Using Blue Iris as a viewer replacement for Hikvision/iVMS-4200?

[kirkdickinson]

I have two Hikvision systems. One is a CVI system and the other is a IP system. I view all my cameras with iVMS-4200. I fell into this forum looking for a solution and wondering if Blue Iris can replace iVMS-4200 for a viewer? Blue Iris seems like a much better viewing system for cameras than the system that I am using. From what I have been reading, Blue Iris is intended more for a "roll your own" NVR to set up your own NVR server and then be able to manage the whole system with Blue Iris.

I know I could access the IP cameras directly with Blue Iris. What about the CVI cameras? I already have DVR/NVR's that are up and running. Can Blue Iris access all my cameras as a viewer? I have no problems buying a better program than iVMS-4200, just wondering they can co-exist. If they can co-exist, can I use the AI features showing with Blue Iris, or do I have to completely set up a new system to use Blue Iris?

I am just a little confused if this is something that would work.

Thanks.

 

[wittaj]

Yes BI can replace your NVR and viewing system.

HOWEVER, you will need a Windows computer and run BI on it 24/7 - it becomes your NVR. It isn't an app that works like iVMS. The app will not work without a computer running BI.

BI has a free trial, so if you have a Windows computer, give it a shot.

Many use their existing NVR as the POE switch and bring the cameras in from the NVR.

In BI, you select add camera and put the IP address of the NVR into the IP address location. Put in username and password and hit find/inspect and let BI do its thing.

Then about halfway down is a pull down for Camera number and pick camera 1 and then hit ok. The camera should show up. Then add camera and the select copy and copy this camera and then change the number 1 to a 2 and repeat for your cameras.

OR depending on your NVR, it may populate all the cameras in the main and substream pulldown boxes and you just select a camera number and then add another camera and select the next pulldown.

 

[TonyR]

+1^^.
I have streamed video from several analog DVR's into Blue Iris. Download and install the trial from BI and try it with your CVI system.

And BI has a built-in web server called UI3 that you can access from a browser on your smartphone or tablet and see all your cams live and recorded video clips. You can access it locally or remotely, the BI app is only needed for push notifications or 2-way talk with a few supported cameras.

Regarding push notifications, instead of using the BI app, many BI users instead use Pushover to send BI alerts to their smartphone:

Send Pushover notifications with pictures and hyperlinks

I've figured out how to send Pushover notifications with pictures and hyperlinks from Blue Iris Actions without using external scripts. This approach uses curl and the Pushover API, and provides functionality similar to that recently described for Telegram . EDIT (5/16/2022) - For those who...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[kirkdickinson]

Yes BI can replace your NVR and viewing system.

HOWEVER, you will need a Windows computer and run BI on it 24/7 - it becomes your NVR. It isn't an app that works like iVMS. The app will not work without a computer running BI.

BI has a free trial, so if you have a Windows computer, give it a shot.

Many use their existing NVR as the POE switch and bring the cameras in from the NVR.

In BI, you select add camera and put the IP address of the NVR into the IP address location. Put in username and password and hit find/inspect and let BI do its thing.

Then about halfway down is a pull down for Camera number and pick camera 1 and then hit ok. The camera should show up. Then add camera and the select copy and copy this camera and then change the number 1 to a 2 and repeat for your cameras.

OR depending on your NVR, it may populate all the cameras in the main and substream pulldown boxes and you just select a camera number and then add another camera and select the next pulldown.

So, I would be setting up a completely separate NVR on that Windows computer that would also need it's own hard drive storage to store the video files? Blue Iris would be able to access the camera feeds, but not the archived video that exists on current NVR's?

 

[wittaj]

So, I would be setting up a completely separate NVR on that Windows computer that would also need it's own hard drive storage to store the video files? Blue Iris would be able to access the camera feeds, but not the archived video that exists on current NVR's?

That would be correct. Consider the PC/BI as its own NVR. It will not be able to access the archived video on the current NVRs.

 

[TonyR]

@kirkdickinson ,

I just read your other post regarding cycling a group of cameras on a screen.
Blue Iris can cycle the cams on the screen in a given group, using it's built-in UI3 web server.