Interlogix TVR 1204c, TVR 1204, TVR 1208, TVR 1216 User Manual

TruVision DVR 12 User
Manual

P/N 1072798C-EN • REV 1.0 • ISS 21AUG14

Copyright

©

2014 United Technologies Corporation.

Interlogix is part of UTC

Building & Industrial Systems, a unit of United

Technologies Corporation. All rights reserved

.

Trademarks and

patents

T

rade names used in this document may be trademarks or registered

trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors

of the respective products.

Manufacturer

United Technolo

gies Corporation

2955 Red Hill Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

-5923, USA

Authorized EU manufacturing representat ive:
UTC Fire & Security B.V.
Kelvinstraat 7, 6003 DH Weert, Th

e Netherlands

FCC compliance

Class A

: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the

limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules.
These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful
interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment.
This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy
and, if not installed and used in accordance with t he i nst ruction manual,
may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this
equipment

in a residential area is likely to cause harmful int erf erence in

which case the user will be required to correct the int erference at his own
expense.

Canada

This Class A digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES

-003.

Cet appareil n

umérique de la classe A est conforme à la norme NMB-003

du Canada.

ACMA compliance

Notice

! This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this product

may cause radio interference in which case the use r m ay be required to
take adequate measures.

Certification

N4131

European Union

directives

12004/108/EC (EMC directive):

Hereby, UTC Fire & Security declares tha

t

this device is in compliance

or with the essential requirements and other

relevant provisions of Directive 2004/108/EC

.

2002/96/EC (WEEE directive):

Products marked with this symbol cannot

be disposed of as unsorted municipal waste in the Eu ropean Union. For
proper recycling, return this product to your loc al supplier upon the
purchase of equivalent new equipment, or dispos

e of it at designated

collection points. For more information see: www.recyclethis.info.

2006/66/EC (battery directive): This product cont ains a battery that cannot
be disposed of as unsorted municipal waste in the Eu ropean Union. See
the product docum

entation for specific battery information. The battery is

marked with this symbol, which may include lettering to indicate cadmium
(Cd), lead (Pb), or mercury (Hg). For proper recycli ng, return the battery to
your supplier or to a designated collection poi

nt. For more information see:

www.recyclethis.info.

Contact information

For contact information

, see www.utcfireandsecurity.com or

www.utcfssecurityproducts.eu

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual i

Content

Chapter 1 Product introduction 5

Product overview 5
Default settings to access the device 5

Chapter 2 Installation 7

Installation environment 7
Unpacking the recorder and its accessories 7
Back panel 8
Monitor connections 9
Audio inputs and output 10
RS-485 port 10
RS-232 port 10
PTZ dome camera set up 10
Connecting a KTD-405 keypad and dome camera to the

recorder 15

Brackets 16

Chapter 3 Getting started 17

Turning on and off the recorder 17
Using the setup wizard 18

Chapter 4 Recording 22

Initializing the recording settings 22
Defining a recording schedule 25
Daily schedules 26
Holiday schedules 27
Motion detection schedules 27
External alarm schedules 27
Protecting recorded files 28
Manual recording 29
Capturing text insertions 30

Chapter 5 Alarm settings 31

Description of alarm notification types 31
Setting up motion detection 32
Setting up external alarms 34
Triggering or clearing alarm outputs manually 36
Setting up system notifications 36
Detecting video loss 37
Detecting video tampering 38

Chapter 6 Network settings 39

Configuring general network settings 39
Configuring PPPoE 40

ii TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Configuring DDNS 41
Configuring an NTP server 42
Configuring email 43
Configuring UPnP 44
Configuring SNMP 45
Configuring an FTP server to store snapshots 45
Configuring a remote alarm host 45
Configuring multicast 46
Configuring the server and HTTP ports 46
Configuring the RTSP service port 46
Telnet setup 47
Checking network status 47
Exporting network packet data 48

Chapter 7 HDD management 49

Initializing HDDs 49
Setting the HDD quota 49
Setting the HDD property 50
Checking HDD status 51
Configuring HDD alarms 51
Checking the S.M.A.R.T. information 51
Searching video using disk analysis 52
Configuring redundant recording 54
Setting up HDD groups 54

Chapter 8 Operating instructions 56

Controlling the recorder 56
Using the front panel 56
Using the mouse 59
Using the IR remote control 59
Menu overview 62

Chapter 9 Live view 65

Description of live view 65
Video output 66
Controlling live view 66
Single and multiview display formats 68
Sequencing cameras 69
Accessing frequently used commands 69
Configuring live view 71
Configuring time and date 74
General settings 75
V-stream encoding 78

Chapter 10 Controlling a PTZ camera 79

Configuring PTZ settings 79
Calling up presets, preset tours and shadow tours 80
Setting and calling up presets 81

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual iii

Setting and calling up preset tours 83
Setting and calling up a shadow tour 84

Chapter 11 Playing back a recording 86

Overview of the playback window 86
Instant playback 88
All-day playback 89
Searching recorded video 90
Playing back recordings by time and video type 91
Playing back recordings by event 92
Slideshow of snapshots 93
Playing back recordings from the system log 93
Motion search 95
Playing back frame-by-frame 96
Digital zoom in playback 96

Chapter 12 Archiving recorded files 97

Archiving files 97
Creating and archiving video clips 100
Archiving snapshots 100
Managing backup devices 101
Playing back archived files on a PC 101

Chapter 13 Recorder management 102

Configuring the RS-232 port 102
Updating system firmware 103
Restoring default settings 103
Viewing system information 104
Searching system logs for events 106

Chapter 14 Camera settings 107

Configuring the OSD settings 107
Setting up privacy masking 108
Adjusting video image settings 109
Watermarking 109
Hiding a camera image from view 109

Chapter 15 User management 111

Adding a new user 111
Customizing a user’s access privileges 112
Deleting a user 114
Modifying a user 114
Changing the Admin password 114

Chapter 16 Using the web browser 116

Windows Vista and 7 users 116
Accessing the web browser 117
Web browser overview 117

iv TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Using the web browser to configure the device 119
Searching and playing back recorded video 122
Searching for event logs 124
Controlling a PTZ dome camera in the web browser 125
Text overlay 125
Capturing text insertions 126

Appendix A Specifications 128
Appendix B PTZ protocols 130
Appendix C Port forwarding information 131
Appendix D KTD-405 keypad 133

Supported firmware 133
Wiring the keypad 133
Setting the keypad to work with the recorder 134
Operating the keypad 136

Appendix E Maximum pre-recording times 141
Appendix F Supported PTZ commands 143
Appendix G Default menu settings 146

Index 155

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 5

Chapter 1

Product introduction

Product overview

The recorder is a versatile, user-friendly embedded digital video recorder (DVR).
It allows end-users to record 4, 8, or 16 analog cameras at CIF in real time

(25/30 fps), while providing integration with the UTC portfolio of security
solutions, and offering a seamless product experience within the TruVision
brand.

The dual streaming functionality allows the user to set up different settings for
recording and streaming video in live view mode.

The recorder can fully integrate with the license-free TruVision Navigator
software, which is ideal for the most commercial applications. Its easy and
intuitive-to-use web browser interface enables remote configuration and secure
viewing, searching, and playing back of video from computers connected via the
Internet.

Note: Models are shipped with the power cords for their region.

Default settings to access the devic e

Default user names and passwords

See Table 1 on page 6 for the list of default user names and passwords. Go to
Chapter 15 “User management” on page 111 for further information.

6 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Table 1: Default user names and passwords

User

Description

Administrator

There can only be one administrator.

The user name is admin. The name cannot be modified.
The default password is 1234.

Operator

The default user name is “operator”.

The default password is 2222.

Guest

The default user name is “guest”.

The default password is 3333.

Note: The default passwords should be changed for security reasons.

Default network settings

The default values for TVR 12 network settings are:

• IP address - 192.168.1.82

• Subnet mask - 255.255.255.0

• Gateway address - 192.168.1.1

• Ports:
When using the browser:
RTSP port: 554

HTTP port: 80

When using TruNav:
RTSP port: 554

Server/Client software port: 8000

Go to Chapter 16 “Using the web browser” on page 116 for further information.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 7

Chapter 2

Installation

This section describes how to install the recorder.

Installation environment

When installing your product, consider these factors:

• Ventilation

• Temperature

• Moisture

• Chassis load
Ventilation: Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the

manufacturer’s instructions. Ensure that the location planned for the installation
of the unit is well ventilated.

Temperature: Consider the unit’s operating temperature (-10 to +55 ºC, 14 to
131 °F) and noncondensing humidity specifications (10 to 90%) before choosing
an installation location. Extremes of heat or cold beyond the specified operating
temperature limits may reduce the life expectancy of the recorder. Do not install
the unit on top of other hot equipment. Leave 44 mm (1.75 in.) of space between
rack-mounted recorders.

Moisture: Do not use the unit near water. Moisture can damage the internal
components. To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose this unit to
rain or moisture.

Chassis: Equipment weighing less than 15.9 kg (35 lb.) may be placed on top of
the unit.

Unpacking the recorder and its accessories

When you receive the product, check the package and contents for damage, and
verify that all items are included. There is an item list included in the package. If
any of the items are damaged or missing, please contact your local supplier.

8 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Items shipped with the product include:

• IR (infrared) remote control

• Two AAA batteries for the remote control

• AC power cords

• 12 VDC PSU

• USB mouse

• TVR 12

• Video loop through cable

• CD with software and manuals

• TruVision DVR 12 Quick Start Guide

• TruVision DVR 12 User Manual (on CD)

• TruVision Recorder Operator Guide (on CD)

Back panel

The figures on the next page show the back panel connections and describe
each connector on typical TVR 12 digital video recorder. Details may var y for
specific models.

Before powering up the recorder, connect the cameras and a main monitor for
basic operation. Once all required connections are done, enter the relevant data
in the setup wizard (see page 18).

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 9

Figure 1: TVR 12 back panel connections (16-channel model shown)

1. Loop through for up to 16 analog cameras
(depends on recorder model).

2. Connect to a RS-232 device.

3. Connect up to four alarm inputs.

4. Connect one alarm relay output.

5. Connect four audio inputs to RCA
connectors.

6. Connect up to 16 analog cameras t o BNC
connectors (depends on the recorder
model).

7. Connect to an optional USB device such as
a mouse, CD/DVD burner or HDD. The
recorder supports both a USB DVD and a

USB HD on the front and rear USB ports.

8. Connect one CCTV monitor (BNC-type
connector).

9. Connect to a HDTV. The HDMI connection
supports both digital audio and video.

10. Connect to a VGA monitor.

11. Connect to speakers for audio output.

12. Connect to a network.

13. Connect to a RS-485 device such as a PTZ
camera or a keypad.

14. Connect to the 12 VDC PSU (enclosed)..

15. Power switch (on/off).

16. Connect to ground.

Monitor connections

Connect a monitor to one of the recorder’s outputs (BNC/VGA/HDMI). The
recorder provides a 1 Vp-p CVBS signal. See Figure 1 above for connecting a
monitor to a recorder.

The recorder supports up to 1920 × 1080 / 60 Hz resolution in VGA. The monitor
resolution should be at least 1024 × 768. Adjust your monitor accordingly to this
resolution.

10 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Audio inputs and output

The unit is equipped with four audio inputs and one audio output. Both the audio
output and the audio inputs are line-level.

Audio input

RCA jack, 315 mV, 40 kohms. Unbalanced

Audio output

RCA jack, 315mV, 600 ohms. Unbalanced

Note: Line-level audio requires amplification.

RS-485 port

There is one RS-485 port on the back panel of the recorder to connect a PTZ
dome camera or keypad. See Figure 3 for the serial pin outs.

Figure 2: RS-485 pin outs

D+: Connect to the RS-485 A connection on the

dome camera or keypad.

D-: Connect to the RS-485 B connection on the

dome camera or keypad.

RS-232 port

Use the RS-232 port to connect CBR-PB3-POS (point-of-sale) and ATM devices
to the recorder such as the UTC ProBridge accessory. See “Configuring the RS­232 port” on page 102 for more information.

PTZ dome camera set up

Use the USB mouse provided or the optional keypad for local telemetry control. If
using the recorder over a network, use the web browser to control the PTZ dome
cameras or TruVision Navigator.

See Appendix B on page130 for the supported protocols, and Appendix F on
page 143 for the PTZ commands supported by each protocol.

Each PTZ camera must be set up individually. For information on configuring
PTZ dome camera settings, see Chapter 10, “Controlling a PTZ camera” on page

79.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 11

Connecting a PTZ dome camera

See Figure 4 below for how to connect a PTZ camera to the recorder. Any PTZ
dome camera can be controlled as the recorder is doing the PTZ protocol
translation. However, this setup provides only limited dome configuration (see
Appendix B on page 130 for the list of approved PTZ protocols).

Figure 3: Connecting a PTZ dome camera to the recorder for control over the network

Dome camera

Recorder back panel

RS-485 port

Configuring the PTZ protocols for Interlogix camera s

Before the PTZ dome cameras are assembled in their housings, set their
protocol and address DIP switches for the recorder. See Table 3 on page 12 for
different Interlogix PTZ dome camera settings.

If you are using PTZ dome cameras from another company, please refer to their
configuration instructions.

12 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Table 2: PTZ protocols for Interlogix cameras

Camera

Switch setting

TruVision Mini PTZ
12X: Indoor Dome

Protocol DIP
switches:

• RS-485 (on
recorder): 000000

1. Protocol DIP switches

2. RS-

485 communication DIP switches

3. Camera ID DIP switches

• RS-422 (on I/O
box):

100000

RS-485
communication DIP
switches:

110000

Camera ID DIP
switches:

Select the
camera ID
DIP switch
address as
required

RS-422/RS-485 data connector:

TruVision Mini PTZ
12X: Outdoor
Dome

Protocol DIP
switches:

• RS-485 (on
recorder): 000000

1. Protocol DIP switches

2. RS-485

communication DIP switches

3. Camera ID DIP switches

• RS-422 (on I/O
box):

100000

RS-485
communication DIP
switches:

110000

Camera ID DIP
switches:

Select the
camera ID
DIP switch
address as
required.

