Free online DAV to DAT converter

A CCTV recorder may save footage as DAV, while a video player, VCD authoring workflow, or archive system may require a DAT file. The conversion usually requires decoding the recorder’s proprietary DAV stream and creating a standard MPEG-1 video stream with a .dat extension.

What the DAV format is

DAV is a proprietary digital video format used by many DVR and NVR surveillance systems, especially equipment based on Dahua technology and compatible OEM recorders. It stores camera footage, timestamps, and sometimes recorder-specific metadata in a form intended for the manufacturer’s playback software rather than general-purpose media players.

You typically encounter DAV files after copying recordings from a CCTV recorder, exporting an incident from surveillance software, or removing a hard drive or USB device from a security system. VLC, Windows Media Player, and standard editing applications may not decode DAV correctly, even when the file contains ordinary H.264 or H.265 camera video.

What the DAT format is

In video workflows, DAT most commonly means the MPEG-1 Program Stream used by Video CD (VCD) discs. A VCD video file is often stored in the disc’s MPEGAV directory with a name such as AVSEQ01.DAT. Its usual video format is MPEG-1 at approximately 1,150 kbit/s, with VCD-compatible dimensions such as 352×288 for PAL or 352×240 for NTSC.

DAT is an extension rather than a complete specification. Some surveillance manufacturers also use .dat for proprietary recordings, so a requested DAT target should be checked with the receiving application. Renaming a DAV file to DAT does not convert its codec, container, or metadata.

How to actually convert DAV to DAT

Use the built-in online converter

1. Open the DAV-to-DAT converter on 101convert.com; it can be used free without installing software.
2. Choose the source file, such as camera_001.dav, and select DAT as the output format.
3. Start the conversion and download the resulting .dat file when processing finishes.
4. Test the output in the exact player, authoring tool, or archive system that requires DAT. If it expects VCD video, verify that the output is MPEG-1 rather than a proprietary DAT variant.

Do not upload recordings containing sensitive surveillance footage unless the applicable privacy and security requirements permit online processing.

Use the recorder’s desktop software, then FFmpeg

When direct decoding fails, open the DAV in the recorder manufacturer’s player, such as Dahua Smart Player or the software supplied with the DVR, and export it to AVI or another standard video format. Menu names vary, but the operation is usually under Export, Save as, or Convert. Preserve the original DAV as evidence or as a fallback copy.

After exporting a playable intermediate file, create a VCD-compatible DAT with FFmpeg. For PAL video, use:

ffmpeg -i exported.avi -target pal-vcd output.dat

For NTSC video, use:

ffmpeg -i exported.avi -target ntsc-vcd output.dat

These presets encode MPEG-1 video and MPEG-1 Layer II audio with VCD-oriented parameters. If the target software only requires an MPEG-1 stream and does not require strict VCD settings, a general MPEG-1 conversion is also possible:

ffmpeg -i exported.avi -c:v mpeg1video -c:a mp2 -f mpeg output.dat

Quality, compatibility, and limitations

Conversion cannot restore detail already lost through the camera’s resolution, compression, night-mode noise, or the intermediate export. Converting modern H.264 or H.265 surveillance footage to VCD-standard MPEG-1 usually reduces resolution and increases visible artifacts; keep the original DAV or a lossless archival export.

Audio may be absent because many CCTV cameras record video without audio. A VCD preset can add an audio stream only when the source contains usable audio. Frame-rate and time-base changes can also affect synchronization, especially when converting variable-frame-rate exports.

For evidentiary use, retain the untouched DAV, recorder metadata, export date, and player version. A DAT made for VCD playback generally will not preserve proprietary camera metadata, motion indexes, authentication data, or the recorder’s original timestamp format.