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Affected Roles: Administrator
Complexity: Medium
Last Edit: March 3, 2021
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If you are encountering considerable video latency with an IP camera that is connected directly to the integrated PoE switch of the VMAX® IP Plus, the issue might be caused by:
This article will outline some investigative steps that you can use to identify the source of the latency issue, as well as troubleshooting that you can perform before contacting DW Technical Support.
**NOTE: The use of “NVR” in this article refers to the VMAX® IP Plus recording unit.
Video streams are transmitted in different sizes for each frame (I-frame) and can be the cause of video latency. One thing that you can try is to enable the Live Buffering feature of the VMAX® IP Plus. Enabling this setting will cause the NVR to compile the transmission of video frames in a way that will result in a smoother live image.
**NOTE: This can only be performed at the recording unit. There is no web client availability for this setting.
To enable Live Buffering:
The Camera Setup menu will display. Click on the Maintenance button.
Enable the Live Buffering setting.
If the latency issues persist, please continue with this article to troubleshoot your unit.
When encountering video latency issues on the VMAX® IP Plus:
A high level of CPU usage can be caused by record settings such as a high camera bitrate or high resolutions (single-stream).
A camera within the local network should ideally reply in 5ms or less.
**NOTE: To learn more about connecting with cameras through virtual ports or IP address assignment through the VMAX® IP Plus, check out Connecting With Cameras Through Virtual Ports (VMAX IP Plus)
If your investigation of the latency issue reveals a high amount of CPU usage, below are a few troubleshooting methods that you may try.
If the camera is connected directly to the integrated PoE switch of the VMAX® IP Plus, resetting the ports may resolve the issue. To do so:
If you are using the NVR’s Web Viewer to reset the PoE ports:
All IP cameras must have a first (1st) and second (2nd) video streaming profile. The absence of either streaming profile is likely to cause considerable video issues with the camera and the NVR.
To check that the camera is presenting both video streaming profiles:
Click the Get Stream button. As a result, stream information should display in the Rec. Stream and 2nd Stream fields.
If no information displays, further troubleshooting of that camera may be necessary.
If you are using the NVR’s Web Viewer to check for the camera stream profiles:
Stream information should display. If no information displays, further troubleshooting of that camera may be necessary.
The VMAX IP® Plus has a maximum bandwidth limitation of 80 Mbps throughput with all of its cameras overall. An exceedingly high bitrate can often cause performance issues for the system.
To lower the bitrate of a camera:
Click the Get Stream button, then click Setup button for the Rec. Stream (primary).
The IP Camera Stream Setup window for the primary stream will display. It is recommended to keep the Bitrate to 5 Mbps or lower per channel.
Next, click the Setup button for the 2nd Stream (secondary).
The IP Camera Stream Setup window for the secondary stream will display. It is recommended to keep the Bitrate to 1 Mbps or lower per channel.
**NOTE: Repeat this process for all cameras that are experiencing latency issues.
If you are using the NVR’s Web Viewer to adjust the camera bitrate:
If your investigation of the latency issue reveals a high ping response time, try the following:
Similar to reinstalling software on a computer, reapplying the camera firmware can often resolve performance issues.
**NOTE: For more information regarding how to update/apply IP camera firmware, check out Updating MEGApix Camera Firmware.
If the camera replies in less than 5ms, then there may be an issue with the integrated PoE switch of the NVR.
**NOTE: If the issue persists after performing all troubleshooting steps that are listed above, please proceed with running recovery firmware on the VMAX® IP Plus.
Any issues after this should be reported to Digital Watchdog Technical Support for further assistance.