RS-422/RS-485 data connector:

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 13

Camera

Switch setting

TruVision

Dome

16X PTZ

Protocol switches:

• RS-485 (on
recorder):

0111

1. Address switches; 2. Baud switches;

3. Protocol switches

• RS-422 (on I/O
box):

1111

Address switches: Select the

camera ID
DIP switch
address as
required.

Baud rate: 0000 =

9600 bps
0011 =

4800 bps

RS-422/RS-485 data connector:

CyberDome

Protocol switches: NA

Address switches: Select the

camera ID
DIP switch
address as
required.

RS-485 data connector:

14 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Camera

Switch setting

UltraView PTZ

Protocol switches:

• RS-485 (on
recorder): 01000

1. Protocol switches;

2. Address switches

• RS-422 (on I/O

box):

10000

Address switches: Select the

address
switch
address as
required.

RS-422/RS-485 data connector:

Legend

Protocol switches:

• RS-485 on

recorder):

1

• RS-422 (on I/O

box):

0

Address switches: Select the

camera ID
DIP switch
address as
required.

RS-422/RS-485 data connector:

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 15

Connecting a KTD-405 keypad and dome
camera to the recorder

Use the input/output box that is supplied with the keypad to connect the KTD-405
keypad to the recorder. See Appendix D “KTD-405 keypad” on page 133 for
more information on wiring and using the KTD-405 keypad.

As the KTD-405 keypad uses full duplex data communication, you cannot
connect the both keypad and a dome camera directly to the recorder from the
RS-485 port as this could cause problems on the bus. If both devices are
required, it is recommended that you use the keypad’s RS-422 connection to
connect the dome camera and the keypad’s RS-485 connection to connect the
recorder. See Figure 5 as well as Table 4 and Table 5 below.

Note: These connections only work with UTC PTZ protocols (see Appendix B on
page 130). If you are using another manufacturer’s PTZ protocol, it is not
possible to connect both a keypad and dome camera to the recorder.

Figure 4: Connecting a PTZ dome camera and KTD-405 keypad to the recorder

1. KTD-405 keypad

2. RS-232 programming port

3. RS-485 and RS-422 in/out

4. RS-485 termination switch

5. RJ45 cable control (use the cable provided with
the equipment)

6. I/O box

7. Recorder back panel

8. Dome camera

16 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Table 3: UTC PTZ protocol settings

Dome: RS

-422 protocol TVR 12: Interlogix RS-485

See Table 5 below for the bus addresses to consider when connecting a both
keypad and dome camera to the recorder.

Table 4: Bus addresses

Recorder bus address

Recorder video inputs PTZ address range

1 1-32 00-31
2 1-32 32-63
3 1-32 64-95
4 1-32 96-127
5 1-32 128-159
6 1-32 160-191
7 1-32 192-223
8 1-32 224-255

Brackets

The recorder is easily rack-mountable. It has a 1.5U chassis.
See Figure 6 below.

Figure 5: Rack-mount installation

To install the racks:

1. Attach the two small f r ont-rack mount ears (A) to the recorder (screws are
supplied).

2. Attach the recorder to the front rails (B) (screws are not supplied).

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 17

Chapter 3

Getting started

Turning on and off the recorder

Before starting the power up process, connect at least one monitor to the video
out or the VGA interface. Otherwise, you will not be able to see the user interface
and operate the device. Also connect at least one camera.

The recorder auto-detects the video mode (PAL or NTSC) on startup.
It comes equipped with a universal power supply that will auto-sense 110/240 V,

60/50 Hz.
Note: It is recommended that an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is used in

conjunction with the device.

To turn on the recorder:

Turn on the recorder using the power switch on the back panel. Once it is
powered up, the status LEDs on the front panel will light up. All connected
cameras are displayed on-screen. The recorder automatically begins recording.

To turn off the recorder:

1. In live view mode, right-click the mouse and click Menu. The main menu
window appears.

2. Select the Power Manager icon.

3. In the Shutdown popu p menu, select Shutdown. Click Yes to confirm
shutdown.

To reboot the recorder:

1. In live view mode, right-click the mouse and click Menu. The main menu
window appears.

2. Select the Power Manager icon.

3. In the Shutdown popu p menu, select Reboot. Click Yes to confirm shutdown.

18 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Using the setup wizard

The TVR 12 has an express installation wizard that lets you easily configure
basic recorder settings when first used. It configures all cameras simultaneously.
The configuration can then be customized as required.

By default the setup wizard will start once the recorder has loaded. It will walk
you through some of the more important settings of your recorder.

Any changes you make to a setup configuration page are saved when you exit
the page and return to the main wizard page.

Note: If you want to set up the recorder with default settings only, click Next in
each screen until the end.

To quickly set up the recorder:

1. Connect all t he dev ices required to the back panel of the recorder. See
Figure 1 on page 9.

2. Turn on the unit using t he power swit ch on the front panel. After the boot up
screen, the recorder displays video images on screen.

3. Select the pref er red language for the system from the dropdown list and then
click Next.

4. Enable or disable t he option to start the wizard automatically when the
recorder is turned on. Click Next.

5. Administrator configuration:
Navigate to the Admin Password edit box and click the edit box with the

mouse, or press Enter on the front panel or remote control, to display the
virtual keyboard. Enter the default admin password, 1234.

Note: You must enter an admin password. To change the Admin password,

check New Admin password and enter the new password and confirm it.
Caution: It is strongly recommended that you change the password of the

administrator. Do not leave 1234 as the default password. Write it down in a
safe place so that you do not forget it.
If you should forget the password to your recorder, contact your supplier with
the serial number of your recorder to obtain a secure code to reset it.

Click Next.

6. Time and date configuration:
Select the desired time zone, date format, system time, and system date.
Note: Daylight saving time (DST) cannot be configured from the Wizard. See

“Configuring time and date” on page 74 for more information on DST.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 19

Note: The system time and date are visible on screen. However, they do not
appear in recordings.

Click Next to move to the next page, or Previous to return to the previous
page.

7. Network configuration:
Configure your network settings such as the NIC type, IP address, subnet

mask, UPnP, and default gateway. Enter the preferred DNS server address
as well as the alternate one to use.

Click the UPnP button and enter the required values to set up UPnP
(Universal Plug and Play).

Click Next to move to the next page, or Previous to return to the previous
page.

8. HDD management:
Configure your HDD settings as required.
After configuring your HDD settings, click Initialize to initialize the HDD and

Next to move to the next page, or Previous to return to the previous page.

20 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

9. Recording configuration:
Configure your recording settings as required. The settings apply to all

cameras connected to the recorder. The window for “Advanced Record
Settings” is shown below:

Check the Constant Recording checkbox for the recorder to record
continuously all day. If left unchecked, the recorder will not record.

Check the TL-Hi check box and select its image resolution and frame rate.
Check the TL-Lo check box and select its image resolution and frame rate.
To record motion detection events, check Event (Motion) and select the

image resolution and frame rate.
To record alarm events, check Alarm and select the image resolution and

frame rate.
Click Camera name to enter the camera name. A soft keyboard will appear to

enter the characters.

10. When all the required changes have been entered, a page appears showing
all the settings.

Click Finish to exit the Wizard. The recorder is now ready to use.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 21

For a description of the recorder main menu, see “Menu overview” on page

62.

22 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Chapter 4

Recording

This chapter provides instructions on how to define the recording settings of your
recorder. This chapter covers how you can configure your initial recording
settings, schedule recordings, and protect your recorded files.

Enter menu mode by pressing the Menu button on the front panel or use the
mouse menu to select Menu (see “Controlling live view” on page 66 for further
information). See Menu overview on page 62 for a list of the menu icons.

Initializing the recording setting s

Before you can set up your recorder to begin recording, you must first configure
general recording settings for the analog cameras.

Ensure that the HDD has been installed and initialized before configuring the
recording settings. See Chapter 7 “HDD management” on page 49 for more
information.

To configure recording settings:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Video Schedule > Encoding > Record.

2. Select the camer a y ou want t o configur e.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 23

3. Configure the follow ing recording settings:

• Encoding parameters: Select one of the stream types: Main stream (TL­Hi), Main stream (TL-Lo), Main stream (Event), Main stream (Alarm), or
Substream.

• Stream type: Select the type of stream to record, either video or video
and audio.

• Resolution: Select the resolution of the recording. Options include: 4CIF,
2CIF, CIF, QCIF and 960H.

• Bit rate type: Select Constant or Variable.

• Video quality: Select the quality at which to record. If “Constant” was

selected as the bit rate type, this option is unavailable.

• Frame rate: Select the recording frame rate. The options available
depend on the resolution selected.

• Max bit rate mode: Select the general default or customized option.

• Max bit rate (kbps): If the customized maximum bit rate mode was

selected, enter the value here. It must be between 32 and 3172 kbps. It is
calculated from the frame rate and time required.

• Pre-record: This is the time the camera starts recording before the event.
Select the time in seconds to start pre-recording before the event.

The maximum pre-recording times available depend on the constant bit

rate. See “Maximum pre-recording times” on page 141 for more
information.

• Post-record: This is the time the camera continues to record after the
event. Select the time in seconds to stop post-recording after the event.

• Auto-delete (day): Select the number of days after which recorded video
from the specified camera is permanently deleted from the HDD. A “day”
is defined as the 24-hour period from when the auto delete mode (ADM)
was set.

The maximum number of days that can be set is 60. However, the actual
number of days permitted depends on the HDD capacity. If the value is set
to ‘0’, the option is disabled.

• Record audio: Select Yes to record sound with the images.

4. Click Apply to save the settings.

5. If you want to save t hese param eter s to another camera, click Copy and
select the camera in the pop-up window that appears. Click OK and return to
the main window.

6. Click the Capture tab and configure the settings for captured image, such as
resolution. Click Apply to save the settings.

7. Click Back to return to live view.

24 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Configuring overwrite

You can select how the recorder responds when the HDDs become full and there
is no longer sufficient space to save new data.

To configure for overwrite when the HDDs are full:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Video Schedule > More Settings.

2. Under Overwrite, select Yes.

Prioritizing events

You can define the priority between text insertion event and motion alarm if both
are triggered at the same time. Default is motion alarm has priority (Text In <
Motion).

To prioritize events:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Video Schedule > More Settings.

2. Under Event pr i ority, select Text In > Motion or Text In < Motion (default).

Calculating the maximum permitted frame rates and bit
rates

You can easily calculate the correct frame rates, bit rates, and HDD free space
required for your system.

Note: If you should later change any recording parameters, the calculated values
will no longer apply.

To configure recording settings:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Video Schedule > Encoding > Encode

Parameters Recommendation.

2. Enter the number of days to be recor ded and the resolution. Also specify
whether the recording period will include weekdays and weekends.

3. Click Calculate. The recommended maximum values for the frame rate, bit
rate, and HDD free space are then displayed.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 25

Use this information when setting the recording parameters.

Note: This option is not available via the browser.

Defining a recording schedul e

Defining a recording schedule lets you specify when the recorder records video
and under what circumstances. Each camera can be configured to have its own
recording schedule.

The schedules are visually presented on a map for easy reference. See Figure 6
below for an example.

Figure 6: Description of the schedule window

1. Camera. Select a camera.

2. Schedule time. Represents the 24-hour cycle during which a schedule is selected.

3. Schedule day. There are eight days to select: Sunday (Sun), Monday (Mon), Tuesday (Tue),
Wednesday (Wed), Thursday, (Thu), Friday (Fri), Saturday (Sat) and Holiday (if Holiday has
been enabled).

4. Recording type. There are five recording types to select, which are color-coded:
 TL Time lapse (Green squares): Record of a specific day. Each green square in the timeline

represents an hour in the 24-hour period.

 TL-Hi (Dark green): High quality time lapse. Record s high quality video.
 TL-Lo (Bright green): Low quality time lapse. Records low quality video. This could be used,

for example, for night recordings when few event s or alarms are expected. Saving the
video in low quality helps save resources on the HDD.

 Event (Yellow): Records only events, such as motion detection and POS/ATM t ext insertion.
 Alarm (Red): Records only alarms.
 None (Grey): No recording during this period.

5. Timeline. There is a 24-hour time line for each day. Up to eight recording periods can be
scheduled during the 24-hour period.

26 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Daily schedules

To set up a daily recording schedule:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Video Schedule > Schedule.

2. Select a camera.

3. Check the Enable Schedule box.

4. Click Edit. The following window is displayed:

5. Select the day of t he week () for which you want to set up the schedule.
You can define a different schedule for each day of the week.
Check All Day to select the whole week.

6. Set the start and end time for recording.
Define a time period by entering a start (left column) and end (right column)

time. You can schedule up to eight time periods. Click All Day to record all
day.

Note: Time periods defined cannot overlap.

7. Select a recording t ype.
This setting instructs the recorder to begin recording when an alarm is

triggered. The recording type can be based on time and triggered by motion
detection and/or an alarm. If set to TimeLapse (TL-Hi or TL-Lo), the recorder
records continuously.

8. Click Apply to save settings

9. Repeat steps 4 to 8 for ot her days of the week or to copy the schedule
settings to another day.

To copy the current schedule settings to another day of the week, click Copy.
Select the number of the day of the week to which to copy the schedule. Click

OK to save changes and return to the Edit window.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 27

10. Repeat steps 4 to 9 for other cameras.

11. Click Apply to save the settings and then OK t o r eturn to the schedule
window.

Holiday schedules

As well as being able to schedule when recordings occur during the week, you
can also schedule them for specific holidays in the year such as the first of
January, or the second Wednesday of every month, for example. You can
schedule up to 32 holiday periods.

A holiday period can be scheduled for a particular day or as a block of days.

To set up a holiday recording schedule:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Display Settings > Holiday.

