4.6.4 - October 21, 2017

fenderman

fenderman

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Mar 9, 2014
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4.6.4 - October 21, 2017

  • A new option on the Video tab in camera properties "Limit decoding unless required" can be used to lower CPU demand by only decoding video key frames instead of all frames. Generally an H.264, H.265 or MPEG4 stream will encode a key frame once each second, and this is usually enough for the motion detector to operate. When the software determines that ALL frames are required for webcasting or recording without direct-to-disc mode, all frames will be decoded. In addition, all frames will be decoded if the camera is full screen.

  • A new option on the Schedule tab in camera properties "Camera is only active when viewed remotely or full screen" can be used (in conjunction with un-checking the box Continue to display and stream video) to close the camera stream completely when not required for webcasting.

  • Following an ONVIF find/inspect operation, the "events subscription" was always enabled if the camera reported support for this. However this needlessly used network bandwidth if it was not required (in conjunction with camera triggering for example). The default is now OFF.

  • The camera border will be yellow when the motion detection is paused, such as after a PTZ command or PTZ preset position change.
 
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Interesting feature ("Limit decoding unless required"). It won't increase anyone's server capacity but it could certainly save some energy, especially for cameras that do not have motion detection enabled at all (e.g. continuous recording).

I gave it a spin with my 4k camera (10fps, 20 iframe) which is by far the heaviest CPU abuser among my cameras, and it dropped my CPU usage quite significantly. However there are some kinks to iron out. The camera properties -- general tab performs extremely poorly while this feature is enabled. It also reacts poorly to remote viewing. When I opened a web interface, that camera was temporarily black in my "All cameras" grid. This was just for a moment, then it was full motion video as normal. The larger concern came when closing the web interface. Watching it on the local monitor, the video feed for this camera would freeze for several seconds the moment the web interface was closed. Then it resumed decoding and displaying keyframes only, but from that point on it would be delayed several seconds behind real time.

I'll send these notes to Ken.
 
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@bp2008 4.6.4.3 is out

I do not have any 4k cameras so I'm not sure if it has addressed some of your concerns. I did noticed a big drop in CPU usage as well when I changed 4 starlight turrets I have to "Limit decoding unless required". And I did not see the cameras going black or see any freezing after I closed the web interface.
 
Hmm.. I already tried 4.6.4.3 and noticed that video was still being delayed (~10 seconds). It jumps back to normal low delay when transitioning to decoding all frames, but when it transitions back it freezes until the stream is delayed by about 10 seconds and then proceeds to decode only keyframes, about 10 seconds late.
 
All my inactive cameras show up now in the all camera view from the console.. Use to i could click a certain profile and it would then display and turn on my inactive cameras for whichever profile i chose. "hiding disabled cameras" has always been checked and is what use to hide the inactive cameras. Any ideas what caused this?
 
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Amazing, I checked the "Limit decoding unless required" button on all 5 of my cameras and CUP utilization (with the gui closed and me chrome remote desktoped in) dropped to less than 7% for BI! Prior to this option it would have been in the 50's.
With the BI open CPU was in the 30's where before it was over 90%. With BI gui closed and chrome viewing it via UI2 CPU was in the upper 80's.
It's now more efficient, CPU wise, to view using BI gui!

So, this option, does it or how does it affect the recorded video? My cameras are set to continuous recording direct to disk and BI is looking for motion.
Also, given this option reduces CPU utilization significantly, what would that point to regarding my earlier questions about CPU usage in this thread? BI running VERY high CPU 95%+ (see Pic)

I think this would certainly allow me to add additional cameras. Prior to this option, each additional camera added a significant load to the CPU. At 100% CPU, I would think it would struggle to add more cameras even if the megapixles/second were not maxed out.

Thanks for highlighting this option .
davidk
 
Tinman said:
Don't like this new feature myself, guess we need "hide inactive cams" now on the context menu :)
Click to expand...
no...you simply uncheck include hidden cameras and clips in the group settings...select the group to the left of the ptz controls then settings...
 
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fenderman said:
no...you simply uncheck include hidden cameras and clips in the group settings...select the group to the left of the ptz controls then settings...
Click to expand...

But this cam is not a hidden cam. It is only active on profile 7.....so when I am on default profile I have to look at the disabled cam in the BI desktop. One cam is not that big of deal, but some have several cams that are only active in certain profiles. Right now the only way around is to make the cam hidden, but then it does not show up in the desktop. It will in remote view.
 
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I agree Tinman. I am now faced with 7 cameras that are only active in 1 profile that used to be hidden when not in that profile.
They now all show as inactive alongside the active cams.
 
Thanks Fenderman, up until the update, this worked as you say. But now this no longer works.
Before the update, unchecking the "Continue to display and stream while inactive " would not show any inactive cam that is inactive in the profile you are using.
Now even with this unchecked, the camera is showing even though inactive.
I understand you can make the camera hidden, but you will have to manually unhide the cameras when you need them ( not a big deal.)
It was so convenient before the update that only active cameras related to the profile you select were shown.
It just kept everything tidy IMHO.
 
That would work as well, the ability to have a cam hidden on selected profiles.....but for now it is just "Active during profiles:

hid.JPG
 
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Millernet said:
Thanks Fenderman, up until the update, this worked as you say. But now this no longer works.
Before the update, unchecking the "Continue to display and stream while inactive " would not show any inactive cam that is inactive in the profile you are using.
Now even with this unchecked, the camera is showing even though inactive.
I understand you can make the camera hidden, but you will have to manually unhide the cameras when you need them ( not a big deal.)
It was so convenient before the update that only active cameras related to the profile you select were shown.
It just kept everything tidy IMHO.
Click to expand...

fenderman was saying, in addition to making the cameras inactive during certain profiles, you should also make them hidden during those same profiles.

Are you saying that the "hidden" flag is not tied to profiles?
 
hI BP2008, The hidden camera is not the problem please let me try to explain better.

For example,

I have one camera that is set to show active in profile 1 only;

ScreenHunter 01.png


Then in camera properties, schedule, the box is unchecked ;

ScreenHunter 02.png


Before the update, this would hide the inactive camera on the desktop while only showing the cameras that were active.
Now it shows inactive cameras all the time.
 
What we want is to not see the "inactive cams" on a profile when that the cam is not active. It just clutters the matrix and makes all the other cam views smaller.....why would you want to see that the cam is "inactive" ?? I have already tried to explain this to Ken, then he added "view remotely or full screen" to the camera's schedule tab which does not apply here.
 
You know what doesn't make sense, all the threads on CPU utilization and what to do for it and none of it made any difference in my utilization till that 'limit decoding' button.
If the stuff Fenderman goes on about in all those CPU threads had any meaningful impact on utilization people wouldn't keep asking about it.
Most of the threads just kinda end with the OP still looking for resolution. I guess inactive cameras is a more exciting topic.
 
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