Sentinel | How to Trouble Shoot Video Loss
Video loss on a surveillance system can manifest as a black or grey screen, or the Defender Logo and may occur after moving components, cables, or the most common cause, a loose connection or a loss of power.
To help identify the issue, please follow these steps. Whenever a connection is restored, you may stop following the troubleshooting steps.
If your camera is displaying a grey image-
1. Left-click on the grey screen
2. Select the light and color
3. Set to default and click OK.
If you are experiencing a black image or the Defender Logo, follow the steps below.
Please unplug the camera from the ethernet cable and then plug it back in after one minute, if the light turns on and off after ten seconds, continue with the steps below. If the light stays on at all times with no image, contact Defender support at support@defendercameras.com
1. Check that all connections are tight.
· From the ethernet cable to the camera
· From the ethernet cable to the NVR
· If you have used any connectors for longer lengths, ensure the connection has not become loose.
2. From the NVR, swap the ethernet connection at the back of the NVR to a known working video channel.
3. Swap the camera with the location of a working camera.
If the camera powers on and the footage appears, the issue is a defective ethernet cable however, if the issue continues after swapping the camera with a known working camera, the issue may be caused by your settings.
While your camera is still connected to the location of a known working ethernet cable, check the settings on the NVR.
1. Log onto the NVR
2. Select Video Manage
3. On the right-hand side switch Automatically to Manually
4. Select Search
5. The NVR will search for any cameras connected to the NVR
6. If the camera shows up, click Ok to add
While the camera is plugged into a known working ethernet cable, and the NVR, please follow the steps below.
1. Right-click on the NVR, and select Fast Network
2. Input your NVR password
3. Select Manual Config
4. Uncheck the DHCP box, then change the last number of the IP address to a different number (2, 5, 244, or 254) as it may be conflicting with the camera IP address. Please test one number at a time, click Apply and Ok, then check to see if the camera image appears. If it does not, please test the next number and repeat these steps until the camera image appears. The NVR IP address needs to be different than the camera IP address to display an image.