Dahua IP Camera: Heat Map Analytics Setup
Dahua IP Camera: Heat Map Analytics Setup
Heat Map is a Dahua AI camera feature that accumulates movement data over time and renders it as a colour-coded overlay — blue for areas of low activity through to red for high-traffic zones. The map builds up over hours and days, making it useful for footfall pattern analysis in retail, reception, and warehouse environments.
Use Cases
- Retail: Identify which product zones attract the most browsing time.
- Reception or lobby: Determine peak congestion periods and queue formation areas.
- Warehouse or yard: Confirm which routes workers actually use versus planned routes.
Prerequisites
- Camera must list "Heat Map" in its feature set. Heat Map is distinct from People Counting — check the spec sheet.
- The camera should have a stable overhead or wide-angle view with a consistent field. Changing the camera angle or enabling mirror/flip after deployment resets accumulated heat map data.
Enabling Heat Map
- Log in to the camera web interface.
- Navigate to Setting > Event > Heat Map.
- Tick Enable to activate the heat map accumulation.
- Configure the Active Period — typically match to business hours to avoid accumulating data from empty-building periods overnight.
- Click Save.
> Important: Original heat map data is discarded if you adjust the camera's mirror setting, rotation angle, or field of view. Complete your physical camera alignment before enabling Heat Map, and avoid repositioning the camera afterwards.
Viewing Heat Map Reports
Heat map data is viewed as a report, not a live overlay:
- Navigate to Event > Heat Map (on some firmware: Setting > Event > Heat Map > Report).
- Set the date range for the report period.
- Select the display type — the output is a still image with the colour gradient overlaid on the camera's reference frame.
- Click Search to generate the report.
- Use Export to save the heat map image to your computer.
Report Interpretation
| Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blue | Minimum activity — rarely visited or traversed |
| Green / Yellow | Moderate activity |
| Orange | High activity |
| Red | Maximum activity — hotspot area |
Blank areas (no colour) indicate regions where no movement was detected during the report period.
Storage and Data Retention
Heat map statistics are stored in the camera's on-board memory. They are not saved to SD card or NVR storage as video files. If the camera is powered down or factory reset, accumulated data is lost. For long-term trend analysis, export reports regularly.
This article was adapted from dahuawiki's original guidance: "EventHeatMap" — https://dahuawiki.com/EventHeatMap Habitech-edited for UK trade installer context. Original © Dahua Technology Co., Ltd.