1. Blue Iris

2. ZoneMinder

Best Computer Programs for CCTV Surveillance Systems

Read Also : What is DMSS App & How it works?

3. SecuritySpy

4. iSpy

5. Shinobi

6. Luxriot EVO

7. Kerberos.io

8. Xeoma

9. Contacam

10. MotionEyeOS

11. Anycam.io

12. Axxon Next

13. ZoneTrigger

14. MacEye

15. DVRViewer

Conclusion

Choosing the right CCTV surveillance software depends on various factors including platform preference, required features, scalability, and budget. Whether you are looking for a robust enterprise solution, a user-friendly home system, or an open-source project, the programs listed above provide a wide range of options to meet different needs.

Using iSpy you can do pretty much anything, from protecting your business and home with realtime SMS and Twitter alerts to scanning the skies for UFOs, nanny cams, machinery monitoring, neighbourhood watch, iSpy does it all! The best thing about iSpy though is that it’s open source and can therefore leverage some of the best open source libraries around representing literally millions of man hours of work – code that isn’t available to proprietary developers. No wonder iSpy is the most popular and downloaded home and business security and surveillance application in the world! It’s not just us saying that – check out our feedback.

This manual is a detailed guide to how iSpy works, what it can do and how you can get the most out of it. New software can seem daunting at first so we’ve put a lot of effort in to cover the most common scenarios along with comprehensive coverage of every feature of the software. iSpy has been designed to be easy to use although that simplicity belies the complexity under the hood – iSpy is capable of much more than just motion detection!

Throughout this guide we assume you have an iSpyConnect subscription and so have access to remote services, alerts, remote commands and the full feature set of the web side of iSpy. Without an online services subscription you are missing out on a large part of the functionality available within iSpy and iSpyConnect. Choose a subscription.

Supported Operating Systems

iSpy currently works on Windows based PCs only (both x86 and 64 bit versions). iSpy has been tested on Windows 7, 8 and 10 but may work on other Windows variants that support the .Net v4 Framework.

Recommended Hardware

Hardware recommendations vary a lot depending on how many cameras and microphones you are going to be using at any given time. A modern PC with 2GB of RAM and 200 GB of free hard disk space should be more than capable of running 4 cameras simultaneously at 320 x 240 resolution.

Performance Tips

iSpy will let you add an unlimited number of cameras and microphones – right up to the point where your computer cannot cope and will crash. Keep an eye on the performance counters on the status bar of iSpy as they will tell you when you are running out of memory or CPU. Note that CPU can spike when recording video and encoding. There are a number of things you can do to squeeze better performance out of iSpy:

You can also set a maximum CPU target value in settings. By default this is set to 90%. This means that when your CPU usage goes over 90% iSpy will start reducing the framerates of your cameras to help protect against a crash. Once the CPU drops back below 90% iSpy will increase the framerates again. Common causes for this are multiple simultaneous recordings or scheduled tasks like disk defragmenting.

Of course the better the hardware the better results you will get from iSpy. Using iSpyConnect you can connect multiple computers to one online account with a web based management interface that allows iSpy to scale up to any number of monitored cameras and microphones. A few of our users are monitoring over 150 cameras simultaneously via iSpyConnect. To work with multiple computers you must assign each computer a different external port address. See Multiple Computers for more information.

Agent DVR USER Guide

About

Agent DVR is a standalone replacement for iSpy that runs as a service, uses less CPU and features a web user interface that is accessible from anywhere with no port forwarding required!

We recommend that you use either iSpy or Agent – you can use both but it may cause issues with device drivers and network access.

Tip: Click the Menu button above to show/ hide the userguide index.

Using Agent DVR

Agent does not have a windows forms user interface like iSpy does. The user interface is all browser based via the local portal, web portal or mobile applications

Agent runs it’s own webserver. By default this is running at http://localhost:8090 on the PC running Agent (although it may be using a different port if that wasn’t available or was changed when it was installed – see the link “Agent UI” on the desktop on Windows). Agent will also work over your local network – you can use private IP addresses or computer names to access Agent locally (examples: http://192.168.1.10:8090 or http://nvr:8090). You may need to open your firewall to Agent for your local network.

Getting Started

Once you have the local UI open you can start adding devices to Agent. To add your first device click on the red Edit button in the UI:

You can use the top left menu to navigate Agent’s interfaces. The padlock indicates whether Agent is armed or not (will generate alerts). Click it to toggle. A green unlocked padlock means it’s disarmed. The  icon opens a menu to configure your Agent server settings. The menu next to that provides links to all the content views in Agent. The icon will change depending on which view you are currently working with.

Agent has help built into it – click on the “?” icon at top right of nearly all panels and menus to access contextual help.

Tip: Enable shortcut keys in Account menu – Theme Settings. “C” opens the Commands menu, “S” opens the server menu. Numeric digits open the various views. Enable Tool-Tips and mouse-over the bottom controls in the UI to show additional shortcut keys.

Any issues? First thing to check is the logs at /logs.html on the local server. That will give you details about any problems Agent is having. If that doesn’t help please feel free to jump onto our Reddit group and ask a question – include the logs and steps to reproduce the problem if possible.

