Page 3
In the view of Saving the Energy and reduce the unnecessary power consuming, it is strongly suggested to switch off or remove the DC-plug for the device if this device is not intended to be active. Revision User’s Manual for PLANET 4-ch Network Video Recorder Model: NVR-420 Rev: 1.0 (May 21, 2012) Part No. EM-NVR420...
1. Product Description The NVR is designed for use within a surveillance system, and performs recordings and playbacks pictures from network cameras in the system. It is designed for small scale applications such as retail store. Up to 4 cameras can be connected via a network and it is possible to record their camera pictures.
. Make sure your display DPI setting is set to default at 96DPI . To set DPI value, right-click on desktop, choose “Settings” tab >> “Advanced” >> “General” 1.3 Packet Content 1 x NVR-420 1 x Remote Controller 1 x Power Cord 1 x Power Adapter...
1.4 Specification Product NVR-420 Video/ Audio Video Input 4 channels IP cameras Video output HDMI/ RCA local display, web interface Resolution Full HD/MegaPixel/FD1/CIF/QCIF Vdeo streamming: H.264/MPEG4 Local video display 30fps at 1920x1080, H.264, 8Mbps Snapshot: MJPEG Yes (G.711/G.726) Audio Web: Two-way...
When NVR-420 is off, but power cord remains plugged in. Power Blinking during system initialization, reboot, and firmware Amber upgrade When NVR-420 is off and the power cord is not plugged in. Green Disk is online. Disk error. HDD1/2 Solid amber when NVR-420 is recording.
2. Install Hard Disk 1. Locate the screws highlighted above on the back of the NVR. 2. Use a Philips screw driver to release the screws. 3. Slide opens the case as shown above.
Page 11
4. One side of the housing can be detached as shown above. 5. Install the bottom HDD by slide it in to the tray diagonally to avoid the tray separator. 6. Once the HDD is placed into the tray, you should see a gap between the HDD and the SATA connector.
Page 12
7. Attach the HDD to the SATA connector by sliding it towards the connector. 8. Make sure the screw holes on the HDD are aligned with the ones on the tray.
Page 13
9. Secure the HDD with the screws provided in the accessory box with a Philips screw driver. There are four for each HDD; two for each side of the tray. 10. Install the top HDD by attaching it to the corresponding SATA cable first. 11.
Page 14
12. Place the HDD to the tray and make sure the screw holes on the HDD are aligned with the ones on the tray. 13. Secure the HDD with the screws provided in the accessory box with a Philips screw driver. There are four for each HDD;...
Page 15
14. Slide the side housing back to the unit. 15. Secure the housing with the screws highlighted above.
3. Connect to the NVR There are various ways you can connect to the NVR and below are the suggested methods for different network setup: The NVR is placed in a network with a DHCP server: Connect to the NVR by using “Device Search” Utility. The NVR is placed in a network without DHCP server (or you are connecting to it directly): Access NVR with its default IP (192.168.0.20).
Page 17
Please click “Next” to continue. Please click “Install” to start the installation. Once the installation is complete, please check the “Finish”.
Page 18
Please go to Start => Programs => NVR => Search NVR to run the search tool. Then you will see the utility start search the network. The NVR should be located and its IP address should be displayed: Double- click on it and the program should automatically access the NVR’s web .administration page from your default browser.
Page 19
You may click on the button highlighted below to perform search again. Or double-click on any of the search results to access NVR’s web administration page. Perform search again Access NVR’s web administration page You should be prompted for the NVR’s username and password. Enter its default username “admin”...
3.2 Access NVR with its default IP address The NVR comes with a pre-configured static IP address “192.168.0.20”. However, it is only used when there is no DHCP server presented in the network. Connect the NVR and PC to your switch or hub, or connect the PC directly to the NVR using a crossover CAT.5 Ethernet cable.
4. Live View (Web Interface) 4.1 Live View The “Live View” page provides the following functions: • Retrieve camera’s video stream • Retrieve camera’s status • Perform Live Sequence Viewing • PTZ Control • Perform PTZ Preset Sequence viewing • Perform manual recording •...
