Pre-trigger buffer distorting

[hawks08]

Has anyone had problems with the pre-trigger causing video distortion?
I am attempting to record one camera continuously, and then clone the camera and record only “when triggered” (So it saves the ~15 second trigger videos in a different folder ). This is working fine, but when I begin to use the “pre-trigger video buffer” option, the video gets distorted until the pre-trigger buffer has been reached. This happens on most, if not all of the videos.
I'm running:
i7-4770S (yes old but only running one cam at the moment)
16gb ram
Cpu-usage: ~5%
writing direct-to-disk
I've tried storing the videos both on ssd and hdd to see if that was the problem. No success.

I setup a clone of the camera and attempted the following:
Cam 1: Record continuously, no cutting of file, 6.0 second “Pre-trigger video buffer”, motion detect. Result: Video is fine
View attachment Cam1.20201209_132408_1.mp4

















Cam 2: Record “When Triggered”, with a 6.0 second “Pre-trigger video buffer”, motion detect. Result: Object is distorted

View attachment Cam2.20201209_161521_1.mp4

 

[LopezEL]

I had this same problem.

At first, I thought my old i5 4570 cpu was bogging down due to Deepstack AI analyzing pictures triggered from the motion.
I went as far as purchasing a new i5 10th gen box to try and alleviate the problem. I have plenty of cpu overhead now and the issue persisted.

Finally, I narrowed it down to substream use. I bet the camera you are using to record "when triggered" is setup on substreams?

In my case, the pixelation occurred during the transition from the low definition stream to the high def stream.
I messed around with the FPS and iframe values on my Dahua cams to try and alleviate that transition but never fixed it completely.

I found that the only way to eliminate that transition pixelation is by setting the camera up to record continuously OR by not using the substream feature on the camera that is recording "when triggered."

 

[hawks08]

Yes! After some initial trials, that seems to be the cause of it. I swear I tried turning the substream off but I guess not I was also thinking it was something to do with my cpu or some performance issue.
I'll keep it running throughout the day and hopefully the good results will continue.
Thank you!!!

 

[hikky_b]

I have exactly the same issue as you've shown albeit mine is worse. Doesn't happen on all cameras strangely and similarly doesn't happen on cams that are continuous. It's been happening for quiet a few updates and I can't change back from sub-streams now that I've expanded my system!

 

[LopezEL]

I have exactly the same issue as you've shown albeit mine is worse. Doesn't happen on all cameras strangely and similarly doesn't happen on cams that are continuous. It's been happening for quiet a few updates and I can't change back from sub-streams now that I've expanded my system!

What is your setup? How many cameras, resolution, cpu?

 

[sebastiantombs]

Make sure the frame and iframe rates of the camera are matched, in the camera itself not in BI.

 

[hikky_b]

What is your setup? How many cameras, resolution, cpu?

12 cams: 2 x 8mp, 3 x 5mp & rest are 4mp. Frame rates 8FPS aside from 8MP which are 15FPS. Most are trigger record. All running on an i5-6500.
Latest version of BI

@sebastiantombs frame/iframes are matched in camera. Main-Stream/Sub-Stream matched too.

 

[LopezEL]

CPU usage shouldn't be high if substreams are setup correctly. However, if CPU usage is spiking for some reason, you might be dropping frames when blue iris triggers to record?
Do you notice the CPU spike during motion triggers?
Anything else running on the computer other than Blue Iris? You turned off antivirus and windows defender scanning your BI storage hard drive?

 

[hikky_b]

CPU around 20%. bumps up a little when triggering but far from maxing out.

BI running as a service - no other software. It's a dedicated box in the rack and has been running for 2 years fine. Only with the move to sub-streams has it started doing the 'glitches' on trigger.

I've wiped and re-installed etc so just figured it's something that will be resolved in a future update.

 

[sebastiantombs]

What are the iframe rates on the cameras? You mention frame rate, but not iframe rates, or do your cameras not have a setting for iframes?

