Frequently Asked Question
Video quality is poor, pulsing, freezing or showing artifacts
Last Updated 22 days ago
Poor video quality is usually caused by a mismatch between resolution, frame rate, bitrate, codec, CPU/GPU performance or network bandwidth.
Start with a stable conservative stream profile, then increase quality gradually after the VMS/NVR records and plays the stream reliably.
Recommended checks
- Reduce resolution or frame rate if the recorder cannot keep up.
- Increase bitrate if the image has compression artifacts and the network has enough bandwidth.
- Lower bitrate if the stream freezes or the network is unstable.
- Use H.264 for broad compatibility; use H.265 only when the VMS/NVR fully supports it.
- Check CPU/GPU load on the ITVDesk computer and recorder load on the VMS/NVR side.
Network symptoms
- Artifacts can indicate packet loss or too-low bitrate.
- Freezing can indicate bandwidth, firewall inspection, overloaded recorder or codec mismatch.
- Pulsing can indicate unstable encoder settings, variable scene complexity or aggressive bitrate limits.
Enterprise best practice
- Test the final profile in the real VMS/NVR environment.
- Record a short sample and verify playback/export.
- Use GPU_ZERO or hardware acceleration where available for high-resolution or multi-stream deployments.
Related documentation: Video Stream Settings | Preview & Test | Troubleshooting