Pro Tip: Watch a video to learn how to add cameras into Agent DVR with the wizard. Be sure to read the Performance Tips to get the most out of your system.

Supported Languages

The Agent DVR application has been translated into English, Arabic, Bengali, Czech, Danish, German, Spanish, Finnish, French, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Portugese, Russian, Swedish, Mandarin and Taiwanese.

To change the language, click on Account  – Language.

Installing

Download Agent DVR from here and run the installer. Agent runs as a service or as a console application on Windows 7+, Linux X64 (tested with Ubuntu 18.04+), OSX (+M1), Arm and Arm64 based operating systems (like Raspberry Pi).

Follow the setup instructions for your operating system on the download page

Once Agent is running, you can access it via most web browsers at http://localhost:8090

Installing (offline/ manual) on Windows

If for some reason you can’t use the installer from the download page (eg: no internet on the target device) then you can install AgentDVR on Windows offline instead. Note that the computer you install Agent DVR on will need to have network hardware installed and active for it to be able to start the server. Follow these steps:

Updating

Before updating Agent make sure you backup your configuration – either copy the files in Agent/Media/XML or export them via the web interface via server menu – backup/ restore.

You can check the update log for update inforrmation

If you have a business license or a subscription you can update Agent by clicking on the server menu and “Update Agent” at the top (will only display if an update is available).

To update Agent for Linux or OSX manually see the update instructions on the readme page of the install scripts

To update Agent for Windows manually just re-run the installer from the download page.

Uninstalling

If you installed Agent using the installer it will be in the add/ remove programs list on Windows. Use that to uninstall it. If it’s not there:

If Agent is running as a service then stop the service:

To remove the Agent DVR files just delete the Agent directory. By default Agent DVR is installed to C:\Program Files\Agent on Windows. On Linux/ OSX it will be installed wherever you ran the install script.

Troubleshooting Install

See offline install instructions for Agent DVR on Windows.

If the installer on Windows fails to complete and Agent doesn’t start or you are having issues accessing Agent or you need to use functionality that isn’t available when running as a windows service (like some GPU drivers and desktop monitoring) then you can run Agent from a command prompt:

Agent will then tell you if there are any problems starting and what local port it is running on. You can quit Agent at any time by pressing the enter key. When Agent is running in the console it is able to use more GPU devices and can record from the Desktop.

If you get an error like The type initializer for ‘Emgu.CV.Cuda.CudaInvoke’ threw an exception. on Windows you will need to install the Windows Media Feature Pack for your OS

If there is an anti virus app or firewall blocking Agent from listening on a local port then you may need to add Agent.exe to a safe list or open the port it is listening on in the local firewall.

If you are using a Windows N variant you will need to install the media feature pack for Windows N

On OSX, Linux and Raspberry Pi your system may not have some required libraries installed and Agent may fail to start with an error like libcvextern.so could not be found. You will need to use ldd or “objdump -r –dylibs-used /path/to/failed/library” on OSX to find which libraries are missing. To do this, open a terminal window, change to the Agent directory and run ldd libcvextern.so (or whatever library is causing issues). The output should tell you which dependencies need to be installed. Please let us know what’s needed and what operating system you are using so we can update our docs.

Corrupted Video / Playback Issues

Agent defaults to using UDP to connect to cameras. UDP is a fast network protocol which prioritises real-time, low delay video. Unfortunately UDP doesn’t have any error correction built into it so any electronic noise from faulty cabling to interference from power cables, amplifiers or other sources can result in corrupted video by the time the signal gets to Agent. You can switch to TCP instead which does have error correction built into it – but at the cost of some buffering and potential lag on the live feed. To switch to TCP instead, edit the camera, click to edit the Source on the General tab, select “FFMPEG” in the menu at top right and change the RTSP mode to TCP.

If you can’t get a good connection other options to try are available under General – Edit Source Type:

Corrupted video can result from too much noise on the network or when your computer is under too much load to decode the live video stream. Other ways to avoid it are to use a lower resolution video feed from the camera or to check the Resize option on the Adjustments tab when editing the camera.

Reolink Cameras are known to be susceptible to corrupted RTSP streams. You may get better results by going into the camera’s own User Interface and setting the encoder to use H264 instead of H265 (if available). Reolink cameras sometimes have alternate video endpoints that use the RTMP:// protocol instead of RTSP://. You can try using the Add Camera wizard in Agent DVR to scan the camera for RTMP:// options instead.

Stuttering Video? Some cameras (notably Reolink) emit frames in groups of audio and video which can result in stuttering live and recorded playback. To work around this, edit the camera, click to configure the videosource settings, select the FFMPEG tab and set a value for Max Delay (for example 4 seconds) and a value for Max Reorder Queue Size (for example 500).

Accessing Logs

Agent provides formatted live logs on the local server at /logs.html (so on a default install at http://localhost:8090/logs.html). As of version 3.5.6.0+ Agent also saves the 5 most recent raw logs in .json format to your Media location (on Windows that’s C:\Program Files\Agent\Media). You can use these for debugging and getting more information on what Agent is doing. You can also download the raw logs remotely via the server menu in the web portal. Feel free to jump on our Community boards to ask questions!

Upgrading from iSpy

Moving to a new Computer

Windows

Linux

OSX

Important

If you have a subscription you will now need to connect the new instance to your account – click on the Server icon in the local UI and Remote Access to pair it with your online account.

