It’s very easy to add an ONVIF IP camera to a Hikvision DVR or NVR. A third party ONVIF IP camera is a camera that supports the ONVIF protocol and you can hook up that camera to any Hikvision recorder (hybrid DVR or NVR). In this guide we will explain step-by-step how to add an ONVIF IP camera to a Hikvision recorder.
Which Hikvision recorders work with ONVIF cameras?
Let’s clarify which Hikvision recorders are compatible and are able to correctly show third-party ONVIF cameras. There are two types of recorders that work with ONVIF IP cameras:
- Hikvision Hybrid DVR. These types of DVRs are called hybrid DVRs and they support HD over coax analog cameras (such as HD-TVI and AHD), regular analog cameras (CVBS) and also the IP cameras. The number of supported IP cameras varies from one IP camera to 2, 4, and more (it depends on the model of the DVR). For example, you have a model like the Hikvision DS-7208HGHI Turbo Hybrid DVR you are ready to get your IP camera on as long as it is the camera itself is ONVIF compliant.
- Hikvision NVR. This one doesn’t need too much explanation, it’s a Network Video Recorder and it’s designed to work with IP cameras. All Hikvision NVRs support ONVIF protocol, meaning you can connect/add third-party cameras as long as these cameras are ONVIF compliant.
If you don’t know if your Hikvision DVR supports IP cameras than google the model and find the information on the specification page on the Hikvision website. Or ask the dealer/reseller.
The wiring diagram
Before you start doing the settings, it’s important to understand how these devices will be connected and addressed. Check out the wiring diagram below. Your setup should be similar.
The diagram shows a laptop with the IP address 192.168.1.5 and the ONVIF camera’s IP address is 192.168.1.100 which is wired to the router. The IP address of the Hikvision DVR/NVR is 192.168.1.150.
There may be other cameras hooked up directly to the recorder (they can be HD analog cameras, or other IP cameras going to a built-in PoE switch, etc). That’s not very important in this demonstration, all we need is a laptop, the camera going to the router and the recorder connected to the same router.
How to add an ONVIF camera to a Hikvision NVR or DVR?
The setup process is quite simple, double-check the diagram shown in the previous section. The IP camera, the laptop, and the recorder must be on the same network and, of course, their IP addresses must be one the same IP range .
Set up the recorder’s IP address
Your network IP range may be different than the one shown in this example, however, the idea and the procedure are the same. Let’s start setting up the IP address on your recorder.
Login directly to your recorder using your username and password. Right-click with the mouse and then hit Menu. Click the “Configuration” icon.
Go to the Network and make sure the IP address is in the same range as the camera’s IP address.
In our case, the recorder’s IP address is 192.168.1.150 and the subnet mask 255.255.255.0. The gateway is 192.168.1.1 and represents the router’s internal address.
Add the IP camera to the recorder
We assume you’ve already modified the camera’s IP address. Each camera has its own software for scanning and modifying the IP address, making sure it matches the IP range as shown on the previous diagram.
In our example, the camera’s IP address is 192.168.1.100 and we already know the username and the password to access it. If you’re not sure how to find the camera’s IP address or modify it, consult the manual that the camera comes with.
Let’s add the camera to the recorder. Open the Camera menu as shown in the picture below.
In Camera Management section, click Custom Adding. In the next screen add your IP camera information as shown below:
In our example, we added the following information:
- IP camera address: 192.168.1.100
- Protocol: ONVIF
- Management port: 80
- Transfer protocol: Auto
- Username: admin
- Password: camera’s password.
Important note: Check your IP camera to find out if it’s compatible with the ONVIF protocol and what’s the default ONVIF port. You can use free software to run the tests (we recommend using ONVIF Device Manager).
Once the correct information is entered, click the “Add button”. Your ONVIF IP camera is now added to the Hikvision recorder and you can check the status by looking at the icon (a blue icon).
The message “Risk Password” in the Security column means we’re using a weak password. It’s recommended to change the camera password and use a strong one. Go back to the live view to check if you can view the live feed coming from the camera.
Sometimes the camera takes a while to show up on the screen, this is due to the recorder and camera’s communication via ONVIF protocol. Keep all your devices updated to make sure any bugs are straightened out.
Make sure the camera is set up to record properly. Double-check the playback just to make sure. For more information about recording settings and modes, read these two articles:
