Newbie needs direction/advice for a NVR

[UncleCharlie456]

Hello all . . . Pretty new to the video game, so looking for some recommendations. I love the cliff notes, but didn't find anything to answer this specific question. (Wish I had read a lot of that earlier, though)

I have 4 Amcrest cameras (and adding a few more). I started using Amcrest cloud to just get off the ground, but as I add cameras that becomes more expensive. So I am ready to invest in an NVR. One of my cameras is the 5MP fisheye edition from Amcrest, so I need de-warping functionality. As as I can tell, my options are as follows:

1) Amcrest NVR. Although I am tech savvy (with PC/network, not video), this was my first choice as the simplest route. I've enjoyed playing with the new cameras, but don't intend to make it a hobby, so KISS would be good for me. Unfortunately, I learned from Amcrest today that there is no de-warping feature with their NVR. I assume there is an option to download off a video stream and use some 3rd party software to de-warp, but sorta defeats the purpose.

2) Blue Iris. I originally thought I would do this, based on all the great things I hear, but this will cost more in hardware and I've decided, as I said, to KISS.

3) A third-party NVR. I'm ready to go this route, but need some recommendations. Something on the relative low end (I don't need the higher end features, such as RAID or facial recognition),. but that can at least dewarp .

I suppose I could always just dispense with the fisheye camera and consider it a loss, but I haven't given up yet! If any more information would be helpful, please let me ,now.


Uncle Charlie

 

[wittaj]

I would recommend you strongly consider a Blue Iris/computer combo as an NVR. Keep in mind an NVR is a stripped down computer after all....and isn't true plug-n-play like people believe. You still have to dial the cameras into your setting. Once you do that, might as well go with something that has the best chance of working with many different camera brands. And I have found Blue Iris to be more robust and easier than an NVR. As always, YMMV...

When I was looking at upgrading my NVR as my kit NVR was limited, once I realized that not all NVRs are created equal, and once I priced out a good one, it was cheaper to buy a refurbished computer than an NVR. You don't need to buy components and build one.

Many of these refurbished computers are business class computers that have come off lease. The one I bought I kid you not I could not tell that it was a refurbished unit - not a speck of dust or dents or scratches on it. It appeared to me like everything was replaced and I would assume just the motherboard with the intel processor is what was from the original unit. I went with the lowest end processor on the WIKI list as it was the cheapest and it runs my system fine. Could probably get going for $200 or so. A real NVR will cost more than that. A member here just last week found a refurbished 4th generation for less than $150USD that came with Win10 PRO, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB drive. Blue Iris has a demo, so give it a try before you buy a computer to serve as the NVR. I member here is running 50 cameras on a 4th generation computer in the 30% CPU range.

With the Blue Iris computer, you simply turn off all Windows updates and Blue Iris updates and then it is an NVR but more powerful...set it up to turn back on in the event of a power outage and run Blue Iris as a service and you have KISS...

NVRs from the box units like a Amcrest and Lorex cap out incoming bandwidth (which impacts the resolution and FPS of the cameras). The Lorex and Amcrest NVR maxes out at 80Mbps and truly only one or a couple cameras that will display 4K. My neighbors was limited to that and he is all upset it isn't 4K for all eight channels and he was capped out at 4096 bitrate on each camera so it was a pixelated mess.

There is a big Blue Iris or NVR debate here LOL. Some people love Blue Iris and think NVRs are clunky and hard to use and others think Blue Iris is clunky and hard to use. I have done both and prefer Blue Iris. As with everything YMMV...

You didn't say which MP cameras you have, but you can quickly get to the limit of a box kit NVR like an Amcrest...

 

[holiday]

BI for sure.
Just get a second hand / ex-lease PC.

NVR is a waste of time.

 

[UncleCharlie456]

Thanks, wittaj, for the thorough (and nearly immediate) reply . . .

I appreciate the religious debate. I could see that from some postings.

I will give BI some more thought. I have a that PC I could run this on, but it probably doesn't have enough horsepower and it already has an app running on it that is even more mission critical than the surveillance. So I'm pleasantly surprised that I don't need too much. (I'm also a believer in refurbished.)

