MacOS Strange Differences in Browser Performance between Desktop Mac & Mobile iOS

[J.J.B.]

I was recently given a DS-7608NI-M2 / 8P as an upgrade to an older 7600 K series I've been using for almost a decade. This came about because our security was recently beefed-up by three Accusense 8MP cameras to add to our recently upgraded 4k Darkfighter, which was a revelation for image quality compared with the old 1.3MP domes they replaced.

In any event, I run a Mac and a PC and there is certainly a lack of parity between the two OS, much of which I've been able to pickup from this forum. On the Mac, running Safari (all latest versions of OS and HikVision firmware) I just receive constant "Transcoding capability exceeded limit. Reduce camera resolution or number of transcoding channels." messages and it won't play. Yet it will play in iVMS4200. I'm puzzled whether this is because I'm viewing it through a web browser and have a rather old 10/100 PoE switch that three of the cameras are attached too, which is wheezing data packets around too slowly. Does the claim of transcoding of up to 8x8MP cameras only hold true if I'm viewing from the NVR itself, or if I've attached the RJ45 plugs into the ports on the back of it, rather than via the LAN from the switch?

Rookie questions, I know, but this technology has come along way since the old DS-2CD2712Fs I'm used to wrangling. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dan]

Hi @J.J.B.

The reality is that Safari removed support for the old video plug-in that Hikvision had always used and for a while this made browser access on a Mac quite tricky, but new products like the 7608NI-M2/8P NVR that are running the latest firmware should be accessible from modern browsers like Chrome or Firefox (some features may not be supported in the browser, but with a combination of iVMS and browser most features should be accessible on a Mac).

 

[J.J.B.]

Hi @J.J.B.

The reality is that Safari removed support for the old video plug-in that Hikvision had always used and for a while this made browser access on a Mac quite tricky, but new products like the 7608NI-M2/8P NVR that are running the latest firmware should be accessible from modern browsers like Chrome or Firefox (some features may not be supported in the browser, but with a combination of iVMS and browser most features should be accessible on a Mac).

Thanks @Dan,

There are certainly some oddities between the Mac experience and the PC one, even between MacOS and iOS. For example, when logging directly into a camera, there is no Playback or Picture menu option on Safari for the Mac, just Liveview and Configuration, compared with the iPhone. Do you think this is what's causing the spurious transcoding issue? iVMS4200 on the Mac shows all of the cameras just fine and the NVR is recording all smart events as programmed just fine. I may need to hardwire my PC, as I'm currently using WiFi and it's not the best.

Thanks again.

 

[Dan]

Thanks @J.J.B.

Can I just clarify, are you saying you can see the picture & playback menus when accessing the NVR with Safari on the iPhone?

 

[J.J.B.]

Hi @Dan,

Not the NVR, this was just looking at one of the cameras via its IP address on the iPhone. I've not tried to view the NVR via the phone.

 

[Dan]

Which camera model?

We had assumed that Safari behaved the same on desktop and mobile, but I guess the mobile version of Safari must still offer some level of support for the old plug-in which is allowing you to see the menus not displayed in the desktop version of Safari.

 

[J.J.B.]

This is with a DS-2CD2386G2-ISU/SL running 5.7.12

 

[DigicapDave]

If you have an M1/M2 mac you can install iphone apps - I use hik-connect and login locally via app.

 

[JB1970]

Does the claim of transcoding of up to 8x8MP cameras only hold true if I'm viewing from the NVR itself

This is a case of Transcoding being confused with Decoding (this came up in another thread recently).

The NVR can decode and playback locally as stated in the data sheet. However it cannot simultaneously transcode (re encode 8 x 8MP main streams to a lesser bandwidth stream on the go). The reason you're seeing that is because you're viewing the transcoded stream in the browser rather than the sub stream. Your old NVR couldn't transcode at all so the option to view a transcoded stream wasn't there. Just view the main stream for single images or the sub stream if viewing multiple images simultaneously in the browser. (There's little point attempting to view the main stream while in multiscreen view as the image size as viewed doesn't warrant it and it's possible the computer/browser will struggle to do that also)