Blue Iris kills my i7 pc

[Igroup]

Hello,

I've been searching for a while for a good software, PC based for my ip cameras. I was hoping for some video analytics, as found on Sighthound, but I stumbled over BI because is decent and price is right.
My setup at this point is 4 cameras, PTZ, 2MP each, 1080p at 30fps live and recording max. Planning on installing a few more, at least 4 more. The PC is a Dell optiplex business class, with an I7 4790 quad processor, 16 GB ram and 2 GB AMD Radeon dedicated video. 2 TB internal spare hdd just for surveillance.

My BI settings are live / recording at 1080p and 30fps with a 10 Mb buffer (keep loosing cams, one by one every few minutes, like they restart, I read on the forum that increasing the buffer will fix the issue, it doesn't in my case). I record 24/7 continuous, with BI extension video and h264 compression. I've tried email and sms and they work good on motion detection. I also have enable motion detection. I have HQ snapshots, etc.

In other words, I setup the software for maximum that my cameras are capable (no brand cams, China, they work good). So, I guess that I'm asking a lot from BI.

So far, my problems are:

-image quality live and playback is somehow lower quality than other softwares used. I assume I can use the web interface to adjust cameras, but it looks washed of.

-I keep loosing cameras (network) every 5 minutes or so. Just for 10 seconds, and they reconnect. One at the time, not the same camera, but random. I am running a smart switch, Netgear, and I know that neither the switch or router is the problem. I can run any other softwares (I spy, Sighthound, UC2) and web browser in the same time with BI and none of them drop the connection. So it's a setting or something in BI that needs attention.

-last problem, the CPU. I have no antivirus running or something else in the computer. Without BI, my processor averages at maybe 2%. With BI on, setup at maximum recording and so as specified above, I average 95+% CPU. Ram is fine, is low. And that's with 4 cameras.

I hope I can get some answers. I am tired of testing softwares, I wanna stick with BI but it needs to work. And 4 cameras killing my CPU is not acceptable for any reason. I run all 3 above specified softwares (Sighthound, UC2, iSpy) at full settings with recording plus 4 I explorer windows with each cam on main stream, and image is perfect on all, recording works as suppose to, all at 30fps 1080p with motion and analitycs, there is no lag or disconnect on none of them and CPU goes in average to 35%. Once I will ad BI, all fans kick in, CPU is stuck in 100 and it works, with BI high priority.
I understand that I could lower frames or resolution, record direct to disk or some other .... I won't do anything that will lower resolution or frame or take some of the possible features of the software out. Running 4 cams and having a 80+ CPU average without even turning on the web server , without all possible implementations, is not acceptable.
Am I doing something wrong, can I get it to work right, with a lower consumption of resources (planning on adding more cams) or that's the best I can do?

Thank you!

 

[fenderman]

Welcome to the forum...first thing to do is run all your cameras direct to disk ..record tab>file format....set it to direct to disk and bvr..this will lower cpu use dramatically...
Direct to disk will not lower resolution...every other software uses this method..you need to use direct to disk...
as far as dropouts...email support..you may not be pulling the correct stream..

 

[Igroup]

Thank you for direct to disk suggestion. I will try it, and report the change. All other softwares mentioned do h264 compression, in AVI format. The stream is right, same setup as Sighthound and ISpy. The yellow circle come in, stays for 20 seconds and still plays image, freezes 2-3 seconds on image, looses image for 2 seconds and I'm back online. It all happens fast, but is annoying loosing one camera (random camera) every 5 minutes or so. Tried to check logs but nothing. I will try to play with the buffer, up and down to see what's up. If I run only one camera, does the same. With two, same, random. With 4, same, random. Router and switch doesn't report anything, since the connection is actually never lost. It just looks like that in BI.

 

[fenderman]

Avi format is not mutually exclusive of direct to disk..the other software does not re-encode the video..blue iris can record direct to disk in avi (avi is a terrible format though limited to 1gb files..bvr is not only more efficient but allows you to view the video before the file is closed)...
As far as your connection issues...you probably need to email support..what camera do you have? what stream are you using?

 

[bp2008]

Hello,

I've been searching for a while for a good software, PC based for my ip cameras. I was hoping for some video analytics, as found on Sighthound, but I stumbled over BI because is decent and price is right.
My setup at this point is 4 cameras, PTZ, 2MP each, 1080p at 30fps live and recording max. Planning on installing a few more, at least 4 more. The PC is a Dell optiplex business class, with an I7 4790 quad processor, 16 GB ram and 2 GB AMD Radeon dedicated video. 2 TB internal spare hdd just for surveillance.

Good choice of PC. Graphics card not needed if you don't play games on it, because Blue Iris sure won't make good use of it.

My BI settings are live / recording at 1080p and 30fps with a 10 Mb buffer (keep loosing cams, one by one every few minutes, like they restart, I read on the forum that increasing the buffer will fix the issue, it doesn't in my case). I record 24/7 continuous, with BI extension video and h264 compression. I've tried email and sms and they work good on motion detection. I also have enable motion detection. I have HQ snapshots, etc.

