TEST Finding your way around the set-up and controls is very simple and the range of options is quite impressive for such a small device (continued from p14) SD analogue cameras simply plug in and display as expected and AHD and TVI camera feeds are compatible so display directly. The unit does not accept SDI signals but this standard is becoming less common now so should not be an issue. IP cameras are easily added via the IPC menu option. This, via a Search button will identify any ONVIF conforming cameras on the network’s local subnet and they can be added in. There is a large degree of flexibility for the inputs as the analogue inputs can be individually disabled to allow additional IP camera allocation up to the maximum 12 images that can be recorded. Display formats are very flexible with Single, Quad, Nine and Twelve way, then an extended set of 1 + 5 (Large to Small), 1 + 7, 2 + 8 and 1 + 9 options. Images can be freely moved around these displays. Any missing camera positions will display the MaxxOne logo in the relevant window, however, if the analogue channel is disabled, the logo is replaced with the text “No Camera”. An option to set up to 4 privacy zones per camera is given. In practice, the display window for this function did not present as shown in the manual but a full screen image was forced that allowed the zone to be set but did not return to the settings window. With some re-selection is was possible to save zones but not as smoothly as expected. Selecting a display window brings up the option icons for that camera; these are Manual Capture, Manual Record, Instant Playback, Zoom, Colour Settings and PTZ. The Instant Playback presents the last 5 minutes of that camera’s recording and while it only has a play and pause capability, the slider allows simple navigation to the potential point of interest. A ‘Cloud’ storage option is offered for archiving video but this appears to be aligned to the Dropbox service with no mention of other cloud storage providers. Performance Finding your way around the set-up and controls is very simple and the range of options is quite impressive for such a small device. The replay mode was straightforward with a very simple set of transport controls for play, pause, fast forward, rewind etc. with the indication of play status presented in green towards the top right of the replayed image rather than with the buttons, so this takes some getting used to. The fast speeds are X2, 4, 8 & 16 for both forward and reverse with a slow speed mode of 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16. The timeline is presented as 24, 2, 1 hour or 30 minutes. Smooth scrolling along the timeline allows relevant images to be quickly selected. Clips can be selected for archiving to an external drive. Once on a network the device can be accessed via a browser. In testing it was found that IE11 on a Windows 8.1 Pro PC simply requested a plug-in that downloaded from the device and installed with no problem, allowing the application to run straight away. This was not the case with a Windows 10 PC running the Edge browser. Neither Windows operating system would connect using Google Chrome or Netscape Firefox. The Web viewer has five tabs for; Live, Playback, Remote Settings, Local Settings and Logout. The live view has very good display options but it was noted that there was sometimes a short delay before IP camera streams presented. The Playback screen is similar to the device’s replay interface but initially gave a “Playback in use by another user, try again later” message as a playback was still running on the DVR. This is clearly a resource limitation but should not be an issue for such a device in the majority of installations. ‘Remote Setup’ gives access to the full range of system settings and ‘Local settings’ allows the local PC Capture and Record paths to be set. Remote playback was good with synchronised playback of multiple channels available. Remote viewer apps are available for both Android and iOS and a single sheet guides the user online by way of a QR code to access the device. Conclusion The quality of the supplied and online documentation appears to set this apart from many similar DVR offerings. Helpful guides to hard drive fitting and router port forwarding are provided along with helpline numbers in case users encounter difficulties. The ease with which cameras can be upgraded to analogue HD or IP makes this a good choice for small systems that are likely to be upgraded. 9.0 out of 10 16 www.psimagazine.co.uk
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