English English 4, 8 or 9 Channel 960H H.
English Before You Begin FCC Verification Introduction NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
English Contents Search: Playback 33 Search: Backup 34 Search: Event / Log Search 35 Specific Incident Backup 35 The Playback Interface 36 Network: General 37 Network: Advanced 38 Network: Advanced: DDNS 39 Network: Advanced: NTP 39 Network: Advanced: IP Filter 40 Network: Network Status 40 Network: Advanced: Email Settings 41 Alarm: Motion 42 Alarm: Motion Detection Configuration 43 Alarm: Motion Detection Notes 44 Alarm: Motion Detection - Acti
English Introduction Congratuations on your purchase of this Swann DVR. You’ve made a fine choice for keeping a watchful eye over your home or business. Let’s take a moment to talk about some of the features this DVR offers, and how to get the most out of them. Introduction Oh my, this is a big manual. How long will this take? Yes, but you won’t have to read all of it - you should be up and running by page 25! It can take a few hours to connect everything and run through the setup procedure.
English Installation Guidelines • Do not expose the DVR to moisture. Water is the arch-enemy of electrical components and also poses a high risk of electric shock. • Avoid dusty locations. Dust has a tendency to build up inside the DVR case, leading to a high risk of failure or even fire. Introduction • Only install the DVR in a well ventilated space. Like all electronics, the circuitry and hard drive in the DVR produce heat, and this heat needs a way out.
English Front Panel of the DVR Connecting the DVR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1) USB 2.0 Port: For connecting USB external storage to the DVR for backup, or for applying new firmware. 6) D-pad: For navigating around menus when you’re not using the mouse. (Why aren’t you using the mouse? It’s awesome.) 2) Play/Pause: Opens the playback interface from the live viewing mode. Pauses playback or resumes playback from paused. 7) IR Receiver: Where the DVR will pick up signals from the IR remote control.
English The Rear Panel of the DVR 9 10 6 8 4 5 1) Video Inputs 1 - 4: These are your primary video inputs. Each accepts a standard composite video signal and connects via a BNC connector. The channels are labeled by number in the same order as they will appear on your DVR’s interface. 2) Video Inputs 5 - 8/9: As 1) but apply to the 8 and 9-channel model only.
English Connection Diagram Connect your cameras to power, using the powersplitter (if included). Connecting the DVR Connect the BNC outputs from your cameras into the BNC inputs on the rear of the DVR. Connect the power supply to a wall outlet. Connect the DC12V Output from the power supply to the power input. Connect the mouse to the USB 2.0 port. Connect an Ethernet cable from the LAN port on the DVR to a spare port on your router.
English Connecting Additional Devices The Audio Out port can be used to connect a stereo, speakers, headphones or other external sound device. An external hard drive with an eSATA port can be connected to the eSATA port on the DVR. It can be used to record live footage in the same way as the interal HDD(s). The PTZ port (RS485) can be used to connect compatible PTZ devices, such as this Swann PTZ dome. An external hard drive with a USBcompatible interface (USB 2.
English Basic DVR Operation The USB Mouse (Recommended) The Front Panel The easiest way to operate the DVR is to use the included USB optical mouse - we put together the look and feel of the menu system specifically for mouse-friendly navigation. The buttons on the front panel are adequate for operating the DVR, but they’re hardly ideal for ongoing use. The controls are pretty easy to remember - heck, there are only two buttons. It couldn’t be simpler.
English Basic Setup: General The Setup Wizard will run automatically the first time you start the DVR.
English Basic Setup: HDD & Networking HDD Init.: Initializes the hard drive. You’ll only need to do this for drives once, assuming that it’s not already initialized. If the Mount column reads “No” then choose Init. to initialize the drive. Label: A quick way of differentiating between hard drives. For the first setup, there will usually only be one hard drive. This displays internal HDDs and those connected to the eSATA port. Capacity: The total amount of space on the hard drive.
English Basic Setup: DDNS & Email 13 Basic Setup DDNS A Dynamic DNS is a service which will let you assign an address to your DVR so you can access it via the Internet. There’s more information about DDNS, how to configure it and what it means for you when remotely accessing the DVR later in this manual. Have a look at “Network: Advanced: DDNS” on page 39 for more. DDNS Type: The DDNS server you’re using. We recommend SwannDVR - you can sign up for your free account at www. swanndvr.com.
