Computer, at least if the SSD goes out, I can just replace it. If the ethernet card goes out, I can just replace it. If the HDMI port goes out, I can just replace it. etc. You can replace computer components much easier than NVR components. And all NVRs are not created equal and once you cost out one that is capable, a used business class computer and Blue Iris is cheaper...

One of my prior NVR systems needed internet access for its app to work. They can be hacked as well.

I do not see myself over going back to solely an NVR!

 

[Flintstone61]

There are folks who are more content with the NVR track. set it forget it.
Yeah, my Housemate asked me to turn off the notifications on the 1st recorder we had on day 2.
( Cosctco Nightowl 8ch) Hell, even if you responded to the notification, the iPhone App may or may not even load the event.
Super annoying after all the crawling around under the roof laying cable. It felt like a waste to have to turn something off after all the bullshit installing it.
I havent played with the Blue Iris iPhone app too much. I cannot afford interuptions from mulitple notifications a day from home, I need to listen for calls and texts on the job. I certainly would go bonkers from the hundreds and hundreds of motions a day at the Condo.
I'm gonna continue being stuck with both for awhile as the Condo has legacy Coax camera's in play still.
And at home, still have both. Last week I went skiing in Jackson Hole Wyoming, and because of Murphy's law of reboots after a Windows update ( i forgot to login and jumped on an Airplane, but BI ran as a service but somehow I lost the feed to the App) , Although the Amcrest App was visible from Wyoming, and at one point the girls were texting me that the internet was down. SO much for Apps.

Nature always sides with the hidden flaw
Corollary: The hidden flaw never stays hidden for long.
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

 

[observant1]

I have two licenses for BI 4 & 5 I play with it when i can. I have a knockoff hikvision at my home. The simplisity of a plug and play is all i need. I have a quality home alarm system. That is 1st before cameras. Reolink has just started AI with their consumer grade stuff. They sell 4mm cameras unless you ask for another. (you should)

I give consumers left over cable and tell them put it where you want a camera. I lose money on almost every residentual job that requires nothing but consulting. One of the security co. i help with just don't get my disenterest.

If a customer asks how much. They do not need a smart home installation. JMHO