Frequently Asked Questions

Click on a subject heading below to view questions and answers relating to your selection. Links throughout the answers will guide you to further information on our website or from other sources. Should you have any further questions, please consult our Contact Us page.

What is IP? Background of IP Networks What is the concept of an IP Network? What is an IP Address? How are IP Addresses used in everyday use? What is a DVR? What is NTSC? What is a FPS? What is Resolution? Standard DVR Resolution Rates What does it mean when I see a 16 channel DVR listed with 480/240? CCTV Star DVR Models for SSA-1624i and SSA-1612i Can I set one camera channel on the DVR to a higher recording rate than another? What happens if I accidentally go over the maximum recording frame rate on the DVR? What types of cameras can I use with the DVR? How would I view the DVR from another location? What is Port Forwarding? What are the default port numbers that our DVR use? What if I don't know how to setup the DVR to work over the internet? Are there any digital security cameras that I can use with my DVR? What are IP based security cameras? What is special about an IP based security camera? What are the advantages of our IP based security camera? What is the hardware cost to use these IP based security cameras? Why do you recommend medium-ranged networking hardware? Why are your computer specifications that high? What is vSync? What is NVR Pro? How to installing a Twist-On BNC Connector on Siamese cable ?

What is IP? IP stands for Internet Protocol. This protocol is used in everyday computers to connect to a network or to the internet. Top Background of IP Networks IP technology has been in use for over 25 years. DSL, or Digital Subscriber Line has been in use by the United States government for as long as the internet has been out. DSL is not new technology and has been out since the early 1980s, but the government could not regulate that fast of an internet connection, so it was not released to the public until 1999 to 2001. Most networks use a translation mode known as NAT, or Network Address Translation. Routers today provide NAT because it increases security and prevents people from accessing your computer directly from the internet. Top What is the concept of an IP Network? Networks everyday use IP addresses. Networks are classified into topologies. The most common topology that are used in home and most small and medium businesses are classified as a Star topology. In a star topology the network usually have a central management point, usually a router that controls the IP switching over the network and provides IP addresses if the computer does not have an IP address. From the router, it links out to the computers on the network, or the proper term "nodes". Top What is an IP Address? IP addresses are more like the computer id of the network. An IP address usually has 4 different sets of numbers and a maximum number of 254 on each number (ex. 208.57.129.145). IP addresses define the location of the computer on the network, or internet, and is required if you were to share printers or files. Top How are IP Addresses used in everyday use? The answer is DNS, or Domain Name System. Basically DNS translates a domain name to an IP Address. This system is also referred to as the internet phone book. How DNS works is pretty simple. Example        : http://www.cctvstar.com Protocol       : HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) Domain       : cctvstar.com Sub Domain : www Each DNS record can have unlimited sub domains, depending on the system settings. Records are usually distinguished by the sub domain. This example we will use www. DNS record : www for cctvstar.com IP Address : 208.57.129.145 Another record can be added to the Domain Name System. Here we use the sub domain: mail. DNS record : mail for cctvstar.com IP Address : 205.178.146.50 Alternately, instead of typing in http://www.cctvstar.com, in the browser address bar, you can just enter http://208.57.129.145 since the whole internet is controlled by IP address Example :       http://www.yahoo.com            http://www.google.com DNS record : www.yahoo.com           www.google.com IP Address : 209.131.36.158            64.233.167.99 You can copy and paste the IP address into the address bar and you will get to the same page as if you were to type the domain. Top What is a DVR? DVR, is short for Digital Video Recorder. Conventional DVR record an analog signal and converts it to a digital video format. A digital video file format tend to be very large in size so there are different compression rates such as MJPEG, JPEG2000, and MPEG4. MPEG4 compression is used in 95% of the DVR manufacturing industry, and our MPEG4 compression has been modified to give out the best picture quality above other DVR manufacturers. DVR can record up to the maximum amount of channels specific to the DVR. Most DVR come in 4, 8, and 16 channel configurations and can record up to 30 FPS on all channels at different resolutions. Top What is NTSC? NTSC is the United States broadcasting standard, or formerly known as National Television System Committee. Top What is a FPS? FPS, is abbreviated for frames per second. In one second on an NTSC type system, there is a maximum allotted frames per second which is 30. In Live view environment the DVR can display a maximum of 30 fps per channel at D1 (resolution: 720x480), this meaning that whatever is displayed on the monitor would be real time. In the Recording environment, the DVR has a limitation depending on the maximum recording rate. Top What is Resolution? Resolution is classified in pixel numbers, (horizontal x vertical). In an NTSC type system, the maximum resolution is 720x420 or D1. DVR usually have selectable resolutions to increase the recording amount, so a lower resolution and lower FPS would substantially make the DVR record for a longer period of time. Standard DVR Resolution Rates:                 Resolution (D1)         :       720 x 480                 Resolution (CIF)        :       352 x 288 What is does it mean when I see a 16 channel DVR listed with 480/240? The numbering system means the maximum number of frames per second (Live FPS / Recording FPS).         