Camera compatibility
Works with the cameras
you already have.
LookoutNVR records ONVIF and RTSP cameras, and imports the channels of the DVR or NVR you already own. Below is exactly what we have run, what is new, and what should work by the standards, brand by brand.
Proven in the field
Running today, at real sites.
Counted from the recorders themselves. Field-proven means these channels are being recorded right now at a home, a college campus and a museum.
120
Hikvision-family channels113 through Hikvision-family DVRs and NVRs at a college campus and a museum, and 7 direct at a home12
Reolink channelsRLC-520A (8) and RLC-520 (4) at a home8
Amcrest (Dahua firmware) channelsAmcrest IP5M-T1179E (3), Amcrest IP5M-T1179EB-AI-V3 (2), Amcrest IP5M-T1277EB-AI (2) and Amcrest IP8M-T2599E (1) at a home
Brands
Find your camera's brand.
Each brand has one tier for its video, and each feature has its own tier. Open a brand below for the detail and the settings it needs.
Field-proven
HikvisionAlso LTS and other Hikvision-family OEMsDS-2CD2132-I, DS-2CD2343G0-I, DS-2CD2347G1-LU and 6 moreField-proven
DahuaAlso Amcrest and LorexAmcrest IP5M-T1179E, Amcrest IP5M-T1179EB-AI-V3, Amcrest IP5M-T1277EB-AI and 1 moreField-proven
ReolinkRLC-520A, RLC-520Standards
AxisCurrent Axis cameras list ONVIF Profile S, T, G and M. Not run on our recorders yet. 2 beta features.Standards
Hanwha Vision (Wisenet)Current Q, X and P AI models list ONVIF Profile S, G, T and M. Not run on our recorders yet. 3 beta features.Standards
UniviewUniview cameras list ONVIF Profile S, G and T, and newer firmware adds M. Not run on our recorders yet. 3 beta features.Standards
UniFi ProtectUniFi cameras stream only through the Protect console. Turn on RTSP for each camera in Protect and Lookout records the console's stream. Not run on our recorders yet.Standards
TP-Link VIGIShould work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet. 2 beta features.Standards
BoschShould work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet. 1 beta feature.Standards
i-PROShould work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet. 1 beta feature.Standards
VivotekShould work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet. 1 beta feature.Standards
Annke, Swann and Night OwlWired models that offer ONVIF should work through it. Models that only work with the maker's app do not. Not run by us yet. 2 beta features.Standards
Any ONVIF cameraCameras that pass ONVIF Profile S or T give Lookout the stream addresses themselves. 3 beta features.Standards
Any RTSP cameraPaste the camera's RTSP address. H.264 and H.265 record as they arrive, without re-encoding.Not supported
Cloud-only cameras
Verkada, Cisco Meraki MV, Ring, Google Nest, Arlo, Blink, Wyze (most models) and Eufy (most models)
Brand by brand
What works, and what to set.
Hikvision Field-proven
Our most-run family. Cameras direct at a home, and whole sites recorded through Hikvision-family DVRs and NVRs at a college campus and a museum.
Includes LTS and other Hikvision-family OEMs.
Running on our recorders
- At a home: DS-2CD2132-I (2), DS-2CD2343G0-I (2), DS-2CD2347G1-LU (1), IPC3042WD (1), NC304-XD (1)
- At a college campus, 71 channels: EAR504-16 recorder, EAR504-8 recorder, HEAR504-8 recorder, HEAR504-16 recorder, NC325-XD, NC326-XB, GNC224-XD/U, DS-2CD2332-I
- At a museum, 42 channels: EAR504-16 recorder
Features
| Live view and recording | Field-proven | Cameras direct, and channels through Hikvision-family DVRs and NVRs. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Beta | Reads the channel list from the recorder, analog channels included. Recording through these recorders is field-proven; the automatic import is new. |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | ISAPI alert stream. AcuSense models tag events as human or vehicle. Needs Notify Surveillance Center on each event. |
| Doorbell button presses | Beta | Video intercom button presses over ISAPI. The least tested of the beta features. |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Beta | Plate reads from DeepinView ANPR models over ISAPI. |
| Thermal alarms | Beta | Alarms from Hikvision thermal models over ISAPI. |
| Siren and light outputs | Beta | Alarm outputs (relays), which switch a strobe, siren or light wired to them. Named siren and light controls are not read yet. |
| PTZ control | Not yet | PTZ cameras are detected and recorded. Pan, tilt and zoom from Lookout are not built yet. |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Camera settings it needs
- RTSP is usually on. Main stream is /Streaming/Channels/101 and sub-stream /Streaming/Channels/102. On a DVR or NVR, channel 3 is 301 and 302.
