Record→Codec settings explained

0-776-80, 0-776-81, 0-776-84

The codec settings are all about how the DVR processes and stores the recorded video from the cameras.

The DVR MUST be restarted after changing these settings, otherwise they will not be applied.

Get to the menu

1. Press the menu button on the remote and enter the password (default is 6666)


2. Choose the menu options: Record → Codec

There are two sections of this menu, Main Stream and Sub Stream. You can safely ignore the Sub Stream section, it is used for different models of the DVRs which we do not supply.

While all of these settings are only applied to a single camera, it is reccomended you use the same settings for all cameras. The easy way to do this is to set up one camera with the correct settings, then use the Copy to all button in the top right to apply the same settings to all of the cameras.

Settings

Some settings may have more options, but only the ones relevant to our models of DVR will be shown here.
The 0-776-80 DVR does not support HD/720p cameras, so the Resolution and Input mode settings should be left at 960h and Analog respectively.
You can't mix and match cameras, they either all have to be SD or they all have to be HD.

Setting	Options	Explanation
Resolution	960H 720P	This setting needs to match the resolution of the input camera (720p for HD cameras, 960h for SD cameras). This needs to match the Input mode setting below.
Frame	1fps . . 25fps	The framerate of the recorded image. The higher the framerate, the smoother the recorded video will look, but it will also take up more storage space.
Stream mode	CBR VBR	CBR or Constant Bit Rate - amount of data saved in the video is set to a constant amount (value of Quality below). VBR or Variable Bit Rate - amount of data saved in the video changes depending on what's happening (up to the maximum value of Quality below). The main difference is how large the file size will be for each video. CBR will be larger, but have a slightly higher quality when there is a lot of fast motion on the video. In most cases you won't be able to see a difference.
Quality	192Kbps . . 4.0Mbps	The amount of data stored for each video per second. The higher this is set, the better quality the video will be, but the file size will be larger.
I Interval	User input (3 numbers)	This is used for different models of the DVRs which we do not supply.
JPEG	OFF Trigger 2s . . 60s	This is used for different models of the DVRs which we do not supply.
Input mode	Analog AHD	The mode type of camera you have connected, either an Analog (SD/960h) or Analog High Definition (HD/720p) camera. This needs to match the Resolution setting above.
Audio	☑ ☐	If it is ticked, the DVR will record the audio from this camera. More than one camera can record audio, but you can only listen back to one at a time.

Here are some example settings:

Setting	Longest recording time (Requires SD Cameras)	Balance of quality and length (Requires HD Cameras)	Highest quality recording (Requires HD Cameras)
Resolution	960H	720p	720p
Frame	1fps	20fps	25fps
Stream mode	VBR	VBR	CBR
Quality	192Kbps	1.0Mbps	4.0Mbps
Audio	☐	☑	☑
Input mode	Analog	AHD	AHD