Essential 2K Cameras added to the Pro 2 cameras work but video will not play.

[arnedewitt]

So, I'm adding the Essential 2K, Camera bundle to my existing Pro 2 cameras.  The cameras work great except the video for the essential cameras say it must be downloaded to view. I have updated and tried 3 different browsers; none work. Any ideas?

[jguerdat]

By default, most browsers won't play any video over 1080p. The 2K video from the camera must be downloaded so you can use something other than a browser to view them (the free VLC works well). I only have older, incompatible computers but newer ones have hardware that supports this as well as maybe an additional add-on to the browser. Check out this thread to see what is needed:

https://community.arlo.com/t5/Arlo-Pro-4/2K-4K-Videos-cannot-be-played-in-browser/m-p/1862833

Perhaps @StephenB will jump in here.

[StephenB]

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@jguerdat wrote:

By default, most browsers won't play any video over 1080p.

Perhaps @StephenB will jump in here.

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To clarify this:  

You need

1. a PC with hardware acceleration for HEVC/H.265  video.  (Macs that shipped with High Sierra or later,  6th generation AMD or Intel processor or newer).
2. Chrome or Safari, or Edge.   Edge requires the Microsoft HEVC windows extension ( https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9NMZLZ57R3T7 ).  Some PCs (many HP models) have this pre-installed.

[arnedewitt]

Stephen, I have added the $.99 Microsoft HEVC extension app for Edge to my browser, that didn't work. I also confirmed that I have an 8th generation processor so that should be fine. 

 

[StephenB]

Can you try browsing to this link, and press "play"?  Don't change any settings.

• https://bitmovin.com/demos/stream-test?format=hls&manifest=https://demo.unified-streaming.com/k8s/fe...

If the trailer doesn't play, then the browser can't handle HEVC/H.265 playback.

If it fails, try Chrome, and see if that makes any difference.  Also, make sure that hardware decoding is enabled in the browser settings.

It's conceivable that you might need to reinstall your video drivers - one poster a few months back found that resolved his playback issue.