4.1.2 Retrieve camera’s status The camera list can show each camera’s current status. Each status is represented with different colors: Blue: Connected Gray: Disconnected Red: Performing event recording Green: Recording (manual/continuous/schedule) White: This channel is not configured with any camera 4.1.3 Perform Sequence Viewing Sequence view is a function that allows you to view multiple video streams from certain cameras in sequence automatically without having...
4.2 PTZ Control PTZ control provides functions to pan, tilt, and zoom a PTZ camera as well as the ability to adjust camera focus and iris. Only PTZ capable cameras will be listed in the drop-down menu The bar highlighted above controls the moving angle. Larger number means bigger movement angle.
4.2.2 Preset Point Viewing Start by selecting a PTZ camera from the drop-down list Its available PTZ preset points will be listed in the drop-down list shown below. Click "Go to" to move to the selected position. 4.2.3 Auto Pan Viewing Use the Auto Pan control buttons to pan right, left and stop auto pan Certain cameras do not support bi-directional pan movements.
4.2.4 Preset Point Sequence Viewing This function allows you to view multiple preset points from a video of a camera without having to select them one by one. Once you have defined the preferred preset points in “Channel Configurations” >> “PTZ Setting” >>...
4.2.7 Take a snapshot of a live video To take a snapshot of a live video, right-click on the video and select "Take Snapshot". You are given with options to take 1 snapshot or 3 continuous snapshots. A new window should display and load the snapshot image.
Page 27
If the "3 continuous snapshots" option is chosen, the new window displays snapshots and lets you view them individually by using the "Prev", "Next" buttons shown above.
Page 28
However, as soon as a snapshot selection is made, the snapshots are automatically saved to x:\SnapshotFolder ("x" represents the partition where Windows is installed, e.g: C:\) You can right-click anywhere on the image and select "Save Picture As..." to save the images somewhere else if you wish.
A dialog should be displayed that allows you to choose a directory/folder of where the snapshot will be saved to. 4.2.8 Perform Digital PTZ To perform digital PTZ on a particular channel, right-click anywhere on its video and select "Digital PTZ". Next, hold the mouse left button and draw a square on the video to specify the zoom in area...
Page 30
Once the image is digitally zoomed in, use the mouse scroll button to further zoom on or zoom out the image. Hold and left-click on the image and move the mouse to move the zoomed in video.
4.4 Change Web UI Display Language You can change the web UI display language from the current login username link located at the upper-right hand corner. Click on the link opens up a new window which displays detail information about the user as well as a drop-down menu which lets you change the display language.
5. Playback (Web Interface) 5.1 Playback Playback is a function that allows you to play one or more videos that were previously recorded by a chosen recording method or due to an event trigger. The NVR offers synchronized playback from up to 4 channels and various types of search methods are provided to help you find the footage you need quickly.
Page 34
Search by time chart 1. Start by selecting which channel(s) you would like to perform a search 2. Select “Search by time chart” from the “Search Method” drop-down list and click “Go” to start the search * Selected channels will be marked in red Results will then be displayed in a new dialog with a “Month/Channel”...
Page 35
Clicking on a cell box marked with gray will take you to the "day" view of the selected month. Repeating the same step will eventually take you to the "second" view (5sec per cell box). Right-click anywhere or the "Back" button on the table will take you back to the previous view.
Page 36
Play by specific time If you know when a recording was taken place, you may choose the “Play by start time” from the “Search Method” drop-down list Then you will be prompted to enter a specific time and date for the recorded video.
5.1.2 Certain functions you can perform to the playback video You can do the followings by right clicking on the playback video: 1. Play Audio 2. Snapshot 3. Export as AVI file 4. Digital PTZ 5. Adjust Brightness 6. Adjust Contrast 5.1.3 Take a snapshot of a playback video To take a snapshot, right-click on the video and select "Take Snapshot".
Page 38
A new window should display and load the snapshot image.
Page 39
If the "3 continuous snapshots" option is chosen, the new window displays snapshots and lets you view them individually by using the "Prev", "Next" buttons shown above. However, as soon as a snapshot selection is made, the snapshots are automatically saved to x:\SnapshotFolder ("x" represents the partition where Windows is installed, e.g: C:\)
You can right-click anywhere on the image and select "Save Picture As..." to save the images somewhere else if you wish. 5.1.4 Adjust Brightness and Contrast for the Playback Video You are able to adjust brightness of the playback video from the right click menu.
