Why are Wisenet WAVE LPR bookmarks playing back at the wrong time?
Answered by ANPR AI·Sourced
Short answer
If clicking an LPR event bookmark in the Wisenet WAVE client jumps the video playback to a timestamp completely devoid of a vehicle, you are experiencing a severe clock synchronization mismatch. The VMS server and the edge cameras are operating on different clocks.
Explanation
In metadata-driven Video Management Systems like Hanwha Wisenet WAVE, event triggers rely entirely on timestamp synchronization. The WAVE server application relies on its isolated operating system clock (Windows or Linux) for video indexing, while the edge cameras transmitting the XML/JSON plate payloads are often synced to an external Network Time Protocol (NTP) server on the internet.
If the WAVE server loses its internet connection, or if it simply drifts out of sync with the external NTP server used by the cameras, a discrepancy occurs. When the camera reads a plate at 12:05 PM, it sends that metadata to the server. If the server thinks the current time is 12:02 PM, the bookmark is placed incorrectly.
Clicking the bookmark will pull video from the wrong point in time, rendering forensic investigations incredibly frustrating.
Things to check
- Compare the overlaid OSD timestamp on the camera's raw video feed against the timeline timestamp displayed in the WAVE client.
- Verify if the WAVE server has active internet access or is operating on an isolated, air-gapped network.
- Check the NTP server settings in the web UI of the edge cameras.
What to do
To permanently resolve this drift, you must unify the time protocol across the entire architecture. Open the Wisenet WAVE System Administration menu, navigate to Time Synchronization, and disable the internet time sync. This forces WAVE to sync to the local server OS.
You must then configure both the local WAVE server OS and all connected edge cameras to point to the exact same local NTP server on your network, ensuring all devices and metadata payloads share the exact same temporal baseline.
ANPR Edge
Skip the dedicated ANPR camera. Read plates from the cameras you already have.
ANPR Edge is plate-recognition software that runs on a PC at your site and works with ordinary IP cameras, so plate reads no longer depend on one vendor's camera, NVR or firmware.
- Works with standard IP cameras over RTSP
- One license per location covers every camera
- Runs on a Windows PC or Mac you own