5.2.7.0 - RTSP sub-streams for high-MP cameras

[bp2008]

I have my cams set to take a pic every 10 minutes. The pic is a shitty substream pic now instead of a shot from the main stream. Where/How do I change that so I get some nice crisp full-res images?

You need to turn off the sub stream. This is one of the ways a sub stream is a compromise.

While it is not impossible for Blue Iris to begin decoding the main stream each time this snapshot is needed, it would be complex and bug-prone. In cases like yours where a lot (all) of your cameras are configured to save a snapshot at the same interval, then it would cause tremendous load spikes that could easily overwhelm the system and cause instability.

 

[sdkid]

You need to turn off the sub stream. This is one of the ways a sub stream is a compromise.

While it is not impossible for Blue Iris to begin decoding the main stream each time this snapshot is needed, it would be complex and bug-prone. In cases like yours where a lot (all) of your cameras are configured to save a snapshot at the same interval, then it would cause tremendous load spikes that could easily overwhelm the system and cause instability.

Damn..... So I would need to decide on a cam or two to get nice snapshot pics from....

OR.... a camera-side solution using my old unused Synology 212???

 

[sdkid]

I wonder if there is a way BI could use ONVIF to have the cam send a full-res snapshot.... let the cam process it and send, BI would just receive and write the jpg to storage... ???

 

[IAmATeaf]

I too noticed that a picture taken with sub streams enabled is from the low res sub stream. Having said this I was getting random high res pictures as well but I’ve since monitored and all the pics I have are low res. So it might have been me messing with the setting why I randomly got a few high res pictures.

 

[sdkid]

I too noticed that a picture taken with sub streams enabled is from the low res sub stream. Having said this I was getting random high res pictures as well but I’ve since monitored and all the pics I have are low res. So it might have been me messing with the setting why I randomly got a few high res pictures.

I sent in a question about this to the support email. We'll see what they say... maybe a solution is coming...

 

[IAmATeaf]

I sort of agree with bp2008 in that switching streams to take a picture might be more trouble than it’s worth, especially if there is a delay in switching streams.

 

[sdkid]

Hmmmmm.....

the cam on the far left is the one I turned substream OFF. That cam was motion triggered-- the other two did Not trigger to record the white car pulling in the driveway or my wife walking in.....



I re-configured the zones for those two cams. The driveway is a full hotspot. hmmmmmm.....
EDIT--- my zone settings were gone. I did them, but maybe I didn't save?? don't know..... they are in now.

 

[wittaj]

Did you confirm motion settings when you go to substream as they do not transfer over from the settings in mainstream. One of my cams for some reason the motion detection in BI was turned off in substream, so I ended up going in to each cam and making sure or resetting the motion for the substreams.

 

[sdkid]

Did you confirm motion settings when you go to substream as they do not transfer over from the settings in mainstream. One of my cams for some reason the motion detection in BI was turned off, so I ended up going in to each cam and making sure or resetting the motion for the substreams.

doing that right now---- and indeed--- the settings I created for the substreams on those two cams were not present. odd.... I know I did it because the grid squares are so much larger compared to the regular stream... I made them again and they are in place. Could I have CANCELLED out of that last night instead of hitting OK... on 2 cams?? heh....

 

[wittaj]

I make changes all the time and forget to actually save them LOL, Especially ones that are buried a layer or two in. I back out a layer thinking I may have to change something else and then hit cancel out of habit LOL.

 

[sdkid]

I make changes all the time and forget to actually save them LOL, Especially ones that are buried a layer or two in. I back out a layer thinking I may have to change something else and then hit cancel out of habit LOL.

Uhhhhhh.....
my daughter just pulled in and only the Left cam triggered. This was AFTER I double-checked the zones AND saved them-- They are still in effect right now.....
The middle cam absolutely should have triggered---that is IN the Hotspot zone...



That is weird....
Here are the middle cam zones...


EDIT: btw-- anybody want to buy a cherry 1993 Dodge Caravan with a plush red interior?

 

[wittaj]

what is make time and trigger size - did those get messed up in substream?

 

[sdkid]

what is make time and trigger size - did those get messed up in substream?

I made the object size much smaller.... should be MORE sensitive and easily triggered.... but it didn't GET triggered for some reason.

EDIT--- can't mess with it any more--- leaving overnight. I killed the substream on that cam for now...

btw--- that took my CPU up to 40%+ with 2 4mp cams running full res. and 4 other cams running substream

 

[bp2008]

I wonder if there is a way BI could use ONVIF to have the cam send a full-res snapshot.... let the cam process it and send, BI would just receive and write the jpg to storage... ???

Thats sounds like a good idea. There is the potential to get better image quality from the snapshot that way because it doesn't need to be compressed twice (just sensor -> jpeg instead of sensor -> H.26x > jpeg). Unless of course you wanted BI to include its own overlays. Then it would get a second layer of jpeg compression.

In my experience though, dahua cameras encode jpeg snapshots in RGB Limited (16-235) range which sucks. And this probably varies by camera/firmware.

I too noticed that a picture taken with sub streams enabled is from the low res sub stream. Having said this I was getting random high res pictures as well but I’ve since monitored and all the pics I have are low res. So it might have been me messing with the setting why I randomly got a few high res pictures.

Possibly you had that camera maximized while BI took the snapshot sometimes, so BI already had the main stream active.

 

[JNDATHP]

Did you confirm motion settings when you go to substream as they do not transfer over from the settings in mainstream. One of my cams for some reason the motion detection in BI was turned off in substream, so I ended up going in to each cam and making sure or resetting the motion for the substreams.

How are you selecting the sub stream motion settings?

 

[IAmATeaf]

What app is that screenshot from, is it the Android app? Not seen that before.

 

[IAmATeaf]

I make changes all the time and forget to actually save them LOL, Especially ones that are buried a layer or two in. I back out a layer thinking I may have to change something else and then hit cancel out of habit LOL.

If you flick between tabs within the cam settings then this for some settings doesn’t save the changes so I’m now in the habit of making a change to a tab then clicking OK and then reopening the cam settings.

 

[b0bthebuilder]

What app is that screenshot from, is it the Android app? Not seen that before.

UI3

 

[IAmATeaf]

UI3

Ah thanks, only ever used UI3 for viewing, never ever configured via it which is why I never recognised the dialog.

 

[wittaj]

@JNDATHP - unless it has changed on a most recent version, when I upgraded to a version that had substreams, on the cameras that I utilize substream on, the motion setting changed between mainstream and substream. So I went into each motion setting on the substream cams and confirmed they were still what I wanted and then saved them.

But like I can go into the motion settings and say draw a zone D in the sub and then eliminate the substream and run the main stream and the zone D is not present in the main stream. Or do vice versa.

I don't know if that makes any sense. I guess what I am getting at is that it appears (at least for some people), than when you add the substream to the camera, you should assume that the motion settings are then set to BI default for the substream and you should go in and tweak them to what you had or close to what you had as a main stream.