Space on SD Card - big differences

[mcrippa]

Hi all,
I own a DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS camera and four DS-2CD2185FWD-I cameras. All of them have the latest firmware installed. I inserted a 64GB SD card in all of them (same brand, type, size etc.).

The DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS is able to record 3weeks of video, while the four DS-2CD2185FWD-I can record no more than a couple of days (before overriding).

The configuration is exactly the same for both type of camera. I selected the same resolution (3840x2160), same Bitrate (costant), same codec (H265+), same frame rate (10) etc.

Do you have any cloue why there is a such big difference?

thank you in advance for any suggestion
MC

 

[Phil]

Nope, that doesn't make any sense.
If set the same you should get the same.

The scene can make a difference e.g. how complex it is and how much activity there is in front of the camera (but not that much difference).

Are you sure that the + part of h.265 is enabled on all?

All of those cameras are from the same family, and therefore use the same firmware. Are you running the latest V5.5.82 firmware on them all?
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[StewartM]

According to Hikvision's Storage and Network calculator app, three days is about right.
Would you post a screen capture from the DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS - Configuration>Video/Audio>Video

 

[mcrippa]

Hi, and thanks a lot for your suggestions. I upgraded the firmware to V5.5.83 build 190221 on both cameras. The codec version is V7.3 build 190124. I formatted the SD cards and reboot the cameras. Now, after 2h, the DS-2CD2185FWD-I has written 7,5GB of data while the DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS just 1.5GB.

this is the configuration I used for DS-2CD2185FWD-I (sorry if it's in local Language)

and what I see in the menu related to the archive. In 2h it wrote 7.5GB (so 3.75GB per hour)

Here you can see the configuration I used for DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS. As you can notice they are exactly the same

and here the archive menu. in 2h tit used 1.5GB (so 0.75GB per hour)

So we have DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS using 0.75GB per hour and DS-2CD2185FWD-I using 3.75GB per hour (i've 4 of them same behaviour).

The two cameras I used as an example are recording the same area of the garden (similar light, same amount of trees moving).

What I get with the DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS is inline with what Hikvision calculator shows. It's 0.75GB x 24hrs=18GB per day. In 3 days the amount of space is 54GB (the tool estimates 64GB but it's just an esimation. the magniture is correct).

It's a different story with DS-2CD2185FWD-I which is using an enormous amount of space (3.75GB per hour).
Any idea?

thanks a lot
mc

 

[Phil]

Any other features configured on the 2185 that are not configured on the 2785?
Such as VMD/alerts/line crossing.
Or any other differences?

What are the focal lengths of the cameras please?

 

[mcrippa]

Hi Phil, thanks for your follow up. None of the those features are configured. I double checked the configuration menu several times and there are no differences at all. The 2785 (which consumes less memory) has additional features related to alarm triggers/in/out/voice but I didn't enable them (I actually didn't connect any alarm cable).

The 2785 is a varifocal and I configured it "closing" a bit the lens, like it was a 4mm. The 2185 are 2.8mm fixed lens. This is the only difference between them. Does this make such a big difference? Happy to "open" the 2785 to 2.8mm for a while it needed.

Last but not least: there are multiple files on the SD. Each of them is 248MB. I dowloaded them in order to check if they are recorded with the same height, witdth, frame per sec. This could be an interesting test but my PC doesn't recognize the format. Would this make sense?

BTW: in the meantime the 2785 has used only 8GB while 2185 used all the space on the memory card and it stared overriding it.

thanks
mc

 

[StewartM]

In a web browser try the following query directed at the DS-2CD2185FWD-I. Modify the IP accordingly.

http://192.168.1.xx/ISAPI/Streaming/channels/

If prompted enter the admin details. The camera will list all the streams and their settings. You can save the results in a text file (xml files are not allowed as attachments) and post it here. See the attached example from my camera. This might help narrow the issue down.

 

[Phil]

Happy to "open" the 2785 to 2.8mm for a while it needed.

It'd be worth trying this just to rule it out.
It seems unlikely, but who knows ...

