How to play proprietary CCTV and DVR video files

Proprietary CCTV and DVR files won’t open in a normal video player because the manufacturer has used its own file format or codec. To play one, you either install that manufacturer’s player or codec, or use software that reads the format directly. Kinesense ingests over 3000 video formats, including proprietary DVR and CCTV exports, without the manufacturer’s original player, and keeps the original file unchanged.

For evidence, how you open the file matters as much as whether it opens. This guide covers both.

Why CCTV files are hard to play

Most CCTV recorders do not save standard video. Manufacturers use their own containers and codecs, change them between models and firmware versions, and sometimes stop supporting them. Standards such as ONVIF help with live streams but do not yet define how stored video is encoded or packaged.

So the file collected from a shop’s DVR, a council system or a covert recorder may play only in a specific player, on a specific version of Windows. That causes delays and costs across the criminal justice system.

Option 1: Find the manufacturer’s player

Many exports include a player on the same disc or drive. If not, you have to identify the format and find the right player for it.

Kinesense PlayerManager keeps a library of CCTV players and matches a file to the right one in two ways:

• By file name and extension, for formats with a distinctive extension.
• By file signature, a string of bytes at the start of the file that identifies the format even when the extension is generic or wrong.

See How to match CCTV players by file signature and How to export, import and restore the CCTV player library.

Option 2: Install the codec

Some formats are standard containers, usually AVI, with a manufacturer’s codec inside. GeoVision, March Networks and Verint are among the hundreds of manufacturers that ship their own “Video for Windows” codecs. Once the codec is installed, the file plays and can be imported directly. See How to import video that needs a third-party codec.

Option 3: Use software that reads the format directly

The quickest route is software that already understands the format. As a general rule, Kinesense supports anything playable in Windows Media Player, VLC or FFmpeg, and adds proprietary formats on top, including:

• File types: .avi, .mpg, .mpeg, .wmv, .mov, .flv, .mkv, .mp4, .vob, .xba, .h264, .asf, .sdr2, .sec, .raw, .dav, .rms, .csx, .264, .ts and .mts.
• Built-in transcoding for specialist recorders: Timespace x200/x300/x400, Ovation Afterburner, Ovation Flashback 2/3, Covidence Oculus, Viola H264, Micron Seorin SDR2 and Acustek. See How to import Ovation Afterburner DVDs and hard drives.
• FFmpeg preprocess scripts for formats that need a conversion step before import. See How to run FFmpeg preprocess scripts on import.

If a format still won’t open, Kinesense’s engineers can assess whether it can be imported. They have 17 years of experience with difficult formats.

Converting without losing evidential value

Often the file has to be converted to be shown in court. That is acceptable as long as it is done evidentially:

1. Keep a master copy. Never work on the original. Kinesense hashes the original on import and works on a copy.
2. Check for dropped frames. Conversion can drop frames, especially where a manufacturer has released several versions of a format. Compare frame counts and timestamps.
3. Check the time. Recorder clocks drift. Record the offset rather than guessing. See How to calculate the time offset and rotate video on import.
4. Record what you did. Note the tool, settings and person for each step, so the process is repeatable. Kinesense logs this automatically.

The importance of the audit chain for video evidence covers the standards behind these steps.

Once the video plays

Getting a file to play is the first step. Finding what matters in hundreds of hours of it is the next: see How to review hours of CCTV footage quickly.

Have a format you can’t open? Contact us and bring it to our engineers.