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Alarm: Motion Detection Notes

Motion Detection Compatibility

You’ll be able to use the DVR’s motion detection with almost all 

static, wired cameras. 

PTZ systems are fundamentally incompatible with motion 

detection. 

Avoid enabling motion detection on a channel which 

has a PTZ system attached to it - especially when the PTZ system is 

set to Cruise Mode.

Wireless cameras are 

not

 recommended for use with the motion 

detection - the visual distortion and dropped frames caused by 

wireless transmission of video data give numerous false triggers.

False Triggers

Setting the motion detection at high sensitivity levels (4 

or lower) increases the frequency of false alarms. On the 

other hand, low sensitivity levels (20 or higher) increase 

the risk that a significant motion event (such as an 

intruder) will not trigger the motion detection to record.

Check the Motion Detection settings both during the day 

and at night.

 In low-light conditions (or when your cameras 

are using infrared night vision) the DVR may be more or less 

sensitive to motion, depending on your unique circumstances. 

The difference might be very dramatic! 

Image Sensors: CMOS and CCD

There are two kinds of CCTV cameras out there: CMOS and 

CCD. Neither technology is inherently “better” but they’re quite 

different and you may need to adjust your motion detection 

sensitivity to suit the kind of cameras you have.

CCD:

 A

 Charged-Coupled Device

 outputs a clear, stable image. It’s 

the best kind of sensor to use with motion detection, and typically 

requires lower settings (that is: 

lower

 number, 

more

 sensitive).

CMOS:

 A 

Complementary Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor

 is a 

different kind of image sensor, producing bold, vibrant images. 

It tends to have more noise than CCD, and typically requires a 

higher setting (that is, a 

higher 

number, which is 

less

 sensitive).

Weather

The weather conditions are going to affect your motion detection. 

Dramatic weather phenomenon such as heavy rain, strong 

winds, lightning and so on, may trigger the motion detection 

with surprising frequency.
On the other hand, things like fog, mist and other obscuring 

kinds of weather might mask or obscure something moving to 

the point that the DVR fails to detect them.
Here are a few steps you can take to minimize the amount of 

noise in your images. 
• 

Try adjusting the 

Image

 

Settings

 (see “Display: Camera” 

on page 28 for details) to fine-tune the brightness and 

contrast to get a more stable image.

• 

Limit the motion sensitive area to only the areas in view 

that a target could be. In particular, large featureless areas 

in the camera’s view are the ones most likely to give false 

triggers - turning off the motion sensitivity to any area 

a target cannot move in front of will help reduce false 

triggers.

Note: 

The motion detection feature will seem more sensitive 

at night, particularly when using low-light or active infrared 

cameras. We recommend that you test your motion detection 

sensitivity both during the day and at night to ensure your 

sensitivity setting is suitable for either lighting condition.

Some tips to customizing your motion detection  

sensitivity and actions:

• 

Consider how important it is to be notified of motion 

events as they happen.

Using the email alerts is a great way to be kept up-to-speed 

on what’s happening, but may quickly become annoying if 

something occurs which will generate a number of false triggers. 

As a rule, we suggest employing the email alert only on interior 

cameras during times that 

no one

 should be moving about in 

front of them.

• 

It can be important to have a complete record of a 

subject’s movements and actions for legal reasons.

If your cameras capture an illegal event (typically an intruder, 

but we’re continually surprised by stories from our users) it is 

important to have as much information as possible. 
For example, images of someone in your home may not actually 

prove

 that they broke in - but footage of them breaking a window 

does. If you use a camera inside the home to trigger all exterior 

cameras with pre-record enabled, then you will have a record of 

how they entered in addition to what they did.

• 

Always consider what’s really important.

Which is the bigger problem - a dozen false triggers per day, or 

missing one critical event?
There’s no magic setting which will make motion detection work 

perfectly

. There will always be some events that it’s not sensitive 

enough to catch, or minor happenings that will trigger an overly 

sensitive camera to record. Typically, the best motion detection 

settings are one’s that give few false triggers but 

don’t miss 

anything

.

Even motion detection which false triggers a few times per hour 

will still save a significant amount of hard drive space compared 

with a constant recording schedule for the same duration. 

Summary of Contents for 4ch D1 & 2ch SDIDigital Video Recorder

Page 1: ...English 1 4 or 8 Channel H 264 DVR English M41250_1260_1450H050213E ...

Page 2: ...d regulations that prohibit or limit the use of cameras and to comply with the applicable laws and regulations FCC Regulation for USA Prohibition against eavesdropping Except for the operations of law enforcement officers conducted under lawful authority no person shall use either directly or indirectly a device operated pursuant to the provisions of this Part for the purpose of overhearing or rec...