5.2 Export Playback Videos to AVI Files User can export the recorded playback videos stored on the NVR to a local computer and save them in AVI file format. The files can then be played on the PC by a 3rd party media player such as VLC player or Windows Media player.
Page 42
You can alternatively choose to export the recorded video to JPEG images by choosing the "Export as JPEG images" option. Specify the Start time/End time (or export length) and click "Start" to begin exporting. You will be notified once the process is completed successfully...
The best way to view the exported video or JPEG images is to use the NVR media player, which can be obtained from the same dialog window. Simply click on the icon at the bottom (highlighted above), and a message box should appear to let you open the media player directly, or save it to the local hard drive for later use.
Page 44
is installed. You can find it in the Windows Start menu. Click “Open” >> “AVI File” Locate the exported AVI file, and click “open”. (normally under “C:\ExportFolder)” The video will then start playing...
5.2.2 Open Event Snapshot images with NVR Media Player The NVR sends snapshots that are taken when an event occurs to a destined FTP server or mail recipient. These types of snapshot images are saved in a proprietary image file format, h4i or p4i, and can only be opened by the NVR media player.
6. System Setup 6.1 System Configurations The “System Configurations” page provides users options to setup the device quickly and properly. After properly configuring all settings in all the sub-pages, users should expect a fully working network video recorder that is ready to manage cameras on the network.
Page 47
network. Its DHCP server function is also turned on at the same time to assign IP addresses to cameras that are later connected to the network. You can manually turn off the DHCP server function if you wish to use a separate DHCP server. Change the recorder’s IP address would require the recorder to restart.
6.1.2 Time and Date Set the time and date by selecting the time zone according to your location. It is imperative that you set the recorder’s time correctly to avoid the following errors: Incorrect display time for playback videos. Inconsistent display time of event logs and when they actually occur. After selecting the time zone, choose an option below to set the recorder time.
6.1.3 User Account The recorder can be accessed by multiple users simultaneously. You can add, remove, and edit users by using options provided in this page to keep user information organized. Each recorder comes with a built-in “admin” account with password “admin”.
To add a new user: Enter a username and password in “User Account Information”. All other fields are optional for your own reference. Select a group from the “Group” drop-down menu to assign the new user to a particular group. Enter a short description for the account if you wish.
“Privilege Type” drop-down menu. Its access privilege will then be displayed. You can alter its settings by allowing or denying access to other cameras using the checkboxes instead of accepting the defaults. 6.1.5 Disk Setup Once you install a hard disk to the recorder, you would need to initialize it so that it can be ready for recording.
6.2 Channel Configurations 6.2.1 Add a Camera The NVR provides two options for adding a new camera. Users have the option to let the recorder automatically find the cameras or it is possible to enter camera’s information and add it manually. Automatic Search: 1.
Page 53
3. Found cameras should be listed and simply select a camera from the list and press “Configure”. 4. Its corresponding information should be displayed in the “Camera Information” section. Enter its username and password and select the channel ID and name the camera. 5.
Page 54
Add a camera manually Simply follow the instruction described above but instead of using the “Search” function, enter the camera’s IP address and credential in the “Camera Information” manually, then follow step 5 and 6 described above. Enter manually...
6.2.2 OSD Settings The OSD (On Screen Display) allows users to add informational text message and embed it onto the video. By default, this function is turned off. To add texts to one or more videos. 1. Select a camera you would like to add text to and choose “Display OSD”. 2.
6.2.3 PTZ Preset Settings The recorder supports PTZ cameras and can set multiple preset points or retrieve and manage preset points that are set in the camera. This is helpful if you need to monitor multiple spots in one area from a particular camera. 1.
6.2.4 PTZ Preset Sequence Once you have multiple preset points defined for a camera, it is convenient for monitoring to set up the sequencing viewing among those preset point and let the recorder automatically switch between them for you. To configure preset sequence for a camera,” select a camera from the “Camera”...
6.2.5 Local Map Setting E-Map monitor is a function that alerts users whenever there is an event triggered (e.g. motion detected) from a camera with a geographical perspective. With this function, users can quickly identify which camera has detected an unusual event and where this event is happening.