I did not realize that I'd be giving up resolution and FPS with the Amcrest NVR. I thought just advanced functionality that I don't really need.

My cameras have various MPs. All Amcrest, but a hodgepodge. probably an average of 3MP.

BTW, why would I turn off WIn/BI updates? (or was your point that NVRs don't get updates?)

 

[UncleCharlie456]

Thanks. Anyone want to take up the flag for NVRs?

BI for sure.
Just get a second hand / ex-lease PC.

NVR is a waste of time.

 

[holiday]

I'm trying to sell my NVR as we speak

 

[wittaj]

Thanks, wittaj, for the thorough (and nearly immediate) reply . . .

I appreciate the religious debate. I could see that from some postings.

I will give BI some more thought. I have a that PC I could run this on, but it probably doesn't have enough horsepower and it already has an app running on it that is even more mission critical than the surveillance. So I'm pleasantly surprised that I don't need too much. (I'm also a believer in refurbished.)

I did not realize that I'd be giving up resolution and FPS with the Amcrest NVR. I thought just advanced functionality that I don't really need.

My cameras have various MPs. All Amcrest, but a hodgepodge. probably an average of 3MP.

BTW, why would I turn off WIn/BI updates? (or was your point that NVRs don't get updates?)

Us BI users had to get to you before the NVR users did LOL

Main reason to turn off the Win/BI updates is so that something doesn't get screwed up. Make sure any updates that happen occur when you manually do it. Many times a Windows update will screw something up, so better to update if at all, when you have time to troubleshoot and roll back drivers, etc. You can still let the security updates occur though. But very rarely are NVRs firmware updated, so any updates on Windows is way more frequent.

Blue Iris is great and there are always improvements coming out. But if it were to update in the middle of the night and crash your system, then you may lose a middle of the night door checker. So best to update it when you want it to.

Many of us are running a version several behind - we find one that is stable and accomplishes all we want, so we don't fix what ain't broke LOL! However, BI just added Deepstack AI integration this past week, so many of us were eager to try it out!

 

[bigredfish]

I’m an NVR guy. Nothing against BI, it’s a fabulous system. But NVRs aren’t as bad as the BI guys make them out to be.

The Dahua 5000 series will do most everything you could want and they’re pretty reliable. I’ve installed a number of them over the years.

They’ll handle up to 12MP cameras, play nice natively with Dahua AI functionality, will run up to 20Mbps bitrate, 320MB incoming bandwidth, and the ones with built in PoE add a layer of security.

Pro Series

Pro Series

www.dahuasecurity.com

 

[UncleCharlie456]

Thanks. Will the Dahua series dewarp the fisheye camera?

(Putting aside for the moment that Dahua may be complicit in the Chinese govt's treatment of Uyghurs. Yes, I know many products, including Amcrest, are rebrading Dahua products)

I’m an NVR guy. Nothing against BI, it’s a fabulous system. But NVRs aren’t as bad as the BI guys make them out to be.

The Dahua 5000 series will do most everything you could want and they’re pretty reliable. I’ve installed a number of them over the years.

They’ll handle up to 12MP cameras, play nice natively with Dahua AI functionality, will run up to 20Mbps bitrate, 320MB incoming bandwidth, and the ones with built in PoE add a layer of security.

Pro Series

Pro Series

www.dahuasecurity.com

 

[bigredfish]

Thanks. Will the Dahua series dewarp the fisheye camera?

(Putting aside for the moment that Dahua may be complicit in the Chinese govt's treatment of Uyghurs. Yes, I know many products, including Amcrest, are rebrading Dahua products)

So is Coca-Cola

I don’t honestly know about the dewarp- ask @EMPIRETECANDY

 

[tigerwillow1]

I’m an NVR guy. Nothing against BI, it’s a fabulous system. But NVRs aren’t as bad as the BI guys make them out to be.

Exactly my opinion too.. I've been running my NVR (5216-4Ks2) for about 3 years and plan on using it indefinitely.