2. Select a holiday period from the list and click Edit to modify the settings. The
Edit window appears.

3. Enter the name of t he holiday per iod and click Enable.

4. Select whether the holiday period will be categorized by date, week, or month
and then enter the start and end dates.

5. Click Apply to save the settings and then OK to return to the Edit window.

6. Repeat steps 2 to 5 for ot her holiday periods.

7. Click Back to return to live view.

Motion detection schedules

You can set up both the schedule and areas sensitive to motion detection for
each camera individually or easily copy the settings of one camera to other
cameras.

For information on scheduling motion detections, see “Motion detection set up”
on page 32.

External alarm schedules

The recorder can be scheduled to record when an alarm is triggered by an
external alarm device such as a PIR detector or dry contacts. For information on
scheduling external alarms, see “Triggering or clearing alarm outputs manually”
on page 36.

28 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Protecting recorded files

There are two methods to prevent recorded files from being inadvertently
overwritten or deleted off the HDD. We highly recommend that important
recorded events be protected from deletion. Recorded files can either be locked
or the HDD that the files reside on can be set to read only.

Locking and unlocking recorded files

Lock files to protect them against being overwritten or deleted.

To lock or unlock a recorded file:

1. In live view enter the video search window by pressing the Search button on
the front panel or remote control, and then enter Advanced Search.

— Or —
In live view, right-click the mouse to display the pop-up menu and select

Advanced Search.

The Search window appears by default for the Normal tab.

2. Search for the desired recording by entering the search parameters, which
include the camera number, record type, file type, and start time and end
time.

3. Click Search.
A list of recordings, similar to the figure below, matching the search

parameters is displayed.

4. Select the file you wa nt to lock/unlock.
The Locked column indicates whether a file is locked or not.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 29

5. Click to lock a file. Click again to unlock.

6. Click Cancel to return to live view.

Setting the HDD to read-only

When you set an HDD to read-only, recorded video files cannot be written to the
HDD. If multiple HDDs are used, the recorder automatically records to the next
HDD not set to read-only.

To set an HDD to read-only:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Setting > Hard Disk.

2. Select the HDD you want to set to read-only.

3. Click Edit and check Read only.

4. Click Apply to save the settings. The HDD is now read-only.
Note: In order to enable recordings on that particular HDD again, you must

set the HDD status back to R/W (Read/ Write).

Manual recording

The recorder lets you manually record video during live view. This can be useful
if you know that the recorder is not currently recording and you see something of
interest on a camera screen that should be recorded.

Once a manual recording is started, the recording continues until it is manually
stopped. If an alarm occurs during a manual recording, the alarm recording has
priority over the manual recording. If a scheduled recording is already in progress
when a manual recording is started, it continues to record as scheduled.

During manual recording, the manual recording status icon appears on screen
(see “Status information” on page 65). You can also check to see if a camera is

30 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

recording manually by checking the icon on the quick access toolbar. The icon is
red when manually recording. Default is off.

Manually recorded video is identified in the color-coded timeline shown in
playback (see “Searching recorded video” on page 90).

There are two ways to start and stop a manual recording:

• Use the quick access toolbar

You can start/stop manual recording for each camera individually. Position
the cursor over a camera image and left- click the mouse to display the quick
access toolbar. Click the manual record icon to start or stop manual
recording. The icon is red when recording.

• Use the configuration menu

This option lets you select more than one camera at a time. Go to Video
Schedule > Manual Record to access the manual recording menu and

check the boxes of the cameras to start or stop manual recording.

Capturing text insertions

The recorder supports Point-of-Sale (POS) and ATM text insertion via the UTC
ProBridge accessory connected to the RS-232 port on the recorder.

The feature is currently only available via the browser (see “Capturing text
insertions” on page 125).

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 31

Chapter 5

Alarm settings

This chapter describes setting up how the system will respond when an alarm is
triggered.

Enter menu mode by pressing the Menu button on the front panel or use the
mouse menu to select Menu (see “Controlling live view” on page 66 for further
information). See Menu overview on page 62 for a list of the menu icons.

Description of alarm notification ty p es

When setting up the rules for alarm detection, you can specify how you want the
recorder to notify you about an alarm. You can select more than one notification
type. Not all notifications types are available for all types of alarms.

The alarm notification types are:

• Full-Screen Monitoring: Triggers the camera image in alarm to appear as
full-screen view.

• Audible Warning: Triggers an audible beep when a notification or alarm is
detected.

• Notify Alarm Recipient: Sends a signal to TruVision Navigator or other
software applications when an alarm or notification is detected.

• Send Email: Sends an email when an alarm or notification is detected. See
“Configuring email” on page 43 for information on how to configure the
recorder to send an email.

• Upload Captured Pictures to FTP: Sends snapshots to a designated FTP
site. See “Configuring an FTP server to store snapshots” on page 45 for more
information.

• Trigger Alarm Output: Triggers an alarm output or multiple alarm outputs
when a notification is detected for an external alarm. See “Setting up external
alarms” on page 34 for information on configuring an alarm output.

32 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Modifying the warning buzzer

When an alarm is triggered by the system or a camera, the recorder can be set
up to respond with a warning buzzer. You can modify the time during which the
warning buzzer sounds for both system and camera alarm. Select Alarm >
Advanced Settings and select a buzzer time limit for the system and camera
alarms. Default is mute.

Setting up motion detection

Motion detection is one of the most important features of a recorder. With it there
is no need to manually search through hours of video recordings to find an event.
The recorder can be set up to trigger an alarm if it detects motion and to record it.
You can then search these recorded motion activities for specific incidents. If
enabled, motion detection recording can help increase the number of days your
recorder can record.

You can mask out any areas of motion on an analog camera display that you do
not want to trigger a recording such as a flag on a pole or a moving tree.

Select the level of sensitivity to motion as well the target size so that only objects
that could be of interest can trigger a motion recording. For example, recording is
triggered by the movement of a person but not that of a cat.

You can set up both the schedule and areas sensitive to motion detection for
each camera individually or easily copy the settings of one camera to other
cameras.

Motion detection set up

To set up motion detection:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Camera Management > Motion.
Areas covered by the red grid are sensitive to motion detection.

2. Select the analog camera to detect motion. Each camera must be set up
individually.

3. Check Enable Motion Detection.

4. Select the areas on-screen to be sensitive to motion.
Click and drag the mouse cursor across the window to deselect areas

sensitive to motion detection.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 33

Click Full screen to activate the whole screen or Clear to clear the screen.

5. Set the sensitivit y level.
Drag the Sensitivity scroll bar to the desired sensitivity level. The highest

value is on the right of the bar.

6. Specify the tar get size.
In the Target size option, specify how many grid squares must be activated

before motion is detected. Enter a value between 0 and 255 squares.

7. Select the camer as t hat will recor d t he motion detected.
Click Rule. The Rule window appears. Click the Trigger Channel tab and

select the cameras that will record when a motion alarm is triggered. Click

Apply to save the settings.

8. Select the recor ding schedules for motion detection.
In the Rule window, click the Arming schedule tab and select the day of the

week and the time periods during the day when motion can be recorded. You
can schedule up to eight time periods in a day. Default is 24 hours.

Click Apply to save the settings. Click Copy to copy the settings to other
days of the week.

Note: Time periods defined cannot overlap.

9. Select the response method to motion detection.
In the Rule window, click the Rule tab to define the method by which you want

the recorder to notify you of the alarm (see page 31 for the list of alarm
notification types). Click Apply to save settings.

10. Click OK to return to the motion detection settings window.

11. Click Back to return to live view.

34 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

To trigger the front panel alarm LED:

1. Click the Di splay Settings icon in the menu toolbar and select

Monitor>More Settings.

2. Check both the Other Notification: Panel Alarm LED and Motion Alarm
boxes.

Setting up external alarms

The recorder can be configured to record when an alarm is triggered by an
external alarm device (for example, PIR detector, dry contacts…).

To set up external alarms:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Alarm Settings > Alarm Input.

2. Select the alarm input number of a camera and enter the name of the input, if
required.

3. Select the alarm input type, NO or NC.

4. Check the Setting box to enable the function and click Rule to set up the rules
for the cameras to be triggered, their alarm schedules, method of alarm
notification and PTZ function.

5. Select the camer as t o be tr igger ed when an external alarm is detected.
In the Rule window, click Trigger channel and select the cameras to be

triggered for recording when an alarm is detected. Only analog cameras can
be selected. Click Apply to save the settings.

6. Select the recor ding schedules for the external alarm.
Click the Arming schedule tab and select the day of the week and the time

periods during the day when motion can be recorded. You can schedule up to
eight time periods in a day. Default is 24 hours.

Click Apply to save the settings. Click Copy to copy the settings to other
days of the week and holiday period.

Note: The time periods defined cannot overlap.

7. Select the response method to an external alarm.
Click the Rule tab to define the method by which you want the recorder to

notify you of the alarm. Click Apply to save settings.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 35

8. Select the PTZ camer a f unc t ion required in response to an external alarm.
Click the PTZ Linking tab and select the PTZ camera as well as the preset,

preset tour or shadow tour that is triggered when the alarm is detected.

Click Apply to save the settings. Click Copy to copy the settings to other
cameras, if required.

9. Click OK to return to the alarm input window.

10. Click Back to return to live view.

To set up an alarm output:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Alarm Settings > Alarm Output.

2. Select the alarm output.

3. Select a timeout option.
The timeout setting lets you define how long a signal remains active after the

alarm has ended. If you select Manually Clear, the signal remains active until
it is manually acknowledged by pressing the alarm button on the front panel
or remote control (see “Triggering or clearing alarm outputs manually” on
page 36).

4. Select the recor ding schedules for the alarm output.
Click Rule and select the day of the week and the time periods during the day

when motion can be recorded. You can schedule up to eight time periods in a
day. Default is 24 hours.

Click Apply to save the settings. Click Copy to copy the settings to other
days of the week and holiday period.

Note: The time periods defined cannot overlap.

5. Click OK to ret ur n to the alarm output window.

6. Click Back to return to live view.

36 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Triggering or clearing alarm outp ut s
manually

When an alarm is activated, the recorder can be set up so that the alarm must be
manually acknowledged in order to be silenced. See “Setting up external alarms”
on page 34 for information on setting up an alarm to be manually cleared.

All user levels (administrator, manager, and operator) can manually acknowledge
an alarm.

To trigger or clear alarm outputs manually:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Alarm Settings > Alarm Output.

2. Click the Manual Alarm tab.

3. Select t h e desir ed alarm output and click one of the following buttons:

• Trigger / Clear: Trigger an alarm output or stop an alarm output.

• Trigger All: Trigger all alarm outputs at once. This action could be done,

for example, when you need to test them.

• Clear All: Stop all alarm outputs at once.

4. Click Back to return to live view. The alarm is silenced.

- Or -

1. Press the Alarm button on the front panel or remote control. The alarm is
silenced.

Setting up system notifications

Setting up system notifications instructs the recorder to alert you when irregular
events occur and how to alert you to the event.

You can quickly check the system status by looking at the status LEDs on the
front panel. When there is an irregular event with the system, an icon appears on
screen to also alert you. See “Status information” on page 65 for further
information.

The types of system notifications include:

• HDD Full: An installed HDD is full (overwrite option is disabled).

• HDD Error: Errors occurred while files were being written to the HDD, no

HDD installed or HDD had failed to initialize.

• Network Disconnected: Disconnected network cable.

• IP Conflicted: Conflict in IP address setting.

• Illegal Login: Wrong user ID or password used.

• Input/output Video Standards Mismatch: I/O video standards do not

match.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 37

• Abnormal Record: Recording failed due to encoder or hard disk problems.
See “Description of alarm notification types” on page 31 for information on the

different alarm notification types available.

To set up system notifications:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Alarm Settings > Notification.

2. Select a notif ication type.

3. Check one or m ore response options: Audible warning, notify surveillance
center, send email, and trigger alarm output.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for other notification types.

5. Click Apply to save the settings.

Detecting video loss

Video may be lost if the video cable or camera develop a fault or are damaged.
You can set up the recorder to detect video loss and trigger a system notification.

To setup video loss detection:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Camera Management > Video Loss.

2. Select a camera t o c onfigure f or video loss detection.

3. Check the Enable Video Loss Al ar m box to enable the feature.

4. Click Rules next to the Video Loss Detection box to enter the Rules window.

5. Click the Rule tab and select how you want the recorder to notify you of video
loss (see page 31 for the list of options). Click Apply to save the settings and
then clock OK to return to the previous window.

6. Click the Arming Schedule tab and select the schedule of when you want
video loss detection to be enabled. Schedule can be set for all week or any
day of the week with up to 8 time periods per day.

7. Click the Apply button to save settings.

8. Click Copy to copy these settings t o ot her cameras .

9. Click Back to return to live view.

38 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Detecting video tampering

You can setup the recorder to alert you when the camera view has changed such
as when someone has deliberately blocked the camera view by spraying paint on
the lens or by moving the camera. You can set it up so that a specific part of the
screen can detect a tamper and thereby trigger an action on the recorder.

Note: It is strongly recommended not to configure for video tampering when

using PTZ dome cameras.

To set up video tampering detection:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Camera Management > Tamper-Proof .

2. Select a camera t o c onfigure f or tamper-proof.

3. Check the Enable Tamper-proof box to enable the feature.

4. Define a tampering ar ea.
The tamper detection area setup interface lets you define an area on screen

where you want camera tampering to be detected. Click and drag the mouse
across an area to mark that area for video tampering. You can only set one
tampering area with the full screen being the maximum area. Click Clear to
clear the window.

5. Select the tam per detection sensitivity level by clicking the sensitivity scroll
bar. Higher sensitivity is to the right of the bar.

6. Select the recor ding schedules for the tamper.
Click Rule and then select the Arming schedule tab to select the day of the

week and the time periods during which tamper can be detected. You can
schedule up to eight time periods in a day. Default is 24 hours.