- ONVIF is off by default on many firmwares and has its own user list under Network, Advanced, Integration Protocol. Create the ONVIF user there; a web user is not enough.
- For camera events, tick Notify Surveillance Center in the linkage of every event you want (motion, line crossing, intrusion). Without it the camera never sends the event.
- Keep the camera's clock in sync (NTP). ONVIF sign-in fails when the time is far off.
- After a few wrong passwords (reports say 5 to 7) the camera locks the user or your IP for about 30 minutes. Fix the password once, then wait.
Dahua Field-proven
Field-proven on Amcrest cameras, which run Dahua firmware. Dahua-branded cameras use the same stream paths and API but have not run on our recorders yet.
Includes Amcrest and Lorex.
Running on our recorders
- At a home: Amcrest IP5M-T1179E (3), Amcrest IP5M-T1179EB-AI-V3 (2), Amcrest IP5M-T1277EB-AI (2), Amcrest IP8M-T2599E (1)
Features
| Live view and recording | Field-proven | Proven on Amcrest, which runs Dahua firmware. Dahua-branded and Lorex cameras have not run on our recorders yet. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Beta | Reads the channel list from a Dahua-family DVR or NVR, analog channels included. |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Dahua event stream: SmartMotionHuman, SmartMotionVehicle, tripwire and intrusion. |
| Doorbell button presses | Beta | Amcrest AD410 and AD110 button presses. The AD110 cannot record continuously. |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Beta | Plate reads from Dahua-family ANPR cameras. |
| Thermal alarms | Beta | Temperature and fire alarms from Dahua-family thermal models. |
| Siren and light outputs | Beta | Alarm outputs (relays), which switch a strobe, siren or light wired to them. |
| PTZ control | Not yet | PTZ cameras are detected and recorded. Pan, tilt and zoom from Lookout are not built yet. |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Camera settings it needs
- RTSP is on by default. Main stream is /cam/realmonitor?channel=1&subtype=0 and sub-stream subtype=1.
- Keep at least one sub-stream in H.264.
- For camera events, set the authentication mode to Compatible, not Safety, and leave MD5 on. Otherwise the event API answers with HTTP 500.
- Amcrest documents adding a separate ONVIF user. Make one if you add the camera through ONVIF.
- Amcrest Helix (HLX-) cameras are a different platform with their own stream path (/snl/live/1/1). Add them as ONVIF or RTSP cameras.
- Repeated wrong passwords lock the account or your IP, for 5 minutes on some firmware and 30 minutes on others.
Reolink Field-proven
Field-proven on the RLC-520A and RLC-520 PoE cameras at a home.
Running on our recorders
- At a home: RLC-520A (8), RLC-520 (4)
Features
| Live view and recording | Field-proven | PoE models with RTSP switched on. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Beta | Reads the channel list from a Reolink NVR. |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Person, vehicle and animal from the camera's own AI, on A, Duo, TrackMix, ColorX and Elite PoE models. |
| Doorbell button presses | Beta | Video Doorbell PoE visitor button. |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not offered | |
| Thermal alarms | Not offered | |
| Siren and light outputs | Beta | Spotlight and siren on models that have them. |
| PTZ control | Not yet | PTZ and TrackMix cameras are recorded. Pan, tilt and zoom from Lookout are not built yet. |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Camera settings it needs
- On many models RTSP, ONVIF and HTTP are off by default. Switch RTSP on under Network, Advanced, Port Settings (port 554). ONVIF uses port 8000.
- Main stream is /Preview_01_main and sub-stream /Preview_01_sub. Older firmware also answers /h264Preview_01_main.
- Use an admin account, and keep the password to letters, digits and @$*~_-+=!?.,:; so it survives inside a stream address.
