NVR Quick Start Guide Version 1.0.
Contents Welcome ................................................................................................................................ 3 Important Safeguards and Warnings .................................................................................... 3 Hardware Setup..................................................................................................................... 8 NVR Initialization ..........................................................................................
Welcome Thank you for purchasing an Amcrest NVR! Before installation and operation, please read the below safeguards and warnings carefully. Many of the setup sections below have corresponding videos on YouTube To access the setup videos, please go to http://amcrest.com/videos NOTE: This document is applicable to all Amcrest 2XXXX-HS, 4XXXX-HS, and 5XXXX-HS series NVRs. This document provides a quick setup and overview of your Amcrest NVR and its features.
NV2XXX, NV2XXX-HS Series NVR Front Panel NV4XXX, NV4XXX-HS Series NVR Icon NET PWR HDD Name Network Abnormality Power indicator HDD abnormal indicator light Function When a network error occurs or there is no network connection, this light turns red. When the NVR is on, this light remains on. When an HDD error occurs, or the HDD capacity is below the specified threshold value, this light turns red. Rear Panel The rear panel of the NVR may differ model to model.
Front Panel Name CD Drive Icon Power button Shift Up/1 Down/4 Left/2 Right/3 ESC Shift 、 ESC Function Use this button to open/close the built-in CD drive (if applicable) Power button press this button for three seconds to boot up or shut down NVR. In the textbox, click this button to switch between numeral, English (Small/Capitalized), donation etc. Activate current control, modify setup, and then move up and down. Increase/decrease numeral. Assistant function such as PTZ menu.
HDMI High Definition Media Interface VGA VGA video output GND Power input MIC IN MIC OUT PoE PORT Audio input Audio output PoE port High definition audio and video signal output port. It transmits uncompressed high definition video and multiple-channel data to the HDMI port of the display device. HDMI version is 1.4. VGA video output port. Outputs analog video signal. This connects to the monitor to view analog video. Ground end Power socket. For NVXXX series, inputs DC 12V/2A.
Record Shift REC SHIFT Play/Pause/5 Reverse Playback/ Pause/6 During playback or pause mode, click this button to reverse playback. In reverse playback, click this button to pause. In text mode, input number 6. Various fast speeds and normal playback. In text mode, input number 7 Fast Forward/7 Multiple slow play speeds or normal playback. In text mode, input number 8. In playback mode, press to playback the next video. In menu setup, go downward in a dropdown list. In text mode, input number 9.
Port Name HDMI VGA Connection USB 2.0 port Function USB 2.0 port. Connect a mouse, USB storage device, etc. Network port 10M/100Mbps self-adaptive Ethernet port. HDMI Output VGA video output port High definition audio and video signal output port. VGA video output port. Outputs analog video signal. This connects to the monitor to view analog video. GND Power Port MIC IN MIC Out PoE Ports Audio input port Audio output port PoE ports Ground end DC12V, DC48V Depending on model.
accessing the camera directly, however, no recordings will be retained to the NVR if a hard drive is not installed. Hard drive installation A hard drive can be installed if you want to record and save data to the NVR. Having a hard drive allows you to configure and use the recording functionality of the NVR to store and view events. Most NVRs have connections for only one hard drive however some models have the option for multiple hard drives inside the case.
The following instructions will show you how to set up the cables for the NVR, cameras, as well as a monitor or TV screen. To set up the cable connections, there are 5 major steps: 1. Connect a monitor or TV screen to your NVR. The NVR is compatible with any monitor or screen that uses a VGA or HDMI connection. For purposes of this guide, we will use a VGA connection. Take a VGA cable, and connect one end to the VGA port on your monitor/screen and the other end to the VGA port on the back panel of your NVR.
Once you have entered a new password for your device, confirm the password in the next field. Lastly, you will be asked to enter a prompt question for your account. This is useful if you have forgotten your password and would like an easier way of recovering your password. Please use a prompt question that will help you remember the password for your device. After you have completed this section, click Next to continue. Unlock Pattern This is an optional security measure for your device.
If you have assigned an unlock pattern, you will need to draw the pattern again to confirm your assigned unlock pattern. Password Protection Additional means of password protection and retrieval can be set up in this menu. If you would like to reset your password using your email, make sure the email address checkbox is enabled and enter a valid email address in the Email Address field. The email address will be retained in the system.
General The first screen that appears in the startup wizard is the GENERAL menu. The General menu allows you to edit the name of the NVR, display number of devices, languages, etc. Once you are satisfied with the settings on this screen click Next to continue. Date & Time The Date & Time settings screen is used to set the date and time for your NVR. If you want to utilize daylight savings time, click on the DST enable toggle switch. This should be enabled by default. Click Next to continue.