Click Apply to save the settings. Click Copy to copy the settings to other
days of the week and holiday period.

Note: The time periods defined cannot overlap.

7. Select the response method to an external alarm.
Click Rule and then select the Rule tab to select the method by which you

want the recorder to notify you of the alarm. Click Apply to save settings and
then OK to return to the previous window.

8. Click Back to return to live view.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 39

Chapter 6

Network settings

You must configure your recorder’s network settings before using it over the
network.

The recorder must have access to the internet when configuring the network
settings.

Note: As every network configuration may differ, please contact your Network
Administrator or ISP to see if your recorder requires specific IP addresses or port
numbers.

Configuring general network sett i ng s

To configure general network settings:

1. Click the Network Settings icon in the menu toolbar to display its window.

2. Click General and enter the required settings:

Option

Description

NIC type

Network interface card (NIC) is a device used to connect the

recorder to a network. Select the NIC type used from the drop­down list.

Default value is 10/100M self-adaptive.

40 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Option

Description

Enable DHCP

Check this box if you have a DHCP server running and want

your recorder to automatically obtain an IP address and other
network settings from that server.

Default value is Disable.

IPv4 address

Enter the IP address for the recorder.

Default value is 192.168.1.82

IPv4 subnet mask

Enter the subnet mask for your network so the recorder will be

recognized within the network.
Default value is 255.255.255.0

IPv4 default gateway

Enter the IP address of your network gateway so the recorder

will be recognized within the network. T his is typically the IP
address of your router.

Default value is 192.168.1.1

IPv6 address 1

Enter the IPv6 address for the recorder.

Default value is: It depends.

IPv6 address 2

Enter the IPv6 address for the recorder.

IPv6 default gateway

Enter the IPv6 address of your network gateway so the recorder

will be recognized within the network. This is typically the IP
address of your router.

MAC address

Enter the MC address.

MTU (bytes)

Enter a value between 500 and 1500. Default is 1500.

Preferred DNS server

Enter the preferred domain name server to use with t he

recorder.

Alternate DNS server

Enter the alternate domain name server to use with the recorder

.

3. Click Apply to save the settings.

4. Click Back to return to live view or to continue to configure.

Configuring PPPoE

You can connect the recorder directly to a DSL modem. To do this, you need to
select the PPPoE option in the network settings. Contact your ISP to get the user
name and password.

To configure general network settings:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > PPPoE.

2. Check the enable PPPoE box.

3. Enter your user nam e and password and confirm the password.

4. Click Apply to save the settings.

5. Click Back to return to live view or to continue to configure.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 41

Configuring DDNS

A static IP address never changes so you can enter it into the browser or CMS
and the recorder network connection will always work with it.

However, if you have a dynamic IP address for your public IP address, it will
change every time you connect to the network. Under such situations, you can
set up a dynamic domain name system (DDNS) that will link your public IP
address to a host name so that you can connect to the recorder with the host
name.

Note: If you are not seeing video over your cellular network, some cellular
providers block port 554 so you may need to change it to another value. See
Appendix C “Port forwarding information” on page 131 for more information.

There are two ways to set up a DDNS:

• DynDNS: Manually create your own host name. You will first need to create a
user account using the hosting web site, DynDDNS.org.

• ezDDNS: Activate the DDNS auto-detection funct ion to set up a dynamic I P
address. The server is set up to assign an available host name t o your
recorder.

Figure 7: ezDDNS setup window

Note: You cannot have two recorders with the same host name.

To set up DDNS:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > DDNS.

2. Check the Enable DDNS box to enable this feature.

3. Select one of the DDNS types listed:

42 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

DynDNS: Select DynDNS and enter the server address for DynDNS
(members.dyndns.org). In the recorder domain name field, enter the domain
name obtained from the DynDNS web site. Then enter your user name and
password registered in the DynDNS network.

For example:

Server address: members.dyndns.org
Domain: mycompanydvr.dyndns.org
User name: myname
Password: mypassword

- Or ­ezDDNS: Click the Get URL button. The URL address to access the unit is

displayed. If no host name is specified, the DDNS will allocate one
automatically.

The maximum length for the host name field is 64 characters. This limit does
not include tvn-ddns.net. An example of a host name could be
max64chars.tvr-ddns.net.

4. Ask your ISP serv ice pr ov ider f or your DNS server address.
Go to Network Settings > General and enter the preferred and alternate

DNS server addresses.

5. Click Apply to save the settings.

6. Click Back to return to live view or to continue to configure.

Configuring an NTP server

A Network Time Protocol (NTP) server can also be configured on your recorder
to keep the date and time current and accurate.

Note: If the device is connected to a public network, you should use a NTP
server that has a time synchronization function, such as the server at the
National Time Center (IP Address: 210.72.145.44) or europe.ntp.pool.org. If the
device is setup in a more customized network, NTP software can be used to
establish a NTP server used for time synchronization.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 43

To set up an NTP server:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > NTP.

2. Check the NTP box to enable feature. It is enabled by default.

3. Enter the NTP settings:

• Interval: Time in minutes to synchronize with the NTP server. The value
can be between 1 and 10080 minutes. Default is 60 minutes.

• NTP server: IP address of the NTP server.

• NTP port: Port of the NTP server.

4. Click Apply to save the settings.

5. Click Back to return to live view or to continue to configure.

Configuring email

Your recorder can send email notifications of alarms or notifications through the
network.

Note: Ensure that the DNS address has been set up correctly beforehand.
To configure email settings:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > Email.

2. Enter the required settings.

Option

Description

Enable Server
A

uthentication

Check the box if your mail server requires authentication and
enter the login user name and password.

SMTP S

erver Enter the SMTP server’s IP address.

SMTP P

ort Enter the SMTP port. The default TCP/IP port for SMTP is 25.

Enable SSL

Check the box to enable SSL if it is required by the SMTP server.

This feature is optional.

Sender

Enter the name of t he sender of the email.

Sender’s A

ddress Enter the sender’s email address.

Select R

eceivers Select an email recipient. Up to three receivers can be selected.

Receiver

Enter t he name of the receiver of the email.

Receiver’s

Address Enter the email address of the receiver.

Enable

Attached

S

napshot

Check the Attach JPEG File box if you want to send an email with
attached alarm images.

Interval

Select an interval range in the Interval box.

The interval range represents the time range in b etween the alarm

images being sent. For example, if you set the interval range at
two seconds, the second alarm image will be sent t wo seconds
after the first alarm image

44 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

3. Click Test to the test email settings.

4. Click Apply to save the settings.

5. Click Back to return to live view or to continue to configure.

Configuring UPnP

The recorder supports UPnP (Universal Plug and Play). This feature lets the
recorder automatically configure its own port forwarding, if this feature is also
enabled in the router.

You can select one of two methods to set up UPnP:
Automatic mapped type: The recorder automatically uses the free ports

available that were set up in the Network Settings menu.
Manual mapped type: You enter the particular external port settings and IP

addresses required to connect to the desired router (see Figure 8 below).

Figure 8: UPnP manual configuration screen

To enable UPnP:

1. Connect the recorder to the router.
Note: The router must support UPnP and this option must be enabled.

2. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > UPnP.

3. Enable the option.

4. From M apped Type, select Aut o or Manual.
If Manual is selected, enter the external ports and IP addresses required.

5. Click Apply.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 45

Configuring SNMP

SNMP is a protocol for managing devices on networks. When you enable SNMP
in the menu, network management systems can retrieve recorder status
information from the recorder via SNMP.

When you set the trap address and trap port in the recorder menu to the network
management system’s IP address and port number, and set up the network
management system as trap receiver, trap notifications (such as startup) are sent
from the recorder to the network management system.

Before configuring this function, you must first install the SNMP software.

To configure SNMP protocol settings:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > SNMP.

2. Enter the required settings.

3. Click Apply to save the settings.

Configuring an FTP server to store
snapshots

You can upload your snapshots to an FTP server for storage.

Note: It is not possible to stream video to an FTP site.

To configure the FTP server settings:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > FTP.

2. Check the Enable FTP box.

3. Enter the FTP server inf ormation.

4. Select the desired directory. The root directory is default.

5. Click Apply.

Configuring a remote alarm host

If a remote alarm host set, the recorder sends a signal to the host when an alarm
is triggered. The remote alarm host must have the TruVision Navigator server
software installed.

To set up a remote alarm host:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > More Settings.

2. Enter Alarm Host IP and Alarm Host Port.

46 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Alarm host IP represents the IP of the remote PC where the Network Video
Surveillance software installed. The alarm host port value must be the same
as software’s alarm monitor port. Up to three alarm hosts can be set. For
each alarm host, the default port is 5001, 5002, and 5003.

3. Click Apply to save the settings.

Configuring multicast

Setting up multicasting resolves limitation issues when streaming videos through
a network access device. A multicast address spans the Class-D IP range of

224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. We recommend that the IP address range of

239.252.0.0 to 239.255.255.255 be used.

To set up multicasting:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > More Settings.

2. Enter a Multicas t IP address.

Note: When adding a device to the Network Video Surveillance software, the

multicast address must be the same as the recorder’s multicast IP.

3. Click Apply to save the settings.

Configuring the server and HTT P p or ts

You can change the server and HTTP ports from the default settings in the
Network Settings window. The default server port is 8000 while that of the default
HTTP port is 80.

Note: The server port has a port range of 2000 to 65535 and is used for remote

client software access. The HTTP port is used for remote internet browser
access.

To change the default ports:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > More Settings.

2. Enter the new Server Port and HTTP Port values.

Configuring the RTSP service por t

The RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) is a network control protocol
designed for use in entertainment and communications systems to control
streaming media servers.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 47

To configure RTSP service port:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > More Settings.

2. Enter the RTSP port value. The default value 554.

3. Click Apply to save the settings.

Telnet setup

For Technical Support only.

Checking network status

You can easily check network traffic in order to obtain information about the
recorder such as its linking status, MTU, sending/receiving rate, MAC address,
and NIC type. You can save then this information to a storage device.

You can also check the network connection status by testing its delay and packet
loss.

To check network traffic:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Settings > Net Detect > Traffic. The
Traffic window appears. The information displayed is refreshed once a
second.

To check network delay and packet loss:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Network Settings > Net Detect > Network

Detection.

2. Under the section “ Net wor k Dela y , Pack et Loss Test”, enter the destination
address and click Test.

The test result appears in a pop-up window.

48 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

3. To save the result s, insert your storage device, such as a flash drive, in the
recorder. Under “Network Packet Export”, click Refresh for the device to be
listed in the drop-down list.

Select the storage device from the drop-don list and click Export to export the
result file to the device.

4. If you need to c heck the cur r ent network parameters, click the Network
button to get an overview.

The NIC type and Enable DHCP options can be changed. Click Apply to
save any changes made.

To check network statistics:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Settings > Net Detect.

2. The latest infor m ation is displayed on the bandwidth used by remote live and
playback as well by Net Receive Idle and Net Send Idle. Click Refresh to
update the information.

Exporting network packet data

When the recorder is connected to a network, you can export the captured data
packet to a, USB-flash drive, SATA/eSATA CD-RW and other local backup
devices.

To export network packet data:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Settings > Net Detect > Network

Detection.

2. Under the section “ Net wor k pack et export ”, click Refresh to get a list of the
local backup devices available. Select one from the list.

3. Click Export. Up to 1M of data can be exported at a time.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 49

Chapter 7

HDD management

Initializing HDDs

The in-built HDD must be initialized before it can be used. You can also re­initialize the HDD. However, all data on the HDD will be destroyed.

To initialize an HDD:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Settings > Hard Disk.

2. Under the HDD Infor m ation tab, select the HDD to be initialized.

3. Click th e Initialize button to begin initialization.
After the HDD has been initialized, the status of the HDD changes from

Abnormal to Normal.

Setting the HDD quota

You can allocate on an HDD the maximum permitted storage and snapshot
picture capacities from each camera.

50 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

To set the HDD quota:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Settings > Hard Disk.

2. Click the Storage mode tab.

3. Under the Mode option, select Quota.

4. Select a camera whose storage capacity you want to change and enter the
values in GB for maximum record capacity and maximum picture capacity.
The maximum storage capacity of the HDD is listed.

5. Click Apply to save the settings.

6. If you want to copy t hese values to other cameras, click Copy and select the
cameras. Click OK. Click Apply to save the settings.

Setting the HDD property

You can change the behavior of your HDD by changing its property. It can be set
to read-only or read/write (R/W).

An HDD can be set to read-only to avoid important recorded files from being
overwritten when the HDD becomes full.

Note: Ensure that the HDD storage mode is “Group” before setting the HDD to
read-only.

To change an HDD status property:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Settings > Hard Disk.

2. Click the HDD Information tab.

3. Select the HDD whos e property you want to change.

4. Click the Edit icon . The Local HDD Settings window appears.

5. Click the desired HDD property for the selected HDD.

6. Click the group number for this HDD.

7. Click Apply to save and exit the window.
Note: Once set to read-only, the HDD cannot be used to save recorded files

until it is set back to read/write (R/W). If the HDD that is currently being
written to is set to read-only, the data is then recorded to the next HDD. If
there is only one HDD present, setting it to read-only means the recorder
cannot record.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 51

Checking HDD status

You can check the status of any of the installed HDDs on the recorder at
anytime.

To check the status of an HDD:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Settings > Hard Disk.

2. Note the status of the HDDs list ed under the Status column.
If the status is listed as Normal or Sleeping, the HDD is in working order. If it

is listed as Abnormal and has already been initialized, the HDD needs to be
replaced. If the HDD is Uninitialized, you need to initialize it before it can be
used in the recorder. Refer to “Initializing HDDs” on page 49 for more
information.

Note: This information is also available under System Settings > System

Information > HDD window.

Configuring HDD alarms

HDD alarms can be set to trigger when an HDD is uninitialized or in an abnormal
state.