Page 3: ... Configuration 27 Display Camera 28 Display Output 29 Recording Encode 30 Recording Option 31 Recording Schedule 32 Search Playback 33 Search Backup 34 Search Event 35 Search Log Search 35 The Playback Interface 36 Network General 37 Network Advanced 38 Network Advanced DDNS 39 Network Advanced NTP 39 Network Advanced IP Filter 40 Network Network Status 40 Network Advanced Email Settings 41 Alarm ...

Page 4: ...n transport and occasionally components can fail Better to find out now before everything is fixed in place Getting the DVR Setup There are three stages to getting your DVR set up If you want to use the default settings you ll only need to complete steps one and two Stage 1 Connecting the DVR page 6 to page 9 This section details what you can connect to the different inputs outputs of the DVR Ever...

Page 5: ...nstall swap the hard drive inside There are no other user serviceable parts inside Never open the case whilst the DVR is plugged in and never turn the DVR on whilst the case is open Use only the supplied power adapter Other adapters may cause damage to the DVR or cause a fire Do not cut or modify any cable for any reason Doing so will void your warranty and pose a risk of fire or electrical shock ...

Page 6: ... If this sensor is blocked or obstructed then the functionality of the remote will be impaired 2 Hard Drive Indicator Lights up when the hard drive is active It will flash rapidly when recording or searching in time with the read write cycles 3 Power Indicator This LED is illuminated when the DVR is connected to power and switched on 1 USB 2 0 Port For connecting USB external storage to the DVR fo...

Page 7: ...er adapter Use only the supplied power adapter with the DVR and use the power adapter only with the DVR 2 PTZ RS485 Port To connect the RS485 cables to control a PTZ pan tilt zoom device to the DVR 3 Audio Output A standard line level audio output 4 USB 2 0 Port For connecting a USB mouse or a USB stor age device 5 HDMI Output The primary output of the DVR For the highest possible video output qua...

Page 8: ...luded Connect the DC12V Output from the power supply to the power input Connect the power supply to a wall outlet Connect the mouse to the USB 2 0 port If you ve got a monitor with VGA but not HDMI connect it to the VGA output on the DVR Ifyou vegotaTVormonitor with HDMI in connect to the HDMI port on the DVR Connect an Ethernet cable from the LAN port on the DVR to a spare port on your router ...

Page 9: ... audio devices to the DVR Obviously your microphone probably won t look like that one they re often built into cameras An external hard drive with aUSB compatibleinterface USB 2 0 recommended can be connected to the USB port of the DVR The USB port also supports USB solid state storage such as flash drives The PTZ port RS485 can be used to connect compatiblePTZdevices such as this Swann PTZ dome ...

Page 10: ...f wireless devices compatible are those that interface in the same manner as regular wired devices typically these will be mice which come with a dedicated USB receiver which is pre paired to the mouse Combination wireless receivers such as those that come with keyboard mouse combinations are usually NOT compatible with the DVR We suggest avoiding them Note that Bluetooth devices are NOT compatibl...

Page 11: ...he menu system to be displayed in Video Standard Choose between NTSC for the USA Canada Mexico Japan Korea and some other regions or PAL UK Europe Australia and some other areas If this is set incorrectly images from your cameras will be distorted black and white or simply not appear at all Resolution How many pixels the DVR will output Typically you ll want to set this to be equal to the native r...

Page 12: ...ct of configuring the DVR but if your router supports DHCP and UPnP then there s nothing to do here Recommended Don t change anything Ensure that the Network Access is set to DHCP and that UPnP is enabled on your router it should just work If your router doesn t support DHCP Then you ll need to manually assign the address of the DVR If you ve already setup your network we assume you knowwhatyou re...

Page 13: ...t www swanndvr com Email If you want the DVR to send email alerts as alarm events are detected then you ll need to configure an outgoing email server for the DVR to use and choose an email address for it to send to We recommend creating an account with Gmail www gmail com specifically for the DVR These instructions assume you re using a Gmail account If you re using a different email see Network A...

Page 14: ...t If you re using pool ntp org ensure the port is 123 Sync Triggers the DVR to automatically synchronize its internal clock with the time server immediately If your DVR is connected to the Internet and the network is correctly configured this will update almost instantly System Time The DVR s current clock reading DST Configuration You can configure the DVR to automatically update its internal clo...

Page 15: ...they alter any settings User The most customizable level of access to the DVR You ll be able to set a User account to have as little access as a Guest account or nearly as much power as an Admin account User accounts will probably make up the majority of accounts registered to a DVR if there are multiple users requiring varying levels of access Finishing the Setup Wizard When you choose Finish the...