English Basic Setup: NTP & DST NTP NTP stands for “Network Time Protocol”. It’s a way for the DVR to automatically update its internal clock and ensure it’s always in sync. There’s no requirement to use NTP, but it’s easy to setup and free to use, so there’s really no reason not to. NTP Server: The server you’d like to use for NTP.
English Basic Setup: Account Configuration & Completion Account Configuration User Name: The name you’d like to use for the account. An account can be called anything you like (up to 16 characters in length) except the default Admin account, which is always called “Admin”. We suggest using this as the default all-access account for the DVR. Password: The password you’d like to be associated with the selected account.
English Basic Setup: Installing MyDVR on PC Your DVR comes with powerful remote access and interface software, called MyDVR. You can setup and configure almost all aspects of the DVR from the MyDVR interface. The MyDVR software will allow you to: • view images from your DVR in real-time, • playback recorded footage, • copy footage to your local PC and • adjust settings and configure the DVR.
English MyDVR: Logging In Before running MyDVR for the first time: That your network is set to DHCP addressing or the DVR has been configured to use STATIC addressing (see “Network: General” on page 37). That UPnP is enabled on your router (see your router’s documentation to learn more). If you’re accessing the DVR via a LAN (local network): • Select LAN under the heading Network Type (unless your computer has performance issues - then select WAN. See the note on multiple monitors, below/right).
English MyDVR: Interface Preview / Playback / Setup PTZ Controls & Image Controls Channel List Main Viewing Area Playback and Backup Links Viewing Modes & Volume Control Preview: The default splash live-view screen of MyDVR. The screen layout emulates the multi-channel live view screen of the DVR, showing you images coming directly from your cameras in near real-time (some delay is caused by the network/Internet connection you’re using to access the DVR).
English MyDVR: Local Configuration Record Path: Where MyDVR will save recordings if you select Record from the Preview screen. Download Path: Where MyDVR will save footage that you’ve downloaded from the DVR. Snapshot Path: Where MyDVR will save still images captured using the snapshot function. Convert to AVI: When selected, MyDVR will use your PC to transcode footage from the DVR’s native format (H.
English MyDVR: Configuration Overview Display: Channel Settings (see page 28) Channel Name (Check Box): Whether the channel’s name will be displayed on screen or not. Channel Name: The title you’d like to give that camera. Record Data: Whether the overlays (Channel Name, Date and so on) will be recorded onto the video with your images. Mask (Check Box): Turns the masking function on or off. Mask (Setup): Creates a black privacy overlay which masks part of your images. Will affect recordings.
English Network: General (see page 37 for more) Be careful adjusting settings here - if the DVR can’t access the network anymore, you won’t be able to configure it remotely! Network Access: How your network is addressed - either DHCP or STATIC IP addressing. Subnet Mask: A required additional piece of IP addressing information. Gateway: The way “out” of your network, to the Internet. Auto DNS / Static DNS: Whether the DVR will automatically select a DNS server, or use one you assign.
English Alarm: Motion Detection (see page 42) Channel: The channel you’re configuring the motion detection settings for. Enable: Whether the motion detection is enabled for the channel currently selected. Sensitivity: A sliding scale between 1 and 50. The number refers to the number of pixels (as a percentage) that have to “change” between frames - okay, this one is a little more complex than this summary will allow.
English Device: PTZ (see page 48) Channel: The channel you’d like to configure a PTZ camera for. Settings: See page 48 for more information about the PTZ settings you’ll find here. You’ll probably need the documentation that came with your PTZ camera to figure out how to fill out this configuration page. System: General (see page 50) System Standard: Changes between PAL or NTSC standards. NTSC operates at 30 frames per second, and has an effective resolution of 720 x 480.
English Remote Access From a Mobile Device Using the SwannView app for mobile devices, you’ll be able to log into your DVR from almost anywhere you can imagine (or, at least, get a decent signal - like everyone, we’re at the mercy of your phone company!) and view images coming from your cameras in real-time (or as close to as wireless networking will permit). How cool is that? We’re pretty sure this was science-fiction just a few short years ago. You’ll need a compatible mobile device.
