How to read the QNAP camera compatibility List?

[DiliMe]

Hi all,
Main question is: How to interpret the QNAP camera compatibility List?
It looks that I misinterpreted it reading the column Alarm Input / Output. I thought that the QNAP Surveillance Station (SS) is supporting Alarm Input and/or Alarm Output due to the presence of these 2 columns.
Consulting compatibility list I decided to purchase a Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-iW camera, main reason being that it has PIR sensor and a good EXIF IR and Alarm In and Out hoping that I would be able to trigger motion detection via the PIR sensor. It looks that I was wrong as QNAP SS cannot interpret PIR sensor alarm or any other alarm input. Actually it looks that SS can parse only standard(software) motion detection. I learned this from the QNAP Helpdesk and later by reading this forum that it looks to be very explicit about this incompatibility - but little bit too late .
My conclusion is that the presence of the columns Alarm In, Alarm Out in the camera compatibility list is more like a comparison table, not necessarily compatibility with SS - please let me know if I'm wrong.

History:
Before my new QNAP, I was using two ancient Linksys cams that were saving via FTP and software motion detection to an old NAS that recently broke. But the main problem with this setup was 1) the number of false positives was huge and 2) there was not an easy method to clean the partition when the HDD space was full.
So recently I purchased a QNAP TS-253A NAS mostly due to its 4 x SS licenses included and 1 x Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-iW camera for testing it. Thanks God that I haven't purchased 4 x DS-2CD2432F-iW cameras as I was almost ready to buy.

Conclusion: On my setup I will have to use the standard(software) motion detection, not the PIR motion detection.
Although Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-iW has many cool features, I will not be able to use them .

[Don]

The list says NO under alarm output for your model. Do you have the correct camera firmware version.

[AlastairStevenson]

My conclusion is that the presence of the columns Alarm In, Alarm Out in the camera compatibility list is more like a comparison table, not necessarily compatibility with SS - please let me know if I'm wrong.

Not necessarily, that specific facility may be depend - ant (flawed bad words filter!) on the capabilities of the specific Surveillance Station model coding that does the interaction with the camera.

Code: Select all

The list says NO under alarm output for your model. Do you have the correct camera firmware version.

True, but it does list Yes for Alarm In, where an external PIR could be connected.
On that camera, the in-build PIR doesn't manifest as under Alarm I/O.

[DiliMe]

Hi,
First, as long as QNAP SS doesn't support ANY kind of alarm communication/parsing with ANY kind of alarms IN or OUT from ANY camera brand (this is my current understanding), I find NO reason to publish those two columns (Alarm Input and Alarm Output) as long as it is a compatibility list and it is misleading the end-user into believing that SS can handle/parse alarms (as it was my case).
From my point of view the security proffessionals who would be looking to purchase a camera with Alarm In or Out, would search such information on camera producer's website not on QNAP's compatibility/compare list, so I would remove those two columns.

Second point, Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-iW has hardwire connectors both for Alarm In and for Alarm Out - so the information on QNAP Compatibility List is wrong.

Hik_2432_back.jpg

[AlastairStevenson]

Second point, Hikvision DS-2CD2432F-iW has hardwire connectors both for Alarm In and for Alarm Out - so the information on QNAP Compatibility List is wrong.

As I indicated:

True, but it does list Yes for Alarm In, where an external PIR could be connected.

No, the information is correct.
The compatibility list isn't about showing the camera specs - it's about which aspects of the camera model are supported by Surveillance Station.
On that basis the Compatibility List does not list Alarm Out as supported - it does not mean the camera does not have that.
Test it with an Alarm In signal on the camera.

it is misleading the end-user into believing that SS can handle/parse alarms (as it was my case).

You need to be clear what your understanding of 'Alarms' is, there are multiple types.
The 'Motion Alarm' is the software notification of a Motion Event (Basic Event in Hikvision terminology).
The 'Alarm In' is the software notification of a state change in the 'Alarm In' I/O connection of the camera.

From my point of view the security proffessionals who would be looking to purchase a camera with Alarm In or Out, would search such information on camera producer's website not on QNAP's compatibility/compare list, so I would remove those two columns.

The logical approach would be to study the camera specifications, then to see which parts of the camera specifications are supported by Surveillance Station.
For example, based on your approach, if a camera had a defog heater or wiper blade or laser IR in the specification, you'd be expecting Surveillance Station to automatically support those features without confirming on the Compatibility List.