Tips on improving playback retention 4K NVR

[Tech_LA]

Hello, I have a 2TB 4K Lorex NVR. I have 6 4K cameras. Currently, I get 26 full days of playback.

I wanted to know if there was any additional settings I could modify to get at least a full month's worth of playback. Ideally I would want 5 weeks of playback or a full month. I originally only had 3 weeks worth of playback before I changed to H.265 compression.

I'm sure lowering the bit rate will make a difference but the quality will take a hit right? I would ideally want to keep it at 4K resolution as well.



5 of the 6 cameras also have recording enabled. I noticed if I left it at 8K, the audio sounded muffled.


Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you

 

[IAmATeaf]

Isn’t your current bitrate for 4k way too low?

The obvious answer is replace the hard disk?

 

[Tech_LA]

Isn’t your current bitrate for 4k way too low?

The obvious answer is replace the hard disk?

No? Its already at the max bit rate. Replacing the hard drive would void the warranty. Not trying to have them use that as an excuse should the unit fail.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Are you sure? Doesn’t the manual include details on removing and replacing the hard disc?

Also to get 26 days you must be doing triggers on motion and not continuous?

 

[Santeesticks]

@Tech_LA, I'm probably one of the more inexperienced folks here, but assuming it's recording the main stream some suggestions I have to help you attain your goal are:

1 - Lower the FPS until it's to jittery for you; perhaps 10-12 FPS; that alone should get you the storage you're looking for.
2 - If it's recording both streams and it doesn't affect any type of remote access, make the substream H265, make it's FPS match the main stream, and lower it's bitrate to 512.
3 - You could lower the bitrate but you'll have to evaluate any changes to the video quality after you change it and determine if it's still acceptable.
4 - If you really value storage space over image quality you could switch from CBR to VBR but it's generally recommended to stick with VBR. Again you'd have to evaluate your video quality if you make that change.
5 - I imagine you could also lower your quality setting but I don't think you wouldn't like the results; again you'd have to evaluate the change.

Good luck...

 

[wittaj]

Isn’t your current bitrate for 4k way too low?

The obvious answer is replace the hard disk?

That is one of the problems with the consumer grade units is the bandwidth is so low that they limit the bitrate to a fraction of what it should be. My neighbor insists on running his Lorex at 30FPS and the quality just isn't there as you could imagine.

In addition to the suggestion above of replacing the HDD, @Santeesticks is fairly spot on with additional items to try. Checking the top box Super H265 may add some as well.

 

[Flintstone61]

match compression type on main/sub, drop sub fps to 12 and drop main to 12....wait 27 days....

 

[Flintstone61]

2TB is sooooo small for surveillance its a slap in the face. Keep the drive and slap in a 4TB WD Purple, if unit fails stick old drive back in....Failure poiints are usually POE port power not hdd's

 

[Tech_LA]

Are you sure? Doesn’t the manual include details on removing and replacing the hard disc?

Also to get 26 days you must be doing triggers on motion and not continuous?

Yeah, this was a consumer level NVR, not a DYI kit.

Yes, this is motion only, first thing I did was remove continuous on all channels. Although i still have some more tweaking to do on motion sensitivity.

 

[Flintstone61]

I guess you can have 45 days of video when the warranty expires and you crack it open

 

[Tech_LA]

2TB is sooooo small for surveillance its a slap in the face. Keep the drive and slap in a 4TB WD Purple, if unit fails stick old drive back in....Failure poiints are usually POE port power not hdd's

I hear ya, if I'm able to get through the warranty period just fine, I will definetely be making the upgrade for a bigger hard drive. I got screwed with a warranty repair a while back because I opened up the cover, not trying to deal with their BS again.

 

[Tech_LA]

@Tech_LA, I'm probably one of the more inexperienced folks here, but assuming it's recording the main stream some suggestions I have to help you attain your goal are:

1 - Lower the FPS until it's to jittery for you; perhaps 10-12 FPS; that alone should get you the storage you're looking for.
2 - If it's recording both streams and it doesn't affect any type of remote access, make the substream H265, make it's FPS match the main stream, and lower it's bitrate to 512.
3 - You could lower the bitrate but you'll have to evaluate any changes to the video quality after you change it and determine if it's still acceptable.
4 - If you really value storage space over image quality you could switch from CBR to VBR but it's generally recommended to stick with VBR. Again you'd have to evaluate your video quality if you make that change.
5 - I imagine you could also lower your quality setting but I don't think you wouldn't like the results; again you'd have to evaluate the change.

Good luck...

Thank you!

 

[Tech_LA]

That is one of the problems with the consumer grade units is the bandwidth is so low that they limit the bitrate to a fraction of what it should be. My neighbor insists on running his Lorex at 30FPS and the quality just isn't there as you could imagine.

In addition to the suggestion above of replacing the HDD, @Santeesticks is fairly spot on with additional items to try. Checking the top box Super H265 may add some as well.

I agree, I definitely get what I paid for, I just wanted to go with a brand that was compatible with the existing Dahua OEM cameras. I'll look into that as well, thank you.

 

[fenderman]

Hello, I have a 2TB 4K Lorex NVR. I have 6 4K cameras. Currently, I get 26 full days of playback.

I wanted to know if there was any additional settings I could modify to get at least a full month's worth of playback. Ideally I would want 5 weeks of playback or a full month. I originally only had 3 weeks worth of playback before I changed to H.265 compression.

I'm sure lowering the bit rate will make a difference but the quality will take a hit right? I would ideally want to keep it at 4K resolution as well.

View attachment 144068

5 of the 6 cameras also have recording enabled. I noticed if I left it at 8K, the audio sounded muffled.
View attachment 144069

Any tips would be appreciated. Thank you

The only thing that affects storage space is bitrate. So the only thing you can do to increase retention is lowering the bitrate or buying more storage. One way to lower the bitrate is to use VBR (variable) instead of CBR (constant). With respect to your concern about voiding the warranty if you swap the disk, a) they cannot under law b) if you ever need to send it back, just put the original drive back in - you dont want to send a drive with your footage on there anyway.

 

[Tech_LA]

The only thing that affects storage space is bitrate. So the only thing you can do to increase retention is lowering the bitrate or buying more storage. One way to lower the bitrate is to use VBR (variable) instead of CBR (constant). With respect to your concern about voiding the warranty if you swap the disk, a) they cannot under law b) if you ever need to send it back, just put the original drive back in - you dont want to send a drive with your footage on there anyway.

Good to know! thank you