To set HDD alarms:

1. From the menu toolbar , click Alarm Settings > Notification.

2. Select the notification event to configure under Notification Type box.

3. Select HDD Full and check the desired notification method. See “Setting up
system notifications” on page 36 for more information.

Select HDD Error and check the desired notification method.

4. Click Apply to save the settings.

Checking the S.M.A.R.T. informati o n

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) reports on a
variety of hard drive attributes. It helps ensure that the HDD is functioning
properly at all times while protecting video stored on the hard drive.

To view the S.M.A.R.T. information of an HDD:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Settings > Hard Disk.

2. Select the S.M.A.R.T. Settings tab to display its window.

3. Select the HDD whos e data you want to see. A detail listing of S.M.A.R.T.
information is displayed.

52 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

4. If you want to cont inue t o use an HDD when the S.M.A.R.T. test has failed,
check the box Use when the disk has failed to self-evaluate. Click Apply
to save the settings.

Searching video using disk analysis

The recorder can run a disk analysis to get a broader sense of the video data
stored on the HDD. This video data can include alarms, events, video Loss, and
more.

The disk analysis screen provides a graphical view of the all video stored on the
HDD for each camera. The scale is determined dynamically. The timeline flows
from left (oldest) to right (newest) video. See Figure 9 on page 53.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 53

Figure 9: Disk analysis screen

1. Zoom level: This is the zoom level di splayed.

2. Time/date marker: This is the date and time of the marker position.

3. Time window: This represents the time period of the selected zoom level for all the cameras.
Events that occurred during this period are indicated on the time bar for each camera. The
type of event recorded is color coded.

4. Change zoom level: Click the in or out buttons to zoom the analysis view in and out between
five levels. The levels are:

Level 1: Year view
Level 2: Month view
Level 3: Day view
Level 4: Six-hour view
Level 5: One-hour view

5. Type of recording: Up to five types of event recordings can be displayed: Constant, mot i on,
alarm, manual, and text insertion. Black is no reco rding.

To search recorded video using disk analysis

1. In live view, r ight -click the mouse and in the mouse menu select Advanced
Search > Disk Analysis.

3. From t he list shown, click the HDD to analyze and then the Analyze button.
The disk analysis screen appears.

4. Move the t ime/date marker to the time period of interest. Click the zoom in
and out buttons to focus in and out of the time period for viewing.

Note: The playback option is not available.

54 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Configuring redundant recording

Setting up HDD redundancy lets your recorder redundantly record a copy of the
videos onto multiple drives as a safeguard against losing all your files in case of
disk failures. This process is also known as mirroring. You must have more than
one HDD in your recorder to set up HDD redundancy.

Redundancy significantly reduces the storage capability of the HDDs. As a result
you need to double your capacity to record video over a given time.

Note: You must set the storage mode of the HDD to Group before configuring
the redundancy. See “Setting up HDD groups” below for more information.

To set up HDD redundancy:

1. Click the System Settings icon in the menu toolbar and select Hard Disk.

2. Click the HDD Information tab and select the HDD to be used for
redundancy and click Edit.

3. In the Local HDD Setti ngs sc r een, select Redundancy.
Verify at least one other HDD is set to R/W (read/write).

4. Click Apply to save the settings and then OK return to the previous screen.

5. In the menu toolbar, click the Vi deo Schedule > Encoding.

6. Select the camer a to be used for redundancy.

7. Check Redundant Record/Capture and select Yes from the drop-down list.

8. Click Apply to save the settings.

9. Repeat steps 6 to 8 for ot her cameras whose files you would like to be
redundantly recorded.

10. Click Back to return to live view.

Setting up HDD groups

Your NVR can organize multiple HDDs into groups. Videos from specified
channels can be set to be recorded onto a particular HDD group. You could, for
example, save the records from a couple of high priority cameras to one HDD,
and save the recordings from all the other cameras to another HDD.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 55

To set up an HDD group:

1. From the menu toolbar , click System Settings > Hard Disk.

2. Select the Storage M ode tab.

3. Under Mode, s elect Group.

4. Under Record on HDD Gr oup, select the HDD group number.

5. Check the channels to be added to this group.
Note: By default, all channels belong to HDD group 1.

6. Click Apply to save the settings.

56 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Chapter 8

Operating instructions

Controlling the recorder

There are several ways to control the recorder:

• Front panel control

• Mouse control

• IR remote control

• KTD-405 keypad control (see Appendix D “KTD-405 keypad” on page 133)

• Web browser control
You can use your preferred control method for any procedure, but in most cases

we describe procedures using mouse terminology. Optional control methods are
given only when they differ substantially from mouse control methods.

Using the front panel

The function buttons on the front panel control can be used to operate many, but
not all, of the main functions of the recorder. The LED indicators light up to alert
you of various conditions. The functions available can be limited by setting
passwords. See Figure 9 on page 57 for more information.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 57

Figure 10: TVR 12 front panel (4-ch model shown)

The controls on the front panel include:

Item

Name Description

1

. USB port The recorder supports additional devices such as a USB

mouse, CD/DVD burner, and a USB HDD on the front and
rear USB ports.

2

. CD/DVD burner Insert CD or DVD disc.

The CD/DVD burner is not present on all TVR 12 models.
Not all buttons are available on models without a burner.

3

. Eject button Ejects CD/DVD disc. This is only present on models with a

CD/DVD burner.

4

. Archive button Press once to enter quick archive mode. Press twice to

start archiving.

5

. Display and Seq

buttons

Live view mode: Press Display to toggle through the
various views (full, quad, 1+5, 1+7, 9, and 16). Press Seq
to start/stop sequencing in live view mode.

PTZ mode: Press to delete a selected key point.
Menu mode: Press Enter to select a menu window and

then Seq to toggle through the

tabs along the top of a menu

window.

6

. Channel buttons Switch between different cameras in live view, PTZ control

or playback modes. Use the soft keyboard to ente r
numerals 0 to 9.

7

. Live, Menu and Search

buttons

Live: Switch to live view mode.
Menu: Enter/exit the main menu.
Search: In live mode, enter the advanced search m enu.

58 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Item

Name Description

8

. Status LEDs HDD: A steady green light indicates that the recorder is

accessing the HDD in read or write mode. A steady red
indicates an HDD failure.

Network: A steady green light indicates

that the recorder is

currently connected to a network. No light indicates

that it is

not connected to a network.
Internal: A steady green light indicates that the recorder is

recording video or audio. No light means that it is not
recording. A steady red light means that there ha s been an
internal health failure.

Alarm: A steady red light indicates that there is a sensor
Alarm In or other alarm such as motion detection or
tampering. A steady green light means there is no ala rm.

9

. Alarm button Use to manually acknowledge an alarm. In live view mode,

use it to call the alarm recipient.

10

. Enter and arrows

button

Use to select options in a menu and to control playback.
Press for Enter.

Live view mode: Press Enter to enter/exit PTZ mode.
Press the left/right arrow buttons to scroll between the
cameras.

Menu mode:

To enter the menu toolbar, keep pressing the

left arrow button until the first menu icon is selected. Then
press the left/right arrow buttons to select a menu icon.
To select a menu option in the submenu panel or setup
menu, press the arrow buttons left/right and up/down to
position cursor in the menu window. Press for Enter. See
Figure 12 on page 62.

Playback mode: Press the left/right arrow buttons to slow
down or speed up playback. Press the up/down arro w
buttons to jump forwards or backwards by 30 seconds.
Press Enter to stop/start playback.

PTZ mode: Press the arrow buttons to control the
movement of the PTZ dome camera.

11

. IR receiver Receiver for IR remote.

12

. Playback buttons

Reverse: In live view mode, press to jump back to the
oldest available video and start play back. In pl ayback
mode, press to play back video in reverse. In snapshot
playback mode, view snapshots in the reverse direction..

Pause: In live view mode, freeze the last image of th e

live video. In playback mode, pause playback.

Forward: In live view mode, press to start all-day
playback of the currently selected camera. I f you are in
multiview format, only the camera shown in the top-left
corner of the multiview is played back.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 59

Using the mouse

The USB mouse provided with the recorder can be used to operate all the
functions of the recorder, unlike the front panel which has limited functionality.
The USB mouse lets you navigate and make changes to settings in the user
interface.

Connect the mouse to the recorder by plugging the mouse USB connector into
the USB port on the back panel or the front panel. The mouse is immediately
operational and the pointer should appear.

Note: Use a USB 2.0 or higher mouse.
Move the pointer to a command, option, or button on a window. Click the left

mouse button to enter or confirm a selection.
You can purchase a spare mouse by ordering part number TVR-MOUSE-1.
See Table 5 below for a description of the mouse buttons.

Table 5: Mouse buttons

Item

Description

Left button

Single-Click Live v iew: Select a camera to display the quick

access toolbar (see “Accessing frequently used
commands” on page 69).

Menu: Select a component of a menu, such as a
button or an input field. This is similar to pressing the
Enter button on the remote/front panel controls.

Double-Click Live view: Switch between single screen and multi-

screen mode in live/ playback mode.

Click and Drag Li ve view: Drag channel/time bar.

PTZ control: Adjust pan, tilt and zoom.
Tamper-proof, privacy masking and motion

detection functions: Select the target area.
Digital zoom-in: Drag and select target area.

Right button

Single-Click Live view: Display menu.

Menu: Exit the current menu and return to higher
level.

Scroll

-wheel Scroll Up Live view: Return to the previous window.
Menu: Move the selection to the previous item.

Scroll Down Live view: Move to the next window.

Menu: Move the selection to the next item.

Using the IR remote control

The recorder is supplied with an infra red (IR) remote control unit. Like the
mouse, it can be used to operate all of the main functions of the unit.

60 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

The IR remote control can be programmed with a unique device ID address so
that the controller will only be able to communicate with recorders with that
address. No programming is necessary if using a single recorder.

The device ID address only applies when using a remote control and not when
using a keypad.

You can purchase a remote control by ordering part number TVR-REMOTE-1.

Figure 11: IR remote control

Item Description

1

. Alarm

Acknowledge an alarm.

2

. Device

Enable/disable the IR remote control to control the

recorder.

3

. Numeric buttons

Select a camera, and enter a number in a menu option.

4

. Display

Switch

between the different multiview formats.

5

. Mon A and Mon B

Switch

between monitors A and B.

6

. Live

Return to

live view mode.

7

. Menu

Activate the main menu.

8

. Seq

Start /stop sequencing.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 61

Item Description

9

. , , ,

In Menu mode: Use left or right arrow buttons to select and up or down
arrow buttons to edit entry.

In PTZ mode: Use to

control PTZ.

In Playback mode: Use to control playback speed.

10

. OK

Confirm selection.

11

. Zoom + and -

Use to control zoom of camera lens.

12

. Preset

Press Preset and a numeric button to call the spec

ified preset.

13

. Tour

Press Tour and a numeric button to call the specified tour.

14

. Focus + and -

Use to control focus of camera lens.

15

. Playback control

Use to control playback (Rewind, Pause, Play,

and Fast Forward).

16

. Search

Open the Search menu.

17

. Replay

Replay the selected file from the beginning.

18

. Eject

Eject the CD or DVD disk.

19

. Archive

Press once to enter quick archiv

e mode. Press twice to start archiving.

Aim the remote control at the IR receiver located at the front of the unit to test
operation.

To connect the remote control to the recorder:

1. Press the Menu button on the front panel or right-click the mouse and select
the Menu button. The main menu window appears.

2. Click Display Mode Settings > Monitor.

3. Check the device address value. The default value is 255. This device
address is valid for all IR controls.

Note: The recorder will respond to any remote control that has an address
between 1 and 255.

4. On the remote contr ol press t he Device button.

5. Enter the device addr es s v alue. I t must be the same as that on the recorder.

6. Press the OK button on the remote control.

To place batteries into the IR remote control:

1. Remove the batt ery cover.

2. Insert the bat t eries. Make sure that the positive (+) and negative (−) poles are
correctly placed.

3. Replace the battery cover.

Troubleshooting the remote control:

If the IR remote control is not functioning properly, perform the following tests:

62 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

• Check the battery polarity.

• Check the remaining charge in the batteries.

• Check that the IR remote control sensor is not masked.
If the problem still exists, please contact your administrator.

Menu overview

The recorder has an icon-driven menu structure that allows you to configure the
unit’s parameters. Each command icon displays a window that lets you edit a
group of settings. Most menus are available only to system administrators.

The window is divided into three sections. The currently selected command icon
and submenu item are highlighted in green. See Figure 12 below.

You must be in live view mode to access the main menu.

Figure 12: Menu structure

1. Menu toolbar: Setup options available for the selected menu function. Move the mouse over
a command icon and click to select it. See Table 7 below for a descriptio n of the icons.

2. Submenu panel: Submenus for the selected menu function are displayed. Click an item to
select it.

3. Setup menu: All the details for the selected s ubmenu are displayed. Click a field to make
changes.

Note: See Figure 9 on page 57 for the description on how to access the menu
options using the front panel.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 63

Table 6: Description of the menu toolbar icons

Icon Name Description

Display

Settings Configures display settings including dwell time, schedule,

language, system date and time, audio output, devi ce
name, and display formats. See “Configuring live vi ew” on
page 71 and “Holiday schedules” on page 27.

Camera

Management Configures camera settings including motion detection,

video image adjustments, camera title, privacy mask,
tamper-proof, video loss, restricted access camera, and
copy settings to other cameras. See “Camera settings ” on
page 102.

Video

Schedule Configures recording settings including recording

schedules, record quality, auto delete mode,

manual record,

overwrite, and recording mode. See Chapter 4 “Recording”
on page 22.

Network

Settings Configures standard network settings including IP address,

email notifications, DDNS setup, PPPoE, SNMP, FTP,
UpnP, and advanced network settings. See Chapter 6
“Network settings” on page 39.

Alarm

Settings Confi gures alarm settings including alarm input, rel ay

output, video loss, remote alert, pre-alarm, post-alarm
seconds, and buzzer time. See Chapter 5 “Alarm settings”
on page 31.