If you have a business license you will need to copy the license code to the new PC. See your license receipt email for instructions.

If you have a basic subscription and have 2 instances of Agent connected to your account only one will be visible on the web portal – you will need to stop the first one for the other to connect successfully.

If you had setup drives and storage directories on your old PC you will need to go into settings on the new PC and configure the storage settings for your new environment

Remove an instance from my account

You can either just uninstall Agent or if you want to keep it running just not connected to your account then:

Using Claim Codes

99% of the time you won’t need a claim code – they’re only used if you have installed Agent DVR on an operating system without a GUI and have retrieved a claim code by using the command line options. To connect your server to website services you just need to click on the server icon in the local Agent DVR UI and Remote Access. This will pass through the code to the website automatically.

Move instance to another account

Reset local login

If you’ve forgotten your login for local Agent DVR you can reset it (back to no login):

Remote Access

Agent DVR uses WebRTC to setup remote connections so doesn’t require any port forwarding setup and will work even over mobile internet connections. To connect remotely you will need to pair Agent with your iSpyConnect account. To do this, click on the server icon  in the local web interface and “Remote Access”. You’ll be redirected to the online portal.

Important: You do not need to install Agent DVR on other computers or setup port forwarding for remote access. Just open up a web browser on any device at https://www.ispyconnect.com/app once Agent is connected. Remote access to Agent is a subscription service.

Subscription not applied?: Usually payment notifications come through immediately and you are good to go – but sometimes it can take a few days for things to clear. With Agent DVR you don’t need a license code so no need to waiit for one to appear in your inbox – it’s all automatically done on our side.

If your trial had ended before you subscribed you will need to use the local UI of Agent DVR and click on the server icon and Remote Access button. This will tell Agent to reconnect to your account.

Is Agent is connecting with the same account you have upgraded? If it isn’t you will need to change it to link with the right account Any problems? Please Contact Us

No UI?: If you have downloaded Agent DVR to a VPS or a PC with no graphical UI you can still setup Agent for remote access by calling “Agent.exe register” on Windows or “agent-register.sh” on Linux/ OSX. This will give you a claim code you can use to access Agent from another PC.

Can’t connect?: In rare instances a connection may fail due to content filtering on a VPN connection. You’ll need to add exceptions in your content filtering software for *.ispyconnect.com and *.azurewebsites.net

Why use the website?: Agent uses webrtc for media connections which gets around most firewalls and port forwarding issues. On your local network your web browser can connect directly to Agent but for remote access web browsers can require SSL connections, STUN, TURN and relay servers for connection establishment which we provide via ispyconnect.com

Port Forwarding Access

Port forwarding is disabled with the free version of Agent DVR. To enable port forward access you will need to purchase a license. Note that port forward access isn’t guaranteed to work as some networks and firewalls will block the traffic that webrtc needs to establish a connection. If you have issues accessing Agent via port forwarding check that your firewall is not blocking the application and you have forwarded the following ports (both in and out) and unblocked them from any firewall or antivirus:

See SSL for instructions on setting up SSL connections.

LAN Access

To access Agent over your LAN you may need to open up several ports in your firewall/ antivirus as Agent uses Web RTC for connections:

To secure LAN access setup a login under Server Settings – Users. If you forget this password you can reset it by stopping Agent and calling “Agent.exe reset-local-login” on Windows or “agent-reset-local-login.sh” on OSX and Linux.

Some browser extensions can also block access so if you have issues connecting locally try a different browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox and the latest version of Edge should all work). Also try disabling any extensions and clearing your cache.

Passing in Parameters

You can add parameters to the url of the Agent DVR UI to customize it:

Set default theme options (theme options are available in the account menu – theme settings):

Auto play audio on load (v3.7.7.0+ may also require changing browser settings):

Start in minimised mode (top and bottom UI bars hidden) (v3.8.7.0+):

Pass in local username and password for auto login (v4.7.6.0+) (caution – this will expose your credentials to the network):

Start on a specific view and select a device (v4.9.8.0+)

Adding Cameras

Click on the Server icon  at the top left of the Agent UI and “Add Device” under Devices. Or in Live View click on the Edit icon  at the bottom right and “Add New Device”

Choose from the available list. To start the wizard, which walks you through discovering devices on the local network and uses the Agent camera database to connect to your camera click on “IP Camera Wizard”. If you have an ONVIF compatible camera click on “ONVIF”. If you have an RTSP or MJPEG or other URL already for your camera click on Video Source or if you are adding an audio source like a local USB microphone or other network audio source click on “Audio Source”.

.

Configuration

The second step when adding a new device is to setup some basic features. If you check “Alerts” Agent will setup your camera with a simple motion detector so it’s ready to raise Alert events. To record when Agent detects motion check the “Record on Detect” option. If you have a high resolution camera you can check “Resize” to reduce the resolution of it and save some CPU usage. “Record Raw” means that Agent will record the stream directly from the camera to disk without encoding it which can dramatically reduce resource usage. Raw Record is only available for network video sources (not USB cameras or other local devices like Desktop streams). All of these options can be edited later.

.