 

[mcrippa]

hi, I attach the streamsettings for both cameras. The only difference I notice is that 2785 (which is working well) has an additional session related to the sound settings (which I'm not using). All the rest looks pretty the same.

 

[mcrippa]

Any suggestion from anyone? thanks in advance

 

[Phil]

Sorry, I can't explain it

 

[mcrippa]

Hi folks,
I upgraded all the cameras with the latest available firmware (build V5.6.0)
I downloaded and analized a piece of video recorded on the SD of bot cameras.
Both DS-2CD2185FWD-I and DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS generated video in .mp4 format. Both are coding as MPEG-H Part2/HEVC (H.265) (hevc). Video resolution is the same 3840x2160 at 20fps.
When I look at statistics (I play the videa with VLC)I see a difference on the bitrate. DS-2CD2185FWD-I has a bitrate which is 3 times bigger than the DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS. Obviously this has an impact on the size of the video (and on the disk space).
Both camera have the same settings (see previous posts)
I'm not a video expert. Is there anyone who could explain me why the bitrate is so different if the settings are the same? OR how to check if the H.265+ setting is working on the DS-2CD2185FWD-I (it's enabled on both cameras)?

thanks

 

[StewartM]

Please provide the lens mm on the fixed DS-2CD2185FWD-I cameras and the focal length of the DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS. It would also help if you attached an screen capture of one of the DS-2CD2185FWD-I cameras and the DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS.

 

[mcrippa]

Hi, the fixed DS-2CD2185FWD-I cameras are 2.8mm. The DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS is a varifocal and I configured it "closing" a bit the lens, like it was a 4mm.

I took a picture in different moments of the day (so with different sun and shadows). The files are all 3840x2160 with 96dpi and 24 bit depth.
- The fixed DS-2CD2185FWD-I generates a file which is between 1.7MB and 2MB (it depends on the moment of the day)
- The DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS generates a file which is around 1.37MB.
In the worst case scenario (1.37MB Vs 2MB) the difference is 30%.

I attach a sample

Note: I record with constant bitrate on both cameras (I also tried with variable but nothing changes). Based on my tests DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS records 0.75GB per hour. This is inline with what Hikvision calculator shows. It's 0.75GB x 24hrs=18GB per day. In 3 days the amount of space is 54GB (the tool estimates 64GB but it's just an estimation. the magniture is correct).

DS-2CD2185FWD consumes 3.75GB per hour which is lot more (5.5 times bigger). Considering that a single frame of the video is "just" 30% bigger, why the overall result is 550% bigger?

thanks a lot in advance
mc

 

[mcrippa]

Andy idea?
Thank you in Advance
mc

 

[Phil]

Cover each with a piece of plain paper and test???

 

[StewartM]

Phil is correct on scene complexity playing a factor.
I'm not an expert on H265+ but as a rule it works best when the background information rarely changes.
H265+ relies on a reference frame with minimal variance for optimal compression.
Your backyard has significantly less scene complexity and a much tighter field of view.
This may not account for the stark difference in file size entirely, but it's a factor.
On your front yard camera, drop the I-Frame interval to match (or go below) the camera's frame rate. It's a likely factor contributing to
the additional encoding size. This may effect the quality, but see what happens. Also experiment with the
digital noise reduction setting. Drop it to 20 from the default 50 setting and monitor the change.

 

[mcrippa]

Phil and StewartM: Thank you in advance.

I will play around with the settings you suggested. Just a very basic question: The I-Frame interval is greyed out, any idea on how to change it?

In the meantime I run test with a plain paper in from to one of the DS-2CD2185FWD-I camera (the one using a lot of space). Recording in 4k with a white paper in front of the camera the footage is 1GB per day (nothing compared to a complex scene). I will run the same test with the DS-2CD2785FWD-IZS. I guess I should get a similar result.

thanks

 

[StewartM]

That's interesting. I recall having the option to change the I-Frame interval when using H265+ but you're right, it's greyed out on my camera too. The help documentation confirms its unchangeable when using H265+. Maybe in an earlier version of the firmware? I'll look into it.

 

[mcrippa]

Hi StewartM, I realized that using H265+ the I-Frame interval is automatically managed by the camera (this was described in a post from Phil).