CCTVSTAR DVR Models for SSA-1624i and SSA-1612i            Model              : SSA-1624i            Live Display      : 480 FPS (16 channels x 30 FPS per channel) at D1            Recording Rate : 240 FPS (16 channels x 15 FPS per channel) at CIF            Model              : SSA-1612i            Live Display      : 480 FPS (16 channels x 30 FPS per channel) at D1            Recording Rate : 120 FPS (16 channels x 7.5 FPS per channel) at CIF Top Can I set one camera channel on the DVR to a higher recording rate than another? Yes. The DVR allows you to select the camera recording frame rate and resolution, at a cost of another camera. Remember the maximum frame rate is 120 fps at CIF on the SSA-1612i, so you can set input channel 1 to D1 at 30 FPS, but then you will have to set the other camera inputs to a lower FPS and a lower resolution. Top What happens if I accidentally go over the maximum recording frame rate on the DVR? The DVR built-in software will automatically calculate if the user has gone over the maximum recording frame rate and it will not save the settings until you have resolved the issue. Top What types of cameras can I use with the DVR? The DVR supports BNC input connections, so any analog camera that has BNC support will work with the DVR. Top How would I view the DVR from another location? Our remote viewing software, vSync Remote Client, comes free with purchase of our DVR. Our software can support up to 80 different camera channels at once. Since most networks are behind a firewall, you would have to consult your manual to get access to the router that you have set up the port forwarding to the ports set on the DVR. Top What is Port Forwarding? Port Forwarding is a term used to gain access to a network resource from outside the internet. Since the NAT of a router hides your computer from the internet, the router has an option to specify port numbers to specific computers inside a network that you can give access to so you will be able to access the DVR functions and view the video from the internet. Top What are the default port numbers that our DVR use? The default ports are 80 and 554. Top What if I don't know how to setup the DVR to work over the internet? CCTV Star provides excellent technical support and networking support services. If you are not sure how to set up or have any questions about features and settings, please call us at 866-410-2288. Top Are there any digital security cameras that I can use with my DVR? We do have a digital solution with our IP based security cameras, and you have the ability to actually have your own computer be the DVR, with our NVR Pro Software. Top What are IP based security cameras? IP based security cameras are cameras that transmit a video stream directly through an existing network. Top What is special about an IP based security camera? These cameras are unique in the sense that you do not need any extra components, just the IP camera and the computer. Our IP cameras support PoE (Power over Ethernet), which is an optional adapter that can be purchased with our camera. Basically this resolves the issue with having to run a separate power line to the camera. The adapter still requires a power source, but acts like a small hub that transmits power over the Ethernet cable directly to the camera. Top What are the advantages of our IP based security camera? Our IP based security cameras and our DVR use the same protocol, so our vSync remote viewing software is able to view the video stream of the camera. All our IP based security products support Full D1 at 30 FPS, and all the features of the IP camera has a built-in remote web management software, so you can control the transmitting video recording rate, frames per second, etc. Since our IP based security cameras transmit a video stream, there is no recording done on the IP camera. In order to record the video stream you would have to install our NVR Pro software which would record the video streams. Top What is the hardware cost to use these IP based security cameras? We recommend medium-range managed switches, and we would at least recommend a Dual Core CPU with 1GB RAM with a PCI-E Video card of at least 256 MB RAM (dual display video card highly recommended) and 1 Terabyte of recording space for the NVR Pro Server. Cost of hardware are different and vary daily so we cannot give a price on the hardware. Top Why do you recommend medium-ranged networking hardware? The reason we recommend medium end hardware is because of the scalability of our products. Our software supports up to 80 camera channels, and since our IP cameras use network resources you would need a networking switch that can also handle your daily bandwidth traffic (e.g. internet, sharing files, accessing printers, etc.). Top Why are your computer specifications that high? We want your computer to have room to be scalable with our products. Our NVR Pro software is very robust and has lot of features, and we want your server to be functional 100% of the time. Top What is vSync? vSync is our software which displays the live video stream for our DVR, and our IP based security products. vSync is our mainstream DVR remote viewing software which works with all our models that we sell to our valued customers. vSync allows the user to view up to 80 different camera channels, and supports multiple display. Features include: EMAP, Image Rotate, Image Capture, Remote Playback, Force Video Record, and Bi-Directional Audio. For a full list of features and functions, additional documentation can be requested. Top What is NVR Pro? NVR Pro is our software which records the video streams from our DVR, and our IP Based security products. NVR Pro is our hybrid recording server. The vShync software does record, but the user would have to force record. The NVR Pro is completely different where the software has advanced recording schedule per channel, either on motion, event or continuous. The NVR Pro also has a system controller feature with our IP based cameras, so if the user were to have our IP based PTZ camera, they would be able control the menu functions of the PTZ directly from the NVR Pro software with no need of an additional keyboard controller. The NVR Pro also supports EMAP, Image Capture, and Bi-Directional Audio. For a full list of features and functions, additional documentation can be requested. Top