Page 59
Then click and drag the camera icon to move the camera to define its location. Access the “Local MAP Monitor” page from the upper-right hand corner menu. When the NVR receives an event triggered from any of the cameras, their videos will be displayed on the E-Map and you can double-click on the video to enlarge it.
6.2.6 Google Map Setting The Google Map monitor is a similar function to the aforementioned E Map monitor. It is useful if you are managing multiple cameras from different locations. To configure locations of each camera, first determine the location you’d like to place the camera to on the map.
Page 61
Once the location has been determined, click and drag the camera icon to move it to the desired location * The Google Map Monitor requires active Internet connection and can not be used in conjunction with the regular E-Map monitor function.
6.3 Event Configurations The “Event Configurations” section allows users to define conditions that constitute an event, its corresponding trigger action and when it will be triggered. Such setting can reduce the management overhead and notify the administrator only when it’s necessary. 6.3.1 General Settings The general settings section can help you quickly configure when an event is triggered, how often events are triggered and the corresponding actions when...
You can also choose to have the recorder send out a warning message in e-mail or in txt file format and upload it to a destined FTP server. 6.3.2 DI Settings This function allows users to manage camera’s digital input port right from the recorder.
motion detected by the camera or a disk failure, the recorder can send notification with the acceptable format (image/txt) to a destined event server according to the configuration. Configuring an FTP server To add an FTP server, 1. Start by giving a name to the server that you are adding to the recorder. 2.
7. Click “Apply” for the settings to take effect. If you wish to edit/remove/enable/disable an FTP server, click to highlight one from the profile list and choose the corresponding action button. Configuring an SMTP server 1. Enter the hostname or the IP address of the SMTP server. 2.
6.3.4 Event Triggers We have finished defining how an event will be triggered and which servers will be receiving notifications in the previous two sections, now we can finish up the event configuration by setting. Which channels will have event trigger function enabled. What is considered to be an event.
Page 67
Define which system events should trigger the recorder to send out notifications Define how the notifications will be sent and where they will be sent to. * Event trigger may not work for cameras that are placed outside of your local network or on the Internet until the UPnP Port Forwarding”...
6.4 Recording Configurations The “recording configurations” gives users the overall control of how and when a recording is performed and the quality of different types of recordings performed on each channels. It can help the recorder to operate with sufficient system resource by performing recording only when it’s necessary with adjustable recording frame rate.
Keep video allows you to set the NVR keep the record video in previous days. The section at the bottom allows you to turn on or off a particular recording type on any channels. You can check the box the enable NVR audio recording function. 6.4.2 Schedule Recording Here you can define the time range of the schedule recording for all channels.
Page 70
* Each cell box represents 15 minutes of time. Click one or more boxes to omit consecutive recording. 3. You can also use the “Quick Configuration” to define recording time range instead of clicking cell box one by one on the time table. Simply check what days you would like to perform recording and specify the recording duration by either choosing “All Day”...
6.5 System Options System Options gives users a glance of the overall system status and allows users to perform maintenance tasks such as upgrading firmware, restore/backup device settings or reboot device ….etc. 6.5.1 Device Information The “Device Information” provides the general information of the device such as firmware version and system time.
Reboot cameras directly from the NVR. Perform Firmware Upgrade. Backup the NVR’s settings to a local hard drive. Restore the NVR’s settings from a previously saved configuration file. Reset the NVR’s settings to their factory default values. Reboot the NVR Reboot NVR-401 after you upload a new firmware.
The process should be displayed and you should be prompted back to the “Maintenance” page after it is complete. 6.5.4 Disk Status “Disk Status” gives you more detailed information of the hard drive that is currently installed in the NVR. “Disk Status”...
Page 74
Once it’s detected, go back to the “USB Backup” page and it should be available for further configuration The USB hard disk(s) will be listed in the drop-down menu displaying the remaining disk space. Make your selection from the drop-down menu if you have more than one disks connected to the NVR.
Page 75
Things to pay attention to the USB Backup function Limitation: • It does not support USB Hub extend the number of HDD connected to the NVR • Only one backup process can be performed at a time • Maximum 4 channels can be selected for backup •...
