Fisheye cameras for Blue Iris

K

korin

Young grasshopper
Jul 20, 2016
41
6
Seattle, WA
Can anyone help with info on PoE fisheye cameras for use with Blue Iris 5?

I'm trying to achieve maximum coverage of the interior and perimeter of a small (1,000 sqft) house on a 12,000 sqft lot. I'm hoping to keep the cost below $1-2k total for 2 interior and 2 exterior cameras, if possible. I plan to add dedicated identification cameras at entry points, so the fisheyes will be used mainly for monitoring and observation, and possibly to trigger other cameras. There is a fair amount of wildlife in the area, but minimal foot traffic, so the ability to distinguish between humans and animals could be a plus.

Dahua seems to have a handful of cameras that look interesting, but I haven't been able to find much info on how well they work with Blue Iris (Fisheye Cameras – Dahua Technology USA Inc). The 5MP N55CT5 appears to offer what I need for indoors, but for the exterior areas I'm not sure whether the 8MP N88BR5V provides a significant improvement over the 5MP N55CS5.

I read that Blue Iris can currently only dewarp on playback, not the live stream, so I would like the camera to be able to send separate dewarped streams for live viewing. Even better if it can provide a stream that blue iris will treat as a virtual "PTZ" camera. Should I be looking at different vendors for this functionality? Are there any "gotchas" that I should be aware of when adding fisheye cameras to Blue Iris, or any other important features that I should be looking for?

Thanks for any input you can provide!
 
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I have 4 of these running ( 1 is the Amcrest version) and they do what I need without being large and clunky in a hallway.
 
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Flintstone61 said:

Amazon.com : Loryta IPC-EW5541-AS NTSC Format 5MP WizMind IR Fisheye Network Camera Built-in Mic English Version Replace IPC-EW5531-AS : Electronics

Amazon.com : Loryta IPC-EW5541-AS NTSC Format 5MP WizMind IR Fisheye Network Camera Built-in Mic English Version Replace IPC-EW5531-AS : Electronics
www.amazon.com
Click to expand...

Thanks. That looks like an unbranded Dahua N55CT5. Can you tell me a bit about how Blue Iris handles it? Does it provide dewarped streams or a PTZ emulated mode that BI recognizes? Is Blue Iris still limited to dwarping only the recorded footage or can it dewarp the live video as well? How well does Blue Iris handle dewarping in either case?
 
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That is actually a Dahua OEM International version. It is the same as the equivalent model from Dahua and can have its' firmware upgraded safely. I bought from Andy at EmpireTech, a member here, he stands behind what he sells and also gets firmware modified by Dahua based on requests and critiques provided by members here. He also has excellent pricing compared to buying from an "authorized" Dahua dealer assuming they'll sell you one camera.
 
Thanks @sebastiantombs. I will likely buy from Andy, but need to first understand whether the camera is likely to meet my needs. Can you provide any info on the streams that the camera can provide and how BI handles the video? That's what I'm trying to find out but I've not been able to find any specifics online. The datasheet only says that it offers dewarping modes when "connected to an NVR or a DVR that supports dewarping methods." It's not clear what this means for an NVR like Blue Iris that only supports dewarping during playback, or whether it only works when connected to a Dahua NVR.
 
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I think there's a review of the camera from Andy somewhere here, probably in the Dahua thread or Andy's thread. I know there are a couple of threads that mention this camera and how it performs. I think you could contact Andy directly to get the information you're looking for, but my guess is that BI won't dewarp the live view.
 
korin said:
Thanks @sebastiantombs. I will likely buy from Andy, but need to first understand whether the camera is likely to meet my needs. Can you provide any info on the streams that the camera can provide and how BI handles the video? That's what I'm trying to find out but I've not been able to find any specifics online. The datasheet only says that it offers dewarping modes when "connected to an NVR or a DVR that supports dewarping methods." It's not clear what this means for an NVR like Blue Iris that only supports dewarping during playback, or whether it only works when connected to a Dahua NVR.
Click to expand...
Review: Dahua IPC-EW5531-AS 5MP Fisheye Camera | IP Cam Talk

Here has a review, the EW5541 is the one replace the EW5531, function ame.
 
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I just opened the box, hung them up, and set them to Auto.
I aint got no DeWarp factored in.
I'd have to go thru the menu's at work Monday.
and see if Dewarp is on the Device, and/or on the Blue Virus.
I mighta played with a setting or two after I had them up for awhile :)
 
I have this unlucky gift of Gait recognition, I can tell which resident it is by thier walk, I honestly don't remember If I dewarped anything, the doors in the pics look pretty straight, all things considered.
I'm mostly interesting coaching the non compliant residents not to throw cardboard boxes down my trash chute.
and to return the Shopping carts to the parking garage.
 
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Thanks, everyone. Based on the review that @EMPIRETECANDY linked to and other bits of info online, it doesn't look like these cameras have onboard dewarping function or the ability to send separate dewarped streams to BI. It appears that BI can provide a dewarped panoramic view during playback, but it can't dewarp the live stream or export a dewarped clip. I found an old post from Dahua about a firmware update to provide on-board dewarping in their "DH-IPC-EBW812A0N" and "DH-IPC-EBW86A0N" models (I can't figure out their naming scheme), but it looks like even on those, the camera combines all of the dewarped views into a single stream, rather than providing multiple streams with one view each.

I have seen the features I'm looking for in videos for cameras from vendors like Uniview, but from what little information I can find, it seems that these dewarping and PTZ features also require an NVR from the same vendor, so they must not be built into the camera and therefore wouldn't be available in BI.

I think I may need to keep my eyes open for a camera with onboard dewarping, or maybe there is some sort of dewarping utility that can process the stream before handing it off to BI
 
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Greetings!