Using the Wizard

Start by typing the name of your camera manufacturer. Agent will provide suggestions. Click on a suggestion to select it. If your manufacturer isn’t known or isn’t listed you can choose “Unlisted” or if the model isn’t listed you can choose <Manufacturer>: Unlisted. Agent will use this to narrow down the addresses it will try to get a video connection (using just Unlisted may take a while as Agent has a database of tens of thousands of cameras).

Next enter your camera username and password. These should be the details you enter into the web or app interface to login to your camera (not your iSpyConnect.com login details!)

Enter the Channel (usually 0 for IP cameras but if you have a DVR with multiple cameras attached to it this might be a different number)

Next you will need to find or enter the Network Address of your camera. Agent can discover local addresses automatically. There’s usually not a lot of information available about the devices from the network scan unfortunately so this might take a bit of trial and error. Click on the Device name to open the address up in a web browser (if you’re on the same network Agent is running on) and if it’s your IP camera click “Use” next to it. Alternatively you can enter your network address manually. This should be formatted like http://IP-ADDRESS:PORT or https://WEB-ADDRESS:PORT if you are adding a camera from an internet address. Click the  icon to make Agent re-scan your network for devices.

Tip: It’s important to setup your IP cameras with static IP addresses on your local network. If the IP address changes then Agent won’t be able to connect to it. You can usually do this via your router configuration. There’s a good guide for this here 

When you have selected an address Agent will use the information you provided to scan the camera for available video endpoints. The ones it finds are provided in a list. Click “Use” to select it and finish adding the camera.

Tip: Try to choose an IP Camera option (instead of MJPEG or JPEG). IP Camera options frequently have audio and better framerates.

If nothing is found double check the details you entered are correct. You may need to contact the manufacturer and ask them how to connect directly to their camera video streams and then add a device using “Video Source” and manually configure the video stream URL instead of using the Wizard, or if it supports ONVIF then add it as an ONVIF device instead.

Live View

The live view is where you watch live streams from your devices. You can setup multiple live views in Agent and add whatever devices you like to them. Agent will intelligently arrange your devices to maximise the available space on whatever device you are using.

.

Panel markers

The live view has some markers to provide device state and recording status:

Buttons/ Icons

The live view has icons along the bottom for controlling the selected device and the view itself. Buttons on the left control the current active device in the UI and on the right control the current View. The buttons on the left can change depending on what type of device is selected and what state it is currently in. Mouse-over the buttons to see a tool-tip explaining what they do and optional shortcut keys.

Buttons you may see in the device (left) section include:

Buttons you may see in the view (right) section include:

.

Using Views

Click the views icon  at bottom right to open the views menu. Each view shows a preview of the layout that is associated with it. Click on a view button to switch to that view. If you set Cycle to a non-zero number like 3, Agent will automatically cycle through any views containing devices every 3 seconds. Default View sets the view that Agent first displays when you open the browser.

To edit the view (add devices to the view, rename, change layout etc) click on the edit icon  at bottom right.

To manually cycle through configured views from the live screen use the  and  controls (note: these will only show views you have added devices to)

See layouts for more information on using and customising layouts.

.

Using the PTZ Controller

Click on the  icon to show/ hide the PTZ controller. Click on a device in the live view to select it and then you can use the PTZ controller to control it. Make sure you have configured PTZ on the device – edit the device and see See PTZ.

Gamepad/ Joystick control:

As of v3.9.7.0+ Agent supports PTZ via gamepad controls:

Tips:

.

.

.

CamhiPro user manual

How to add CamHi camera to Ispy

1, RTSP to add

1、main stream：rtsp://ip address/11
2、vice stream：rtsp://ip address/12
Find “FFMPEG (H264)” this column, fill in information of RTSP in the URL.After adding can test is successful

Go to “Camera” option.

Input your camera ip address, User name and Password, click “Finish”, add camera succeed.

The difference between camhi and camhipro

The camera can use camhi and camhipro app at the same time, camhipro’s interface design is more modern, except for the interface there is no other difference, the functions are the same

Read Next : CamHi for PC guide and download

.

Other functions

Camera list display mode

Click the camera list interface icon  to select the camera list in large or small image mode.

Sidebar settings

Click the camera list interface button, or swipe the screen to the right in the camera list interface to enter the APP sidebar. The APP name is displayed on the sidebar. the below displays APP version.

Click Local File to enter the local file interface. This interface displays all the local videos and pictures saved by this camera on this phone. Click on the file to playback the video file or view the local picture. Click the Edit button to delete the file.

Click the More button to check whether the APP has obtained the notification permission of the mobile phone. If the display is not enabled, the APP cannot send the alarm push message. Clicking enabled, you can jump to the setting interface to open the notification permission.

Video/Image search and view

Local recording playback and download

Find the camera to be viewed in the camera list interface, click the icon, select the recording page, the recording file will be displayed, you can sort according to the size and length of the video file, click the button, you can save the video file to the mobile phone album. Click the edit button, it can delete the selected video file.

View local snapshot images

Click on the image page in the local file interface, the local snapshot images will be displayed, the images will be sorted according to the capture time, click the preview thumbnail to view the image, click the button, you can delete or save the image to the album.

