Swann H.264 manual MyDVR: Local Configuration, Playback Problems?, English, Basic Setup

English

MyDVR: Local Configuration

The local configuration screen is where you can customise how MyDVR will store and process footage on the local PC when you download it from the DVR.

Record Path: Where MyDVR will save recordings if you select Record from the Preview screen.

Download Path: Where MyDVR will save footage that you’ve downloaded from the DVR.

Snapshot Path: Where MyDVR will save still images captured using the snapshot function.

Convert to AVI: When selected, MyDVR will use your PC to transcode footage from the DVR’s native format (H.264) into a format that your computer (indeed, almost any computer) will be able to playback without special software.

About transcoding to AVI:

Don’t be put off by the complex word - transcoding is just a shortening of “translating code”.

Transcoding, while a straight-forward process, is very processor intensive. You may notice significant slow-down on your computer while the transcoding takes place. For best results, try not to over-burden your computer - just let it transcode the footage in peace.

Auto-Login:When selected, MyDVR will automatically login and open the Preview screen for the DVR it is currently connected to. Simply un-check Auto-Login if you don’t want MyDVR to do this anymore or you want to change the default device (you’ll just need to go through the manual login procedure once for the device you want).

Basic Setup

Playback Problems?

Some media players have trouble playing back the transcoded AVI files from the MyDVR software.

We recommend using VLC media player, which has no problems with the DVR’s AVI files.

You can get it for free from www.videolan.org/vlc.

Note: Very few (if any) media players will be able to play the un-modified H.264 video streams that are the DVR’s native format. The H.264 streams are raw video data with no “container” (AVI is a “container”). It’s a little like trying to read a book with no punctuation or capital letters or spaces - the “transcoding” process puts in the spaces and the full stops and makes it possible to be “read” by someone other than the author.

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