Quick review: Hikvision DS-7108N-SN

[MikeSav]

Last week, I received a Hikvision DS-7108N-SN that I ordered from AliExpress. I haven't seen many posts about these, so I figured I would do a quick little review. This is more of an overview than an in-depth review for now, since I haven't gotten very deep into the settings and functionality.

Here are the things to know:

- $86.40 delivered from "Monitoring security products specialty stores" on AliExpress. 19 days to Georgia - US.
- Meant for the Chinese market only, I think. I can't find any references to it on any non-Chinese Hikvision website. I think that means it comes with modified firmware, because...
- Both the browser interface and local interface are in English. The local interface allows a choice of many languages. The web interface only offers English.
- It holds one 3.5" SATA hard drive. I am using a temporary drive while I decide which drive to get.
- It is passively cooled. No fan. No noise. It barely gets warm to the touch.
- It has NO PoE, and NO switch-- just a single 10/100 LAN interface, which is what I wanted.
- It came with firmware V3.0.7 build 140805. I believe the most recent version available is V3.0.10, but I don't plan on upgrading.
- Supports PTZ controls via web interface.

Initial configuration was a breeze, and it walked me through the process. I am just getting started installing cameras at my house, and only have three cameras right now. It recognized the two from Milkisbad (no surprise), and it also recognized the cheap camera I bought, a 720P Escam QD-310 "Goblet" (hah!). I am sure it helps that I haven't changed the default passwords on my cameras yet (blocked from accessing the WAN).

I don't see much sense in diving into the configuration until I get a bigger hard drive, so I will have to report back once I am deeper into this thing. I am yet to configure motion detection either, so I will report back soon on whether or not it works with the Escam camera. I am sure it will be fine with the other two.

Short term, my main reason for buying this NVR was to get recording up and running as cheaply as possible. I know that as I expand my system, I am going to want a more capable NVR.

Long term, this will be used as a viewer only. I think that is where it has the most potential to shine. For $86.40, you get a purpose-built HDMI IP camera viewer that can supposedly handle up to 8 cameras. The manual says it uses 10 watts or less with no hard drive. I'm thinking it is less. It looks nice enough, and is small enough, that you can put it in an entertainment center or next to a bedroom TV, and use a wireless mouse. It doesn't look like a piece of computer gear, and doesn't add noise to the room. It could be a backup in case your real NVR breaks, or it could be stashed somewhere and used as a secondary recorder.

I'm including a picture of the inner workings for anyone who is interested. Otherwise, all of the pictures on the AliExpress page are accurate to the one I have. It came with almost everything you need to get going: power adapter (with EU converter), USB mouse, SATA data and power cables, LAN cable, hard drive screws, Chinese manual, and a free SD card reader (that I personally will never plug into my computer). No HDMI cable.

I hope that helps someone!

Mike

 

[whoslooking]

The newest version's are now shipped with 3.13fw already installed, with a build date of 04/2015, again telnet has been removed but, It will take my 7100 custom multi-language 3.10fw downgradable via tftp

They do support basic ptz functions via the web interface only.
with full 1080p recording, this is a great little NVR with lots of function for it's price, with all the same setups as other models.

 

[mayfer]

I really like this new model, however I really need support for 3MP and 5MP cams. (According to the documentation, it can only go up to 2MP at 1080p.) I would really love to run my 2032 Hikvision cams in 3MP mode at 2048 x 1536. Does anyone have any information on this? Otherwise would I need to step up to the 7600 NVR series? Thank you

 

[MikeSav]

The newest version's are now shipped with 3.13fw already installed, with a build date of 04/2015, again telnet has been removed but, It will take my 7100 custom multi-language 3.10fw downgradable via tftp

They do support basic ptz functions via the web interface only.
with full 1080p recording, this is a great little NVR with lots of function for it's price, with all the same setups as other models.

Really good to know about the firmware, since I might pickup another as a live viewer for one of my TVs. Thanks.

Do you think there is any sense in upgrading mine from 3.0.7 to your 3.0.10?

I'll update my post with the PTZ info, so thanks for that too.

 

[whoslooking]

Not much in it really between the 2, but if you want another language on your TV interface my one has them.

If you need more than 1080p I would go for the 7608 or the 7808 all at good prices on AE. I would always choose an NVR over say a Bi pc as the recording option.

Also this was originally a Chinses market model, but now extended as a world model due to it's low cost, UK trade price is £120 for the 4 and £144 for the 8ch so big savings again on AE

 

[MikeSav]

I've been having fun with this thing. I put in a 3TB WD Purple drive, so I have enough storage space to keep me going for a while. I mounted it in a discrete location, and hooked up a wireless mouse. I plan on ordering a couple more cameras soon.

The only real issue I have had so far is getting time to synchronize. The NVR's auto-DST doesn't seem to work properly. Even though I run a local NTP server, the NVR was an hour off. The cameras were set to get their time from the NTP server, but the NVR kept pushing the incorrect time to them. The solution was to switch the NVR to manual DST adjustment, and set the cameras to manual time sync.

A question: Is the Audio In only for the Two-way Audio feature, or is possible to record the Audio In straight to the NVR? I suspect it is not recordable, and that I will have to get an audio-enabled camera.

 

[mik]

Mikesav, thanks for the review...Helpful review.

 

[MikeSav]

Just a little update on this NVR. It's working out well, but there are some annoyances that would probably not be present on a higher-end device.

