Get your camera ready
for LookoutNVR.

Before you start

• RTSP or ONVIF on. Many cameras ship with one or both switched off. Lookout needs one of them.
• A username and password. Cameras with no sign-in at all are not supported. A user just for Lookout makes a later password change painless.
• A sub-stream. Set the second stream to about 640 pixels wide, 2 to 4 frames a second, in H.264. Lookout records the main stream and runs motion and AI on the sub-stream, which keeps the recorder's CPU low.
• A fixed address. Give the camera a static IP or a DHCP reservation so its stream address does not move.
• The right clock. Turn on NTP. ONVIF sign-in fails when the camera's time is far off.

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.

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.

What works with Hikvision, feature by feature

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.

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.

What works with Dahua, feature by feature

Reolink Field-proven

Field-proven on the RLC-520A and RLC-520 PoE cameras at a home.

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.

What works with Reolink, feature by feature

Axis Standards

Current Axis cameras list ONVIF Profile S, T, G and M. Not run on our recorders yet.

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.

What works with Axis, feature by feature

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.

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.

What works with Hanwha Vision (Wisenet), feature by feature

Uniview Standards

Uniview cameras list ONVIF Profile S, G and T, and newer firmware adds M. Not run on our recorders yet.

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.

What works with Uniview, feature by feature

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.

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.

What works with UniFi Protect, feature by feature

TP-Link VIGI Standards

Should work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet.

We have not catalogued this brand's menus yet. Follow Any ONVIF camera: switch ONVIF on, make an ONVIF user if the camera keeps a separate list, and turn on NTP.

What works with TP-Link VIGI, feature by feature

Bosch Standards

Should work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet.

We have not catalogued this brand's menus yet. Follow Any ONVIF camera: switch ONVIF on, make an ONVIF user if the camera keeps a separate list, and turn on NTP.

What works with Bosch, feature by feature

i-PRO Standards

Should work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet.

We have not catalogued this brand's menus yet. Follow Any ONVIF camera: switch ONVIF on, make an ONVIF user if the camera keeps a separate list, and turn on NTP.

What works with i-PRO, feature by feature

Vivotek Standards

Should work through ONVIF or RTSP. Not catalogued or run by us yet.

We have not catalogued this brand's menus yet. Follow Any ONVIF camera: switch ONVIF on, make an ONVIF user if the camera keeps a separate list, and turn on NTP.

What works with Vivotek, feature by feature

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.

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.

What works with Annke, Swann and Night Owl, feature by feature

Any ONVIF camera Standards

Cameras that pass ONVIF Profile S or T give Lookout the stream addresses themselves.

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.

What works with Any ONVIF camera, feature by feature

Any RTSP camera Standards

Paste the camera's RTSP address. H.264 and H.265 record as they arrive, without re-encoding.

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.

What works with Any RTSP camera, feature by feature

DVRs and NVRs

You can keep the recorder you have. Lookout records each of its channels as a camera, analog cameras behind a DVR included.

• Hikvision family, including LTS. Channel 3's main stream is /Streaming/Channels/301 and its sub-stream 302. This is how 113 channels at a college campus and a museum are recorded today.
• Importing the channel list from Hikvision, Dahua, Reolink, Hanwha Vision (Wisenet), Uniview, TP-Link VIGI, Annke, Swann and Night Owl and Any ONVIF camera recorders is in beta. It is built to each maker's published protocol and tested against simulators; tell us how it goes on yours.
• Session limits. A recorder serves a limited number of streams at once. Lookout pulls a main and a sub-stream per channel, on top of whatever the recorder's own app or monitor is watching.

Troubleshooting

The camera connects, then drops

Most cameras allow only a few streams at once. Every viewer, phone app and recorder that is watching uses one. If the maker's app, an old NVR and Lookout are all pulling the same camera, the camera starts refusing or dropping connections.

• Close the maker's app and stop the old recorder from pulling the camera while you test.
• Check the camera's own session or user list if it has one.
• A very high main-stream bitrate or a very long keyframe interval can also make a stream drop. Try a GOP of about twice the frame rate.

Wrong password lockout

Cameras lock an account, or your computer's address, after a few wrong passwords. Anything still trying the old password keeps the lock going.

• Hikvision: after about 5 to 7 wrong tries, locked for about 30 minutes or until a reboot.
• Dahua and Amcrest: after about 5 wrong tries, locked for 5 minutes on some firmware and 30 on others.
• Hanwha: 5 wrong tries within 30 seconds blocks sign-in for a while.

While it finds or imports cameras, Lookout leaves a camera alone for 30 minutes after three refused passwords, so it stays short of the camera's own lock. Fix the password everywhere it is saved (the maker's app, the old NVR, Lookout), then wait out the lock or reboot the camera.

H.265

• H.265 about halves the disk space for the same picture, and Lookout records it as it arrives, without re-encoding.
• Keep the sub-stream in H.264. It costs less to decode for motion and AI.
• Smart codec modes (H.265+, H.264+) stretch the keyframe interval. If seeking in recordings feels slow, switch to plain H.265.
• If a camera does not play, try the main stream in H.264 to rule out the codec.

No video at all

• Check RTSP is switched on in the camera, and on which port (usually 554).
• Reolink port 9000 and similar app ports are not RTSP. Lookout cannot use them.
• Cameras that only work through the maker's cloud app cannot be recorded. See not supported.

Report a camera

1. Download the free version and add one camera.
2. Let it record for a few minutes, and try live view and playback.
3. Send us the result through support: the brand, the exact model, the firmware version, whether it was added by ONVIF or RTSP, and what worked and what did not.

Please never send a camera's password. We use your report to move the brand's tier on the compatibility page, and to fix what did not work.