PTZ

Settings Configures PTZ settings. See Chapter 10 “C ontrolling a

PTZ camera” on page 79.

User

Management Configures users, passwords, and access privilege s. See

Chapter 15 “User management” on page 111.

System

Settings

Configures system settings including system date and time,

audio output, device name, RS-485 settings, RS -232
settings, firmware upgrade, hard drive settings, boot log,
default settings, import/export configura tion file, and
shutdown. See Chapter 7 “HDD management” on page 49
and Chapter 13 “Recorder management” on page 102.

Help

Information Provides reference information to the various toolbars,

menus, and keys within the interface.

Powe

r Manager Provides access to logout, reboot, and shutdown options.

See “Turning on and off the recorder” on page 17.

To access the main menu:

1. In live vie w press the Menu button on the remote control or front panel.

- Or ­Right-click the mouse and select Menu from the pop-up menu.

64 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

The main menu window appears. The Display window appears by def ault .

2. Click the required menu icon to display its submenu options. Modify the
configuration parameters as required.

3. Click Apply to save the settings.

4. Click Back to return to live view.

Using the soft keyboard

A keyboard will appear on-screen when you need to enter characters in a
window option. Click a key to input that character.

Figure 13: The soft keyboard

Description of the keys in the virtual keyboard:

Switch to lowercase/up

percase

Space

Exit the soft keyboard

Alphanumeric characters

Backspace

Confirm selection

Exiting the main menu

Press the Menu button on the front panel to exit the current menu window and
return to live view, or click Back in a main menu.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 65

Chapter 9

Live view

Description of live view

Live view mode is the normal operating mode of the unit where you watch live
images from the cameras. The recorder automatically enters into live view mode
once powered up. On the viewer you can see whether a recording is in progress
and, if set up to do so, the current date and time, as well as the camera name.

Status information

Information on the system and camera status is displayed as icons on the main
and auxiliary monitors. The camera status icons are shown for each camer a.
Each icon represents information on a specific item. These icons include:

Table 7: Description of the on-screen status icons

Icon

Description

Indicates a sensor alarm.

Indicates recording (such as recording, moti on detection, or alarm-triggered
recording).

Indicates a motion detection event.

Indicates a video loss event.
Indicates alarm and system notifications. Cli cking the icon opens a window that

lists the alarms and notifications.
Indicates manual recording.

The recorder can display more than one icon at the same time. See “General
settings” on page 75 to display or hide these icons.

The system status is displayed on the front panel by the status LEDs.

66 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Video output

The recorder automatically checks the monitor outputs used. If more than one
monitor is connected, it then defines which monitor is the main one and which is
the event one. The event monitor is used to display detected events such as
motion. Only one monitor can be controlled at a time.

If a HDMI monitor is used, it will be the main output. If HDMI and VGA monitors
are both connected to the recorder, both will be main monitors; they will both
show the same view. However, you will not be able to control each individually.

See “Controlling live view” on page 66 for more information on setting up the
monitors.

Controlling live view

Many features of live view can be quickly accessed by placing the cursor on a
live image and clicking the right-button of the mouse. The mouse menu appears
(see Figure 14 below).

Figure 14: The mouse menu for the main monitor

The list of commands available depends on which monitor is active; main or
auxiliary (monitor B). See Table 8 on page 67. The default settings of these
commands are provided in Appendix G, “Default menu settings” on page 143.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 67

Table 8: Mouse menu for monitor A (main monitor)

Item

Name Description

1.

Menu Enter the Main menu.

This option is not available from monitor B.

2.

Single Camera Switch to a full-screen view for the selected camera from

the dropdown list.

3.

Multi Camera Switch between the different multiview options from the

dropdown list.

4.

Previous Screen In single-camera mode, display the previous camera. In

multi-camera mode, display the previous screen cameras.

5.

Next Screen In single-c amera mode, display the next camera. In mult i-

camera mode, display the next screen cameras.

6.

Start Sequence Turn on sequence mode. The window automatically

sequences between cameras. See “Multiview” on page 68.
Go to Menu > Display Mode Settings > Layout > Dwell

Time

to set up.

7.

All-day Playback Playback the recorded video of the selected day from the

selected camera. The current day is selected by default.
See “All-day playback” on page 89 for more information.

8.

Monitor B Switch between monitors A (main) and B (event).

9.

Advanced Search Enter the advanced video search menu. See “Searching

recorded video” on page 90 for more information.

10.

Output Mode Select Standard, Bright, S oft, or Vivid mode to display.

11

. Close Tme Bar Open/close the time bar.

Table 9: Mouse menu for monitor B (event monitor)

Item

Name Description

1

. Single Camera Switch to a full-screen view for the selected camera from

the dropdown list.

2

. Multi Camera Switch between the different multiview options from the

dropdown list.

3

. Previous Screen In single-camera mode, display t he prev ious camera. In

multi-camera mode, display the previous screen cameras.

4

. Next Screen In single-camera mode, display the next camera. In multi-

camera mode, display the next screen cameras.

5

. All-day Playback Playback the recorded video of the selected day from the

selected camera. The current day is selected by default.
See “All-day playback” on page 89 for more information.

6

. Monitor A Switch between monitors A (main) and B (ev ent).

68 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Single and multiview display formats

The recorder has single-view display format as well as four multiview formats.

Single view display format

Press the numeric button on the front panel to switch to the corresponding
camera display. For example, press button 10 to view camera 10.

Right-click the mouse and select Single Camera from the menu. Select the
camera required from the list.

Multiview display format

A video tile is any cell in a multiview display. A camera image can only be shown
in one video tile at a time. The number of multiview display formats available
depends on the recorder model. See Figure 15 below.

To change the multiview display that appears by default, go to the Display menu.
See “Changing the camera sequence” on page 73 for more information.

Figure 15: TVR 12 multiview display formats

4-channel recorder:

8/16-channel recorder:

To select a multiview display format:

1. Press the Display button on the front panel to cycle through different display
formats.

You can also right-click the mouse and select Multi Camera from the menu.
Select the desired multiview display layout.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 69

Sequencing cameras

The sequencing feature allows a camera to be displayed briefly on screen,
before advancing to the next camera in the sequence list. Sequencing can only
be done in single-view display mode.

The default sequence displays each camera in numerical order. However, each
camera on the main and auxiliary monitors can have a pre-programmed
sequence order. See “Changing the camera sequence” on page 73 for more
information.

Note: Dwell time must not be set to zero for sequencing to function.

Sequencing live view mode using the front panel:

1. Select the camer a wher e y ou want t o star t sequencing.

2. Press the Seq butt on on the front panel to start sequencing.

3. Press the Seq butt on again t o s top the s equencing.

Sequencing live view mode using the mouse:

1. Select the camer a wher e y ou want t o star t sequencing.

2. Right-click the mouse and select Start Sequence to start the sequencing.

3. Right-click the mouse and select Stop Sequence to stop the sequencing.

Accessing frequently used commands

The quick access toolbar in live view lets you quickly access regularly used
commands. Position the cursor over a video image and left- click the mouse. The
toolbar appears (see Figure 16 on page 70).

70 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Figure 16: Quick access toolbar

Table 10: Description of the quick access toolbar icons

Icon Description

Freeze: Freeze the live image of the selected camera. Although the image

pauses, time and date information does not. The sy stem clock continues to run.
Manual Recording: Start/stop manual recording.

The icon is red when manual recording is enabled. See “Manual recording” on
page 29 for information on setting up this function.

Instant playback: Playback the recorded vi deo from the last five minutes. If no
recording is found, then there was no recording m ade in the last five minutes.

Click the icon and select the desired camera. Click OK.
See “Instant playback” on page 88 for more information.

Audio: Enable/Disable audio output. The audio opti on must already have been
setup in the Display menu.

Quick snapshot: Capture a snapshot of a video image. The i m age is saved on
the unit. See “Slideshow of snapshots” on page 93 for more i nformation.

PTZ control: Enter PTZ control mode.
See “Configuring PTZ settings” on page 79 for mo re i nformation.

Digital zoom: Enter digital zoom. See “Digital zoom” on page 71 for further
information.

Image settings: Enter the image settings menu to modify the image lighting
levels. There are two options:

Preset Mode: These are preconfigured image lighting levels. Select one of the
four options depending on current lighting con di tions:

- Standard: Use in standard li ghting situations.

- Indoor: Use indoors.

- Dim Light: Use when the light level is low.

- Outdoor: Use when outdoo rs. The contrast and saturation values are

high.

Customize: Modify brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue values. Click
Restore to restore image settings to previous values.

Click Restore to restore image settings to previous values. Click Default to
return to default values.

These settings can also be modified from the Camera>Image menu (see page
“Adjusting video image settings” on page 109.

Show text: Display inserted text on screen. The color of the text can be
changed: Black, white, or pink.

Close toolbar: Close the shortcut toolbar.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 71

Digital zoom

You can easily zoom in or out of a camera image in live view mode and playback
using the digital zoom command. The zoom command magnifies the camer a
image four times. See Figure 17 below.

Figure 17: Digital zoom window

To quickly zoom in/out on a camera image:

1. Left-click t he mouse on t he des ir ed camera. The quick access toolbar
appears.

2. Click the digital-zoom icon. The digital view window appears.

3. Left-click t he mouse and dr ag the red square to the area of interest, or press
the arrow buttons on the front panel to position the red square. The selected
area is magnified.

4. To exit digital zoom , right-click the mouse.

Configuring live view

The setup of live view can be modified from the main menu to suit different
needs, such as the different monitors, multiview layout, and dwell time options.
You can also enable audio output.

In the Layout menu use the Video Output Interface, Window Segmentation, Dwell

Time, and Enable Audio Output settings to configure the main monitor. Use
Event Output as well as Event and Alarm Full Screen Monitoring Dwell Time

settings to configure the event monitor.

72 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Figure 18: Layout window (General tab)

Table 11: Description of the Layout window

Submenu name

Description

Video Output I

nterface Select which monitor wil l be the main monitor: HDMI/VGA, or main

CVBS.
Default is HDMI/VGA, if connected.

Window Segmentation

Select which multiview layout will be default in live view mode. The

factory default multiview format displays all channels (2x2 layout for
the 4-channel TVR 12, 3x3 layout for the 8-channel TVR 12, and 4x4
for the 16-channel TVR 12).

D

well Time Set the length of time for which a camera image is displayed on the

selected monitor before moving to the next camer a during
sequencing. Default is off (“No switch”).

Enable

Output You can hear audio from cameras in both liv e and pl ayback mode.

However, in order to be able to hear audio in playba ck you must
enable the audio output setting.

Check the box to enable/disable audio output.

Even

t Output Select which monitor will be the event monitor: HDMI/VGA, or main

CVBS. Default is Main CVBS.

Event Full Screen
Monitoring Dwell T

ime(s)

Set the length of time for which an event appears on the event (B)
monitor before moving to the next camera during sequencing. Default
is 10 seconds.

Alarm Full Screen
Monitoring Dwell Time(s)

Set the length of time for which an alarm event appears on the event
(B) monitor before moving to the next camera durin g sequencing.
Default is 10 seconds.

Audio O

utput Linked To Select from which monitor (Main CVBS or VGA) audio can be heard.

To set up the display options:

1. Click the Display Mode Settings icon in the menu toolbar.

2. Select Layout > General.

3. Specify the desired settings for each of the menu options.

4. Click Apply to save the settings.

5. Click Back to return to live view.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 73

Changing the camera sequence

The cameras are sequenced in numeric order by default. You can change the
sequence order of the cameras for all monitors.

You can switch the channel of a camera with that of another camera in the
system. This lets you, for example, have the images of camera 1 appear on
channel 10, and the images of camera 10 appear on channel 1. This feature is
useful when you want to watch the sequence of images from specific cameras so
that they are next to each other on-screen.

See Figure 19 below. Each video tile displays both the order of the camera in the
sequence and the camera number.

Figure 19: Camera layout and sequence window

Multiview layout selection
bar

Camera order in the
sequence

Camera number selection

To set the camera sequencing:

1. Click the Display Mode Settings icon in the menu toolbar.

2. Select Layout > View.

3. From Video Output Interface, select the desired monitor from the drop-down
list.

4. From the multiview layout selection bar, select the desired multiview layout.

5. Select the video tile of the camera whose order you want to change. The
selected tile is highlighted green.

6. In the selected tile, select the new camera sequence order by scrolling
through the list of available camera numbers.

Note: “X” means that the camera is not displayed.

7. Click Apply to save the settings.

8. Click Back to return to live view.

74 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Configuring time and date

You can set up the date and time that will appear on-screen as well as on time
stamped recordings. The start and end time of daylight saving time (DST) in the
year can also be set. DST is deactivated by default. See Figure 20 below for the
Time settings screen.

Figure 20: Time and date settings window

Table 12: Description of the Time and Date settings window

Option Description

1.

Time Zone

Select the time zone of the recorder from the drop-down list.

2.

Date Format

Select the date format from the drop-down list. Default format is

MM-DD-YYYY.

3.

Time Format

Select the time format from the drop-down list. Default format is

12-hour format.

4.

Display Week

Display the day of the week in the monitor time bar.

Check the box to enable/disable. Default f orm at is Enable.

5.

System Date

Define the system date.

Default date is the current date.

6.

System Time

Define the system time.

Default time is the current time.

7.

Auto DST Adjustment

Define DST is automatically. It depends on the ti m e zone

selected.
Default format is Disable

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 75

Option Description

8.

Enable DST

Manually define DS T . If this option is selected, the Auto DST

adjustment option is disabled.
Default format is Disable.
Click the check box to enable or disable daylight sav ings time

(DST).

From

Enter the start date and time for daylight saving s.

To

Enter the end date and time for dayl ight savings.

DST Bias

Set the amount of time to move DST forward from the standard

time.
Default is 60 minutes.