 

[hikky_b]

What are the iframe rates on the cameras? You mention frame rate, but not iframe rates, or do your cameras not have a setting for iframes?

I did mention in my reply but perhaps I wasn't clear. All Hikvision cams, Iframe is matched to frame rate within each camera. I only mentioned that I matched main/sub stream settings because I read this was best practice for BI.

I initially thought it was hdd going bad but in any form of logic, the issue would occur across all cams. I've seen logic defied before however!

 

[sebastiantombs]

OK. This only happens with cameras that are set to record on motion but doesn't happen with cameras that record continuously from what you've said. I'm starting to suspect that the blur is actually BI switching from the substream to the main stream for recording. Have you tried shutting of the substream on one of the effected cameras and testing with just the main stream?

 

[LopezEL]

OK. This only happens with cameras that are set to record on motion but doesn't happen with cameras that record continuously from what you've said. I'm starting to suspect that the blur is actually BI switching from the substream to the main stream for recording. Have you tried shutting of the substream on one of the effected cameras and testing with just the main stream?

That is exactly what was happening in my situation. Once I purchased an additional 8TB hard drive and set all my cameras to record continuously... my issues went away.

 

[hikky_b]

OK. This only happens with cameras that are set to record on motion but doesn't happen with cameras that record continuously from what you've said. I'm starting to suspect that the blur is actually BI switching from the substream to the main stream for recording. Have you tried shutting of the substream on one of the effected cameras and testing with just the main stream?

Yes that's what I believe to be the problem too. Turning off sub-stream works as normal - it's just odd that some cameras have it, some don't. All same settings between them.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Do the cameras have different resolutions? I notice a longer lag when going to full screen on a 4MP versus a 2MP. I haven't experimented but also wonder is hardware acceleration may be involved as well.

 

[hikky_b]

Do the cameras have different resolutions? I notice a longer lag when going to full screen on a 4MP versus a 2MP. I haven't experimented but also wonder is hardware acceleration may be involved as well.

Yes though oddly it affects the 4MP cams but none of the 5MP. 8MP cams are on continuous but will test with those.

There is a small lag going full screen across all cams - but my issue is specifically about glitches [dropped frames] on motion.

 

[sebastiantombs]

The only other thing I have to offer is that I don't see any lags, blurs or "skips" but I do record all cameras 24/7. You might want to email Blue Iris support with this. If you do, start in Blue Iris and click "Email support". Paste that information into the email and use an email account like Yahoo, Hotmail/Outlook, Gmail or a well recognized email provider to avoid it being bounced.

 

[LopezEL]

According to this post, it seems like this glitch as been resolved? @hikky_b , have you tried upgrading to this version to test it?

5.3.7 - December 20, 2020

5.3.7 - December 20, 2020 Added “On red shield” and “On green shield” actions sets editable from the Schedule page in Settings. Fixed a glitch that caused main-stream frames to be dropped from the recording when switching from sub to main-stream display on the console or UI3. Smoother...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[sebastiantombs]

I'm running 5.3.7.1 but never saw the problem that you had. Try it, if not revert back again.

 

[hikky_b]

According to this post, it seems like this glitch as been resolved? @hikky_b , have you tried upgrading to this version to test it?

5.3.7 - December 20, 2020

5.3.7 - December 20, 2020 Added “On red shield” and “On green shield” actions sets editable from the Schedule page in Settings. Fixed a glitch that caused main-stream frames to be dropped from the recording when switching from sub to main-stream display on the console or UI3. Smoother...

ipcamtalk.com

Apologies for disappearing - have been rather busy! Thanks for the heads up re update.

I did update roughly a week ago and have seen massive improvement in the dropped frames (glitching). There does seem to still be frames dropped but nowhere near what it was before. It's early days though and I haven't been monitoring it closely. I've just performed the most recent update and will keep an eye on the recordings.