PC Help, Lagging Video

[bluetruck]

Hello Everyone,

I've been using Blue Iris for approximately 6 months. Admittedly, I know i'm not using it to its full potential, and its because its running on too slow of a PC.

The 4K camera recordings are choppy and regularly skips/lags 30seconds to 2 minutes of saved video.
I save direct to the drive at 20FPS. I have motion alerts on one camera.

I have read the wiki and found the recommended CPU and memory specs. Unfortunately, I'm out of the loop when it comes to off the shelf PCs and understanding what is what. So, I NEED HELP.

My current PC:
Lenovo P300
i7-4790 @ 3.6
8GB Memory
(1) 1TB Hard Drive storing "Old" recordings
(1) 1TB WD Purple storing "New" recordings

I run 4 Cameras:
(2) 4K Nelly's EXIR Turret
(1) 2MP Nelly's EXIR Turret
(1) 4MP Nelly's WDR Dome

I anticipate adding 2 more cameras.

So, to sum it up i'm under the impression that I need a new computer. I don't know what to buy. My budget is roughly $300 to $500.

 

[bluetruck]

I need to add that the system is running anywhere between 70% and 95% CPU, Always.

 

[TonyR]

Have you read Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage ?
Also, log into each cam and change the main stream's frame rate to 10 (max 15) FPS, set frame interval to same number as that frame rate.

 

[bluetruck]

Have you read Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage ?
Also, log into each cam and change the main stream's frame rate to 10 (max 15) FPS, set frame interval to same number as that frame rate.

Yes, I’ve read read that guide and done everything possible to reduce the CPU usage. It did help, just not enough I guess.

Now that I’m thinking about it, it’s probably at 15, not 20FPS. I’ll give 10 a shot.

I’m also curious if maybe the 8GB memory isn’t sufficient. I’ve done a bit more reading and it SEEMS like the CPU should be able to handle this. Would 16GB help?

 

[awsum140]

How much memory is BI using? 8GB is usually more than enough. For the money spent on memory you would be better off to pick up a used i5 Dell or HP.

 

[bluetruck]

How much memory is BI using? 8GB is usually more than enough. For the money spent on memory you would be better off to pick up a used i5 Dell or HP.

BI says it’s using 2.29G.

Would I fair better with an i5 processor over the i7 I have now?

 

[awsum140]

I said that assuming you're running more than just BI on the machine. That's a Haswell processor and should be able to handle your camera load with no problem. What frame rate, and iframe rate, are your camera set to?

 

[fenderman]

Hello Everyone,

I've been using Blue Iris for approximately 6 months. Admittedly, I know i'm not using it to its full potential, and its because its running on too slow of a PC.

The 4K camera recordings are choppy and regularly skips/lags 30seconds to 2 minutes of saved video.
I save direct to the drive at 20FPS. I have motion alerts on one camera.

I have read the wiki and found the recommended CPU and memory specs. Unfortunately, I'm out of the loop when it comes to off the shelf PCs and understanding what is what. So, I NEED HELP.

My current PC:
Lenovo P300
i7-4790 @ 3.6
8GB Memory
(1) 1TB Hard Drive storing "Old" recordings
(1) 1TB WD Purple storing "New" recordings

I run 4 Cameras:
(2) 4K Nelly's EXIR Turret
(1) 2MP Nelly's EXIR Turret
(1) 4MP Nelly's WDR Dome

I anticipate adding 2 more cameras.

So, to sum it up i'm under the impression that I need a new computer. I don't know what to buy. My budget is roughly $300 to $500.

You dont need a new pc. Your issue could be network lag. Also make sure you are not using any smart or + codecs.

 

[bluetruck]

Alright, back with an update.
I had one camera set to 20fps with the rest at 15fps; they're all at 15fps now.
Frame Interval was set to 50 on all cameras. They're all now at 15 also.
CPU Usage is at ~55%.

Network lag is a good point; ive been having some significant network connectivity issues. I wonder if my router is dropping off.

 

[fenderman]

Alright, back with an update.
I had one camera set to 20fps with the rest at 15fps; they're all at 15fps now.
Frame Interval was set to 50 on all cameras. They're all now at 15 also.
CPU Usage is at ~55%.

Network lag is a good point; ive been having some significant network connectivity issues. I wonder if my router is dropping off.

Provide some detail of how the network is setup. Ideally, the blue iris pc should be plugged into the same switch as the cameras or a switch cascading from that switch, not the router.

