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Why Your Security Camera and Door Logs Are an Hour Apart

Say your Brivo log shows the back door opening at 9:15 PM. You pull the camera video for that door, and the person walks through at 8:15 PM. Same door, same event, one hour apart.

PAX Security8 min readUpdated November 13, 2026
Quick Answer

A gap of exactly one hour usually means two systems disagree about the time zone or daylight saving time. Nothing is necessarily broken. The likely causes:

Time zone setting: one device or account is set to the wrong zone.

Daylight saving rule: one clock follows the clock change and another doesn't.

Device time sync: a camera or recorder isn't syncing with a time server, so it keeps its own time.

Displayed vs. exported timestamps: the screen shows local time, but a downloaded file shows UTC or another time.

Don't change any setting yet. Save your footage and logs first. Then check both times against an outside reference, like a phone timestamp, to see which one is off.

Key Takeaways

  • 1Export footage and logs before you change any setting.
  • 2Compare both times to an outside reference, like a phone timestamp.
  • 3Don't force one clock to match another. You can break a third system.
  • 4After every clock change, compare one door event with one camera.
  • 5Use New York's time zone, not a fixed offset, and automatic sync where offered.

That's a made-up example, but the question behind it is real. Which system is right, and can you use either one for police or insurance? Here's how to sort it out without making it worse.

Why the clocks can disagree

Your security system doesn't have one clock. It usually has four.

  • The camera. It stamps the time on its own recordings.
  • The recorder. An NVR often keeps its own clock and may send its time to its cameras.
  • The cloud platform. Brivo or Alarm.com keeps a time zone in the account. Brivo keeps one per administrator and one per site.
  • The viewer. Your computer, phone or browser has a local time too. Some software shows you that time. Other software shows the device's time.

Here's what an installer knows that a manual won't tell you: the time on screen isn't always the time the device recorded. A clock can be set to a fixed offset from UTC, the world reference time, instead of a real time zone. UTC never changes for daylight saving, so a device on a fixed offset stays put while everything else springs forward or falls back. Devices that sync over NTP, a standard way to ask a time server for the correct time, stay in step. Devices that don't can run on a wrong setting for months, until a clock change exposes it.

So a tech's first question isn't "which one is right?" It's "which clock produced each of these times?"

How to tell which time is wrong

Everything here is look-only.

  1. Save first. Export the footage and pull the logs you need before you touch anything. Our guide to requesting footage for police or insurance covers what to gather.
  2. Write down what each screen shows. Note the system, screen, time and date, and whether the event was before or after the clocks changed. In Brivo, note who was logged in, because Brivo shows each administrator their own time zone.
  3. Find an outside reference. A text message with a time stamp, a phone log, or a person who remembers when it happened.
  4. Check the size of the gap. Exactly one hour on every camera and door points to a setting. A different size, or a gap that changes from camera to camera, is a different problem. Call us.
  5. Compare the screen to the download. Does the exported clip show the same time as the screen you watched it on? If not, that's your displayed vs. exported gap.
  6. Optional, once your evidence is safe: have someone badge through a door normally and note the time on their phone. Then see what the door log and the camera show for that moment.

What to check on your system

Find your system and write down where its clock lives. Looking is fine. Menus differ by model and software version, so check before you change anything.

  • Brivo Access
    • Where the setting lives: Per administrator, on the Administrator Profile page. Each site also has its own time zone on the site record.
    • Worth knowing: Timestamps display in the logged-in administrator's zone. The "Show site time" column adds the site's local time to the Event Tracker. The Activity Report under Analytics "will only run in Eastern Standard Time (EST) and cannot be altered." Ask Brivo or your reseller what that means after the clocks change.
    • Source: Brivo support: time zone, reports, sites
  • Alarm.com
    • Where the setting lives: One time zone for the account. App: menu, Account Management, System Information. Website: Settings, Account Management, System Information.
    • Worth knowing: Alarm.com says the system's time adjusts for daylight savings based on the selected time zone. If the panel shows the wrong time, it says to contact your service provider.
    • Source: Alarm.com Knowledge Base
  • Axis cameras
    • Where the setting lives: On the camera, on its Date and time page.
    • Worth knowing: Axis recommends syncing with an NTP server and says the time zone adjusts for daylight saving automatically. The camera's date and time are used in all its recordings and logs.
    • Source: Axis P1375-E manual
  • Eagle Eye
    • Where the setting lives: Camera setup belongs to your installer. In the Windows viewer, Bulk Download offers "MP4 with timestamps."
    • Worth knowing: That format is "re-encoded with the UTC time burned into the picture." For Axis cameras on Eagle Eye, its guide says to set Synchronization to "Automatic date and time (NTP servers using DHCP)."
    • Source: Eagle Eye: viewer note AN069, Axis setup guide
  • Uniview recorders
    • Where the setting lives: On the recorder. Web: Setup, System, Time. Monitor: Menu, System, Time. Daylight saving: Menu, System, General, DST.
    • Worth knowing: Options are a time zone, syncing with a computer, or an NTP server. In the V3.02 manual, Sync Camera Time (the recorder sends its time to its cameras) is on by default. Your firmware may differ.
    • Source: Uniview: time settings guide, V3.02 manual

More: Brivo, Alarm.com, Axis, Eagle Eye Networks, and the Brivo Event Tracker and Journal.

When not to change anything

  • Incident footage or logs. A time change after the fact makes your records harder to match to your notes. Keep the exports you saved in step 1 as they are.
  • Don't force a match. Changing one clock to agree with another can fix one system and break a third.
  • Hands off the equipment. Don't open panels, unplug switches or recorders, factory reset anything, use default passwords or bypass anything. Settings changes belong to whoever administers the system.
  • No admin login? Start with our guide on what to do when you have no admin login.
  • Danger first. If anyone is hurt or in danger, call 911 before anything else.

How to prevent it

  • Turn on automatic time sync on every camera and recorder that offers it, so no device keeps its own clock.
  • Use the real time zone. Pick New York's zone, not a fixed offset, so daylight saving follows along.
  • Check after every clock change. Compare one door event and one camera for the same moment.
  • Write the settings down. Record each system's time zone and sync source, who administers it, and your installer's contact.

Can't match your footage to your access logs?

Call PAX Security at (855) 440-5353 or email info@paxsecurity.com. You can also reach us at https://paxsecurity.com/contact-us. We'll help work out which system is off and talk through how to correct the setup, keeping disruption to the rest of your system as low as we can.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Does an hour gap mean someone tampered with the footage?

A steady gap of exactly an hour looks like a settings mismatch, not tampering. If the footage matters to a claim or investigation, still tell the investigator about the gap and show your notes.

Can I just add or subtract an hour in my notes?

For your own reference, yes. For anything official, write down which system is off and why, and have whoever manages the system confirm it.

What time is on an exported Eagle Eye video?

With Bulk Download's "MP4 with timestamps," the picture shows UTC. New York is 4 hours behind UTC in daylight time and 5 hours behind in standard time, so use the offset for the date the clip was recorded. If a clip spans the night the clocks changed, have your installer confirm the times.

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