Did this ever get resolved? I just purchased an Amcrest IP-5M-F1180EW-V2 (looks to be the same as the Dahua N55BT5) and loaded it into my BI server. I can see the fisheye output of the camera, but there does not appear to be a way to manipulate the image, either in live view or in recorded images.
I am hopeful it is just a settings thing.

Interestingly, the camera is detected as a "Dahua New V4" when looking at the PTZ settings.

There are no matching model options for either Amcrest or Dahua in the "Make" dropdown for the video config and trying both Amcrest and Dahua don't change the output.

Thanks to anyone who has this figured out!


1678748867564.png1678748955677.png
 
Steve_Texas said:
Greetings!

Did this ever get resolved? I just purchased an Amcrest IP-5M-F1180EW-V2 (looks to be the same as the Dahua N55BT5) and loaded it into my BI server. I can see the fisheye output of the camera, but there does not appear to be a way to manipulate the image, either in live view or in recorded images.
I am hopeful it is just a settings thing.

Interestingly, the camera is detected as a "Dahua New V4" when looking at the PTZ settings.

There are no matching model options for either Amcrest or Dahua in the "Make" dropdown for the video config and trying both Amcrest and Dahua don't change the output.

Thanks to anyone who has this figured out!


View attachment 156783View attachment 156784
Click to expand...

Blue Iris 5 Fisheye Dewarping Capable? Hardware recommendations?

We're getting tired of our sluggish "high end" $4,000 Hikvision NVR and took the first step today buying the Blue Iris 5 software that was on sale here at IPcamtalk to see if a PC with BI will work better. Does anyone know if BI will dewarp fisheye cams? We have some of the Hikvision 12MP...
ipcamtalk.com ipcamtalk.com
You need to enable the 360 option in the video tab
 
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I don't think any improvements have been made to dewarping in Blue Iris in the last 3 years. It is still extremely limited and basic.

If you are ceiling mounting the cam so it faces straight down, then Blue Iris is not going to be fun to use with the cam.

If you are wall mounting the fisheye cam, then I suggest you just run it without dewarping. In this orientation, the standard circular view makes intuitive sense.

However if you are wall mounting a fisheye, then I think it is a very questionable purchase these days because a 180° dual sensor cam is not much more money and it outperforms a fisheye by such a wide margin that it is not even a fair comparison.

Also notable is that the cheap Dahua/Amcrest fisheye models are not outdoor rated, so it is only a matter of time before you get water intrusion that causes droplets to condense in the center of the lens and mess up your video. I ran a fisheye for years this way, in one location it was never a problem, in the other location it was a constant problem.
 
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bp2008 said:
I don't think any improvements have been made to dewarping in Blue Iris in the last 3 years. It is still extremely limited and basic.

If you are ceiling mounting the cam so it faces straight down, then Blue Iris is not going to be fun to use with the cam.

If you are wall mounting the fisheye cam, then I suggest you just run it without dewarping. In this orientation, the standard circular view makes intuitive sense.

However if you are wall mounting a fisheye, then I think it is a very questionable purchase these days because a 180° dual sensor cam is not much more money and it outperforms a fisheye by such a wide margin that it is not even a fair comparison.

Also notable is that the cheap Dahua/Amcrest fisheye models are not outdoor rated, so it is only a matter of time before you get water intrusion that causes droplets to condense in the center of the lens and mess up your video. I ran a fisheye for years this way, in one location it was never a problem, in the other location it was a constant problem.
Click to expand...
fenderman said:

Blue Iris 5 Fisheye Dewarping Capable? Hardware recommendations?

We're getting tired of our sluggish "high end" $4,000 Hikvision NVR and took the first step today buying the Blue Iris 5 software that was on sale here at IPcamtalk to see if a PC with BI will work better. Does anyone know if BI will dewarp fisheye cams? We have some of the Hikvision 12MP...
ipcamtalk.com ipcamtalk.com
You need to enable the 360 option in the video tab
Click to expand...


Thanks, @fenderman

I did several keyword searches before posting and did not find any posts that specifically addressed the settings in Blue Iris for the use of a 360 cam. I also suspect my server does not have enough CPU (Dell R710) even if dewarping was supported by BI in the live steam.

@bp2008,

I also appreciate the input here. This would be ceiling mounted in a climate controlled workshop so I am not too worried about moisture ingress. However, as you have stated (and from what I have seen in the live video from BI) this is indeed not going to be fun. It looks like I will need to return the camera and wait for a better solution in BI before purchasing another. The install is for a non-profit with a tiny budget and they cannot afford some of the more expensive options that support dewarp in the live view.

I really appreciate both of your quick responses!

Steve
 
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Steve_Texas said:
Thanks, @fenderman

I did several keyword searches before posting and did not find any posts that specifically addressed the settings in Blue Iris for the use of a 360 cam. I also suspect my server does not have enough CPU (Dell R710) even if dewarping was supported by BI in the live steam.

@bp2008,

I also appreciate the input here. This would be ceiling mounted in a climate controlled workshop so I am not too worried about moisture ingress. However, as you have stated (and from what I have seen in the live video from BI) this is indeed not going to be fun. It looks like I will need to return the camera and wait for a better solution in BI before purchasing another. The install is for a non-profit with a tiny budget and they cannot afford some of the more expensive options that support dewarp in the live view.

I really appreciate both of your quick responses!

Steve
Click to expand...
The r710 is likely drawing tons of power and can be out performed by a 150 dollar hp elitedesk with an 8th gen i5-8500. Depending on the actual processor(s) in the unit you may see a 100 percent improvement and save money on power consumption. That said even with a better system dewarping is not the way to go if using BI.
 
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