Introduction - Swann 24 Channel Digital Video Recorder User Manual

GETTING STARTED
EN

Introduction

Congratulations on your purchase of this Swann Digital Video Recorder (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.
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 18!
It can take a few hours to connect everything and run
through the setup procedure.
The latter part of this manual is for advanced users only - the
DVR is seriously configurable - the out-of-the-box settings
do a great job in 90% of situations, but some users will
want to get into the nitty-gritty detail, so that information is
presented for those who need it.
The Basic Setup
The default settings will cover most basic installation
requirements of the DVR.
To get the most out of your hard drive, we've configured the
DVR to record only when it detects motion - that way, you
won't fill the hard drive with video of nothing happening.
Before installing anything, connect the DVR and cameras
and test your system.
We ensure everything is working properly when we ship
them out, but sometimes things can be damaged in
transport, and occasionally components can fail. Better
to find out now, before everything is fixed in place!
Setting up the DVR
There are three stages to getting your DVR set up. If
you want to use the default settings, you'll only need to
complete steps one and two.
Stage 1. Connecting the DVR (page 7 to page
12)
This section details what you can connect to the different
inputs/outputs of the DVR.
Everyone's setup will vary a little bit - it depends on which
cameras came with the DVR (if any) and what device(s)
you've already got.
Stage 2. Basic DVR Configuration
The DVR needs a few things to be set properly before it
can do its thing. Follow the instructions from page 13 to
page 18 to get everything working.
(Optional)Stage 3. Advanced DVR Configuration
The latter part of this manual covers advanced DVR
operations.
This DVR comes with all the professional-grade capabilities
you'd expect from a quality Swann product, but many
advanced capabilities require detailed setup to function
correctly.
If you're not an advanced user, don't worry. The out-of-the-
box settings really do work well, and we'd only suggest
changing them if you've got a really specific plan in mind.
You'll need to read a page or two of this section if:
• you've got a PTZ capable camera - see page 45.
• you're connecting external sensors (page 28).
• you want to alter the motion detection sensitivity or
the areas it applies to (page 49).
Accessing this DVR from your Smartphone or
Tablet
This DVR supports live viewing on your Smartphone or
Tablet. We have developed an app called SwannView
Plus for the Android and iOS platforms. For Android users,
please download the app from Google Play. If you have an
Apple device, please go to the Apple App Store. As we are
continually improving the documentation that we include
with our products, you can find the latest user guide for our
app at:
www.swann.com
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