1. In the local live view, you can't show four 1080p streams. The unit is only capable of displaying one 1080p stream at a time. If you choose to view four cameras, it shows the sub-streams. If you do the 1+6 view, the big 1 is 1080p, but there is no easy way to switch that to a different camera.

2. Depending on your perspective, two-way audio is either broken, or poorly implemented, . There are two issues. There is no gain adjustment for the microphone, and the gain is set incredibly low. It says it requires 2V peak-to-peak. My microphone puts out 5v peak-to-peak, and it is barely audible. If I feed it audio from the headphone jack of an mp3 player, it comes through fine. The bigger issue is that the NVR takes forever to encode the audio from the microphone. There is a 15 second delay between when audio is fed to the input, and when it comes out of my tablet. That makes it unusable.

3. It takes forever to load and view VCA events using the iVMS client on a Win7 PC. When I choose a camera, it takes 30-45 seconds to get to the point where I can view line crossing events. When they play, there is a 30-second offset before every clip that makes it tedious and inefficient.

I know #1 is a hardware limitation, and it seems likely #3 is as well, but I wonder if there are any improvements to #2 in the 3.0.10 firmware.

On the plus side, it has been rock solid in terms of stability, and the recordings are perfect.

It is working out fine as a starter NVR, but an upgrade is definitely in my future.

 

[whoslooking]

It sound like you have something wrong as this nvr although it's cheap works great, audio works fine with no lag, switch beteeen channrls should be seemless, yes only one 1080p at a time but swaping to main image swaps from sub to main stream instantly, if I was you i would try another firmware. As I have fitted over 50 of the without a single person complaining of poor quality, if fact quite the opposite.

 

[MikeSav]

I'm not opposed to updating the firmware to your 3.0.10 version (I wish Hikvision provided a changelog, though). If my unit is running 3.0.7, what is the best method for upgrading to your firmware: TFTP, USB, or through the web interface? Is there a way to backup my current firmware? (I'm not opposed to researching, and it would be a big help if I could be pointed towards the right terms to search)

I think I must not have been clear explaining my observations, because they are definitely accurate, and two of them seem to be by design.

Locally, swapping is instant if I double-click any image in live view to go full screen. I was talking about there being no quick way, when using the 1+5 view, to say, "I would like this small image to now be the big main image, and the big main image to be one of the small images." It is like 5 menu-steps deep, and takes like 20 clicks. Flawed by design. It's right there in the manual.

It is only using iVMS on Win7 that the VCA searching is slow. It is during the portion where it has to, I presume, build a list of VCA events to review. Open the remote playback tab. Pick a camera, and drag it to the main area. Wait 10+ seconds. Click Event Playback. Wait 15+ seconds. Select VCA Detection from the dropdown. Wait another 5+ seconds. The more events there are, the longer it takes. It takes a minimum of 30 seconds and three clicks per camera to get to event playback on iVMS. Sure, reading events might take a while, but software that makes me repeatedly click-and-wait to get to a feature is, again, flawed by design. Either let me save my favorite review configurations, or let me choose a camera and event type before completing the search, and let the search occur in the background. Add in the non-adjustable 30-second pre-event delay via iVMS, and reviewing events via iVMS is a test of patience.

Now for the audio, I am talking only about two-way audio from my tablet to the NVR, not audio sourced at a camera and presumably encoded before it even hits the NVR. I have no cameras with audio, and have no way to test that. I am yet to see a single demonstration video of two-way audio on any Hikvision NVR with their iVMS software. I am yet to find a single account from someone who says they use it, or have successfully tested it. And I've been looking.

I get that there are tons of people who are happy with their NVRs. I'm happy with mine. Maybe the other people aren't doing the specific tasks I am doing.

 

[whoslooking]

Now I see. yes you are correct, when using IVMS 4200 it is for some reason is on 3.07 a laggy building the recording event history but when you use directly its just a couple of seconds, as too the two way audio I use this a lot for a few clients but through ivms 4500 on Android pads and this is bang on without issue on WiFi but on 3g/4g its terrible but to the data audio throughput levels. There are a few bits in 3.10 over 3.07 but nothing really to force an upgrade.

 

[onetech]

I have an issue with this NVR in live view...After 4-5 hours the live have around 5 second of delay. If I do a login all is back ok..Very strange((

 

[Del Boy]

I know you can't playback 4x 1080p at the same time, but can this unit record 8x 1080p cameras?

 

[whoslooking]

Yes, but to get the best out of the 7100 I use motion detection on the non critical cameras, @ only £88 delivered for 8 channels with POE it's about the same price as good POE switch in the UK

 

[Del Boy]

Thanks @whoslooking. Agreed with motion on non critical and 24/7 elsewhere. My initial thoughts are to double up areas (from different angles) having 24/7 on one and motion on the other.

I think the NI version is an extra £30, so I might get that.

 

[whoslooking]

Can't argue with that price either, if customs stop it and charge duty that's another £25 on top so the NI looks like the way to go @Del Boy

 

[Del Boy]

Yay... got a 7108N-SN/P on the way for tomorrow hopefully. £99 from UK!

Also trying to source the new 2MP WDR cameras, if they work well then I'll stick a review up.

 

[Biggs]

Yay... got a 7108N-SN/P on the way for tomorrow hopefully. £99 from UK!

Also trying to source the new 2MP WDR cameras, if they work well then I'll stick a review up.

Is there a fan on this model due to the built-in POE ports? If yes, please let us know how loud it is.

 

[Del Boy]

Supplier told me it's fanless.

 

[normel]

The playback also isnt realtime for all channels. I think only 2 channels at same time.