Pogo
Getting the hang of it
I seem to recall Direct-to-Disk and maybe another key function or two not being available in the BI demo version in the past. Can anyone definitively say whether or not this i s still the case -- if it actually ever was?
Are Evaluation Versions Now Fully Functional?
- Thread starter Pogo
- Start date
The evaluation version isn't limited except for the "Evaluation" watermark. Since it was released, direct-to-disk has been an available feature in both evaluation and registered modes.
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Pogo
Getting the hang of it
Thanks for the reply.
But actually, Direct-to-Disk was indeed non-functional in earlier versions according to several references I discovered after posting.
That said, I'm asking now due to a single 4K camera in solo pulling over 30% CPU / 8% GPU on a newly set up Win10 Pro i5-9500 test rig with 16GB of RAM. All the usual optimization bases covered. The CPU otherwise is still in the 10% range..., for one 4K camera.
The live stream also looks like crap which is the reason I'm testing -- to compare the poor 4K performance between my i7-4790 running 5.7.4.2 (flawlessly over the past year otherwise) and this box running 5.8.9.3 hoping to see some improvement in the 4K / H.265 implementation.
There isn't any.
But actually, Direct-to-Disk was indeed non-functional in earlier versions according to several references I discovered after posting.
That said, I'm asking now due to a single 4K camera in solo pulling over 30% CPU / 8% GPU on a newly set up Win10 Pro i5-9500 test rig with 16GB of RAM. All the usual optimization bases covered. The CPU otherwise is still in the 10% range..., for one 4K camera.
The live stream also looks like crap which is the reason I'm testing -- to compare the poor 4K performance between my i7-4790 running 5.7.4.2 (flawlessly over the past year otherwise) and this box running 5.8.9.3 hoping to see some improvement in the 4K / H.265 implementation.
There isn't any.
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As I mentioned in your other thread, just because a camera offers H265 doesn't mean it handles it efficiently.
And if it is the same camera you were testing in that thread where you have to drop the camera down in resolution just to be able to use H264, that is telling that it isn't a very efficient camera when it comes to codec.
As such, your issue could be more of a function of a crappy camera codec that can't be fixed as it relates to BI. If the camera is using any special additional codec that you can't change as part of their H265 then BI will choke on it regardless of the horsepower you throw at it.
My 4th gen doesn't go to 30% when soloing out a 4K camera and is below 10% with way more than 1 camera LOL.
You may have something else going on - is BI excluded from antivirus?
Was it a clean install of Windows using Microsoft Media Creation Tool?
If you disable that camera, does the CPU drop to 0% - if it doesn't, then there is an issue somewhere.
And if it is the same camera you were testing in that thread where you have to drop the camera down in resolution just to be able to use H264, that is telling that it isn't a very efficient camera when it comes to codec.
As such, your issue could be more of a function of a crappy camera codec that can't be fixed as it relates to BI. If the camera is using any special additional codec that you can't change as part of their H265 then BI will choke on it regardless of the horsepower you throw at it.
My 4th gen doesn't go to 30% when soloing out a 4K camera and is below 10% with way more than 1 camera LOL.
You may have something else going on - is BI excluded from antivirus?
Was it a clean install of Windows using Microsoft Media Creation Tool?
If you disable that camera, does the CPU drop to 0% - if it doesn't, then there is an issue somewhere.
Pogo
Getting the hang of it
All of that covered, dude. And I'm comparing these results to my i7/4790 as clearly mentioned.
Amcrest T2599 also included this time around. Same crappy stream in BI even at H.264, but not quite as pronounced. This is where I'm most disappointed since you also may recall that H.265 utilization is hardly the objective here. Quite the opposite for any number of reasons in my particular situation. The other cameras didn't provide an H.264 option, hence the frustration factor and inconclusive result there.
However...,
Both cameras work fine using H.265 in VLC, my Dahua NV4108, and look almost as smooth as BI in freaking tinyCam on an Android TV box.
After weeks of messing around with this and two new servers later, Blue Iris is the only contributing constant left in the mix. Kinda hard to rationalize it being anything else at this point -- and I'm not the only one who has or is wrestling with this issue as you are well aware. I just don't happen to buy the 'gotta be something else' crap any more because I've tried everything else. Cables, switches, monitors, servers, HDDs, SSDs, memory..., even multiple versions of Blue Iris with two fresh Eval boxes running side by side right now into the same switch with the same cameras. Every configuration permutation each camera has to offer including the latest Amcrest firmware and multiple beta variations directly from Reolink senior level support as they continue to try improving their own protocol implementations, particularly for their older 4K hardware platforms.
