How good are the Dahua NVRs? (vs Blue Iris, etc)

sofakng

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I’m beginning to setup my home surveillance system and have purchased three Dahua cameras from Andy. (2MP starlight)

My next step is to record the footage and I have a few options:

1) Create a virtual machine on my large server. (not recommended, I know)
2) Purchase a dedicated machine for Blue Iris.
3) Purchase a dedicated NVR (ie. Dahua NVR).

I’m having a problem with option #2 because I want something that can fit in my server rack (1U preferably) and something that supports Intel QuickSync, etc. Most options I can find are much more expensive than a Dahua NVR, etc.

So... how are the Dahua NVRs? I’m interested in basic motion detection (using the IVS in the Dahua cameras?) and saving the footage. The Dahua NVRs seem very reasonably priced and have 1U server rack options so what is the general opinion of them?

(I also want something that will work with my Control4 automation system but that is a different issue...)
 

fenderman

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I’m beginning to setup my home surveillance system and have purchased three Dahua cameras from Andy. (2MP starlight)

My next step is to record the footage and I have a few options:

1) Create a virtual machine on my large server. (not recommended, I know)
2) Purchase a dedicated machine for Blue Iris.
3) Purchase a dedicated NVR (ie. Dahua NVR).

I’m having a problem with option #2 because I want something that can fit in my server rack (1U preferably) and something that supports Intel QuickSync, etc. Most options I can find are much more expensive than a Dahua NVR, etc.

So... how are the Dahua NVRs? I’m interested in basic motion detection (using the IVS in the Dahua cameras?) and saving the footage. The Dahua NVRs seem very reasonably priced and have 1U server rack options so what is the general opinion of them?

(I also want something that will work with my Control4 automation system but that is a different issue...)
There are about a hundred threads with the same question. I highly urge that you buy an NVR, this way when you eventually switch to blue iris you will appreciate it more. You'll survive if you don't rack mount the blue iris PC I promise.
 

SouthernYankee

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What is more important , the security of your home and family or the space in a server rack ?
 

sofakng

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I’ve performed a few searches but a lot of the discussions are from a year ago or more.

What are the actual differences between Blue Iris and a Dahua NVR? Is the Dahua NVR really unstable or doesn’t work good at all with motion events, etc?
 

mat200

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I’ve performed a few searches but a lot of the discussions are from a year ago or more.

What are the actual differences between Blue Iris and a Dahua NVR? Is the Dahua NVR really unstable or doesn’t work good at all with motion events, etc?
Hi @sofakng

The discussions from 1 year ago are still valid imho - so you can certainly use those to help decide.

Note - Blue Iris has a demo version you can download and test with, and Dahua has their SmartPSS software that also runs on a PC ( closest to what you will see on their NVR )
 

fenderman

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I’ve performed a few searches but a lot of the discussions are from a year ago or more.

What are the actual differences between Blue Iris and a Dahua NVR? Is the Dahua NVR really unstable or doesn’t work good at all with motion events, etc?
There are multiple threads that explain the differences. It's not about stability it's about configurability and remote viewing. It seems like you want the NVR, buy it, otherwise you will be forever bitching about blue Iris.
 

sofakng

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Why does it seem like I want the NVR? I’m just asking questions to find out the differences. Blue Iris is easy enough to try out but I didn’t think Dahua had any method of testing besides purchasing a unit (thanks for the tip about SmartPSS, mat200!)

Regardless, I’ll search the forums more and see what I can find but judging by the initial responses to my question, I doubt anything good is being said about the Dahua NVR.
 

catcamstar

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I'll just dump my personal experience here. I've got couple of "home made" servers here, couple of pi's etc. So dirty work does not make me afraid.
However, I opted for an "all-in-one experience" with all Dahua cams, doorbells and NVR (5216) because of the single brand system, 1U with 16 POE ports, 2hdd slots, HDMI and VGA.
What is good:
- 1 single pane of glass (DOS like local UI, web interface which is OK, but SmartPSS software for MAC & Windows which is great)
- you can manage all firmwares from one single spot
- it has the basics (24/7 recording, motion detection) but if your CAM supports neat features (like IVS, face detection, face recognition, LPR), then your NVR "enables" and makes use of these features (eg draw tripwire lines/boxes/...)
- it is stable as hell (mine is running for 6 months without any hickup or forced reboot)
- one single mobile solution (iDMSS/gDMSS) without any additional cost (but - see below). you can get push notifications on IVS triggers
What is mweh:
- especially this NVR has a noisy fan. it doesn't bother me much (it's in my tech room next to my same-noise-level airco)
- the mobile soft gets lots of updates, when they fix a feature, two other features break down. But overall its ok.
- you can't configure everything like you wish (eg sequencing of events)

So to me, it comes down to whether you like to have an (additional) pc or an "appliance".