Page 16: ...puter Locate the file called MyDVR exe and run this file You may be asked by UAC User Account Control to allow MyDVR to make changes to your system Select Allow or Continue You llseeaninstallationwizard Simplyfollowtheprompts to install the software Once the MyDVR software has been installed it should automatically detect your DVR on your network Minimum PC Requirements 2 0GHz or faster CPU Dual c...

Page 17: ...remember it if you ve changed it Enter your Username and Password Choose Login Note Multiple Monitors The MyDVR software does not support hardware acceleration when using multiple monitors On some systems this can cause significantly reduced performance Ifyouexperienceslowplaybackorthevideoisnotbeingdisplayed at all disable all monitors but your primary one Selecting WAN mode even over a local net...

Page 18: ...in the same way as those in the DVR s menu see Display Camera on page 28 for more information Viewing Modes Choose between single camera viewing four channels at once 2 x 2 or eight channels at once 3 x 3 8CH model only Volume Control Alters how loud the audio output from the DVR will be Remember that the final output volume will also be affected by the master volume control of your operating syst...

Page 19: ...while the transcoding takes place For best results try not to over burden your computer just let it transcode the footage in peace Auto Login When selected MyDVR will automatically login and open the Preview screen for the DVR it is currently connected to Simply un check Auto Login if you don t want MyDVR to do this anymore or you want to change the default device you ll just need to go through th...

Page 20: ...gespersecondtheDVRwillcapture BitRate Limit The maximum size that your video files will be The higher this is set the better recordings will look however they ll also fill the hard drive faster Recording Advanced Config see page 31 Overwrite Whether the DVR will erase old recordings to make room for new ones or not Pre record Whether the DVR will cache and save footage that occurs immediately befo...

Page 21: ...thing else uses this port The default value is 9000 This is the port number you ll use when logging in over the Internet from the MyDVR software or remote access from a mobile device HTTP Port The second of two ports the DVR needs to communicate over your network Ensure nothing else uses this port The default value is 85 NTP Setup see page 39 NTP Domain or IP Address The server you intend to use t...

Page 22: ...o so this will be to record video It can also be a cue to trigger an email alert or to sound the DVR s internal buzzer Alarm Video Loss see page 45 Action Check boxes Whether you d like the DVR to send an email alert or to sound the DVR s internal buzzer Arm Schedule The times of day week you d like the DVR to be armed to detect video loss Alarm Exception see page 45 ExceptionType What event type ...

Page 23: ...the United States Canada Japan and so on PAL operates at 25 frames per second and has an effective resolution of 720 x 576 It s used in countries with 50Hz power such as most of Europe the United Kingdom and Australia If this is not set correctly images on your DVR may be black and white flickering or simply not there at all If you change the System Standard it automatically forces a reboot of the...

Page 24: ...on just a few short years ago You ll need a compatible mobile device At the time of writing there are apps for iOS iPhone iPad and Android based devices We re working on apps for other mobile platforms The apps for both iOS and Android are free to download and use To download the latest mobile viewing apps operating guides and to check the compatibility of your device log onto www swann com swannv...

Page 25: ...otion icon indicates that the DVR is detecting motion coming from this camera It doesn t necessarily mean it s recording the camera icon will be there too if that s the case Video Loss indicates that the channel displaying this has lost the feed from its camera This may be caused by a disconnected damaged cable the camera may have lost power or the video standard might be wrong PAL NTSC If you see...

Page 26: ...neral Motion HDD General Option Backup Advanced Video Loss S M A R T User Lock Email Settings DDNS NTP IP Filter Output Schedule Event Log Status Exceptions PTZ Information Shutdown Maintenance Reboot Recording Search Network Alarm Device System Shut Down Menu Layout ...

Page 27: ... earlier see MyDVR Configuration Overview on page 20 or you can use the DVR s built in interface Quick Reference Some of the more common reasons to have a look in the Advanced Configuration include Altering the Recording Schedule The recording schedule is one of the most important things to get right when configuring the DVR More information about the schedule can be found at Recording Schedule on...

Page 28: ...Image Settings to dramatically improve the quality of the images being recorded by the DVR This can be particularly useful for improving the accuracy of your Motion Detection settings Mask When checked allows you to create place and shape a privacy mask which obscures part of the image on the associated channel Brightness Changes how light the image appears to be However it can t make the camera s...

