Why are some of the images frozen for a while when playing back multiple cameras in search mode?

The DVR plays back all camera images of the same time frame at the same time.  The cameras that are frozen must be ahead of the rest in time.  Once the other cameras reach the same exact time, then they will start playing again.

The camera images keep getting lighter or darker frequently or may change color.

If this is happening where the camera is placed directly under Fluorescent lighting, either move the camera away from the light or check the ballast for proper operation. 

The system is set to record based on motion but it is recording continuously.

The motion sensitivity is set too high.  Refer to the manual and adjust it to three to four notches below maximum.  Use the motion area setting and select only the areas needed for motion detections (i.e. Doors, Windows, etc.).

The recording frame rate drops at night.

Lighting effects recording frame rate and storage capacity.  If the area is dark then it uses more hard drive to record the darker area as well as dropping frame rate to compensate for the excessive amount of information being recorded.  If the area is too dark for a color camera to properly see, it is suggested to use black and white or appropriate night vision cameras instead.

When a frame is zoomed in the picture becomes grainy.

The DVR is equipped with a Digital zoom.  The number of pixels contained in a picture is constant.  As the picture is getting bigger so do the pixels.  Therefore what is being looked at is the actual pixel within the picture.  Higher resolution cameras will yield better quality zoom factor than lower resolution cameras.

The System Info has been displaying 5% on the hard drive space for a few days.  Why is it not changing?

The DVR is designed to fill up the entire storage area before erasing the oldest video.  The 3-7% that may be showing is the buffer zone.  Once it reaches that, it will start erasing the oldest video and will remain at that % unless the storage is manually formatted.

The video playback is very grainy and it shows small squares like pixels.

Ensure the quality setting is set to 1 or 2 below the maximum if MPEG4+ is being used.

The video is showing nighttime during the day and the opposite at night.

The clock is setup incorrectly.  Use the time setup and correct the clock setting.

The video shows a two-minute blank (no recording) every morning at a specific time.

That is part of the watchdog feature.  The DVR is set to shut down and reboot at a specified time set within Standard Setup screen for an optimized operations.  The time can be set to any other time if desired or completely disabled.  However it is recommended to restart the DVR at least once a week manually.

The DVR is recording only 1 day and it used to record many days before.

Make sure that the second drive letter D is shown in the Standard setup section under Managing Disk.  If it is only showing drive letter C, then there is an issue with the hard disk and the technical support should be contacted.

The DVR is not recording the same number of days at all times when set to motion recording without any changes to the settings.

The recording based on motion is dependent on several factors.  Frame rate, lighting, detection, and traffic.  If all the settings are constant then the reason for the varying recording days is due to environment changes such is lighting or amount of traffic in front of the camera and it is a normal phenomenon.  Creating detection zones and adjusting the lighting will help the situation but will not eliminate the varying recording process.

Why are the recordings not showing up in the 24-hour record lines?

The database may not have had time to update the index file before Search was activated.  Refer to the Maintenance section of the manual and refresh the database.

The DVR is displaying a message “Disk is full, Change disk…”.

The “record after delete” option in the standard setup is unchecked.  Access setup and check the box next to Record after delete in Standard setup section.

The DVR is asking for Administrator Password (Windows 2000 only) and it will not go into the camera software.

The last person using the DVR has changed the network workgroup or user profile.  Try and enter the DVR by typing “ password “ in the password.  Exit the DVR software to Windows and change the workgroup to WORKGROUP and restart (Contact technical support for more detail).

DVR boots up and gets into the camera software and then it comes right out of the software into Windows.

This is caused by changes made in the DVR setting without saving and rebooting.  Double click the icon for the DVR software and try again.  If not successful restart the DVR and let it redetect the changes.

There is a square label flashing AF and M (or R) in place of the M (or R) that is normally displayed on the top right corner of the camera images and it is not recording properly.

The Pre and Post is set to a number other than 0 in the recording type part of the setup.  Reset the pre and post to 0 and then Save and Apply.

I have an ED800 and I cannot find the place to connect to a TV.

The TV out is not available on ED400 and ED800 DVRs as a standard option.  However a device such as scan converter can be attached to the DVR to provide TV out for displaying the images on the TV.

The picture quality on the TV is poor.

The resolution of a standard TV is only 525 lines.  The DVR is displaying at 768 lines.  In order for the images to properly display on a standard TV some of the graphic information must be removed from the original image through scan converter electronics.  Therefore the images are not as crisp as the images on the DVR monitor.  The bigger the TV the grainier the images will appear.

I recorded ten minutes of video on CD but it only showed about 2 ½ minutes (motion recording)

The DVR only records when it detects motion.  It may have only detected 2 ½ minutes of video during the ten- minute segment.

