The footage is there. Finding the moment is the hard part.
A parcel went missing. A car was dinged in the car park. Stock is short, sometime last week.
The footage almost certainly exists on your recorder. The trouble is that recorded video is long and mostly empty. Sitting down to watch it, even at fast speed, takes time most of us do not have. It is easy to miss the thirty seconds you were after.
How it works, in plain words
On compatible Dahua AI systems, the camera or recorder does extra work while it records. As it watches, it notes what it sees: a person here, a vehicle there, an event at this time. This extra information is called AI metadata.
Think of it like the index at the back of a book. Without one, you read every page to find a mention. With one, you look up the word and turn to the right page.
Intelligent video search uses that metadata. Instead of playing the recording from start to finish, you can ask the system to help locate relevant people, vehicles or events, and then jump to those clips.
What you get day to day
- A shorter list to review. Rather than hours of video, you look at a set of flagged moments.
- Quicker answers. Checking whether a person came to the gate last night becomes a matter of minutes, not an evening.
- Phone and recorder access. You can review playback through the DMSS app on your phone, and the recorder itself provides playback of historical footage. See our page on the DMSS mobile app for what that looks like.
We show you how to run a search and play back results as part of the training we give when we hand over the system.
It builds on the other AI tools
Search is strongest when the system has already been labelling things well. That is why it sits alongside human detection and vehicle detection. If the recorder has been tagging people and vehicles, there is something to search for.
Where it suits best
- Offices and retail stores, where you may need to look back at a specific time or area.
- Warehouses and yards with many cameras and long recording periods.
- Body corporate and common areas, where incidents are often reported after the fact.
- Multi-site businesses, where reviewing several locations by eye is impractical.
What to know
This is the page where honesty matters most, because search capability varies more than almost anything else in a system.
It varies by equipment. Compatible Dahua AI systems make footage easier to search. Higher-end systems can support more advanced AI search, depending on the equipment. Entry-level systems may offer only basic motion-based playback. We will not describe a feature your recorder does not have.
Search can only find what was analysed. If a camera was not set up to detect people or vehicles in an area, there will be fewer labels to search. Good configuration at the start is what makes good search later.
It helps you locate, it does not conclude. Results are a shortlist. You still watch the clips and decide what they show. Anything unusual, like a very distant or partly hidden subject, may not be flagged.
Recording depth limits search. You can only search the footage the recorder still holds. How many days that is depends on the storage we size for you. Our NVR and recording storage page explains how that works.
Tell us your goal. If you expect to search often, say so at the quote stage and we will recommend suitable equipment.
Privacy. Footage of people is personal information in many situations. Surveillance and privacy rules differ by state and territory, and some businesses have additional obligations. This is general information, not legal advice, so check your own state's rules.
Choosing the right level
Our example systems show typical setups. Call 1300 263 551 or contact us.
Frequently asked questions
Do all Dahua recorders support intelligent search?
No. It is available on compatible Dahua AI systems, and how advanced it is depends on the cameras and recorder.
Can I search from my phone?
You can play back recorded footage through DMSS. What search options appear depends on your equipment, and we show you what your system offers.
How far back can I search?
As far back as the recorder holds footage. That depends on the storage sized for your cameras, quality and days kept.
Will it find everything?
No tool does. It helps locate people, vehicles and events, but you should expect to review the results yourself.