Page 29: ...vision can process not display Typically this will be 1080p as even screens which don t have that many pixels can still display the image just with less detail Check your television s documentation to learn this value If your television can t display 1080p then use 720p instead Transparency You can set the DVR s menus to be partially transparent see though in case you need to keep an eye on things...

Page 30: ...t potentially will improve the data rate per frame depending how you set the bitrate see the next point Remember that your FPS count is the same as saying take X photographs per second where X is your FPS setting 5fps doesn t sound like much but it s still five individual photographs per second If maintaining image clarity while reducing HDD consumption is your priority it makes sense to lower the...

Page 31: ...ry useful for example if an intruder or potential target triggers the motion detection but pauses in view having post record enabled will get a much better look at them 30 seconds is the recommended length for the post record setting but it can be set higher the options are 1 2 5 or 10 minutes depending on your unique circumstances Pack Duration Pack Duration is a measurement of how long the DVR w...

Page 32: ...hard drive very quickly The DVR does record the equivalent of a DVD film every two hours on every channel so that s rather a lot of data Typically we suggest Motion as a better recording mode for most users Motion The recommended recording setting for most applications The DVR will only record when it detects something moving in front of a camera and will then only record footage from the camera s...

Page 33: ...t cameras you d like to view the video s from To initiate playback select Play Performance and Playback When playing back multiple channels at once you may notice that they re not quite in sync and in extreme cases may be displayed in near real time instead of real time Why The DVR only has so much processing power and we ve configured it so that it has more resources dedicated to recording than t...

Page 34: ...You may notice significant slow down or apparent non responsiveness on your DVR while the transcoding takes place While the backup process is executed the DVR will display a pair of progress meters The top one indicates the progress of the current video event the lower one shows the overall progress To end the backup process before it s complete choose Cancel Some or all of the incidents you selec...

Page 35: ...motion detection feature The search function operates in the same way as the main playback search the only difference is you ll select an Event Type rather than a Video Type The Log Search displays a list of events presented in chronological order the most recent events will be at the end of the list The Log will list all events that the DVR monitored whether or not any footage was recorded as a r...

Page 36: ...Fast Forward Speeds up playback Slow Plays back footage at reduced speed Press multiple times to further reduce the speed 1 2 speed 1 4 speed 1 8th speed 1 16th speed and so on Recording Type Whether the video being played back was recorded under normal recording blue or based on motion or an alarm event red Hide Console Maximizes the area on screen for playing back your footage by hiding the on s...

Page 37: ... be something like 255 255 255 0 Default Gateway This is the address of the way to the Internet to continue the road analogy this is like your local access point to the highway This is an IP address in the same format as the others and is typically very similar to the IP address of the DVR To continue the above examples it might be something such as 192 168 1 254 Auto DNS Static DNS Choose how you...

Page 38: ...e when logging in from a mobile device or the MyDVR software so if you change it remember what it is HTTP Port This is the port through which you will be able to log in to the DVR Like the server port it will need to be forwarded properly in order to ensure smooth latency free communication The default value is 85 as this port is seldom used by other devices or applications If there is another dev...

Page 39: ... is the email address you used to register the account The password is whatever you selected when you registered Static and Dynamic IP Addresses In much the same way as your home network can use static or dynamic IP addresses many Internet providers don t issue or charge more for a static IP address for users The easiest way to find out is to contact your Internet service provider Alternately you ...

Page 40: ...you re not sure what you re doing is more likely to break things than make anything better Network Advanced IP Filter Network Network Status The Network Status screen displays a quick summary of your network settings You can t alter things here see the General and Advanced tabs for places to actually alter things Note that the values displayed in the image to the left are examples only Your networ...

Page 41: ...MTP server SMTP port SSL or TSL requirements and so on SMTP Port The SMTP port used by the email provider of your choice This field will automatically self populate if you use one of the presets Sender Address The address you re sending the email from This will be the username you ve set up for the email server you re using followed by and then the email server For example youraddress gmail com or...

Page 42: ...set the motion detection features of the DVR for each channel We suggest that motion detection is under most circumstances the most practical recording method for the DVR to employ How it Works Once motion detection has been enabled for a channel it will register to the DVR as a Motion Event Thus you can use the Motion recording mode in the schedule to trigger the DVR to record when motion detecti...

Page 43: ... different motion sensitivity values for You can change what time s each period starts and ends to best match the changing lighting conditions in your location Typically values between 5 and 10 will give good results in the daytime At night you may get numerous false triggers unless you raise the sensitivity setting perhaps as high as 25 30 This is because when cameras particularly CMOS based ones...