In other words, I setup the software for maximum that my cameras are capable (no brand cams, China, they work good). So, I guess that I'm asking a lot from BI.

Unbranded cameras are not usually the most reliable. In the camera web interfaces, try setting the iframe interval to be equal to the frame rate, or one iframe per second. This may help with the dropouts It also may help to reduce the bit rate if you have set it really high.

So far, my problems are:

-image quality live and playback is somehow lower quality than other softwares used. I assume I can use the web interface to adjust cameras, but it looks washed of.

Screenshots? (full resolution please)

-I keep loosing cameras (network) every 5 minutes or so. Just for 10 seconds, and they reconnect. One at the time, not the same camera, but random. I am running a smart switch, Netgear, and I know that neither the switch or router is the problem. I can run any other softwares (I spy, Sighthound, UC2) and web browser in the same time with BI and none of them drop the connection. So it's a setting or something in BI that needs attention.

Again, could be that the i-frame trick will help.

-last problem, the CPU. I have no antivirus running or something else in the computer. Without BI, my processor averages at maybe 2%. With BI on, setup at maximum recording and so as specified above, I average 95+% CPU. Ram is fine, is low. And that's with 4 cameras.

Check the task manager. If in windows 8, use the details tab. If win 7, use the processes tab. What is blueiris.exe's CPU usage, specifically?

This kind of extremely high CPU usage could explain all your problems. However I don't know how you would get that high with just 4 cameras. Possibly your h264 encoding settings are too high. In the part that has values like ultrafast, superfast, veryfast, each of those choices strongly affects CPU usage in typical h264 encoders. Of those, ultrafast is the one the uses the least CPU and veryfast uses the most. Of course you may be able to get away without re-encoding at all if you use direct-to-disc like fenderman suggested.

I hope I can get some answers. I am tired of testing softwares, I wanna stick with BI but it needs to work. And 4 cameras killing my CPU is not acceptable for any reason.

Agreed, there is no reason that should be happening.

I run all 3 above specified softwares (Sighthound, UC2, iSpy) at full settings with recording plus 4 I explorer windows with each cam on main stream, and image is perfect on all, recording works as suppose to, all at 30fps 1080p with motion and analitycs, there is no lag or disconnect on none of them and CPU goes in average to 35%.

I would actually expect CPU usage to be lower than that with Blue Iris once direct to disc is enabled. Closer to 20-25%...

Once I will ad BI, all fans kick in, CPU is stuck in 100 and it works, with BI high priority.

Leave the priority at Normal. Higher priority combined with high CPU usage can cause other system issues as other processes get starved out of CPU time.

I understand that I could lower frames or resolution, record direct to disk or some other .... I won't do anything that will lower resolution or frame or take some of the possible features of the software out. Running 4 cams and having a 80+ CPU average without even turning on the web server , without all possible implementations, is not acceptable.

Direct to disc will disable some things; most notably it records the stream exactly as it arrives from the camera. Blue Iris' timestamp overlay text will not appear so that has to be provided by the camera, though I believe Blue Iris can embed the overlay text during clip export... Blue Iris will also not be able to rotate the video before recording but that is needed very uncommonly anyway.

Am I doing something wrong, can I get it to work right, with a lower consumption of resources (planning on adding more cams) or that's the best I can do?

Try the above and hope for the best!

Thank you!

You are welcome. Thank you for being so detailed!

 

[Igroup]

Thank you again. I will post tonight or tomorrow some screenshots. Image in BI and other software. CPU usage and some others. I do keep BI format on video files due non limitations and preview files live. I love that. Will search for a conversion software to another format for later use, in case of an incident, let's say. The h264 compresion is on on all softwares, some allows only AVI format, some let me do other formats too. Kept them on AVI with h264 for testing.
No brand cameras from China based on topsee / seetong products, TI3 processors cameras I believe. They offer a free software UC2 that is limited, but works.
Also, yes, my h264 settings are set high, I believe on super fast. Reason is simple - I need to be able to conserve the image quality, with all cost - not the cost of the CPU. I believe that direct to disk will do a much better job since any compression means loss, and hopefully will drop the CPU usage.

I will try to figure out the iFrame on the cameras web interface, I didn't see anything like that yet.

Thank you all for your responses, is all very appreciated.

 

[fenderman]

You dont need conversion software...BI can export to usable formats..
h.264 compression is done by the camera..not the software..my point is that none of the software is reencoding the video...they all use a form of "direct to disk"...

 

[bp2008]

iframe may be called i-frame or GOP or keyframe or may not even be an option depending on the manufacturer.

 

[Igroup]

OK, let's do some testing. Same setup, different PC, same specs but 8 GB RAM. Will only run 3 cams, one is down for now.
I will use Print screen for all my shots, if anything else need it, just ask. McAfee antivirus on this system is on and running.
Shot on computer running plain, just with browser on iptalk, AV and windows services:

Going smooth, right? OK. My next shoot will be one cam settings over the web. Might be a few shots, just to show settings. As said, cams are based on TI3 chipset from topsee.

