BI CPU 100% on playback

cam26

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Do you guys have any idea why my CPU would suddenly start jumping to 100% on playback of my 4 cameras through BI (hovers around 50% on playback for 1 camera)? It's around 30-35% when just on live view but I believe before it was around 20-25%.

Only thing's that have changed were:

1) an update to a new BI version (which I have since rolled back with no fix)
2) install of the day/night service from bp2008
3) changed day/night profile settings in camera UI (went to higher settings, then back to 15fps/4096 bitrate CBR). All settings match in BI.
4) Windows 10 update that did not include graphics driver update (says hasn't been updated since 2017, i5-4790)

It was running just fine a couple weeks ago when I first got this used PC and started from scratch and installed BI on the clean operating system. I'm afraid I'll have to do that again. Any ideas?
 

lifeatredline

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In main options tab "the gear", click cameras tab, enable limit live preview rate, set to 1 fps. Recheck your cpu %. Also in each cameras properties under video max rate set your fps back down to 15, if you had run it higher in the camera controls then lowered it, this setting needs lowered back as it auto raises. Also your bitrate seems high, but then I dont know what resolution cameras you have and I run variable bit rate at 15fps on mine. Its what I would try.
 

bp2008

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We don't know much about your setup. For example if these are 8MP cameras then 4 of them @ 15 FPS is actually kind of a heavy load for an i5-4790, but still manageable if configured properly. If you have enabled hardware accelerated video decoding, it might not be also enabled for clip playback (see the "Also BVR" checkbox in camera properties > Video tab). It is unclear but this may require you to use the BVR recording format, which is the default. Do note that using hardware acceleration for clip playback can introduce a number of playback bugs like black frames when opening a clip and when seeking, so some people prefer to leave it off.
 

cam26

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Thanks @lifeatredline. Good suggestions. Thank you. I hate to just manage the symptoms of whatever issue this is but it might come to that. Really hate to have to try to reinstall everything and start from scratch, I just don't remember the CPU ever getting close to 100% during playback a couple days ago. Not sure what's changed other than varying the settings between day/night and the stuff I mentioned above.

@bp2008 I'm running 4 Starlight 5231's on a W10 pro pc with 8gb memory, 128ssd, 4 tb Wd purple, i5-4790.

In terms of hardware accelerated video decoding- I do have "Intel" selected under the BI options>cameras. I also selected it under each individual camera's BI properties but did not see a difference. I am almost positive, though, that I do not have the "Also BVR" checkbox checked (not home currently) while I do have BVR selected in direct-to-disk recording. Could selecting the BVR checkbox option help with CPU usage during playback?

Also, for clarification and to rule out some type of memory leak, how long would it typically take for memory leak symptoms to show up after restarting the system (from CPU to build up from 30%-90%+)? It's been hovering at a constant 30% for about 2.5 hrs, rising higher with usage but then returning to 30% when idle.
 

cam26

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Could this have happened? How would I check? I do know Windows did an update.

Beware of Windows Updates(top)

When Windows 10 installs a major update (every 6 months or so), there is a chance your Intel graphics driver will be uninstalled. If you've made the group policy change described here, no replacement driver will be installed and hardware acceleration will be broken. If this happens, you will need to undo the group policy change, install a proper driver, and re-apply the group policy change.
 

cam26

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Capture.PNGHey @bp2008 and @lifeatredline, this is a clip of task manager where I'm playing back video at 2x speed on 4 cameras. First of all, why are there two separate BI processes, one app and one background? I run BI as a service but I wouldn't think that it would add at least 15% more CPU processing. Do you guys know what's going on here or does anyone else?

Note* either way, even if I shut down the service, I still hit 100% CPU when playing back 4 2mp cameras at 4x speed
 
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lifeatredline

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I just checked mine and blue iris service in task manager uses 0% cpu with console open or closed, and blue iris video security and webcam software uses 16% with console closed and 25% with it open. I believe the live display frame rate is reduced to near nothing when running as service without console open. When opening console there will be an increase in live display frame rate which will increase cpu % unless you have live preview fps limited to 1 or very low. I know there is much more at play here that people much more educated on blue iris than myself can shed light on.
 

cam26

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Capture1.PNGI always had the first one excluded, added the second and third a little while ago. Hasn't helped with playback, though, still maxes out at 100% at 4x speed with all four 2mp cameras going at the same time. Which is fine, I guess, I'm just surprised. I thought my system could handle it.

