Buying Guides · updated 2026-11-01

Wrong Time on Your Security Camera? Fix Clock and DST Settings

Why the Time on Your Camera Matters More Than You Think

The clocks across the EU went back at the end of October, and many people only notice a problem weeks later. They open their recordings to find an event and discover that the timestamp is an hour out. Sometimes the clock has drifted by several minutes. Sometimes a camera that lost power has reset itself to a date years in the past.

The timestamp burned into your footage is not just a convenience. If you ever hand recordings to the police or an insurer, the date and time are part of what makes them useful. A clip showing someone at your gate means far more when it lines up with a neighbour's report, a delivery record or an alarm log. Wrong times also make searching tedious. You can't jump to "Tuesday at 18:30" if the recorder believes it was 17:30.

This guide explains how camera clocks work, why they go wrong, and how to set them up so they stay correct through daylight saving changes, power cuts and the long winter months.

How Security Cameras Keep Time

Most modern IP cameras, NVRs, Wi-Fi cameras and video doorbells use one or more of these methods:

• NTP (Network Time Protocol): the device asks a time server on the internet for the correct time and updates itself at a set interval. This is the most reliable option when an internet connection is available.
• Sync from the recorder: many NVRs can push their own time to connected cameras, so every channel matches.
• Sync from the app: battery and Wi-Fi cameras often take the time from your phone or the manufacturer's server during setup and on later connections.
• Manual setting: you enter the date and time yourself. This is common on trail cameras and on systems that never go online.

NTP only supplies the time in a universal format, so the device also needs your time zone and daylight saving (DST) rules to show local time. Most clock errors come from getting one of those two settings wrong rather than from the time source itself.

The Most Common Causes of Wrong Timestamps

Wrong time zone

Interfaces often list time zones as offsets, such as "GMT+02:00", followed by a few city names. Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania use Eastern European Time, which is UTC+2 in winter and UTC+3 in summer. A common mistake is to pick the offset that matched the season during installation. For example, someone setting up a camera in July may choose UTC+3. That looks right until October, then stays an hour wrong all winter.

Daylight saving switched off or misconfigured

Some devices apply DST automatically once you choose a region. Others need you to tick a DST box and enter the start and end rules. In the EU, summer time begins on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. If DST is off, or set with the wrong rules, the clock will be an hour out for part of the year.

Double correction

Occasionally both the time zone and a manual DST offset push the clock forward, which leaves it an hour ahead in summer. If your footage is wrong in one season but correct in the other, look closely at the DST settings.

No time source after a power cut

Not every camera keeps time reliably without power. If a device restarts with no network or NTP access, it may come back with a default date until it can sync again. Off-grid and 4G systems that lose power over winter are especially prone to this.

Clock drift

Without regular syncing, internal clocks slowly gain or lose time. Over months, a few seconds a day becomes several minutes.

Step-by-Step: Setting Up Time Correctly

Menu names differ between Reolink, Hikvision, Dahua, EZVIZ and Imou, but the logic is the same. Look for a section called System, General, Date and Time, or Time Settings.

1. Decide on one master clock. In an NVR system, make the recorder the reference and let it sync the cameras. Then set NTP on the recorder itself.
2. Select the time zone by region, not by the current offset. Where the menu offers a city or country list, choose one in your own zone, such as Tallinn, Helsinki or Riga.
3. Enable daylight saving. Use the automatic or regional DST option if one exists. If you must enter rules by hand, use the last Sunday of March and the last Sunday of October.
4. Turn on NTP. The default server is usually fine. Set the sync interval to something sensible, such as every hour or every day, rather than leaving it disabled.
5. Enable camera time sync on the NVR. Look for an option to synchronise connected cameras. For cameras from a different brand added via ONVIF, check that the sync applies to them too. If it doesn't, set NTP on those cameras directly.
6. Check the on-screen display. Make sure the date and time overlay is switched on and readable. Choose a 24-hour format and an unambiguous date format so nobody confuses 03/11 with 11/03.
7. Verify. Compare the live view with your phone's clock and look at a recording you have just made. Both should match to within a few seconds.

Special Cases: Battery, 4G, Trail and Dash Cameras

Battery and Wi-Fi cameras

These usually take their time from the app or the manufacturer's cloud service. The main things to check in the app are the time zone and DST settings, plus your phone's own settings. If your phone's time is set manually and is wrong, the error can carry over during setup.

4G cameras

A 4G camera with a working data connection can normally sync via NTP like any other online device. If the SIM runs out of data, or signal is lost in heavy snow, the camera can't resync. Check the time after any period offline, particularly at cottages and farm sites visited only occasionally in winter.

Trail cameras

Most trail cameras are set by hand, and some lose their settings when batteries are changed or run flat in the cold. During hunting season it is worth checking the date and time every time you swap batteries or cards. Otherwise you can't tell when game actually passed.

Dash cameras

Dash cams may take their time from GPS, a companion app or manual entry. GPS-based models usually still need the correct time zone. After the clocks change, check that the overlay matches local time, because a wrong timestamp weakens footage after a traffic incident.

Systems Without Internet Access

Some recorders are deliberately kept offline for privacy or because there is no connection on site. In that case:

• Set the time manually on the NVR and let it sync the cameras, so at least every channel agrees.
• Put a reminder in your calendar for the last Sunday of March and October if the device can't apply DST rules automatically.
• If your local network has its own time source, such as a router or server that can act as an NTP server, point the cameras and recorder at it.
• Use a UPS so that short power cuts don't reboot the system and risk resetting the clock.
• Check the time once a month to catch drift before it adds up.

Exporting Footage With Reliable Timestamps

When you save clips as evidence, keep the original export from the recorder or app rather than a screen recording from your phone. Write down how far out the system clock was at the time, if it was out at all. Investigators can work with a known offset, but an unexplained one raises questions. Correcting the time afterwards doesn't change timestamps already burned into old recordings, so the sooner your settings are right, the better.

Conclusion

Correct timestamps cost nothing and take about ten minutes to set up. Choose your time zone by region, enable daylight saving and NTP, and let the NVR sync every camera. Then check the time after the clock changes, after power cuts and whenever you service battery or trail cameras. With the dark months ahead and more activity happening after dusk, it's a good moment to open your settings and make sure your footage tells the right time.