As you can see, it does H264 compression at 1080p at 30fps. I've also notice the iframe at 100. what will be the right adjustment?

Next, 3 cams in web browser, with recording, all same settings:

and CPU:

Now, lets get to the software supplied, UC2, and leave all this running:

all 3 cams same settings, all recording. and now the CPU. Please note that I've seen McAfee rising CPU cycles, I just left it alone!

Now, being a new PC I did not installed Sighthound or ISpy yet, but the CPU stays lows even with these on. As far as I can see, so far McAfee gives me some spikes, but its usually disabled.
Lets see BI in full throttle, with some specswill leave everything else running too):

Cam one will go down, see yellow circle, and will come up in about 5 sec.

Now, cam settings (all cams the same, but ports, etc):

And now, the CPU:

I see BI at 45-50 average. Not bad yet, was bad before.

Now, I will close all programs but AV and change BI on direct to disk, to see any improvements:

and lets check the CPU:

Big difference in here, so YES ! That's the answer on CPU cycles!

Now, as you can see a cam will still go down. My iframe on webpage is set to 100, don't know what my setting must be or if helps with cams losing connection.
I am not able to post any images software vs BI display due the fact that is night right now, and the infrared won't help. I will try tomorrow.

Any suggestions so far with all this info?

Thanks

 

[fenderman]

match the i-frame interval to your fps.

 

[Igroup]

In the BI or on the cameras itself over the web?

 

[fenderman]

In the BI or on the cameras itself over the web?

In the camera it self via the browser..thats the only place you can adjust the iframe interval..

 

[Igroup]

Tested after last night modification, basically changed to direct to disk. The CPU averages 12%, and is wonderful. I just changed the iFrames today from 100 default to 30, on each camera web interface, I will report later.
In the mean time, some pics during the day, using PrintScreen, on UC2:

and BI:

I did not play with any settings, adjust the camera's color / brightness nor adjust any focus / zoom or so.
I will keep an eye on the logs to see if cameras will restart today or not. Tonight I will take HQ snapshots in the softwares itself, and I will post. I need to setup the directory, did not had the time to do it yet and I have to head to work now.
Sorry for the second screen, forgot that I'm conected to multiple monitors.

Thanks

 

[Igroup]

Still loosing signal!

McAfee off, disabled, with firewall disabled:

Status in BI: (will check conection for example on CAM2, which is 192.168.199.192 afterwards)

Logs on router, between 9:52 and 9:54

Well, no drop outs on 192.168.199.192. As mentioned before, running on iexplorer or UC2 conection stays alive.

Lets see cam settings in browser now:

We have a 300 buffer, one setting that could be changed?

We have binning at 60Hz and default colors:

and we have defaults bitrate at 5000 Main stream, changed iframe from 100 to 30, 30fps:

Lets check some BI config:

and CPU:

Well, as seen, it looks ok, at least from my point of view, here, but I keep loosing connection.

Any suggestions?
Thank you!

 

[bp2008]

When I originally discovered that stability could improve when setting iframe interval equal to frame rate, I was using cameras with the same firmware you have there (though an older version). They were 5 MP @ 10 FPS cams, and I also had to keep bit rate at 4000 or less. The thing with them is they would be stable during the night no matter what I did. Do your cams also drop out at night when it is dark outside except for the infrared?

 

[Igroup]

Yes, they drop no matter what

 

[Igroup]

I will try tonight to bypass my network, use a switch right on the modem, plug the cams and PC on there. That should take care of any firewalls or any other networking issues.
Next, I will try to change in web interface of the camera a lower bitrate, as 4000, and maybe try to change from cbr (constant bit rate) to vbr (variable).
If this doesn't solve it, I don't know what will.
At the point of testing this morning, I forgot to mention that Cam1 is set to frame compatibility mode, and still looses signal with other 2 (one at the time).
Also, I just realized that I am using direct to disk, and text overlay is still there (see right top corner TCI Surveillance). Interesting!

I hope I can get them to work right. I am really happy with the CPU at this point. It has to be something that I'm missing.

Thank you!

 

[fenderman]

The cameras own overlay will always record even direct to disk...blue iris's overlay will not record however it will still display on the live view...you can export the video with the blue iris timestamp even if you used direct to disk..

 

[Igroup]

Good to know. Thank you. That corner overlay is from BI, in live view.

 

[40th Floor]

-last problem, the CPU...I average 95+% CPU

How about a picture tells a thousand stories?

Maybe not. How about this?

Look closely at the upper-left of the status panel in the image below. That is the remote system's CPU use and CPU MHz according to Windows WMI. This is an Atom Bay Trail CPU, speed-stepped down to 498 MHz, around which it generally runs no matter how many cameras are live streaming and recording. And this is mostly the system using the CPU, not CAMNET. The CAMNET server is running on this remote machine, for which the CPU stats apply, not the client. Both could run on the same machine. This particular surveillance system has a low-cost machine for running CAMNET server, tucked away out of sight.