English Operating the DVR Locally The camera icon indicates that this camera is currently recording. This icon will be the same whether the recording was scheduled, initiated manually or triggered by motion (though the motion icon will also be present if there’s motion detected). The motion icon indicates that the DVR is detecting motion coming from this camera. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s recording (the camera icon will be there, too, if that’s the case!).
English Menu Layout Camera Display Output Encode Recording Option Schedule Playback Search Backup Event / Log DDNS General Network Email Settings Advanced NTP Basic Setup Status IP Filter Menu Bar Motion Alarm Video Loss Exceptions HDD Device S.M.A.R.
English Advanced Configuration If you’re reading this page, it means that either: • You’ve got the DVR setup, but it’s standard recording program isn’t for you. Fair enough - we cater to all requirements here. • You’re interested in what other options and capabilities the DVR has. Excellent - the answer is “a lot”. • Everything works except just that one thing that isn’t right but you don’t know where the option is. Darn. We’ll try and get you fixed up by the end of this page.
English Display: Camera The Display: Camera menu is where you can make adjustments to how the DVR displays the feed coming from your cameras. You can adjust aspects of each channel/ camera, such as: Advanced Configuration Camera No.: Choose the camera / channel you want to edit here. The Camera No is the same thing as the number written on the rear panel next to the BNC socket used to connect the camera. Camera Name: Select a name for the camera you’ve selected.
English Display: Output The Camera: Output menu is where you can control how the DVR is going to deliver an image to your television, screen or monitor. You’ll be able to adjust items such as: Resolution: The number of “little dots” that make up an image. This should be set as high as possible, but equal to or lower than the maximum resolution your screen/monitor can display. Things change a little depending on what kind of monitor you’re using, and how it’s connected.
English Recording: Encode The Recording: Encode menu allows to alter and customize how the DVR records footage and “encodes” the files. “Encoding” is a term which refers to the compression algorithm (a fancy computer term for “make the file smaller while retaining visual quality”) used by the DVR. You can choose and alter: Camera No.: The camera feed you want to alter the settings for. These will be numbered sequentially, and correspond to the BNC video inputs labelled on the rear of the DVR.
English Recording: Option The Recording: Option menu lets you change some aspects of how the DVR will record footage, such as: • whether the DVR will record a short video before events take place, • how long after events take place the DVR will continue to record for, • how the DVR will store and divide long recordings into “packs” and • whether the DVR will record over old footage to make room for new events.
English Recording: Schedule Important Guidelines The schedule presented on-screen applies to one channel on one specific day of the week only. Use the Copy To functions to quickly assign identical schedule layouts to multiple days/channels at once. Advanced Configuration Be careful when programming your schedule. It’s one of the most important aspects of setting up your DVR, and if it’s wrong in any way, it could lead to disastrous complications later.
English Search: Playback To initiate playback: • Select the channels you’d like to playback. The DVR can playback up to 4 channels simultaneously, however displaying so many video feeds simultaneously may cause a reduction in playback framerate from realtime to near-realtime. • From the Video Type menu, select the type(s) of video you’d like to playback. The options are Manual, Schedule, Motion and All. • Set your Start Date/Time and your End Date/Time.
English Search: Backup To backup footage: • Connect a USB flash drive or a USB hard drive (HDD) to the USB Port on front of the DVR. • Choose the camera(s) you want to backup footage from. • From the Video Type menu, select the type(s) of video you want to backup. • Set your Start Time and End Time. • Select Backup. Note: The USB Ports are used for backing up footage, or connecting the USB mouse. If you want to use an external drive to record live video footage, use the eSATA port on the rear of the DVR.
English Search: Event / Log Search The Event Search menu will show you recordings that were triggered by the DVR detecting motion. Typically, the majority of recordings based upon “Events” are likely to be recordings triggered by the DVR’s motion detection feature. The search function operates in the same way as the main playback search: the only difference is you’ll select an Event Type rather than a Video Type.