Below is console (and as service) up w/out playback

ConsoleUpWithoutPlayback.PNG Below is console (and as service) up w/playback and BI showing CPU at 98-100%
ConsoleUp4camsAt4x.PNG
 

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fenderman

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View attachment 40463I always had the first one excluded, added the second and third a little while ago. Hasn't helped with playback, though, still maxes out at 100% at 4x speed with all four 2mp cameras going at the same time. Which is fine, I guess, I'm just surprised. I thought my system could handle it.

Below is console (and as service) up w/out playback

View attachment 40465 Below is console (and as service) up w/playback and BI showing CPU at 98-100%
View attachment 40466
it should be able to handle it with ease...something is going on.
 

cam26

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Just added "c:/program files/blue iris 4" to exclusions too
 

cam26

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it should be able to handle it with ease...something is going on.
Yeah I feel the same way. I'm wondering if I should deconstruct the whole thing by

1) Deleting and re-adding the cameras
if it doesn't work/then
2) Uninstall/Reinstall BI
if/then
3) Fresh install of Windows and just start over

It'll be a pain but it's going to bother me.
 

bp2008

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It does not sound like you have the memory leak problem. That becomes evident usually within 4-8 hours in my experience.

Check the "Video scaling" option as described here: Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage | IP Cam Talk It should be set to Fast.

Also, what resolution is the display you run Blue Iris on? Very high resolutions like 3840x2160 (4K) can cause significantly more CPU usage than you would expect which you can partly remedy by feeding the output with a discrete video card, or by reducing the size of the Blue Iris window.
 

cam26

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Thanks @bp2008 , looks like my resolution is set to 1080p and is running through a VGA. Also, I do have Video Scaling set to "Fast" and it's been that way since the setup. Anything else here look off?snip1.PNG
 

lifeatredline

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I see hardware accelerated decode is set to default, I recently ran into a situation on a new install where that made a camera unusable until I selected "no".
 

fenderman

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I see hardware accelerated decode is set to default, I recently ran into a situation on a new install where that made a camera unusable until I selected "no".
That has nothing to do with his situation... His cameras are usable... Your issue was the cheap wanscam cameras are not sending a proper stream. That issue with junk wanscam cameras and similar colones is well-documented on the Forum.
Turning off hardware acceleration would increase CPU consumption.
 

cam26

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That has nothing to do with his situation... His cameras are usable... Your issue was the cheap wanscam cameras are not sending a proper stream. That issue with junk wanscam cameras and similar colones is well-documented on the Forum.
Turning off hardware acceleration would increase CPU consumption.
Did you see anything in those pics that might be causing this?
 

lifeatredline

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That has nothing to do with his situation... His cameras are usable... Your issue was the cheap wanscam cameras are not sending a proper stream. That issue with junk wanscam cameras and similar colones is well-documented on the Forum.
Turning off hardware acceleration would increase CPU consumption.
Thanks fenderman, that got me thinking about a recent increase in cpu after an update. Sure enough my other junk cams which do work with intel hardware acceleration and had been set to intel prior to update, were all set to no. I switched them all back to intel and went back down to less than 20% with console open.
 

cam26

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@fenderman @bp2008 @lifeatredline so I did a little digging and mistakenly told you guys I had a i5-4790 when it's actually an i5-4590 (not sure how much difference that makes to what you guys were thinking).

While looking into this I've been trying to update/change the driver to see if that helps, but every one I try says it's incompatible even though it says it's for a 4590.

This is what it's got right now, but I can't really find any info on the current driver other than for a specific laptop, even on the Intel site.

I've changed the power settings of the computer to performance and BI is now running at 15-20% with the console open, but still at 100% when playing back on the four cameras. Could this driver issue have something to do with it?Driver1.PNG
 
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