- Battery and 4G cameras have no RTSP of their own. They need a Reolink Home Hub or NVR in front of them.
- Port 9000 is Reolink's own app port, not RTSP. Lookout does not use it.
Axis Standards
Current Axis cameras list ONVIF Profile S, T, G and M. Not run on our recorders yet.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | ONVIF or RTSP at /axis-media/media.amp. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Not offered | |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Through ONVIF events. The object class may not be carried. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not yet | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not yet | AXIS License Plate Verifier reads are not read yet. The video records. |
| Thermal alarms | Not yet | |
| Siren and light outputs | Beta | Relay outputs over ONVIF, which switch whatever is wired to them. |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Camera settings it needs
- RTSP is /axis-media/media.amp. Set the resolution and codec in the address (resolution=, videocodec=h264 or h265) or pick a stream profile.
- Sign-in uses HTTP digest. Make a user for Lookout rather than sharing the root account.
Hanwha Vision (Wisenet) Standards
Current Q, X and P AI models list ONVIF Profile S, G, T and M. Not run on our recorders yet.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | ONVIF or RTSP at /profile1/media.smp. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Beta | Through the ONVIF recorder import, if the NVR has ONVIF switched on. |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Through ONVIF events. The richer attributes stay in Hanwha's own API. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not offered | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not yet | Road AI plate reads use Hanwha's own API and are not read yet. The video records. |
| Thermal alarms | Not yet | |
| Siren and light outputs | Beta | Relay outputs over ONVIF, which switch whatever is wired to them. |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Camera settings it needs
- There is no default password. Set the admin password on first access; ONVIF and the camera API stay off until you do.
- Main stream is /profile1/media.smp and the second profile /profile2/media.smp.
- Five wrong passwords within 30 seconds blocks sign-in for a while. Fix the password once, then wait.
Uniview Standards
Uniview cameras list ONVIF Profile S, G and T, and newer firmware adds M. Not run on our recorders yet.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | ONVIF or RTSP at /media/video1. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Beta | Reads the channel list from a Uniview NVR. |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Through ONVIF events (pull point). |
| Doorbell button presses | Not offered | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not yet | |
| Thermal alarms | Not yet | |
| Siren and light outputs | Beta | Relay outputs over ONVIF, which switch whatever is wired to them. |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Camera settings it needs
- On a camera, main stream is /media/video1 and sub-stream /media/video2.
- On a Uniview NVR, channel 3 main is /unicast/c3/s0/live and its sub-stream /unicast/c3/s1/live.
- The default user is admin. Sign-in uses HTTP digest.
UniFi Protect Standards
UniFi cameras stream only through the Protect console. Turn on RTSP for each camera in Protect and Lookout records the console's stream. Not run on our recorders yet.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | Only after RTSP is switched on for the camera in Protect. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Not yet | |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Not yet | Protect's detections stay in Protect for now. Lookout runs its own AI on the stream. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not yet | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not supported | Protect's public API does not include the plate text. |
| Thermal alarms | Not offered | |
| Siren and light outputs | Not yet | |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Camera settings it needs
- UniFi cameras are not ONVIF devices and have no RTSP of their own. In Protect, open each camera, go to its settings and switch on RTSP for the quality you want.
- Protect shows an rtsps address on port 7441. For Lookout, use rtsp://console-address:7447/ followed by the same token, and leave off ?enableSrtp.
- The token in the address is the password. Treat it like one.
TP-Link VIGI Standards
Should work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Beta | Through the ONVIF recorder import, if the NVR has ONVIF switched on. |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Through ONVIF events, if the camera offers them. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not yet | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not yet | |
| Thermal alarms | Not yet | |
| Siren and light outputs | Not yet | |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Bosch Standards
Should work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Not yet | |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Through ONVIF events, if the camera offers them. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not offered | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not yet | |
| Thermal alarms | Not yet | |
| Siren and light outputs | Not yet | |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
i-PRO Standards
Should work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Not yet | |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Through ONVIF events, if the camera offers them. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not offered | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not yet | |
| Thermal alarms | Not yet | |
| Siren and light outputs | Not yet | |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Vivotek Standards
Should work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Not yet | |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Through ONVIF events, if the camera offers them. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not offered | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not yet | |
| Thermal alarms | Not yet | |
| Siren and light outputs | Not yet | |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Annke, Swann and Night Owl Standards
Wired models that offer ONVIF should work through it. Models that only work with the maker's app do not. Not run by us yet.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | Through ONVIF, on models that offer it. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Beta | Through the ONVIF recorder import, if the DVR or NVR has ONVIF switched on. |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Through ONVIF events, if the camera offers them. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not yet | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not offered | |
| Thermal alarms | Not offered | |
| Siren and light outputs | Not yet | |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Camera settings it needs
- Check the recorder or camera menu for ONVIF and switch it on. If there is no ONVIF or RTSP setting anywhere, the system is app-only and Lookout cannot record it.
