Pain Point

You can playback pre-recorded videos of an NVR via RTSP using VLC Player.

However, in some cases, the video play might not be smooth and even hang for a few seconds

This article describes possible solutions with VLC Player settings.

Possible Root Cause & Resolution

· Solution #1 : Switch VLC from HTTP streaming to RTP/RTSP streaming

- Go to [Tools] -> [Preferences] -> [Input / Codecs]

- Then, go to the [network] section and switch option from [HTTP (default)] to [RTP over RTSP(TCP)]

· Solution #2 : Increase caching buffer size

- When playing high-resolution videos in VLC Player, the video might repeatedly hang or jitter may occur.

This is due to VLC Player needing to take time to cache videos.

- In this case, it may help to increase the buffer size to ensure that there is always enough video to play

- To do this, go to [Tools] -> [Preferences] -> Check Show Settings to [All]

- Then, go to the Advanced section and try to increase the [File & Disk Cache] to a value between

500 - 1000ms (default is 300ms).

- You may need to increase the value as the resolution of the NVR’s recording profile is larger

- Please note that video delay may occur if the value is set too high as a side effect

· Solution #3 : Choose the right video track

– There are multiple RTSP Playback streams from the NVR/DVR

– However, VLC player default setting is to play [Stream 0.]

– You need to check streams from NVR/DVR and find a compatible codec that VLC Player can play

– After running the RTSP command, Check Video Codec List of the NVR/DVR

– Go to [Tools] -> [Codec Information]

– Choose the right Stream(codec) that VLC Player support

– Go to [Video] -> [Video Track] -> Select [Track 1] to [Track 4]

– Generally, Hanwha Techwin NVR assigns H.264 to [Stream 3]. However, some legacy NVRs assign

[Stream 1] as H.264.