A Hikvision camera as a baby monitor

Can a Hikvision camera be a baby monitor?

Yes, and a good one. Hikvision sells security cameras, not baby monitors, but its indoor models have what a nursery needs. They have infrared night vision, a wide lens and a steady wired stream. The catch is sound. A baby monitor is mostly an ear, and many Hikvision cameras ship without a microphone or with sound switched off.

The camera streams over RTSP, the standard that apps on your own network use to read a camera. Hikvision documents it in its support how-to pages. An app on your phone can read that stream with the camera's password, with no Hik-Connect account in between.

So the question is not “does Hikvision make a baby monitor?” It is “can my camera hear, and does it send a sound my phone can play?” The table below answers it for the cases we see most.

Menus from Hikvision's E-series manual and Dahua's audio settings, checked October 29, 2026; see sources. Firmware versions move menus around a little.

Does my Hikvision camera have a microphone?

Look at the model code on the label or in the camera's web page under System → Device Information. Hikvision packs the features into letters after the dash. A U there usually means a built-in microphone, and an S means audio and alarm ports for an external one. A plain -I means infrared only: night vision, no ears.

Photo: HikvisionDS-2CD2143G2-IUworks

The U in the code: a built-in microphone.

Photo: HikvisionDS-2CD2443G2-Iworks

An indoor cube with a microphone but no U. The natural nursery pick.

Photo: HikvisionDS-2CD1143G2-Ipicture only

Looks like the first dome, but has no microphone: picture only.

The spec sheet on Hikvision's site settles it. Find the Audio line: “built-in microphone” is what you want. If it says “no” or only lists a line-in port, the camera will still show a sharp picture of the crib. It just cannot tell you the baby is crying.

That camera is not wasted. Keep it as the picture, and put an old phone by the crib for the sound. Or pick a cheap camera that hears; the Tapo guide covers the usual $22–30 choice, and the other baby monitor guides cover the rest of the setup.

Which audio and video settings does it need?

Open the camera's web page by typing its address into a browser on the same network. Log in as admin. Everything is under Configuration → Video/Audio.

• Video tab, Stream Type: choose “Video&Audio”, not “Video”. Do it for the main stream and the sub-stream; each has its own setting. This one is easy to miss, and it silences the stream completely.
• Video tab, Video Encoding: newer cameras default to H.265 or H.265+. Switch the sub-stream to H.264. It is small, it is plenty for a crib in a dark room, and it is lighter on your phone's battery.
• Audio tab, Audio Encoding: choose G.711ulaw or G.711alaw. Either works. Set Audio Input to MicIn for the built-in microphone.
• Audio tab, Noise Filter: leave it on. It takes out the hiss of a quiet room.

Dahua and its brands Amcrest and Imou work the same way, with different menu names. The full table, with stream addresses for each brand, is in Wi-Fi cameras that work as a baby monitor.

Why not just use Hik-Connect?

Hik-Connect is built for a front door, not a nursery. It sends motion events and a notification when a person walks past. Many Hikvision models also have an Audio Exception Detection event, which fires on a sudden loud sound. It cannot tell a cry from a dog or a door, so it wakes you for both.

Hik-Connect also streams through Hikvision's cloud when you watch from outside the home. Some parents mind that, given the brand's history in the US. Since November 2022 the FCC authorizes no new Hikvision or Dahua equipment. Cameras already sold were not recalled, and owning one is legal. The longer story, brand by brand, is in Chinese security cameras.

A local baby monitor app avoids both problems. It reads the RTSP stream over your Wi-Fi, listens on your phone, and needs nothing from Hikvision after setup. If you already run Home Assistant or Frigate with the camera, the Home Assistant baby monitor guide shows how to share its stream instead.

Step by step: a Hikvision camera by the crib

1. Activate the camera. A new Hikvision camera asks for a strong admin password the first time you open its web page or Hikvision's SADP tool.
2. Check the microphone. A U in the model code, or “built-in microphone” on the spec sheet. No microphone, no cry alerts.
3. Set the stream. Configuration → Video/Audio: Stream Type “Video&Audio”, sub-stream in H.264, audio G.711.
4. Aim it at the crib. High on a wall or shelf, not facing a window, since the glass throws the infrared back into the lens. Keep the cable out of the baby's reach.
5. In Mamoon, choose a Wi-Fi camera. Mamoon finds the camera on your home network by itself and recognizes the brand. Enter the admin user name and password.
6. Test it. Make a sound by the crib and walk to the far room. Your phone should hear it a moment later.

Where Mamoon fits

Mamoon reads a Hikvision, Dahua or Imou camera over RTSP on your home Wi-Fi, with no hub and no camera subscription. It recognizes crying on your phone and tells it from other sounds, and alerts keep coming with the nursery sound muted. Pan/tilt Hikvision models turn from the app over ONVIF. Mamoon cannot talk back through the camera's speaker, and away from home it needs Tailscale. Sound and cry alerts are free; the picture costs $29.99 once or $3.99 a month after 14 days free.

Frequently asked questions

How these pages are made: an AI model drafts them from our own tests, real app screens and the sources listed, and Jan Drábek checks every page before it goes live.