The real bitch is that re-encoded MP4 exports from both cameras look beautiful even from the shitty raw h.265 .bvr clips. That's fine and dandy for those who are only concerned with that functionality. My use is primarily live surveillance via desktop mode with the occasional need or desire for a full screen solo'd display that doesn't jerk and jump at every I-frame or just freeze for several frames when a school bus enters the scene and just disappears by the time the stream returns.
With all the above considered, I still can't help wondering if there aren't some type of lingering performance handicaps inherent in the Evaluation Versions.
An i5/9500 should handle what I'm throwing at it in its sleep. Hell, so should an i5/6500.
That's why I asked.
Amcrest T2599 also included this time around. Same crappy stream in BI even at H.264, but not quite as pronounced. This is where I'm most disappointed since you also may recall that H.265 utilization is hardly the objective here. Quite the opposite for any number of reasons in my particular situation. The other cameras didn't provide an H.264 option, hence the frustration factor and inconclusive result there.
However...,
Both cameras work fine using H.265 in VLC, my Dahua NV4108, and look almost as smooth as BI in freaking tinyCam on an Android TV box.
After weeks of messing around with this and two new servers later, Blue Iris is the only contributing constant left in the mix. Kinda hard to rationalize it being anything else at this point -- and I'm not the only one who has or is wrestling with this issue as you are well aware. I just don't happen to buy the 'gotta be something else' crap any more because I've tried everything else. Cables, switches, monitors, servers, HDDs, SSDs, memory..., even multiple versions of Blue Iris with two fresh Eval boxes running side by side right now into the same switch with the same cameras. Every configuration permutation each camera has to offer including the latest Amcrest firmware and multiple beta variations directly from Reolink senior level support as they continue to try improving their own protocol implementations, particularly for their older 4K hardware platforms.
The real bitch is that re-encoded MP4 exports from both cameras look beautiful even from the shitty raw h.265 .bvr clips. That's fine and dandy for those who are only concerned with that functionality. My use is primarily live surveillance via desktop mode with the occasional need or desire for a full screen solo'd display that doesn't jerk and jump at every I-frame or just freeze for several frames when a school bus enters the scene and just disappears by the time the stream returns.
With all the above considered, I still can't help wondering if there aren't some type of lingering performance handicaps inherent in the Evaluation Versions.
An i5/9500 should handle what I'm throwing at it in its sleep. Hell, so should an i5/6500.
That's why I asked.
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So for kicks I just put a demo on an old i3 M370 chip, so pretty poor with a benchmark of 1147 and loaded up just one 4K camera - the 4K/X.
With the camera disabled, the CPU is at 0%.
With it solo'd it was at 12%
But the video is fine, the recording is fine. And I can watch the active bvr file while recording.
With the camera disabled, the CPU is at 0%.
With it solo'd it was at 12%
But the video is fine, the recording is fine. And I can watch the active bvr file while recording.
Pogo
Getting the hang of it
Care to post a video? And was Direct-to-Disk or anything else non-functional in such an old demo?
That's sorta what the thread is about..., functionality of Eval Versions.
That's sorta what the thread is about..., functionality of Eval Versions.
Well the demo was what I pulled from the website today, so the latest version.
Best I can tell everything is working. I believe you cannot watch a playback of an open actively saving bvr file unless it is direct-to-disk?
Unfortunately, the laptop is at my friends house as he is trying out BI as we are installing a system at his house with an NVR and he finds that too clunky.
Let me see if I can load it up on another old laptop laying around and see if it performs similar.
Have you ever thought of doing a temp de-register your license and apply your license to the new computer to confirm that the eval isn't limiting anything and then deregister and re-apply to the old computer?
Best I can tell everything is working. I believe you cannot watch a playback of an open actively saving bvr file unless it is direct-to-disk?
Unfortunately, the laptop is at my friends house as he is trying out BI as we are installing a system at his house with an NVR and he finds that too clunky.
Let me see if I can load it up on another old laptop laying around and see if it performs similar.
Have you ever thought of doing a temp de-register your license and apply your license to the new computer to confirm that the eval isn't limiting anything and then deregister and re-apply to the old computer?
Pogo
Getting the hang of it
Brain cramp on my end and actually answers the main question by itself. My bad.
The frustration level is looking for anything to explain the glitchy performance at this point.
Nah. Don't bother. It would be an irrelevant exercise at best as relates to my situation. But thanks anyway.
That's what I'm trying to avoid.
Sorry for the side mini-rant. I'm just stumped on this one.
'Preciate the input as usual.