Note: Make sure to toggle the NTP toggle switch to the off position if you do not want to sync your device to an NTP server. Holiday This screen allows the user to set and modify holiday settings which allows the NVR to record or send snapshots based on specific schedules set by the user. Please note, a holiday record / snapshot setup has a higher priority than an ordinary date record/snapshot setup plan.
P2P The next screen that appears is the P2P screen. This screen allows you to connect your NVR to your mobile device via the Amcrest View Pro app. The P2P status should read as “Online”. To download the app, use your mobile device’s camera and scan the Cell Phone Client QR code. When using the app, use the SN QR Code for quick access to the serial number for your NVR. Click the Next to continue.
Camera Registration The next screen that appears is the Camera Registration screen. This is where you can begin adding cameras to the NVR. If the cameras are not directly connected to the back of the NVR, please make sure they are active and on the same network as the NVR before proceeding. To begin adding a device, click on Device Search to allow the NVR to scan for connected devices on your network. A list of applicable connected devices will show on the screen.
If the status of your camera is red, it indicates the camera is not properly connected to the NVR. This could be because the password for the camera is not entered properly in the system. To modify the password for your camera, click on the edit icon (pencil) located in the Edit column in the Added Device menu. Select the Password field and use the onscreen keyboard to enter the password for your camera. Once the password has been entered, click Connect then click Save to continue.
As previously stated, our H.265 compatible products will come factory defaulted to H.264 compression, but for increased performance, the camera's settings can be automatically switched to H.265 compression. Switching to H.265 compression reduces bandwidth without sacrificing frames per second or resolution. To activate H.265 compression, click on the H.265 Auto Switch. For more information on H.265 compression, please visit: amcrest.com/support Click on Next to proceed.
Click Next to continue. This will take you to the snapshot settings for scheduled recordings. This screen is used similarly to the Rec menu only it pertains only to snapshot events. Once you have scheduled your events, click on the OK button to continue. Once the setup process is finished you should see a dialog box indicating the startup wizard is finished. Click Save to continue The next screen you will see will be the video wall screen which will display all connected devices.
OPERATION: View system information, system updates. Import/export configuration files, etc. BACKUP: Search and backup files using a USB flash drive. DISPLAY: Configure resolution and display settings. AUDIO: Configure audio announcements and import audio files. Management CAMERA: Add, search, review or edit settings for each camera, including video settings (e.g. quality, bit rate, color, etc.). NETWORK: Review and edit TCP/IP, connection, DDNS, Email settings, etc (e.g. P2P, UPnP, Multicast, etc.
In the Camera menu, select Encode and click on the Compression drop down menu and select H.265. Click Apply to save your settings. Adjusting Bitrate Since H.265 compression uses roughly 30% less resources than H.264, the camera will typically come defaulted to a preset bitrate when switching to H.265. For instance, when switching to H.
Note: Adjusting the bitrate to anything lower than the recommended bitrates above may result in degradation to recordings or to live view. For best results, if you are adjusting multiple cameras, it is highly recommended to adjust each camera individually. This may be a trial and error process since most network environments are unique and may vary, however, the bitrate should range between 1792-2048 Kb/S if using a 4K camera. An optimal customized bitrate should be around 1825 Kb/S.
3. Click on Apply to save the settings to your device. Setting Up Recording Schedules 1. From the Main Menu, click on STORAGE in the MANAGEMENT section: Make sure you are on the SCHEDULE > REC page. This is where you can configure your video recording schedules. To configure a snapshot schedule, click on the Snapshot tab. All video events will be saved and accessible via the playback menu, if a hard drive is installed, whereas snapshot events can be emailed.
To edit a recording schedule, select a recording option from the colored boxes. Each recording option is color coded: Green: Regular (24/7 recording), Yellow: MD (Motion Detection), Red: (Alarm), Orange: MD&Alarm (a combination of motion detection and alarm recordings), and POS. Select which recording type you would like to modify and then use your mouse to adjust the time via the time bar for your specific recording type.
To the left of each day, there are small boxes which can be marked to ‘link’ days together. This is useful if you want to save time by instantly making changes to multiple days simultaneously. In the below example, Sunday and Monday are linked, so any blocks that are added or removed for Sunday will automatically and immediately reflect the same for Monday and vice versa: Another way to configure recording schedules is by manually setting time periods.
over to other days by checking them individually or checking All. Make sure to click Save when finished. Now that you have finished configuring the recording schedules, you may need to copy these settings over to other channels (or cameras). By default, D1 (Channel 1) will be selected unless you immediately selected All in the channel window previously. Please note, you can copy these settings directly over to another channel by clicking Copy.
2. Enter the SMTP information for your email. In this example we will be using Gmail, however other email services can also be used. If using Gmail, type in “smtp.gmail.com” 3. Enter a port number. This is based on the type of encryption used by your email service. In this example we will be using port 465, which uses an SSL encryption type. If using TLS, the port number will be 587. 4. Enter the email address you will be using in the Username field. 5.