7. Local UI from HDMI Output 7.1 Live View 7.1.1 Login screen You should be prompted with the login screen first when the NVR is fully started. 1. Power button 2. System Time 3. Username/Password 4. Display language selection 5. Virtual keyboard By default, the focus should be on the username field.
Page 77
Simply use the directional buttons on the remote to move between the keys on the virtual keyboard. If you have a USB mouse plugged into the NVR, a mouse cursor will appear on the screen and you can use the mouse to select keys on the virtual keyboard as well.
turned on by default. To turn on audio from the current viewing channel, press the "AUDIO" button on the remote. Press it again to turn off the audio. Full Screen To view video in full screen, press the "Right" button on the remote and move the selection focus to the full screen icon (as shown above).
2. Video area 3. Functions for live video (From top down: start/stop manual recording, take snapshot, set location of the "Picture-in-picture" live event video coming from other channel) 4. Main menu 5. Channel list including status and start sequence viewing 6.
By default, the selection focus should be on "Channel 1' on the Channel List. The side bar is basically divided into three sections. At any point, you can use the "Left" or "Right" button on the remote to quickly move to each section. For example, if the selection focus is currently on "Channel 1"...
Page 81
button on the remote will start sequence viewing between all available channels with default 5-second interval. Press the "ENTER" button on the remote again will stop it. When the focus is on the "Start/stop sequence view" icon, press the "Right" button on the remote will move the focus to the sequence interval drop-down menu.
Page 82
down menu. Use the "Up" and "Down" buttons on the remote to move between selections and press the "ENTER" button to select the new interval. You can also quickly start/stop sequence viewing by using the "SEQ" button on the remote. If the selection focus is on either the "Sequence view"...
7.2.1 Add preset points Move the selection focus to the "Add preset point" icon and press the "ENTER" button on the remote will add the current live video as a preset point. 7.2.2 Preset point sequence view Once you have multiple preset points added, press the "Down" button on the remote to select the "Preset point sequence view"...
At any point in Live View, you can enter the PTZ mode by: 1. pressing the "PTZ" button on the remote 2. Use the directional buttons to simulate pan, tilt, zoom actions as well as jumping through preset points. 7.2.3 Manual Recording...
Recording can be manually started when viewing live video. If the selection focus is somewhere in the green highlighted area shown above, press the "Left" button on the remote will move the focus to the manual recording icon. Press the "ENTER"...
7.4 PIP (Picture-in-picture) Event Video The local UI provides live video view of 1 channel at a time. However, you can set a PIP (Picture-in-picture) area on top of the live video, which displays video of another channel when an event occurs. Once you have the icon shown above selected, press the "ENTER"...
7.5 Display video in its original size By default, the video is scaled to fill the entire video area. To view the video in its original size, select the icon shown above and press the "ENTER" button on the remote to display the video in its original size. 7.6 Detail channel status Select the icon shown above and press the "ENTER"...
Page 89
Press the "BACK" button on the remote to dock it away.
7.7 Dashboard The dashboard provide a detail overview of the system wide information, such as network settings, disk status, and channel status. Press the "BACK" button on the remote to exit. The dashboard is located in the upper-right hand corner and presses the "Up" button on the remote until the selection focus is on the dashboard icon.
Page 91
To switch to Playback, move the selection focus to the Playback button shown above and press the "ENTER" button on the remote. You can always use the remote to quickly switch between Live and Playback functions The Playback UI provides the similar layout as the Live video UI. They also share the same following functions: 1.
The NVR is able to play recorded video 1 channel at a time. To search for playback video, select a channel from the "Channel List" first and select a search method from the drop-down menu highlighted in the above picture. There are three different search methods to help you locate the recorded videos.
are highlighted in dark grey, which means there are recorded data available in those years. Select one from the list and press the "ENTER" button on the remote will switch the list to "month" view of the selected year. Repeat the same action and it goes all the way to the "minute"...
Page 94
This sets a start time of the exported video. Press "ENTER" again on the "In/Out" button sets the end time. The video of this time frame will be exported. Next, press the "Right" button on the remote to select the icon highlighted above. Press the "ENTER"...
7.11 Power off To power off the unit, press the "POWER" button on the remote. A dialog will be prompted and the "Power Off" option should be selected. Press the "ENTER" button on the remote to turn off the unit. There are four options in the prompted dialog and they are (from left to right): 1.