Hikvision - replacement NVR

[daern]

I have a somewhat archaic Hikvision DS-7604NI-K1 for which Hikvision seem to have given up producing new updates. I need some more cameras anyway, so was pondering an 8 channel update.

Hikvision seem to do a 12MP and 8MP replacement (DS-7608NI-I2 and DS-7608NI-K2 respectively). As I don't intend to go above 8MP for my cameras, is there any reason why it would be worth stumping up more money for the higher spec box, or would the K2 do the job ok?

 

[secureiam]

The I series is what I would opt for to be fair.

as for how many channels 8 may not be enough depending on bandwidth (see posts on this forum), so 4ch NVR typically 40Mbps bandwidth, 8channel 80Mbps(K £200 I £275), 16 channel 160Mbps(I £320) wrt to Hikvision cameras.

Declaration: That is based on our supply only prices without hard drives other suppliers may vary.

 

[daern]

The I series is what I would opt for to be fair.

as for how many channels 8 may not be enough depending on bandwidth (see posts on this forum), so 4ch NVR typically 40Mbps bandwidth, 8channel 80Mbps(K £200 I £275), 16 channel 160Mbps(I £320) wrt to Hikvision cameras.

Declaration: That is based on our supply only prices without hard drives other suppliers may vary.

Thanks - any reason, or just a bit of future proofing against Hikvision dropping support?

Will hunt out other threads, but new cameras likely to be the new ColorVu stuff (ds-2cd2347g2 in various focal lengths to suit), but Hikvision don't seem to state the camera bitrate with respect to the NVR interface. Based on my current h.265+ cameras though, it always seems to be much less than I expect!

 

[secureiam]

Hikvision don't support end users.

You should be fine with 8 x 4MP on a 8 channel NVR.
Waiting for the 8MP turrets to come in IP color Vu but apparently the chip didn't fit so the bullet versions are available but not the turrets.

you can compromise quality of video by reducing frame rates resolution and using compression and more extreme compression techniques but can reduce bandwidth significantly especially with compression.

 

[daern]

Hikvision don't support end users.

Probably should have been clearer - this wasn't about technical support, but about firmware updates.

Gone for the 8 channel NI-I2 in the hope that it will continue to be supported with firmware updates longer into the future than my old K1 one was (which still has to be accessed via IE in order to view video :/ )

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[daern]

Bit more feedback - got the NI-I2 installed without issue. Worked a treat and great to see a whole raft of new features in there that my old box desperately needed! Fortunately, my brother had a couple of old 8TB drives he didn't need, so I have more than enough storage for months and months of video.

I also got my trial ColorVu camera up and I am very impressed. Firstly that the 140mm wall mount shares a common thread with the old 110mm wall mount from my own cameras, so I could easily swap out just the bowl bit of the wall mount to allow me to test the new camera without drilling new holes in the wall (thanks Hikvision!) and mostly because the night performance is truly incredible. With even the smallest amount of ambient light, it manages to make scenes that look like daylight, which is an astonishing technical achievement.

I still need to tune the picture a bit - it's using the white-led illuminator a bit too aggressively after dark and I am pretty sure I can sacrifice some image quality to get a decent picture without as much illumination, but this needs a bit of fiddling which I've not yet had time to do. I'm also impressed with the smart event motion detection, which seems to be much more reliable (i.e. less false positives!) than the old cameras. A real shame that this couldn't have been brought to them with firmware updates, but perhaps the hardware just wasn't up to the job. I'll probably just retask the old cameras inside the garage where the anti-vandal covers won't get so affected by rain.

 

[secureiam]

Firmware was tried and it failed on the K series, need more umph.

If you have no light, then 10 for the led white light is plenty, if you have light then you maybe able to reduce this further or completely off.

The harddrives the right grade?

 

[daern]

f you have no light, then 10 for the led white light is plenty, if you have light then you maybe able to reduce this further or completely off.

Ta. Will probably get around to playing over the weekend. I doubt I'll be able to have it completely off (it's quite dark around the back of the house), but judging by how clear it is at 50 (looks like daylight!) I was definitely expecting to reduce it pretty low.

The harddrives the right grade?

Nah, not at all. Regular WD Barracuda drives, but TBH, if they pack up it's no real problem and I'll stick something proper in. The old NVR had a random 1TB drive pulled out of my drawer and that's been running fine for years.

TBH, the system is mostly there for realtime alerts rather than historic data, so losing 3 months of footage wouldn't bother me at all and I've always got a box full of spares in the cupboard.

 

[secureiam]

If I have colour vu on in a no light situation I can get good image with very low light setting.

If I turn up the light on the color vu I can get really good colour image on a darkfighter in a similar area.

 

[Sally2000]

Our hikvision cameras are pre colorview, but even the 8Mp ones with IR turned off get reasonable colour pictures from street lighting and house outside lights.
The big bonus with no lighting from the camera is very little reflection from spider webs.