English The Playback Interface The Playback interface is quite similar to a computer’s media player, or to the on-screen display of a DVD/Blu-ray player. Most of the controls are quite straight forward, and operate in the same way as a standard media player. Advanced Configuration Current Position: A basic progress meter. You can click to move the current position icon to quickly scan through video events. Volume Control: Alters the output volume of playback.
English Network: General Network Access: Here you can choose between the three different types of networks that the DVR can be connected to. The three types of networks are: DHCP: DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is a system where one device on your network (usually a router) will automatically assign IP addresses to devices connected to the network. PPPoE: An advanced protocol that allows the DVR to be more directly connected via a DSL modem. This is an option for advanced users only.
English Network: Advanced DDNS: The place to configure the DVR to automatically update a dynamic DNS service. If you want to remotely access the DVR via the Internet, you’ll probably need to configure a DDNS account. See “Network: Advanced: DDNS” on page 39 for details on setting up and configuring the DDNS. HTTP Port: This is the port through which you will be able to log in to the DVR. • Like the server port, it will need to be forwarded properly in order to ensure smooth, latency-free communication.
English Network: Advanced: DDNS Static and Dynamic IP Addresses In much the same way as your home network can use static or dynamic IP addresses, many Internet providers don’t issue (or charge more for) a static IP address for users. The easiest way to find out is to contact your Internet service provider. Alternately, you can access the www.whatismyip. com service, make a note of your IP, then reboot your router/gateway. This should refresh your Internet connection.
English Network: Advanced: IP Filter The IP Filter can be used to modify which IP addresses have permission to talk to the DVR and which do not. This is an advanced feature, and is recommended for advanced users only. Tinkering with things here - if you’re not sure what you’re doing - is more likely to break things than make anything better. Network: Network Status Advanced Configuration The Network Status screen displays a quick summary of your network settings.
English Network: Advanced: Email Settings If you want the DVR to occasionally drop you a line, share news, tell you about its day and - more importantly - tell you what’s going on around your home or business as it happens, then you can configure it to automatically send email alerts as events happen. We suggest using Gmail as your email client - it’s quite easy to set up an account and use it solely for the DVR. We’ve tested the email procedure with Gmail, and it does work.
English Alarm: Motion If you’re planning to use Motion Detection as the primary (or sole) recording mode for the DVR, it’s worth taking a moment to ensure it’s properly configured. If the motion detection sensitivity is too sensitive, then the DVR will record too frequently or continually - any benefit of motion detection will be lost. If the motion detection sensitivity is not sensitive enough, then the DVR will not record when it should and may not record anything at all.
English Alarm: Motion Detection Configuration To set the MOTION DETECTION AREA Sensitivity: The Sensitivity setting is controlled by a slider, allowing you to set a value between 0 and 50. The lower the number, the more sensitive the motion detection will be. There are four time periods which you can define different motion sensitivity values for.
English Alarm: Motion Detection Notes Motion Detection Compatibility You’ll be able to use the DVR’s motion detection with almost all static, wired cameras. PTZ systems are fundamentally incompatible with motion detection. Avoid enabling motion detection on a channel which has a PTZ system attached to it - especially when the PTZ system is set to Cruise Mode.
English Alarm: Motion Detection - Action Audio Warning: The DVR will use its internal buzzer to emit an alarm tone. It sounds like an old computer indicating an error, or a large truck backing up. Send Email: The DVR will send an auto-email alert when the event type you’ve selected occurs. The Email Settings button will take you to the same email configuration screen accessible from the Network menu - see “Network: Advanced: Email Settings” on page 41 for details.
English Alarm: Exception An Exception is any deviation from the DVR’s normal behaviour - phrased another way, it’s like saying the DVR’s been working fine except for these events. Audio Warning: The DVR will use its internal buzzer to emit an alarm tone. It sounds like an old computer indicating an error, or a large truck backing up. Exception Type: What event type you’d like the DVR to react to.
English Device: HDD Here you’ll find a comprehensive list of hard drives connected to the DVR. Typically, there will be one entry here, and it will be the hard drive that came with the DVR (if one was included) - you’ll get many years of usage out of the included hard drive. The drive connected to the internal SATA port will be listed here. A drive connected via eSATA will appear on this list, and be useable in the same manner as an internal HDD.
