Support / The cameras are wired to a recorder, and the scan finds the recorder but not the cameras
Cameras behind a recorder (NVR or DVR)
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Two ways in
Add the recorder. Most recorders follow the same standard as cameras (ONVIF — Profile S for the live channels, Profile G for the recordings) and offer each channel as a stream of their own. When ViewTile finds the recorder and you sign in with the recorder’s username and password, it asks which of the recorder’s streams to use — pick a channel, name it, and it is on the wall. For a second channel, add the recorder again and pick that one: each channel becomes its own camera in ViewTile, with the recorder’s one login behind all of them. The recorder keeps recording as before.
Add the cameras directly. Cameras on the recorder’s own camera ports (the ones marked PoE on the back) often live on a separate network the recorder made for them, and the phone cannot reach them. Cameras plugged into the ordinary network switch can be added directly, by scan or by address, with the camera’s own login — that gives you their settings and movement controls, which a recorder does not always pass on.
What a recorder does not pass on
- Movement and saved positions — many recorders do not forward them. If a camera turns in the recorder’s own software but not in ViewTile, add the camera directly.
- Picture settings — the same; the recorder shows the channel’s picture, not the camera’s settings page.
- Recordings — some recorders offer their recordings through the standard, most do not; ViewTile lists what the recorder advertises and nothing more.
By address
If the recorder does not follow the standard, its channels can still be added as stream addresses. The shape is in Adding a camera by its stream address: the channel number is part of the address (Hikvision …/Channels/201 for channel 2, Dahua …channel=2…).

