Troubleshooting
Playback is slow or freezes
Stuttering playback usually means the hard drive is struggling, or you are viewing several high-resolution channels at once over a limited connection. Local playback that stutters points at the drive; remote playback that stutters points at bandwidth.
Local versus remote
Test playback on the recorder itself. Smooth locally and choppy remotely means bandwidth. Choppy in both places means the drive or the recorder.
Drive health
A drive developing bad sectors slows down before it fails outright. Stuttering playback is often the first warning you get, and it is worth acting on.
Substream for remote
Remote viewing should use the lower-resolution substream. If it is set to the main stream, several channels will overwhelm a normal upload connection.
Why is my CCTV playback stuttering?
Is stuttering a sign the drive is failing?
It often is, particularly if it has got gradually worse. Checking drive health takes minutes and is far better than discovering it when you need footage.
Why is it worse with more cameras open?
Each channel adds load on the drive and the connection. Viewing one channel at a time is a quick way to confirm whether volume is the issue.
Need this doing?
Security camera repair covers cameras showing no image, recorders that stopped recording, footage you cannot retrieve, and systems that lost remote viewing. Most faults are power, cable or configuration rather than a failed camera. Diagnosis is free, and we quote a fixed price before doing any work.
Security camera repair — what it costsRelated pages
Get a free site survey
We walk the premises, mark up a plan and give you an itemised quote in rupees. No obligation to buy from us afterwards.