English Device: PTZ Important: Don’t use Motion Detection on channels with PTZ cameras attached. The DVR can’t tell the difference between something moving in front of the camera and the camera itself moving! PTZ Settings Accessing the PTZ Controls This is where you can configure the DVR to be able to operate PTZ devices. PTZ stands for Pan, Tilt & Zoom. The PTZ controls can be accessed from the Live Viewing screen by choosing the PTZ icon on the menu bar.
English an adjustable iris. Also called an “aperture”. Not all cameras support this function. Preset: A Preset is a position that the camera is in which is saved to memory to be retrieved later. Patrol: Initates patrol mode (also sometimes called “cruise” mode). You’ll need to define a series of Preset points for the camera to patrol between. Exit: Closes the PTZ controls. Camera No: Switch quickly between cameras. Call Preset: Returns the camera to a Preset point.
English System: General The System: General menu contains many of the settings you’ll need to configure to get the most out of your DVR system. Most importantly: Language: The language that the DVR’s menus, alerts and other communications will use. This usually defaults to English.
English System: User The System: User menu is where you can define and configure the different levels of access various users have to the DVR. We suggest that at minimum the admin account be password protected, as it has access to all aspects of the DVR’s operation. To add additional users, choose Add. To remove a user, choose Delete. To customize a user’s level of access, choose Modify. You cannot modify the access level of the default admin account - they can do everything.
English System: System Information If you’re looking at the System Information screen, you’ve probably been directed to do so by Swann Technical Support. If we haven’t told you to come here, you might be wondering what all the information means. On a day-to-day level, the answer is “very little”. However, if you’re still curious: Device Name: The name that the DVR considers to be its own, and what it will use to register an IP address with your DHCP host.
English System: Maintenance Advanced Configuration To maintain the operational integrity of the DVR, it is suggested that it be rebooted periodically. In much the same way that a computer can become unstable if left on for an extremely long time, the DVR can become unstable. It is strongly suggested that the DVR be rebooted at least once per week. However, as this can be a hassle (particularly if the DVR is stashed away somewhere inconvenient) you can set the DVR up to reboot itself.
English Troubleshooting Q: The images from my cameras are completely blank, black & white and/or flickering. What’s up? A: Most likely, your Video Standard isn’t set correctly for your region. Check out the section on PAL/NTSC (“System: General” on page 50) for more information. As a rule of thumb, set your video standard to NTSC if you’re in the USA or Canada, or PAL if you’re in Europe, the UK or Australia.
English Addendum: Third Party Hardware Due to it’s nature as a networked device, the DVR is often required to operate with third party hardware. We do everything we can to ensure the DVR is compatible with as many third party devices as possible, there will always be some that require a little extra configuration. Assigning the IP Address information to the DVR. We recommend doing this locally (on the DVR itself) even if you can access the DVR via the network (using the MyDVR software) in the meantime.
English Technical Specifications Video Compression Video System Operating System Input/Output 4ch Model Input/Output 8ch Model Input/Output 9ch Model Audio RCA :4-ch inputs / RCA: 1-ch outputs / HDMI with integrated audio Video BNC: 8-ch inputs / VGA: 1 output / HDMI: 1 output Audio RCA :4-ch inputs / RCA: 1-ch outputs / HDMI with integrated audio Video BNC: 9-ch inputs / VGA: 1 output / HDMI: 1 output Audio RCA :1-ch inputs / RCA: 1-ch outputs / HDMI with integrated audio VGA / HDMI: 1024 x 768,
English Warranty Information USA Swann Communications USA Inc. 12636 Clark Street Santa Fe Springs CA 90670 USA Australia Swann Communications Unit 13, 331 Ingles Street, Port Melbourne Vic 3207 Australia United Kingdom Swann Communications LTD. Stag Gates House 63/64 The Avenue SO171XS United Kingdom Warranty Terms & Conditions Swann Communications warrants this product against defects in workmanship and material for a period of one (1) year from its original purchase date.
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English Helpdesk / Technical Support Details Swann Technical Support All Countries E-mail: tech@swann.