Page 44: ...es Try adjusting the Image Settings see Display Camera on page 28 for details to fine tune the brightness and contrast to get a more stable image Limit the motion sensitive area to only the areas in view that a target could be In particular large featureless areas in the camera s view are the ones most likely to give false triggers turning off the motion sensitivity to any area a target cannot mov...

Page 45: ...le from the Network menu see Network Advanced Email Settings on page 41 for details Alarm Motion Detection Action Audio Warning The DVR will use its internal buzzer to emit an alarm tone It sounds like an old computer indicating an error or a large truck backing up Send Email The DVR will send an auto email alert when the event type you ve selected occurs The Email Settings button will take you to...

Page 46: ...SATA port Net Disconnected Will occur if the DVR has problems connecting to the Internet This may indicate a problem with the DVR s configuration a fault with your network or a problem with your Internet Service Provider ISP IP Conflict This event will occur if the DVR detects another device on the same network with a conflicting IP address It s a little like two houses with the same number being ...

Page 47: ...tage S M A R T Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology gotta love a good acronym is your hard drive s way of telling the DVR how it s going Status The current condition of the hard drive It should say Good If it says anything else this indicates there s a problem with your hard drive If there s no problem there s little else to do here unless reading the output of the dozens of self test...

Page 48: ...e that this setting matches the requirement of your device Address 0 255 The command address of the PTZ device you want to associate with this channel Accessing the PTZ Controls The PTZ controls can be accessed from the LiveViewing screen by choosing the PTZ icon on the menu bar Note for Remote Access and Mobile Device users The PTZ functions of the DVR and compatible cameras can be controlled rem...

Page 49: ... an adjustable iris Also called an aperture Not all cameras support this function Preset A Preset is a position that the camera is in which is saved to memory to be retrieved later Patrol Initiates patrol mode also sometimes called cruise mode You ll need to define a series of Preset points for the camera to patrol between Exit Closes the PTZ controls PTZ Context Menu Camera No Switch quickly betw...

Page 50: ...lly tell the DVR exactly when it commences and ends in your locality First turn DST on We suggest setting the Daylight Saving Time Mode to Date and manually entering the dates and times that daylight savings time applies to and from in your locality Note Some NTP servers are NOT fully compatible with DST This may cause your system to double count adding one or removing one more hour than they shou...

Page 51: ...uests and Operators Guest By default a Guest user has access to the live images on the DVR and can search through recorded events They cannot change any settings or configure the DVR in any way Operator The default permissions of an Operator allow them to access and configure all aspects of the DVR You can easily customize the level of access each individual user has Simply choose the Permission b...

Page 52: ...ill curious Device Name The name that the DVR considers to be its own and what it will use to register an IP address with your DHCP host The remaining information is for use by Swann s Technical Support in the event that you require assistance The various model and build numbers help us track down any known issues or catalogue new issues as they come to light It also helps us figure out if you re ...

Page 53: ...s must be done after a firmware upgrade to ensure proper operation of the DVR You can retain your settings recording schedule and so on by using the Import Export Configuration function before upgrading the firmware Configuration Export Creates a file containing all the settings you ve customized including your recording preferences schedule user list and so on To export your settings Insert a USB...

Page 54: ...nclude the flickering of screens monitors or fluorescent lights reflections of movement in windows mirrors and so on lights which are often turned on or off shadows passing and so on We can t possibly imagine what you re going to find in your unique circumstances so we encourage you to experiment 2 Fine tune your sensitivity There s no substitute for getting a volunteertoplaythepartofintruderandex...

Page 55: ... Each number in the IP address cannot exceed 255 Assigning the IP Address information to the DVR We recommend doing this locally on the DVR itself even if you can access the DVR via the network using the MyDVR software in the meantime If you re connected remotely and the networking information changes you might lose the connection to the DVR Open the Network General menu on your DVR see Network Ge...

Page 56: ...704x576 HD1 704x288 CIF 352x288 Frame Rate NTSC 30fps channel PAL 25fps channel Feature Display Single Quad Octo All SEQ Auto Sequence Recording Bitrate Up to 4Mbps Record Modes Manual Motion Detection Schedule HDD Interface 1 x SATA Fixed HDD 1 x eSATA HDD Capability SATA 2 up to 2000GB 2TB Playback Search Time Date Event Lists USB Interface USB 2 0 for Mouse and File Backup Upgrade PTZ Control B...

Page 57: ...sociated with its use are the responsibility of the end user This warranty applies to the original purchaser of the product only and is not transferable to any third party Unauthorized end user or third party modifications to any component or evidence of misuse or abuse of the device will render all warranties void By law some countries do not allow limitations on certain exclusions in this warran...

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