To set up the system time and date:

1. Click the Display Mode Settings icon in the menu toolbar.

2. Select Time. Modify the required settings.

3. Click the Apply button to immediately implement the changes.

General settings

Use the Display settings menu to configure general recorder options on how
information is displayed and accessed such as:

• Change GUI language

• Change the recorder name and address

• Define the monitor resolution

• Enable/disable the login password requirement

• Enable/disable the Wizard

• Manually change the video output format (PAL/NTSC)

• Change the time out period after which the display reverts to showing live

view

• Enable/disable the transparency of the menus on screen

• Enable/disable whether the status icons appear on screen

See Figure 21 and Table 13 on page 76 for the general options available, and
Figure 22 and Table 14 on page 77on page 77 for further options.

The changes are immediately implemented once Apply is clicked to save the
settings.

76 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Figure 21: Monitor setup window: General settings

Table 13: Description of the Monitor setup window: General settings

Option Description

1.

Language

Define the language of the system.

Select the desired language from the drop-down list and click

Apply. The language displayed changes immediately.

2.

Device Name

Define the recorder name. The default name is TVR 12.

Click the edit box and enter the new name from the soft keyboard.

3.

Device Address

The device number to use for the recorder

when programming the

remote control or keypad. The default value is 255.

4.

Zone ID

Each recorder in a daisy chain must have a unique zone ID so

that it can be controlled by a KTD-405 keypad.
The default value is 1.

5.

Resolution

Define the resolution of the selected monitor.

Select one of the options from the drop-down list and click Apply.
The selected resolution must be the same as that of the monitor.

6.

Password Required

Define whether a login password is required.

Check the box to enable/disable, and click Apply.

7.

Scaling Output Video

Enable/disable the monitor display of the m ai n and auxiliary

monitor size to accommodate for differently sized monitors.
Check the box to enable/disable, and click Apply.

8.

Enable Wizard

Define whether the wizard tool starts when the recorder is turned

on. Check the box to enable/disable, and click Apply.

9.

Display Status Icons

Define whether the status icons are displayed.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 77

Figure 22: Monitor setup window: More settings

Table 14: Description of the Monitor setup window: More settings

Option Description

1.

Monitor

Standard The recorder can support NTSC or PAL video output. The video

standard used is auto detected but can be manually changed.
Modify the video standard used to PAL or NTSC, and click

Apply.

2.

Output Mode

Define the desired output mode.

Select one of the options from the drop-down list: St andard,
Bright, Gentle, or Vivid, and click Apply.

3.

Monitor Brightness

Modify the video output brightness.

Adjust the scroll bar point to the desired level and cli ck Apply.

4.

Event Hint

Define whether the status icons appear on screen. See “Status

information” on page 65 for more information.
Check the box to enable/disable, and click Apply.

5.

Timebar Transparent

Define the transparency of the monitor output tim e bar on screen

relative to the background to make the time bar easier to read.
Check the box to enable/disable, and click Apply.

6.

Enable Timebar

Define whether the monitor output time bar appears on screen.

Check the box to enable/disable, and click Apply.

7.

Menu Timeout

Define the time in minutes after which the m enu window reverts

to live view mode.
Select a time from the drop-down list, and click Apply.

8.

Mouse Pointer Speed

Modify the speed of the mouse pointer.

Adjust the scroll bar point to the desired level, and click Apply.

9.

Instant Playback Time

Modify the instant playback replay period. The time options are

between five to 30 minutes from actual time. Def ault is five

minutes

10.

Enable Front Panel Lock

When the system logs out, the front panel is automatically

locked.
To unlock the front panel, press the Live button for 5 seconds.

78 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Option Description

11.

Disable Network
Disconnect Alarm

Define whether there is an alarm notification if the network
connection is disconnected. Default is an alarm notification. The
alarm on-screen status icon appears.

Check the box to disable the alarm notification.

V-stream encoding

If the available bandwidth is limited, you can remotely view several channels in
real time with one stream over the web browser or CMS (Client Management
System), such as TruVision navigator, using the V-stream encoding option (“V”
stands for “virtual”). When enabled, you can see the output from the cameras on
a remote client monitor in one stream.

Note: It is not recommended to use the V-stream feature when a CVBS monitor
is used as a main monitor because the CVBS main monitor and the V-stream
use the same output.

To enable V-streaming:

1. Click the Vi deo Schedule icon in t he m enu toolbar.

2. Select Encoding > V-stream Encoding.

3. Check Enable V-st r eam Encodi ng.

4. Select the desired set t ings for frame rate and maximum bit rate (Kbps).

5. Click Apply to save the settings.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 79

Chapter 10

Controlling a PTZ camera

You can control PTZ dome cameras using the buttons on the front panel, the
keypad, and IR remote control as well as using the PTZ control panel accessed
with the mouse. Access to PTZ commands may require a password.

A detailed list of the PTZ commands available for many different camera
protocols is available in Appendix F on page 143.

Configuring PTZ settings

Use the PTZ Settings menu to configure the PTZ dome cameras. Each camera
must be set up individually. Cameras must be configured before they can be
used.

Ensure that the PTZ dome cameras are correctly connected to the RS-485 port
on the back panel.

Note: If a camera does not work correctly after configuring the recorder, check
the parameters entered.

To configure PTZ dome camera settings:

1. Click the PTZ Control icon on the quick access toolbar.
– Or –
Click the PTZ Settings icon in the menu toolbar.

2. Under the General tab, select the PTZ dome camera to be configured from
the drop-down camera list.

3. Select the baud rat e, data bit, stop bit, parity, flow control, PTZ protocol and
address for the camera. See Appendix G, “Default menu settings”, on page
143 for the default values.

Note: It is important to ensure that the settings correspond with those used in

the PTZ camera.

4. Click Copy to copy the settings to another camera, if required, and select the
cameras.

80 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

5. Click Apply to save the settings.

Calling up presets, preset tours and sha dow
tours

When in live view you can quickly call up the list of existing presets, preset tours
and shadow tours by using the front panel, remote control, mouse and keypad.

Front panel Press Enter. PTZ control panel appears.
Mouse Right-click the mous e on the desired camera image. The quick access

toolbar appears. Click the PTZ control icon to enter PTZ mode. The PTZ

control panel appears.
Remote control Press the OK button. The PTZ control panel appears.
Keypad Press the Ent er button on the keypad. For further information, see KTD-

405 keypad on page 133.

If the display was in multiview format, it changes to full-screen format for the
selected camera. See Figure 23 below for a description of the PTZ control panel.

Figure 23: PTZ control panel

Table 15: Description of the PTZ control panel

Item

Name Description

1.

Directional pad/auto-

scan buttons

Controls the movements and directions of the PTZ. Center button
is used to start auto-pan by the PTZ dome camera.

2.

Zoom, focus and iris Adjusts zoom, focus and iris.

3.

PTZ movement Adjusts the speed of PTZ movement.

4

. Toolbar

Turns on/off camera light.
Turns on/off camera wiper.
Zoom area.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 81

Item

Name Description

Centers the PTZ dome camera image. This command is
not supported on all PTZ dome cameras.

Jumps to the home position.

5

. Select PTZ command Displays the desired function from the scroll bar: camera, preset,

preset tour or shadow tour.

6.

Open/close menu Opens/closes the PTZ command section of the PTZ control

panel.

7.

Exit Exits the PTZ control panel.

Setting and calling up presets

Presets are previously defined locations of a PTZ dome camera. It allows you to
quickly move the PTZ dome camera to a desired position. They are configured
and modified from the PTZ configuration window (see Figure 24 below).

Note: The PTZ dome camera used must be able to support a preset command.

See Appendix F on page 143 for the complete list of PTZ commands available by
camera protocol.

Figure 24: PTZ configuration window

Table 16: Description of the PTZ configuration window

Item

Name Description

1

. Save preset Saves preset.

2

. Call preset Calls up pre-existing preset.

3

. Shadow tour toolbar

Starts recording the shadow tour.

82 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Item

Name Description

Saves the shadow tour.
Starts the selected shadow tour.
Stops the selected shadow tour.

4

. Preset tour toolbar

Adds a step to a selected preset tour.
Starts the selected preset tour.
Stops the selected preset tour.

Deletes all the preset tour steps.
Scroll up the list.

Scroll down the list.

To set up a preset:

1. From the menu toolbar , click PTZ Settings > More Settings.

2. Use the directional, z oom, focus and iris buttons to position the camera in the

desired preset location.

3. Check Save Preset and enter a preset number. The preset is enabled and

stored in the camera.
If the desired preset number is larger than the 17 numbers listed, click […].

The Preset window appears. Select a preset number from the dropdown list
and click the OK button to save changes.

Note: Presets can be overwritten.

4. Click Back to return to live view.

To call up a preset:

• PTZ control panel:

1. In live vie w left-click the mouse and select the PTZ control icon in the quick

access toolbar. The PTZ control panel appears. Select the desired camera
from the toolbar.

– Or –
On the front panel, select the desired camera and press Enter to call up the

quick access toolbar. The PTZ control panel appears.

2. Scroll the toolbar t o Preset and double-click the desired preset from the list.

The camera immediately jumps to the preset position.

• Menu toolbar:

1. From the menu toolbar , click PTZ Settings > More Settings.

2. Check Call Preset and ent er the preset number to call up. The camera

immediately moves to that preset position.

3. Click Back to return to live view.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 83

Setting and calling up preset tours

Preset tours move a PTZ dome camera to different steps (called “Keypoint” in the
interface). The camera stays at a step for a set dwell time before moving on to
the next step. The steps are defined by presets (see “Setting and calling up
presets” on page 81.)

Each preset tour consists of steps. A step consists of a step number, a dwell
time, and a speed.

The step number is the order the camera will follow while cycling through the
preset tour. The dwell time is the length of time for which a camera stays at a
step before moving to the next one. The speed is the rate at which the camera
will move from one key point to the next.

Note: The PTZ dome camera used must be able to support a preset tour

command. See Appendix F on page 143 for the complete list of PTZ commands
available by camera protocol.

To set up a preset tour:

1. From the menu toolbar , click PTZ Settings > More Settings.

2. Select the preset tour number.

3. In the preset t our toolbar, click to add a step to the preset tour. The
Keypoint window appears. Select the preset number, dwell time and speed of
the step. Click OK to save the settings.

Note: A preset tour should have at least two presets.

4. Repeat step 3 to configure other steps in the preset tour.

5. In the preset tour toolbar, click to call up the preset tour.

6. Click Back to return to live view.

84 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

To delete a preset tour:

1. From the menu toolbar , click PTZ Settings > More Settings.

2. From the preset list, select a tour number and click to delete the selected
preset tour.

– Or –
In the preset tour toolbar, click to delete all the preset tours for the

selected tour.

3. Click Back to return to live view.

To call up a preset tour:

• PTZ control panel:

1. In live vie w left-click the mouse and select the PTZ control icon in the quick
access toolbar. The PTZ control panel appears. Select the desired camera
from the toolbar.

– Or –
On the front panel, select the desired camera and press Enter to call up the

quick access toolbar. The PTZ control panel appears.

2. Scroll the toolbar t o Tour and double-click the desired preset tour from the
list. The camera immediately carries out the preset tour movement.

• Menu toolbar:

1. From the menu toolbar , click PTZ Settings > More Settings.

2. Select the desired preset tour from the list and click to start the tour. Click

to stop the preset tour.

3. Click Back to return to live view.

Setting and calling up a shadow tour

The shadow tour command remembers the manually-controlled PTZ dome
camera movement track. One shadow tour can be set up.

Note: The PTZ dome camera used must be able to support a shadow tour

command. See Appendix F on page 143 for the complete list of PTZ commands
available by camera protocol.

To set up a shadow tour:

1. From the menu toolbar , click PTZ Settings > More Settings.

2. Select the shadow tour from the list.

3. To record a new shado w t our, click and use the directional buttons on the
PTZ control panel to move the camera along the desired path.

4. Click to save the shadow tour.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 85

Note: The shadow tour can be overwritten.

5. Click Back to return to live view.

To call up a shadow tour:

• PTZ control panel:

1. In live vie w left-click the mouse and select the PTZ Control icon in the quick
access toolbar. The PTZ control panel appears. Select the desired camera
from the toolbar.

– Or –
On the front panel, select the desired camera and press Enter to call up the

quick access toolbar. The PTZ control panel appears.

2. Scroll the toolbar t o Shadow Tour and double-click the shadow tour from the
list. The camera immediately carries out the shadow tour movement.

• Menu toolbar:

1. From the menu toolbar , click PTZ Settings > More Settings.

2. Select the shadow tour from the list and c lick to start the shadow tour.
Click to stop the shadow tour.

3. Click Back to return to live view.

86 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Chapter 11

Playing back a recording

The recorder lets you to quickly locate and play back recorded video. There are
four ways to play back video:

 Instant playback of the most recently recorded video
 All-day playback of the day’s recorded video
 Search the video archives by specific time, date, snapshot, or event
 Search the system log

The recorder continues to record the live view from a camera while
simultaneously playing back video on that camera display. You must have the
access privilege to play back recordings (see “Customizing a user’s access
privileges” on page 112 for more information).

Cameras in multiview mode play back simultaneously. This means, for example,
that it is easy to follow the path of an intruder who has passed in front of several
cameras.

You must be in live view to play back video.

Overview of the playback window

It is easy to manage playback from the playback window.
The camera can be setup to display a time/date stamp during recording. The

playback video can be set up to display a time/date stamp for evidentiary
purposes (see Configuring the OSD settings on page 107).

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 87

Figure 25: Playback window (All-day playback shown)

1. Playback viewer.

2. Camera panel. Select the cameras for
playback. Move the mouse over the area to
display the list of cameras available.

3. Calendar panel.
Blue: Current date
Green/Yellow/Red: Recordings available

on the recorder.

4. Playback control toolbar. See Figure 26
below.

5. Time bar: Time of actual playback. This is
only displayed in all-day playback.

6. All-day playback progress bar: Thi s bar
displays how much of the all-day period
has been recorded.

The playback control toolbar

It is easy to manually control playback using the playback control toolbar. See
Figure 26 below.

