Tech Spot

The Hikvision web browser interface can be clunky and downright frustrating to use. One of the most important functions is simply to be able to download any surveillance video clips for copying or distributing. There are at least two things you must do before you can download videos, and it's not apparent or documented (at least that I could find). Run the browser as administrator (in Windows, right-click on the browser icon and Run as Administrator). If you were reviewing a video in playback mode, as one does 99% of the time before deciding to download, you have to stop the video playback (even if paused) or you'll get an error "Downloading failed." How nice it would have been if they simply added a message "Please stop playback first." Here's a screenshot showing a successful download. Another thing that might be clunky is that choosing a different download directory in Configuration may not work well. I j...

Registering a domain name is like trying to sign-up for and find the real cost of a cell phone plan. I couldn't find a good, unbiased and up-to-date domain price comparison (some try to funnel you to sign up for a particular registrar so they can earn a commission; I have affiliate links, but my chart is sorted by price alone!). This was pretty comprehensive, but out-of-date.   Now, this one is pretty close (Sept. 2012) , but didn't include pricing. So after personally visiting a bunch of registrar sites, I came up with the price list below. For today's post, I'm reserving comment about the quality or morality of most of these registrars, but I highly recommend doing an online search or checking a site like Better Business Bureau to make sure you're not going with a bait-and-switch type of company. These are all for a .com name, 1-year registration ignoring the introductory pricing (in other words, these are the year 2 and onward prices). These were ch...

I recently set up Shinobi  to replace an old NVR system, to support newer assorted cameras consisting of LaView, Amcrest, and Reolink brand cameras. While most of these are likely some re-brand of Dahua or Hikvision, it was still hard to find all the necessary information.  The manuals are definitely lacking, even if some of them were written in plain English. The LaView PDB1520F1 was the hardest.  It appears to be a re-brand of the Hikvision DS-KB6003-WIP.  There are several other brands that appear to be the same, such as the RCA HSDB1. When I tried to add the LaView doorbell to my Shinobi monitors list, it kept failing the probes no matter what I tried.  I searched endlessly, but was using the wrong keywords.  I kept seeing posts where people said to flash the LaView firmware ONTO the Hikvision or other re-branded cams in order to get the ONVIF stream. But I couldn't find the ONVIF details in those posts. First, I installed the ONVIF Device Man...