2. Select Video Detection to access the Motion Detect menu. This is the main configuration page for your motion detection settings. Select which channel you are configuring from the Channel drop down menu. 3. Ensure the toggle switch for motion detection is enabled and adjust any motion detection settings or motion schedules accordingly. Click Apply.
Adjusting Region Settings You can set up “regions‟ for motion detection using the region grid on your NVR. By default, the entire area of view for your cameras will be highlighted with red blocks indicating that all areas of the live view screen will have active motion detection. However, to prevent false events from occurring, you can use your mouse to block out certain areas.
To choose another region, hover your mouse pointer near the top center of the region window, and a small window will appear. Keep your mouse pointer inside that small window and select either region 2, 3, or 4: You will be able to click individual blocks or click-and-drag an area with the new selected color to highlight portions of the screen. Each new region (or color) has its own unique sensitivity and threshold settings. The different regions/colors can also overlap one another.
3. Click on the “Send Email” checkbox. To enable the NVR to send an email once a motion is detected. 4. Click on Apply to save the settings to your system. Once you have set up your settings for one channel, you can copy them to other channels in the system. If you did not select All after clicking Channel as previously described, click Copy, select channels to copy to, then click Save. Click Save to save all the settings made on this page.
A timeline of the recordings will appear in the interface. Click the Play button ( ) to play all recordings available on the timeline. Additionally, all days with recordings available will be highlighted in the calendar portion of the interface with a dot. To select specific days/months or years, use the navigation arrows provided in the calendar. A file list of recordings can also be shown by clicking on the File List icon ( ) located in the interface.
To play a recording from the File List menu, double click on the file you want to view. The recording will automatically begin to play in the interface. How To Upgrade System Firmware Keeping the firmware on your NVR up to date is an important part of overall system health. For security purposes, it is highly recommended to upgrade the firmware on your device every time a new firmware is available. To locate the most up to date firmware for your NVR please visit https://amcrest.
other. Once you have the IP address, your computer will be able to find and communicate with your NVR. A browser plugin is just like a translator. Using your NVR by itself, without a is different than using it on your computer. By using the NVR on your computer through a web browser, you need to introduce a new piece of software that allows your computer to understand the language that the NVR speaks in a way that a computer can understand. That’s what the browser plugin is for.
4. In the Network settings page locate the TCP/IP option on the left panel list. Then, locate where it says IP Address on the main center page of the window. 5. Write it down. It will look something like ‘192.168.xx.xxx’, or ’10.0.XX.XXX’ depending on your network, router, or service provider. Note: It does not matter what your IP address looks like, however, the IP address is needed to access the NVR from a web browser.
Enter a valid email address and then select and answer the security questions provided in the dropdown menu. Click OK when done. When the NVR has been setup successfully you will hear a beep from the NVR and a prompt in the browser letting you know that the initialization is complete. You will then be taken to the login screen. Enter the username and password for your NVR then click Login. Note: Please allow all permissions to allow the plugins to function in your browser.
4. Access your router's user interface and port forward the device using the HTTP port information displayed in the system. Every router's port forwarding protocols are unique. For more information on how to port forward your specific device, please visit portforward.com or refer to the user manual for your specific router. Note: When port forwarding the NVR in your router, make sure to use the TCP, UDP and updated HTTP protocols displayed in the NVR.
Click Save once the DDNS information is entered. Accessing the Device Remotely After setting up the NVR in the previous steps provided, open a web browser and enter in the DDNS domain name address previously setup for your NVR. For example, if the DDNS domain name is http://abc123456789.amcrestddns.com and your HTTP Port is 12345, the URL would be http://abc123456789.amcrestddns.com:12345 Remote access not working? Please contact Amcrest Support via one of the following options: Visit http://amcrest.
Live: This menu takes you to a live view interface. In this menu you can view real-time live video from all connected devices as well as access to Pan/Tilt/Zoom functions (if applicable), and other related live view settings for your device. Playback: This menu allows you to view playback of motion detection and other recording type events. For more information on the features included in the playback menu, please refer to section, “Accessing Playback”.
Amcrest View Pro Setup The following steps will continue the app setup process for an Android phone and, though the iPhone version of the app has slightly different steps, most of this process is identical and easy. Download and install the Amcrest View Pro app for the App Store or Google Play Store. Open the app on your mobile device and allow the app to load. 3. Tap “Start”. 4. Tap “DVR/NVR” 5. Tap “P2P Connection” Note: IP/Domain/DDNS can be used to establish a DDNS connection.
6. Scan the QR code. The QR code can be found on the serial tag along with the scannable barcode. 7. Create a name for the device 8. Update the default password and enter a username and for the device and tap “Start password. The default Live View” to access the device username and password will be in the app. admin. Tap “Start Live View”. Note: To locate the serial number, you must either have physical access to the NVR or computer access to the web interface to access the P2P menu.
-- Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver. -- Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. -- Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. 4.