Remote video playback and download

Remote video playback

Click the button “camera list interface” to enter the remote recording list interface. The APP searches for the last 6 hours of video files by default. You can customize the sorting according to the recording time, click the video file, and then click play to playback the video files in the SD card of the device.

Remote video download

Click on the video file in the recording list interface, and then click Download, the video file will be downloaded automatically. The downloaded video file will be saved in the local recording interface. After the video download is completed, you can click to continue downloading, continue to download other video files, or click view, will jump to the local recording interface automatically.

Remote video search

Click the button on the recording list interface, the search option appears, you can select the recording search range as needed.

Search time range is optional

Function settings

When the camera is online, click the camera list interface or the live interface icon to enter the camera parameter setting interface.

Basic settings

Wifi settings

Display the WIFI network connected to the current device

Click to get the wireless network around the device, the device will search for the WIFI network in the current environment automatically; select the password to configure the WIFI of the current device.

Change password

The access password of the camera can be modified. When ticking display password, the password will be visible.

Alarm settings  

Alarm management and notification

Select On to indicate that a push message will be sent to the phone when alarming.

1.Motion detection alarm

Select On to indicate that the device has enabled motion detection. Clicking adjust motion detection, it can draw motion detection area and adjust motion detection sensitivity (This function is suitable for some models.)

2.Sound alarm

Select On to indicate that the device with microphone function. When the surrounding sound is greater than the intensity of the device check sound, trigger an alarm, click to adjust the sound alarm, you can adjust the sound alarm sensitivity

Alarm Linkage

Select On to indicate that the alarm capture picture is saved to the SD card.

Select On to indicate that the alarm recording file is saved to the SD card.

Select on to indicate that when alarming the camera will sound an alarm. Siren type and the duration of the siren is optional

Email alarm linkage

Select On to indicate that the device will trigger the alarm and send a picture to the mailbox. Click Configure Email to set the mailbox information.

Send an email to the QQ mailbox as an example:

Smtp server: smtp.qq.com

Port: 465

Secure connection: SSL

Username: QQ number of the outbox

Password: Authorization code of the outbox QQ mailbox

Receiving address: the mailbox that receives the alarm picture

Sender address: sender email address, here is the QQ mailbox as an example, you need to fill in the QQ email address (consistent with the user name). Subjects and content can be filled in casually. After filling out, click the Apply button, then click the Test button to check if you can send an alarm email.

FTP alarm linkage

1.Alarm recording is saved to FTP

Select On to indicate that the alarm recording file is saved to FTP.

2.alarm capture saved to FTP

Select On to indicate that the alarm capture image is saved to FTP.

Click Configure FTP to set FTP information.

Server address: Fill in the erected FTP address

Port: Fill in the FTP port

Username and password: Fill in the username and password set in FTP

After filling in, click the Apply button, then click the Test button to check if you can send an alarm picture to FTP.

Picture capture number setting

You can set the number of alarm capture pictures, 1-3 sheets are optional

This function is suitable for some models.

Audio/Video management

Video settings

Can customize device’s code rate of first code stream and second code stream

Can customize device’s frame rate of first code stream and second code stream

1-6 can be set, the smaller the value, the better the image level, the larger the code stream

50Hz and 60Hz optional

Audio settings

Adjust the input volume of the device

Adjust the output volume of the device

SD Card recording and capacity

SD Card plan recording

Select on, the device will save the recording to SD card

Can adjust the length of each recording file manually.

1.Simple settings

Select Simple settings, the recording time period defaults to Monday-Sunday full-day recording.

2.Advanced settings

Select advanced settings to customize the time period for each day of recording manually

Enter the advanced settings interface, click the quick edit button, select the time period to be recorded, you can customize the recording time period; edit it, clicking the Finish button to save the settings.

SD Card settings

Can view the total space and free space of the device SD card, can format SD card

System settings

Device time settings

1、Synchronize device time to phone time

2、The device time zone can be set. After the time zone is set successfully, the device will restart automatically.

Initial settings

The camera will restart after clicking

The camera will reset after clicking

Device information

Can get the device information of the camera: including device name, device type, Network type, number of user connections, software version, IP address, Subnet mask, gateway, DNS, etc.

Check for updates:

After clicking, the camera will check the firmware version automatically. If there is a new version, it will prompt for updates, click to upgrade online

(This function is suitable for some models)

Function description of live broadcast interface

Ordinary camera interface

The ordinary camera monitoring interface is displayed in the small screen mode by default. The function selection button is displayed at the bottom of the screen. More function keys can be called to slide to the left in the blank space. The function description of the buttons is shown in the figure below.

Note: Some functions require device support

PTZ function:

For devices with PTZ function, use your finger to swipe the live video, the camera will rotate according to the direction of the finger.

Exit the live interface:

Press the blank space and pull down on the small screen interface or click the back button to exit the live interface.

Panoramic camera interface

The panoramic camera will have different live broadcast interfaces depending on the model. It subjects to the connected model. The key function description as following:

Exit the live interface:

Press the back button to exit the live interface

View the camera

After adding the camera for a few seconds, wait for the camera to connect to the camera automatically, prompt the online description to view the camera video, click on the camera that displays online to enter the camera live interface.

Camera status description:

Connecting: At this time, the camera is establishing a connection with the network camera. According to different networks, the connection time is different.