Note: The control toolbar does not appear for instant playback.

Figure 26: Playback control toolbar (search playback example shown)

Description

1

. Audio and video control toolbar:

/ Audio on/off.

/ Start/stop a video clip during playback. Sections of a recording can be

saved to an external storage device.

88 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Description

Archive files

2

. Playback control toolbar:

Reverse play the recording. Click again to pause.

Stop playback. Timeline jumps back to 00:00 time (midnight).

Play recording. Click again to pause.

Forward skip by 30 seconds.

Reverse skip by 30 seconds.

Decrease playback speed: Options available are: single frame, 1/8 speed,

1/4 speed, 1/2 speed, normal, X2 speed, X4 speed, X8 speed, maximum
speed.

Increase playback speed. Options available are:

single frame, 1/8 speed, ¼

speed, ½ speed, normal, X2 speed, X4 speed, X8 speed, maximum speed.

3

. Recording type: Description of the color coding of recording types that appear in the

playback progress bar. Green indicates continuous recording. Red indicates alarm
recording. Yellow indicates motion recording.

4

. Video search: This icon is only displayed when you playback the res ul t of a search or for

all-day playback. It does not appear for all-day playbac k. Cli ck it to return to the Search
window and reselect the search criteria.

5

. Hide toolbar: Hide the playback control toolbar.

6

. Quit playback:

For all-day playback mode, quit playback and ret urn to live view.
For playback from search mode, quit playback and return to the search results window.

7

. Playback progress bar: This bar displays how far playback of the recording has

progressed. It also indicates the type of recording using color.

8

. Timeline: Allows you to jump forwards or backwards in time. The timeline moves left

(oldest video) to right (newest video). Click a location on it for where you want playback to
start.

In all-day playback the cursor shows the actual time. In search playback, the cursor is a
ball.

Time bar: Time of actual playback. This is only displ ayed in all-day playback.

Instant playback

Use the quick access toolbar to quickly replay recorded video from a
programmed period (the default period is five minutes). This can be useful to
review an event that has just happened. Only one camera at a time can be
selected. You can change the programmed period from the Display Settings >
Monitor > More Settings page.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 89

To instantly replay recorded video:

1. In live vie w left-click the mouse on the desired camera image. The quick
access toolbar appears. Click Instant Playback .

2. Select the desired camera from the drop-down list and click OK.
Playback starts immediately. The Instant Playback scroll bar appears under

the selected camera.

3. Click Pause on the toolbar to pause playback. Click Play to restart
playback. Click to stop playback and return to live view.

All-day playback

Use this option to play back recorded video from the last day. Playback start s at
midnight and runs for the 24-hour period. All-day playback is shown in full-screen
view. See Figure 26 on page 87 for a description of the playback control toolb ar.

To start all-day playback using the front panel:

1. In live vie w click the All-day playback button . Play back starts.

To start all-day playback using the mouse:

1. In live vie w right-click the mouse on the desired camera image. In the mouse
toolbar that appears, click All-day Playback.

The playback window appears. By default, the camera is in full-screen mode.

2. To select more than one camera for multiview playback or to select playback
from a different day, move the mouse to the right edge of the window. The
camera list and calendar appear. Check the desired cameras and/or another
day. Up to 16 cameras can be selected depending on the recorder model.

Playback starts immediately.

Note: A message appears if there are no recordings found during this period.

90 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

3. Use the playback c ont rol toolbar to manually control playback.

4. Click Exit to return to live view.
– Or –
Right-click the mouse and click Exit from the mouse menu to return to the

previous window.

Searching recorded video

You can easily search and play back recorded videos by camera, recording type,
time period, events, snapshots, and disk analysis.

The Search window has four submenus that allow you to carry out different
searches by theme:

Search type

Description

Normal

Search all recorded video by cameras, recording type, type of file

protection (locked or unlocked) and time period.

Event

Search only event recorded files. Files can be se arched by alarm inputs,

motion detection, or POS/ATM text insertion.
Note: Only motion detection and POS/ATM text insertion t hat have been

recorded as events will be listed in this search. M otion and text insertion
that is recorded as a non-event can be searched under the Normal
menu.

Picture

Search only recorded files with snapshots.

Disk

analysis The recorder can run a disk analysis to get a broader sense of the video

data stored on the HDD. This video data can include alarms, events,
video Loss, and more. See “Searching video using dis k analysis” on
page 52 for more information.

Search results

A search will usually produce a list of files, which may extend to several pages.
The files are listed by camera, and then for each camera by date and time. The
oldest file is listed first. See Figure 27 on page 91 for an example of the results
from a search.

Only one file can be played back at a time.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 91

Figure 27: Example of a search result list

Playing back recordings by time and video
type

You can search recorded video by time and video type, such as continuous
recordings, motion, text insertion, alarm and all recordings. Video can be played
back simultaneously across several cameras.

To play back search results:

1. In live view m ode right-click the mouse and in the mouse menu select

Advanced Search > Normal.

2. Click the Channe l icon and select the desired cameras, record type, file type
as well as start and end time of the recording.

3. Click Search. The list of search results appears.

4. Play back the search results :
If there is only one camera in the search result, click its playback button.

Playback starts.
If there is more than one camera listed, click the playback button of one of

the cameras. In the window that appears, select the cameras you want to play
back simultaneously and click OK. Playback starts.

5. To hide the playback control toolbar during play back, right-click the mouse
and select the Control Panel button in the playback control toolbar. Click
again for the panel to reappear.

6. Use the playback c ont rol toolbar to manually control playback.

92 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

7. To play back anot her camera, move the cursor to the right edge of the
window to display the list of cameras and select the desired camera.

8. To do another searc h:
Click the Video Search icon in bottom right of the playback control toolbar or

right-click the mouse and select Event Search from the list.
The search window reappears. Reselect the search criteria.

Playing back recordings by event

You can search recorded video by event type: alarm inputs, motion detection and
POS/ATM text insertion. Video can be played back simultaneously across
several cameras.

To play back search results by event:

1. In live view m ode right-click the mouse and in the mouse menu select

Advanced Search > Event.

2. Select the desired event type from the drop-down list (Alarm input, Motion or
Text insertion) as well as the start and end time of the recording.

3. Select the desired ala rm inputs.
If you selected “Motion” as the event type, select the required cameras. If you

selected “Text insertion”, select the required cameras and enter the desired
keywords.

4. Click Search. The list of search results appears.

5. Play back the s ear c h results :
If there is only one camera in the search result, click its playback button.

Playback starts.
If there is more than one camera listed, click the playback button of one of

the cameras. In the window that appears, select the cameras you want to play
back simultaneously and click OK. Playback starts.

6. To hide the playback control toolbar during playback, right-click the mouse
and select the Control Panel button in the mouse menu. Click again for the
panel to reappear.

7. Use the playback c ont rol toolbar to manually control playback.

8. To play back anot her camera, move the cursor to the right edge of the
window to display the list of cameras and select the desired camera.

9. To do another searc h:
Click the Event Search icon in bottom right of the playbac k c ont rol toolbar or

right-click the mouse and select Event Search from the list.
The search window reappears. Reselect the search criteria.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 93

Slideshow of snapshots

You can search captured snapshots and play them back in sequence as a
slideshow. See “Accessing frequently used commands” on page 69 on how to
create snapshots.

To play back search results:

1. In live view m ode right-click the mouse and in the pop-up menu select

Advanced Search > Picture.

2. Select the desired cameras as well as start and end time of the recording to
be searched.

3. Click Search. The list of snapshots appears.

4. Select a snapshot t o see it in the thumbnail window. Click its Play button
to see it in full-screen mode.

5. When in full-screen mode, move the cursor to the right edge of the window to
see the complete list of snapshot s found in the search. Click their Play
buttons to see them in full-screen mode.

6. To see a slideshow of all the snapshots found, click the  or  buttons on
the snapshot toolbar to sequence forwards or backwards through the shots.

7. To do another searc h:
Click the Picture Search icon in bottom right of the playback control toolbar

or right-click the mouse and select Picture Search from the list.
The search window reappears. Reselect the search criteria.

Playing back recordings from the system log

You can also playback recordings from the system log. The system log provides
a much wider range of options for playback than Advanced Search, which deals
with video detection and alarms only.

You can search the recorded logs by:

• Date and time. Logs can be searched by date as well as start and end
recording times.

• Major record types. There are five main types: All, Alarm, Notification,
Operation and Information.

• Minor record types. The major record types can be searched by sub
categories (minor record type). The selection of minor record types available
depends on the major type selected. See Table 17 on page 94 for the list.

94 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Table 17: Main and minor record types

Major types Minor types

All All
Alarm All, Alarm input, Alarm output, Start motion detection, Stop motion

detection, Start tamper-proof, Stop tamper-proof

Notification All, Video loss alarm, Abnormal video signal, Illegal login, HDD full, HDD

error, IP conflicted, Network disconnected, Abnormal reco rd, Input /o utput
video standard mismatch

Operation All, Power up, Local operation shutdown, Abnorm al shutdown, Local

operation restart, Local operation login, Local o peration logout, Local
operation configure parameters, Local operation upgrade, Local operation
PTZ control

Information All, Local HDD information, HDD S.M.A.R.T., Start recording, Stop

recording, Delete expired record

Figure 28: View log window

To play back video from the system log:

1. Click System Settings > Log Search in the menu toolbar.

2. Select the search s t art and end t im es .

3. Under Major Type and Minor Type, select an option from the drop-down list.
The minor type list of options available depends on the option selected under
major type.

4. Click the Search button. A list of results appears.

5. Select a file and click:

- Details: Displays information on the log or recording. For a recording, it lists
such information as start time, type of information, camera number, and gives

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 95

a description on the types of events recorded and when record time was
stopped.

- Play: Click to start playback of the selected recording.

- Export: Click to archive the selected file to a USB device. The export
window appears.

- Back: Click to return to the previous window.

Motion search

You can quickly and easily search playback recording for incidents of motion
detection. Motion can be searched over the whole playback window or just for
specific areas on it. This allows you to search, for example, whether any motion
was detected a few days ago near a particular door.

The option is not available in instant playback.

Figure 29: Motion search toolbar

1. Full screen detection: The motion-sensitive red grid automatically appears over the whole
window.

2. Delete all: Delete the motion grid.

3. Search: Search the playback recording for motion detection.

4. Exit: Quit motion search mode and return to play back.

To search for motion in playback:

1. In playback m ode right-click the mouse and click Motion Search on the
mouse menu. The motion search toolbar appears and the playback control
toolbar disappears.

2. Select an area of the window to be searched:
Drag the mouse over the desired area. A red grid appears. More than one

area can be selected.

- Or ­Click the full-screen detection icon in the toolbar. The whole window is

covered in the red grid.

3. Click the Search icon in the toolbar to see the results.
Motion appears as blue lines below the green playback progress bar (see

below). If motion had been recorded as an event, it appears as yellow on the
progress bar.

96 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

Click the zoom-in button to see the progress bar in closer detail.

Playing back frame-by-frame

You can easily play back a selected video at different speeds. This allows you to
carefully examine an event frame-by-frame as it happens.

To play back frame-by-frame:

• Using a mouse:

1. In playback mode click the Speed Down button in the playback control
toolbar until the speed changes to single frame.

2. Click the Pause button t o advanc e t he v ideo f r ame by frame.

• Using the front panel:

1. In playback mode press the left arrow buttons to scroll down through the
speed changes until single frame.

2. Press Enter to adv ance the video frame by frame.

3. Press the Playback button to continue playback at normal speed.

Digital zoom in playback

You can easily zoom in on an image during playback to see it in greater detail.

To digitally zoom-in during playback:

1. In playback mode right-click the mouse and click Digital Zoom in the pop-up
menu. The playback control toolbar disappears.

2. Click the window with the cursor.
The image zooms in and the digital view window appears.

3. Left-click t he mouse and dr ag the red square to the area of interest, or press
the arrow buttons on the front panel to position the red square. The selected
area is magnified. The size of the red square cannot be changed using the
front panel.

4. Right-click the mouse to quit digital zoom and to return to full-screen playback
mode. The playback control toolbar reappears.

TruVision DVR 12 User Manual 97

Chapter 12

Archiving recorded files

Archive recorded files on an external device such as a USB flash drives, USB
HDDs or a DVD writer. You must be in live view to archive video. Access to
archive commands may require a password.

Before starting to archive files, ensure that you have the backup device
connected to the recorder. It can be detected automatically by the recorder.

Note: The recorder supports USB DVD and USB HD on the front and back USB
ports.

Archiving files

There are two ways to archive files:
Quick Archive button: Quick archive lets you archive recorded files quickly by

using the Archive button on the front panel. The recorder then downloads all the
recorded files on the unit to fill the available memory space on the media. This
option is not available via the mouse.

Advanced Search window: Use the Export command in the Advanced Search
window to specify archiving settings such as a specific time and date period as
well as cameras.

Using Quick Archive

To archive recorded video using Quick Archive:

1. Insert the backup device into the recorder.
If using a USB memory drive, insert the device into the USB port on the front

panel. If using a digital video disk (DVD), insert the disc into the DVD drive. If
more than one media type is found, the USB device takes precedence over
the others.

2. Press Archive on the fr ont panel or remote control to open the quick archive
window.

98 TruVision DVR 12 User Manual

3. Click Start or press Archive on the front panel again. The unit starts to
download all the files listed.

Note: If there is a capacity limitation on the backup device, only the most
recent files will be backed up.

A message will appear to confirm when the download is complete.

Exporting recorded files to a backup device

You can insert a mini-USB hub to the USB port to attach a mouse for navigation
or a USB drive for archiving. However, the unit may not support all types of USB
hubs.

The Archive options available may depend on the type of backup device
selected.

Figure 30: Example of an archive window

Function Description

1.

Device name Select one of the storage media for archiving. If the backup

device is not recognized:

• Click the Refresh button

• Reconnect device

• Check for compatibility from vendor