 

[SouthernYankee]

do not run your cameras through the router.
A simple connection method. A POE switch connected to the router, The BI PC connected to the switch, all the cameras connected to the switch. This prevents any unnecessary camera traffic going to the router.

late again as @fenderman said

 

[bluetruck]

Provide some detail of how the network is setup. Ideally, the blue iris pc should be plugged into the same switch as the cameras or a switch cascading from that switch, not the router.

do not run your cameras through the router.
A simple connection method. A POE switch connected to the router, The BI PC connected to the switch, all the cameras connected to the switch. This prevents any unnecessary camera traffic going to the router.

late again as @fenderman said

Thanks both.

Network:
Router to Poe Switch
Cameras and PC to Poe Switch

The router is the Verizon Fios junk which is on the list to replace. Happy to hear suggestions.

The switch is a BV-Tech 9 port POE switch

 

[pozzello]

your i7-4790 should handle that load no problem.

what's your total kB/s and MP/s in BI's status/cameras tab?
that'll help determine if your hitting a switch port limit somewhere...

also, make sure you have 'hardware accelerated decode' enabled (intel) in BI's Options/cameras tab and all cams are also set to 'default' or intel specifically...

 

[bluetruck]

Alright, here it is:

Cam1: 4.1MP, 600-630kB/s
Cam2: 2.1MP, 427-447kB/s
Cam3: 8.3MP, 750-1004kB/s
Cam4: 8.3MP, 1190-1250kB/s

In the main BI settings menu I set “hardware accelerated decode” to Intel. It was set to none.

I also set each camera to Hardware Accelerated Decode: Intel. It was set to default.

CPU/memory usage is now at 38-40%/2.46G

THANK YOU all for your help so far.

 

[pozzello]

I set “hardware accelerated decode” to Intel. It was set to none.

that will lower your cpu usage significantly. Should restart BI process entirely to take effect tho...

total ~3000kB/s is 3MB/s or ~30Mb/s. This should NOT be saturating a 100Mb/s port, unless there is significant other traffic and/or wiring issues.

also, if not already, check that your cams are recording 'direct to disk' in each cam's record/"video file format and compression" dialog box...

for comparison, my I7-4790 runs around 40-45% CPU at ~11000kB/s & ~550MP/s (almost 4x your camera load.)

 

[bluetruck]

that will lower your cpu usage significantly. Should restart BI process entirely to take effect tho...

total ~3000kB/s is 3MB/s or ~30Mb/s. This should NOT be saturating a 100Mb/s port, unless there is significant other traffic and/or wiring issues.

also, if not already, check that your cams are recording 'direct to disk' in each cam's record/"video file format and compression" dialog box...

for comparison, my I7-4790 runs around 40-45% CPU at ~11000kB/s & ~550MP/s (almost 4x your camera load.)

So, based on this I’m definitely running too high on CPU usage. I’m recording direct to disk already and did restart after I changed settings. Is 15FPS too high? I’ll have to sit down in front of it this week and see if I missed something in the wiki.

 

[pozzello]

if you a haven't already, check what f-man suggested:

Also make sure you are not using any smart or + codecs.

This would be in each camera's web UI (not BI), usually in the 'video' config page...
use straight h.264, not h.264+ or h.265...

 

[bluetruck]

Back for help!

Seems that the video lag has improved a bit, but its still not perfect. I THINK im having bandwith and connectivity issues. My wifi has been significantly spotty, and a recent video review showed laggy video (I figure around 1fps).

I've completely isolated the cameras and server from the network to see if my router is the culprit. In fact, im hoping to keep it this way. Will it be possible in BI to receive video via one network but access the video from another. Thus, the video would come in via ethernet but I would access my main home network from a wifi adapter. Am I being crazy? Missing something entirely?

 

[looney2ns]

Back for help!

Seems that the video lag has improved a bit, but its still not perfect. I THINK im having bandwith and connectivity issues. My wifi has been significantly spotty, and a recent video review showed laggy video (I figure around 1fps).

I've completely isolated the cameras and server from the network to see if my router is the culprit. In fact, im hoping to keep it this way. Will it be possible in BI to receive video via one network but access the video from another. Thus, the video would come in via ethernet but I would access my main home network from a wifi adapter. Am I being crazy? Missing something entirely?

Do not use WIFI for any portion of your camera network.
Do you have any antivirus running on the BI machine? If so, be sure to exclude all folders that pertain to BI.
See this>>Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage | IP Cam Talk

 

[Walrus]

On what device is the video lagging? On the BI PC? Or on another device/computer that you are viewing the video from?