Any ONVIF camera Standards
Cameras that pass ONVIF Profile S or T give Lookout the stream addresses themselves.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | ONVIF Profile S or T. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Beta | Reads the channel list from an ONVIF DVR or NVR. |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Beta | Through ONVIF events. Most cameras send motion; few say whether it was a person or a vehicle. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not yet | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not yet | |
| Thermal alarms | Not yet | |
| Siren and light outputs | Beta | Relay outputs over ONVIF, which switch whatever is wired to them. |
| PTZ control | Not yet | |
| Two-way audio | Not yet |
Camera settings it needs
- Switch ONVIF on. Many cameras ship with it off.
- Create an ONVIF user if the camera keeps a separate list for ONVIF.
- Keep the camera's clock in sync (NTP). ONVIF sign-in fails when the time is far off.
Any RTSP camera Standards
Paste the camera's RTSP address. H.264 and H.265 record as they arrive, without re-encoding.
Features
| Live view and recording | Standards | H.264 or H.265 over RTSP, with a username and password. |
|---|---|---|
| Import from the brand's DVR or NVR, analog cameras included | Not offered | |
| Camera-side AI events (person, vehicle) | Not offered | Lookout's own motion and AI still run on the stream. |
| Doorbell button presses | Not offered | |
| Licence plates from plate cameras | Not offered | |
| Thermal alarms | Not offered | |
| Siren and light outputs | Not offered | |
| PTZ control | Not offered | |
| Two-way audio | Not offered |
Camera settings it needs
- The camera needs a username and password. Cameras with no sign-in at all are not supported.
- Find the RTSP path in the camera's manual. Many cameras also show it in their network settings.
Recorders and analog cameras
Keep your DVR or NVR.
You do not have to rip anything out. Lookout records the channels of the recorder you already own, analog cameras behind a DVR included, so old coax cameras get the same search, alerts and AI as new ones.
Through the recorder, field-proven
113 channels are recorded every day through Hikvision-family recorders (EAR504-16, EAR504-8, HEAR504-8, HEAR504-16) at a college campus and a museum.
Field-proven
Import the channel list, beta
Lookout reads the channels from Hikvision, Dahua, Reolink, Hanwha Vision (Wisenet), Uniview, TP-Link VIGI, Annke, Swann and Night Owl and Any ONVIF camera recorders and adds them in one step, analog channels included. This is new: built to each maker's published protocol and tested against simulators.
Beta
Any recorder with RTSP
If your recorder can stream a channel over RTSP, Lookout can record it, whatever the brand. Each channel is one stream, so mind the recorder's limit on how many it serves at once.
Standards
Not supported
Cloud-only cameras.
These send their video to the maker's cloud and offer no local stream we support, so there is nothing for a local recorder to record.
- Verkada Cloud-managed. Video goes to Verkada's cloud.
- Cisco Meraki MV Cloud-managed. Video is managed through the Meraki dashboard.
- Ring Cloud-locked. No local stream.
- Google Nest Cloud-locked. No local stream.
- Arlo Cloud-locked. No local stream.
- Blink Cloud-locked. No local stream.
- Wyze (most models) App and cloud only, with no local stream we support.docker-wyze-bridge is a community workaround, not supported by us.
- Eufy (most models) App and cloud only, with no local stream we support.
Not sure?
Test your camera free.
Test your camera free.
Download the free version, add one camera, and see it record. Then tell us what happened through support, the brand, the model and what worked, and we will add it to this page.