Why not focus on the internal software (menus, features, etc.) and open up the network side so the combined power of end users and future customers will prop up your web side features (for free), and ultimately boost hardware sales? Their approach to software is very confusing to me, being they are a hardware manufacturer that makes money selling hardware, not software. There is no SDK, and in no way did they want to help me figure out if what I was after was even possible. I called Q-See tech support to find out if there was a developer toolkit or SDK or even just some documentation on how the DVR’s network interface worked, but got shutdown immediately. They also have mobile options if you are running a phone/PDA with Windows Mobile or Symbian OS, but alas I have a BlackBerry so my options for mobile monitoring are nonexistent.Īfter some Googling and poking around on the DVR’s “web interface” (really its just web launched software app), I determined I couldn’t even pull a live static JPG snapshot from any of the cameras, let alone get a decent video stream. It crashes on all but a couple of my several PCs (I have around 10 or so I use at any given time). Furthermore, the ActiveX component is highly unstable.

This limits you to accessing the DVR via a Windows PC running Internet Explorer. The DVR does have a web interface, but it is simply is a launchpad for an ActiveX component. While the QSD2316C16-500 DVR locally records analog video using the H.264 compression codec, it does not stream video in any kind of standard format over the network interface. I’m used to IP video cameras that streaming technologies like MJPEG and MPEG. When it comes to network connected video devices, I’m used to the concept of streaming. The problem I have with this “network” DVR is the direction Q-See went with their network interface design and software development. Hooking up the system and using the onscreen menu was fairly easy. It was a pretty good deal since the cameras run about $50-$80 a piece anyway.

The whole reason I looked into buying this setup is that it was cheap. The system is a network DVR setup that comes with 16 cameras (8 standard + 8 wide angle) for $1000. We’ve had some issues with home security recently, so before anything serious happens I bought a Q-See QSD2316C16-500 DVR from Costco.

Q see viewer for mac