Online: This status indicates that the device is connected properly; click to view the video;

Not connected: This status indicates that the device is offline

Password error: This status indicates that the camera login password is wrong. Clicking on the camera in this state will pop up the Change Password dialog box.

Add camera

Install the APP, connect the mobile phone to the WIFI network, enter the APP and click the Add Device button to enter the Add Device interface. If it is the first time to use or restore the factory settings: the camera is not connected to the network, clicking the new device; the camera that has connected to the network, clicking on the device in use

New device add

After clicking the “New Device” button, power on the device, wait for about 30 seconds, confirm that the device is working, click next.

Connected to Network cable

If the device is connected to the network cable, click the “Connected Network Cable” button, the APP will search for the UID of the device in the current LAN automatically. Selecting the UID to be added and click the Add button, the device will search for the nearby WIFI signal automatically to enter the wireless configuration interface. Enter WIFI password, click “Configure wifi and add”, after WIFI configuration successfully, jump to the device list interface; if you do not want to configure WIFI temporarily, click the “Do not configure, directly add” button, adding camera fter confirmation.

Un-connected to Network cable

If the device is not connected to the network cable, click the “Un-Connected to Network Cable” button to enter the interface for selecting the network type.

Sound wave configuration network support equipment: PTZ Camera, Card type camera, Bulb camera, Small flying saucer camera, etc.

AP configuration network support equipment: Box camera, PTZ Camera, Speed dome camera, Big flying saucer camera, etc.

Sound wave configuration network

When the power is turned on, the device will enter the waiting state, and the device will send out a “beep” sound intermittently. Click Next to scan the QR code of the device UID number with the mobile phone. If there is no QR code, click Skip. Enter the password of the WIFI signal to be configured, click to start the sound wave configuration, the system will configuration WIFI automatically. After WIFI configuration successfully, there is a voice prompt

AP configuration network

When the network cable is not connected, turn on the power, click to add, the APP will search for hotspot signals of nearby cameras automatically. The hotspot format is IPCAM-XXXXXX, the password defaults to 01234567. Selecting the hotspot of the camera to be added, clicks connect. After connecting successfully, enter the device add interface, click Add, enter the wireless configuration interface, enter the router’s WIFI password, click “Configure wifi and add”, after WIFI configuration  successfully, jump to the device list interface; if you do not want to configure WIFI, click the button ” Don’t configure, add directly”, add camera after confirmation.

Note: AP configuration network needs to open the phone’s GPS function first.

Add device in use

Scan QR code

Generate a QR code by using the online QR code generation tool, and then scan the QR code through the mobile APP to scan and add.

Search for nearby devices

1、Click the button “Search for nearby devices” to search for the ip camera in the wireless network where the phone is located, and select the corresponding UID.

2、Enter the camera password (the camera default password is admin)

3、Click the button “Add” to add a camera.

Delete camera

In the device list interface, long press the camera to be deleted or click the button “setting” to enter the camera setting interface, click the button “delete device” to delete the added camera.

.

How to set alarm to send Email

1. Setting motion detection

If you want to monitor a zone fixed, when the zone has exception, it enables alarm, you can choose motion detection function. Settings like below.

The equipment can support 4 zones setting, you can enable it through tick the option box at the bottom of page. When enable a zone, the zone box will display on the screen, and list zone number, moving mouse to this zone box, you can drag the box to any position; also can move mouse to red box at the bottom right corner, drag it to change the size. After setting, click apply, motion detection will take effect.

2. Setting alarm Linkage

When alarm triggered, the equipment will alarm with many ways, as shown in below picture:
send alarm and pictures to email
send captured pictures to assigned FTP server
send video recording to assigned FTP server
capture a picture, then save to TF Card
Recording a video for 15 seconds, then save to TF card (including 1-3 seconds warning before video)
linkage Preset: after the alarm, call preset
alarm capture quanity, setting as required (1-3 pieces)

If you want set Email alarm, please tick ”E-mail Alarm and Send with Picture”. and then click “Email setting”

3. Setting Email

The items in above picture is mandatory fields need to fill in. If the filled content is not qulified, the setting will not be successful. After writing completed, click Apply firstly, then testing, it will reminder testing successfully when finished.

Note:

If your Gmail mailbox opened “2-Step Verification”, then you need to set up a separate “app passwords” for camera login,

How to set up “app password” you can click on the “Learn more” to get help

If you do not know the security settings of other mailboxes, we recommended use Gmail.

4. Setting alarm time

The equipment will trigger alarm only after detected alarm in protection period. So you need to select which time to set protection carefully.

Note: When setting time, please adjust system time firstly.

How to set alarm to upload pictures and video to the FTP server

1. Setting motion detection

If you want to monitor a zone fixed, when the zone has exception, it enables alarm, you can choose motion detection function.

Settings like below. The equipment can support 4 zones setting, you can enable it through tick the option box at the bottom of page.

When enable a zone, the zone box will display on the screen, and list zone number, moving mouse to this zone box, you can drag the box to any position; also can move mouse to red box at the bottom right corner, drag it to change the size.

After setting, click apply, motion detection will take effect.

