I found some time to investigate my Dahua NVR4208-2kS2/L and was a bit surprised about my findings. I did read all the data sheets for their various recorders and even had a thread here in this forum to figure out what some specs mean. I then decided to grab a unit heavily discounted at Amazon warehouse to figure out just how this stuff works out. I am glad I did.
I also tried to read up in this forum and ran through the wiki. But there is nowhere a comprehensive guide to NVRs and their functions. So I would like to sum up my findings and would appreciate it, if experienced users could tell me if I got it right or wrong:
All the Dahua recorders of the 2kS2 variety are "dumb". They have no intelligence of their own. Their "AI-search" is not a search with their own AI, it is a search for the camera AI accomplishments in a time interval. "What happened this afternoon?" If your camera has no AI, then AI search will come up empty. It isn't looking at the actual footage, it is looking at some meta-data the cam-AI provided.
This is guessing, but from the description, even the big NVR5216-2kS2 works without AI of its own.
I am also not sure if these "2kS2"-NVRs can do the basic motion detection on their own or if they need the camera detection for that too. My two different Dahua cams both have motion detection. If I set the basic motion detection in the NVR, the settings menus are different for the two cams, which kind of tells me, the NVR uses the different motion detections of the cams.
I am not troubled by this, as I was planning to use the NVR for 24/7 recording from better cameras on HDD and now I have a way ( AI-search) to quickly find the footage that I really need to look at. But I surely had a wrong understanding of what it could do. What I was expecting was a kind of functionality that seems to be available in seemingly simpler recorders, like the NVR2208-S2. From that description, this recorder can add advanced functionality (WizSense) to a simple "dumb" camera. (spec sheets says 4 cams can receive SMD plus). The 4kS2/L recorders will just be able to manage WizSense if the camera brings it along.
I also tried to read up in this forum and ran through the wiki. But there is nowhere a comprehensive guide to NVRs and their functions. So I would like to sum up my findings and would appreciate it, if experienced users could tell me if I got it right or wrong:
All the Dahua recorders of the 2kS2 variety are "dumb". They have no intelligence of their own. Their "AI-search" is not a search with their own AI, it is a search for the camera AI accomplishments in a time interval. "What happened this afternoon?" If your camera has no AI, then AI search will come up empty. It isn't looking at the actual footage, it is looking at some meta-data the cam-AI provided.
This is guessing, but from the description, even the big NVR5216-2kS2 works without AI of its own.
I am also not sure if these "2kS2"-NVRs can do the basic motion detection on their own or if they need the camera detection for that too. My two different Dahua cams both have motion detection. If I set the basic motion detection in the NVR, the settings menus are different for the two cams, which kind of tells me, the NVR uses the different motion detections of the cams.
I am not troubled by this, as I was planning to use the NVR for 24/7 recording from better cameras on HDD and now I have a way ( AI-search) to quickly find the footage that I really need to look at. But I surely had a wrong understanding of what it could do. What I was expecting was a kind of functionality that seems to be available in seemingly simpler recorders, like the NVR2208-S2. From that description, this recorder can add advanced functionality (WizSense) to a simple "dumb" camera. (spec sheets says 4 cams can receive SMD plus). The 4kS2/L recorders will just be able to manage WizSense if the camera brings it along.
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