Dahua object detection/tracking in NX Witness (DW Spectrum)

[WallaWalla]

Hello everyone,

New here, just getting in to the world of IP cameras and have already learned so much following this community, so thank you!
I'm not sure if this post should live here or somewhere else but figured I would start here.

I have an EmpireTech IPC-Color4K-T flashed with the latest Dahua firmware in an effort to get the in-camera analytics working in NX Witness (DW Spectrum). I know most here use Blue Iris but if anyone with DW Spectrum and Dahua analytics experience can comment I would greatly appreciate it!

I have been able to get object detection to work in DW Spectrum only if I create an analytics event rule for that camera.

Essentially these are my questions/issues:

1. Should object detection always be running regardless of what event rules I have configured in DW Spectrum? E.g. I have a specific trip wire rule that may send out a push notification if a person is detected, but I still would want to be able to view live and archive footage and be able to see the detected objects/metadata even if they didn't trigger a particular rule. Currently I can only see objects in the objects tab that were explicitly triggered by a rule.
2. Should the live object search feature work in DW Spectrum for this camera/analytics plugin? I.e. open the camera feed and click on the object search button on the camera to see objects detected with bounding boxes live.

I know this data exists because Dahua's live view interface shows the bounding boxes around objects as they are detected/tracked. I'm just not sure if this information is sent to DW Spectrum via the Dahua analytics plugin.

Any insight/guidance on the above is greatly appreciated!

 

[WallaWalla]

Just wanted to follow up on this thread as I received an update from NX Witness support. Apparently it is a limitation of the Dahua API where it passes the metadata over the event notification message instead of using the streaming protocol.

This means that a rule must be configured in the NX/DW system in order to receive any object detection/metadata and also why it means that live object detection/tracking, advanced object search, etc. don't really work with the Dahua cameras.

I know I posted this in the Dahua forum so there is bias here I'm sure but from everyone's experience with home security/surveillance, how important are these features in all actuality? I am torn between finding a different camera manufacturer that has better native support with the platform I am set on using. But at the end of the day I just want a quality camera that will be able to detect people reliably and send meaningful notifications to help keep my property and home secure.

Any thoughts/opinions are appreciated!