2. Setting alarm Linkage

When alarm triggered, the equipment will alarm with many ways, as shown in below picture:

send alarm and pictures to email

send captured pictures to assigned FTP server

send video recording to assigned FTP server

capture a picture, then save to TF Card

Recording a video for 15 seconds, then save to TF card (including 1-3 seconds warning before video)

linkage Preset: after the alarm, call preset

alarm capture quanity, setting as required (1-3 pieces)

If you want set alarm to upload pictures and video to the FTP server, please tick ”Save Picture on the FTP Server” and ”Save Video on the FTP Server”. and then click “Email setting”

3. Setting FTP Server

Note: If using FTP function, you need to apply the user name and password from FTP Server firstly, and apply a certain storage space at the same time, also asking the user have anthority to write and build sub-directory to storage space.

4. Setting alarm time

The equipment will trigger alarm only after detected alarm in protection period. So you need to select which time to set protection carefully.

Note: When setting time, please adjust system time firstly.

Timing capture and timing record of SD card

1.Timing capture

Choosing “save image to SD Card” or “save images to FTP server”, at a regular interval (can be set like above picture), the device will capture images saving to SD Card.

Click “FTP” into set FTP

Note: If using FTP function, you need to apply the user name and password from FTP Server firstly, and apply a certain storage space at the same time, also asking the user have anthority to write and build sub-directory to storage space.

2. Timing record

Video file duration: can set video file duration, default is 600 seconds.

Open video: can choose whether open video to TF Card

Stream: can set recording stream

recording time: set timing recording time as required

then confirm the camera support SD card and insert SD card, as shown in below picture:

How to view pictures card and download video of SD

Click “SD card” button in IE home page of camera.

Page will display the date of picture and video, select date.

Images folder to store pictures, record folder store videos.

Open images folder, click the images file name directly view picture.

Open record folder, click the record file name to download video.

CAMHI IP Camera Port mapping setting method

2.Please modify HTTP port number.

The device HTTP port mapping to the external network router,
“External ports”: This port is corresponding to the access requirement of outside network
“Internal Port”: port for this equipment
“Service agreement” selects “ALL”
“IP address”: LAN IP address of the camera.

NOTE:
If your router supports UPNP function, you can also use UPNP port mapping automatically.
UPNP stands for universal plug and play, if you started UPNP, once the IP camera was connected into the LAN, it will communicate with the router of the LAN.
It will request the router to open a port to forward its own port. User doesn’t need to log in the router to set the port forwarding.

users in the use of the function, need to confirm a router also is enabled UPNP; Because many router model, not necessarily can very good support UPNP, testing and supporting the router is very good with, or suggest not start the function. At present test and TP-LINK router cooperate good.

.

Best 20 Free Open source CCTV, NVR and DVR solutions

Free Open-source CCTV, NVR and DVR packages

Load More : 10 Best Free Security Camera Software

1- iSpy

iSpy is a free and open-source multi-platform CCTV system that offers DVR agents and a rich plugin list.

You can run it on Windows, Linux, macOS, even ARM, and Docker. It also supports 32 and 64 bit.

Agent DVR features multi-monitor support, unlimited cameras, multiple camera types (like USB cameras), data recording, sensor support, thermal cameras, recording with GPU support, alerts, remote access, and a long list of integration-ready service sockets.

However, if you want to use it remotely with other fancy features, you can subscribe for about $8/ month for the basic plan.

2- ZoneMinder

ZoneMinder is a free open-source video surveillance software package for home security, industrial usage, and house care.

ZoneMinder features a scalable NVR/ DVR system, install wizard, developer-friendly API, mobile and desktop apps, third-party plugins, and integrations.

Furthermore, It supports remote access, all sort of known cameras, 4k cameras, GPU image processing, and Raspberry Pi setup.

3- Shinobi

Shinobi is a free and open-source web-based CCTV system. It is written with Node.js and offers an easy-to-use interface.

Because it is easy to install and configure, Shinobi can be used for baby monitors, stores, houses, and constructions sites, and more.

Shinobi utilizes WebSocket technology, which provides you with a real-time video stream directly to your browser. It also supports recording in modern video formats like MP4 and Web.

Shinobi comes in two editions: Shinobi CE; a free community edition under GPL v3 for small office setup and houses, and Shinobi Pro; a professional edition with a commercial license for a large setup.

4- Kerberos

Kerberos is an open-source security platform to build scalable and distributed video surveillance security systems.

The project consists of:

1. an agent (Kerberos Agent) to record video streams and scale cameras with Kubernetes,
2. a Vault (Kerberos Vault) which store videos with full offline and on-premise support and offers a machine-learning integration
3. a hub (Kerberos Hub) which analyzes the video streams and video files.

Kerberos Agent is a complete security system that works on the web, desktop, and mobile. Besides, it has a Raspberry Pi image, and a docker container that runs on AMD, ARM7, and ARM64.

While the agent is a free open-source project for anyone to download and use, the other parts are built for enterprise use.

5- Bluecherry

Bluecherry is a free open-source Linux-based video surveillance application. It has a low memory footprint, supports ONIVF, and uses GPU for motion detection.

Bluecherry features automatic camera detection and adding, a web client for configuration, a cross-platform client, multiple user support with roles and permissions, and an easy-to-install wizard.

