Resolution

4 MP (2560 x 1440)

Lens

2.8 mm fixed, F1.6

Field of View

horizontal 107 deg

Min. Illumination

0.005 lux @ F1.6

Audio

Built-in microphone

Video Compression

H.265+ / H.265 / H.264+ / H.264

Power

PoE (802.3af) / 12 VDC

Interface

RJ45 10/100M, built-in mic

Quick Start — Hikvision DS-2CD2143G2-ISU

This guide gets a brand-new camera online and streaming in ~10 minutes. All details below are reference patterns; confirm exact steps against the official Hikvision Integration Manual for your firmware.

1. Discover the device

Use Hikvision SADP (Search Active Devices Protocol) tool, or probe the subnet:

# find devices on the LAN (example with a community SADP CLI)
sadp -a

Note the IP address (factory default is often 192.0.0.64 with DHCP off).

2. Activate & set a password

A new device must be activated before use. Activation also sets the admin password.

# Using Hikvision's device management CLI (reference)
sadp -a <IP> -p <NEW_ADMIN_PASSWORD>

The admin password must meet complexity rules (upper/lower/digit/symbol). You cannot integrate until activation is done.

3. Pull a live stream (RTSP)

Once activated, the main stream is available over RTSP. Test with ffplay or VLC:

ffplay "rtsp://admin:PASSWORD@192.168.1.64:554/Streaming/Channels/101"
# 101 = channel 1, main stream
# 102 = channel 1, sub stream

4. Verify the API surface

curl --digest -u admin:PASSWORD \
  "http://192.168.1.64/ISAPI/System/deviceInfo"

A successful response is XML with <deviceName>, <firmwareVersion>, etc.

Next steps

• API reference → see the API tab (ISAPI examples).
• Application integration → see the SDK tab (Device Network SDK).

API Reference — ISAPI (Hikvision DS-2CD2143G2-ISU)

Hikvision devices expose ISAPI over HTTP/HTTPS using Digest authentication. Base URL is http://<ip>/ISAPI. Responses are XML (or JSON when format=json is supported).

Reference patterns only. Field names and availability vary by firmware — verify against the ISAPI Reference for your model.

Authentication

curl --digest -u admin:PASSWORD "http://192.168.1.64/ISAPI/System/deviceInfo"

Common endpoints

Example: capture a snapshot

curl --digest -u admin:PASSWORD \
  "http://192.168.1.64/ISAPI/Streaming/channels/1/picture?snapShotImageType=JPEG" \
  -o snapshot.jpg

Example: read device info as JSON

curl --digest -u admin:PASSWORD \
  "http://192.168.1.64/ISAPI/System/deviceInfo?format=json"

Event subscription (push)

For motion / VCA events, subscribe via ISAPI Event/notification/httpHosts to push to your server, or poll /ISAPI/Event/triggerState.

Notes

• Default HTTP port 80, HTTPS 443. SDK/device port is 8000.
• ONVIF is also available for cross-vendor clients.

SDK — Device Network SDK (Hikvision DS-2CD2143G2-ISU)

For server-side applications (recording, PTZ control, real-time playback), use the Hikvision Device Network SDK. It speaks the binary 8000 protocol and is faster/more complete than ISAPI for media.

Reference overview. Download the SDK and headers from the official Hikvision developer portal and follow its samples.

Languages & platforms

• C / C++ — native SDK, Windows & Linux (incl. arm).
• C# — via the provided HCNetSDK wrapper / PlayCtrl.
• Python — community wrappers around the C library (e.g. hikvisionapi) or ctypes bindings.

Typical init (C# reference)

// Pseudocode — adapt to the SDK's HCNetSDK declarations
int userId = -1;
bool ok = NET_DVR_Init();
NET_DVR_SetConnectTime(2000, 1);
userId = NET_DVR_Login_V30(ip, 8000, "admin", password, out deviceInfo);
if (userId < 0) throw new Exception("Login failed: " + NET_DVR_GetLastError());
// ... start real-time stream, capture, PTZ ...
NET_DVR_Logout(userId);
NET_DVR_Cleanup();

Python (community wrapper)

from hikvisionapi import ISAPI
cam = ISAPI("192.168.1.64", "admin", "PASSWORD", "80")
print(cam.System.deviceInfo(method="get"))

Best practices

• Call NET_DVR_Init() once at process start; Cleanup() on exit.
• Always handle NET_DVR_GetLastError() for diagnostics.
• For 64-bit apps, match the 64-bit SDK binaries.

FAQ — Hikvision DS-2CD2143G2-ISU

Q: The camera has no video / RTSP fails. A: Ensure the device is activated (SADP) and the admin password is set. Wrong password is the #1 cause.

Q: curl returns 401 even with correct password. A: Use --digest explicitly; ISAPI requires Digest auth, not Basic.

Q: Forgot the admin password. A: Reset via SADP using the device's security question / export file, or contact the vendor channel with the serial number.

Q: Which port for the SDK? A: TCP 8000 (device port). HTTP/HTTPS API uses 80/443.

Q: Can I use ONVIF instead of ISAPI? A: Yes — ONVIF is supported for cross-vendor clients (profiles S/G). ISAPI/SDK give deeper control (VCA events, PTZ presets).

Q: How do I receive motion events? A: Configure HTTP(S) push via ISAPI Event/notification/httpHosts, or use the SDK alarm callback.