I recorded an incident as AVI on the CD and am not able to play it back on my office PC.

Some CDROM drives are not able to read all the CD medias currently in the market.  Try a different media or upgrade your CDROM driver software utility.

How can I edit and enhance the AVI file of the incident I copied onto the CD?

There is software available In the market that allows you to edit and enhance the quality of an AVI video file.  CSI does not promote or support any third party software.

Why does the saved AVI pause every few seconds when playing back from a different CDROM drive?

The media is not a high speed or ultra speed media or the CDROM drive cannot read high speed or ultra speed CD media.

I tried to format a CDRW media and after a few minutes it gave an error message and quit.

The DVR is equipped with either a High-speed or Ultra speed CDRW drive.  An Ultra-speed CDRW media cannot be formatted in a high-speed drive.  The CDRW media must match the speed of the DVR CDRW drive.

How can I find the speed of my CDRW drive?

The speed of the drive is written vertically on the side of the CDRW Disk emblem in front of the drive.    

I do not have access to CDRW media.  What should I do?

You can use a CDR media instead.  However it too needs to be preformatted before use.  If no media is available at the time of the incident, then record the AVI onto the ‘ C ‘ drive My Document directory and then copy it onto the CDR media when one becomes available.

Can I reuse my CD media?

Your CDRW media can be used over and over again.  However the CDR media can only be used again if the session was not closed and the CD was not locked after the last recording.

Symptoms (Remote Access)

Solution

How can I find out if I am on Static or Dynamic IP addressing?

That information is available from your Internet Service Provider.

When I click on Check IP Control User Access it shows 127.0.0.1 and not the IP address my ISP provided.

Your connection to the ISP is not established or the settings are not entered correctly in the Windows network environment of the DVR.

The DVR is attached to a Router and I have no access to the DVR from remote with the IP address the router has assigned.

The IP address assigned to the DVR must be a public IP address and accessible through the Internet.  The router must be programmed to allow the DVR to be accessible on the Internet.   Contact your network (router) administrator (installer) for support.  CSI will not have That information.

I am not allowed to install the remote SW on my PC at work.  How else can I monitor remotely?

CSI embedded the direct browser access SW starting with version 408 of the server software.  If your DVR has version 408 or newer, then you can access the DVR from any computer without Remote software by using Internet Explorer.  Bring up IE and type only the DVR IP address in the Address filed and press enter (It may have to install the Active X drivers on the PC).  

I have a 16 channel DVR but only 4 cameras are being displayed at a time when using IE.

The browser software is only capable of displaying 4 cameras at a time through IE due to IE limitations.

The images sometimes turn purple or green when viewing from remote PC.

That is due to lack of overlay support from your PC video card or loss of information in transmission of live data.

The remote software came up with the message “This SW version does not match the Server”.

The DVR software may have been upgraded without the matching remote software.  Contact the dealer for the updated remote software.

The remote software cannot find the server and will not connect.

Make sure the instruction described in the manual for remote access is followed in entirety for proper remote access operation.

The DVR is not answering the phone or the line is busy.

The DVR requires a dedicated telephone line for proper operation.  If the line is being shared with another device it may cause the DVR to lock up the modem relay closed and keep the line busy or open and not answering.  The solution is to disconnect the DVR from telephone line for a couple of minutes or restart the DVR in order to release the line.

The images are moving very slowly on remote PC using telephone connection.

Telephone connection is the slowest means of communicating with the DVR.  If your connection is faster than 36000 bps then the images will change at a rate of 2 to 3 FPS.  If not, then, the video information is above the capability of the telephone lines and could be as little as ½ FPS.

Why does the message “connecting to server” come up every so often when connected via telephone lines?

The telephone connection is not always stable.  Static on the telephone lines, very slow connection, call waiting are some of the causes for losing connection with the DVR.

Why is the image from a camera frozen for a while and then starts again while viewing from remote?

The DVR is set to motion detection.  Once the motion is not detected at the DVR, the last image that was detected is broadcasted (displayed on remote) until the camera detects motion again.

I am connected to the DVR but I cannot see any of the control buttons on my screen.

The remote PC display adapter must be set to a resolution of 1024 x 768 and 24-bit color for proper display.

I am connected to the DVR but the camera images are black.

Your PC video card is not able to display 24-bit color overlays in windows.  Try and upgrade the display drivers for it or replace your video card.

I am connected to the DVR but the camera images are washed out and very grainy.

The remote PC display adapter must be set to a resolution of 1024 x 768 and 24-bit color for proper display.

I am connected to the DVR via Internet Explorer and when I click on Search, nothing happens.

When the passwords are setup for the Search within the DVR setup, the access to the search is denied while using IE.