Unfortunately, Bluecherry is no longer available. We have listed it here, because it is still usable, as it has many users.

6- Motion

Motion is an open-source video surveillance monitor program that supports many cameras and devices.

With Motion, you can record from IP cameras, save videos or pictures, invoke or trigger certain scripts when certain events occur, log all activities into a database, follow and track motion detection.

Furthermore, Motion supports network cameras visa RTSP, RTMP and HTTP, Raspberry Pi cameras, V4L2 Webcams, Video Capture cards, and more.

Motion app also works as a video analytic software for existing video and movie files.

7- DeepCamera

DeepCamera or SharpAI is open-source software packages that add AI Face Recognition/ Person Detection to NVR “Network Video Recorder” systems.

It turns any camera into an AI-powered machine. It runs on Raspberry Pi, Android, PC, or even AWS.

Not only that, but it works seamlessly on Nvidia Nano GPU and uses a Telegram bot for notification.

8-  OpenCCTV

OpenCCTV is an open-source server application that provides an analytic platform for CCTV cameras. It consists of 3 components: a web application (OpenCCTV), OpenCCTV server, and an analytic Server.

10- JeVois

JeVois is an open-source intelligent machine vision quad-core camera. It works with all sorts of cameras like Webcam and CCTV cameras.

JeVois aims to help developers build artificial intelligence apps. It comes with a dozen of samples and libraries.

9- MONITOR

Monitor is a free open-source monitor software for security cameras, IP cameras, Radios, and TVs.

It features.m3u playlist support, video display, video recording, many video formats support, multiple monitors, web MRLs and IPTV channels.

Monitor works in a portable mode, which means no installation is required.

10- BioSuite Professional

BioSuite Professional is a complete security suite for employees and a security camera management system.

BioSuite supports internet cameras, CCTV, Webcam. It also has a built-in employee and personnel manager, fingerprint identification system, and barcode and smart card recognition.

Moreover, it offers a session manager and multiple computer interfaces for corporate and enterprise usage.

The project source code is available in C#.

11- Dolphin DVR Player

This software package is a custom CCTV, HVR, NVR, and DVR video player. Dolphin DVR Player makes it easy to browser, display, export, and manage security videos easily.

It is a lightweight Windows app that works for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10.

12- Frigate

Frigate is a free and open-source NVR solution with real-time object detection for IP cameras. It is designed for Home Assistant and comes with a rich set of features.

It utilizes TensorFlow and communicates with other devices over MQTT, which eases device integration.

Frigate features video recording, re-streaming, motion detection, and supports multiprocessing.

13- zmNinja

zmNinja is a cross-platform client for ZoneMinder built on the Ionic platform.

zmNinja works on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux, and the web.

Its features include multiple ZM server support, live view, even view, timeline view, push notifications, responsive design, and smooth performance.

Even though, the project released a discontinuation notice this year, it still has many users worldwide.

14- Viseron

Viseron is a self-hosted NVR system that comes with object detection. The system is written in the Python programming language.

It offers real-time video analysis, object detection, face recognition, motion detection, CUDA support for GPU, and full NVIDIA Jetson Nano support.

A specific image can be built for Raspberry Pi3B+, Raspberry Pi 4, and NVIDIA Jetson Nano.

Viseron offers camera control over MQTT, Home assistant integration via MQTT, zone to limit detection, and multi-arch Docker containers.

15- Simple NVR

Simple NVR is a new open-source simple network video recorder written in Node.js.

The project connects multiple camera streams using FFmpeg over TCP and UDP. Besides, it allows saving the stream into .mp4 files.

16- motionEyeOS

motionEyeOS is a Linux distribution that turns single-board computers (SBCs) into a complete video surveillance system.

It works smoothly on Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, and many other SBCs. It requires tech knowledge to install, configure and run.

Here is a tutorial on how to get it working on Raspberry Pi.

17- ContaCam

ContaCam is a Video Surveillance software for Windows (7 to 10) machines.

ContaCam features CCTV support with motion detection, multilingual support, manual records, multiscreen support, easy installation, re-streaming of the video feeds, and Webcam support with the audio feed.

Note that, ContaCam does not have Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 support, as it was dropped by its developers.

18 -Yawcam

Yawcam (Yet another WebCam) software that turns your webcam into a security surveillance device. It features real-time video streaming, motion detection, text and image overlays, FTP upload, time-lapse movies, web browser view, runs in the background, and multiple languages support.

Although the package is written in Java, it is released only for Windows machines.

19- Ivideon

Ivideon is a CCTV solution for Linux. It does not require a state-of-art computer machine to run, rather than Intel® Atom™ Processor, 1 GB RAM, 500 MB for the software, and 11 GB for daily video archive recording.

It is an affordable solution for businesses, homes, and industrial use. Not only that, but it also offers iOS and Android apps.

Although it is available for Ubuntu-based desktops, Windows, and macOS.

20- ONVIF

ONVIF is an open industry forum and a community to promote and standardize interfaces for IP-based physical security products.

ONVIF offers specifications, schemas, and guidelines.

In the end

Here, we listed our finds of the best open-source CCTV and DVR solutions. We hope it will serve as a guide for those who are looking for reliable solutions.

If you know of any other similar solutions that we didn’t mention, please let us know.