In the end, you are going to treat them the same: isolated from the internetz, firewall etc etc.

Hope this helps!
CC
 

SkyLake

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"I’m having a problem with option #2 because I want something that can fit in my server rack (1U preferably)"

1. You can buy shelves for racks / networking cabinets, and put a dedicated BI pc on it (HP Elitedesk as example)
2. You could diy a HP Elitedesk or similar in a rackmountable enclosure 1U (difficult, but not impossible) 2U, 4U, etc etc
3. You just don't want to take the time for the above, or you just don't like the looks of it. lol
4. Buy a cheap low end Dahua NVR, and a dedicated BI PC. Use the NVR as a piggyback backup..

Your choice...
 

saltfish

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You can build a PC in a IU rack mount case. That' how I have done 2 systems. I have had both Dahua NVR and Blue Iris. I wouldn't give up Blue Iris for the world.
 

mat200

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Why does it seem like I want the NVR? I’m just asking questions to find out the differences. Blue Iris is easy enough to try out but I didn’t think Dahua had any method of testing besides purchasing a unit (thanks for the tip about SmartPSS, mat200!)

Regardless, I’ll search the forums more and see what I can find but judging by the initial responses to my question, I doubt anything good is being said about the Dahua NVR.
Hi @sofakng

I completely understand the want to reduce the space a NVR / recording system would take. That is indeed an advantage the 1U NVRs have w/POE ports.

As you can see there is a very strong fan base ( for good reason ) for Blue Iris among members here, and certainly most solutions for a PC + PoE switch will require more space. Normally not an issue in larger homes.

I think the smallest form factor you can get for a PC + poe switch would be a SFF PC + 1U switch - guessing that would take up about 4U of space on a rack.

LOL, I can use my 72U rack in my place... so sad...

btw - the NVRs are typically a bit noisy due to the higher rpm fans in them compared to a SFF PC
 

aristobrat

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So... how are the Dahua NVRs? I’m interested in basic motion detection (using the IVS in the Dahua cameras?) and saving the footage.
The IVS built into the cameras is not basic motion detection, it’s Dahua’s version of advanced motion detection. IMO, it’s decent, but Blue Iris ability to divide things into zones and only trigger when motion happens in a certain sequence of zones can really reduce false alerts in certain scenarios.

With Blue Iris, motion detection is done in the software on the PC. This makes it more easily upgradeable and extendable. For example, it recently was updated to use a subscription cloud service called Sentry to analyze alert images to look for people/cars. Sentry needs some work on their accuracy, but I doubt that’s a workflow that will ever come to a $300 NVR that has minimal compute power and relies on cameras to detect their own motion.

If you get a NVR, cameras advanced motion detection (like Dahua IVS) is brand specific. This means if you want to add a camera whose brand is diff from the NVR, you’re almost guaranteed to not be able to use that camera’s advanced motion detection. Trust me when I say that advanced motion detection is there for a reason. Trying to use basic motion detection on a camera is usually pointless.

Blue Iris is brand agnostic. As long as the camera can get a video feed to Blue Iris, BI can do its own motion detection. If you still prefer using the camera’s built-in advanced motion detection, BI can do that too (at least with Dahua IVS and Hikvision Smart Events).

(I also want something that will work with my Control4 automation system but that is a different issue...)
IMO, BI excels here. For each camera, you can setup motion alerts that make HTTP/MQTT calls where you can specify the parameters to indicate which camera has an alert.

With NVRs, for alerts, you usually have to physically wire it to something for it to be able to signal an alert. Wire it as input on your alarm system, wire it into a zwave sensor, etc. But AFAIK, it can’t be specific with the alarm. Not knowing which camera caused the alarm severely limits automation usefulness, IMO.


Also, and this may have changed since I lasted used a Dahua NVR two years ago, but being able to remotely connect and see alerts was so much easier on Blue Iris. With Dahua, I’d have to connect, set a date/time range and then it would show me clips I could click on to see more. With Blue Iris, the clips are there (chronological order) immediately without me having to do anything. I enjoy remotely monitoring my camera system a lot more with BI.
 
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catcamstar

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Also, and this may have changed since I lasted used a Dahua NVR two years ago, but being able to remotely connect and see alerts was so much easier on Blue Iris. With Dahua, I’d have to connect, set a date/time range and then it would show me clips I could click on to see more. With Blue Iris, the clips are there (chronological order) immediately without me having to do anything. I enjoy remotely monitoring my camera system a lot more with BI.
Just for the sake of completion: with iDMSS/gDMSS, you can also consult the "alarm manager" which holds all the clips/snaps for each recording, chronologically. In all other interfaces (eg webservice, SmartPSS and off course the mobile app) you can "search" for specifics (and yes, that requires at least a time frame window).
 
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