Amcrest Camera Live Feed Delay

[Elgato54]

I just installed an Amcrest IP8M-T2669EW-AI camera. Everything seems normal except there is a long delay (20-30 seconds) on the live feed on both the web interface and Blue Iris.
i.e if you walk past the camera it shows up on the live feed 30 seconds later. Its a small network with very little traffic and all devices are hard wired.
Is this normal or just this camera?

When connecting with a Firestick browser it is completely useless.

There is no firmware listed on the Amcrest site. I did open a ticket with them.

 

[wittaj]

Is the camera connected to and going through the router? Routers are not known for being efficient at passing the data these kinds of cameras need. There will be a little bit of lag and that is just the inherent nature of digital cameras.

And then a 4K on a 1/2.8 sensor is telling you they are skimping by putting it on the same sensor as a 2MP, so probably the same CPU as well, so it will lag trying to push 8MP through a CPU probably barely able to pass 2MP through... And the fact that it tells you that it is 30FPS unless you use AI then it maxes at 20FPS is another clue the CPU is probably undersized...

Also, keep in mind that these type of cameras, although are spec'd and capable of these various parameters, real world testing shows if you try to run these cameras at 30fps and high bitrates that you will max out the CPU in the camera and then the camera bugs out. My car is rated for 6,000RPM redline, but I am not gonna run it in 3rd gear on the highway at 6,000RPM...same with these types of cameras - gotta keep them under rated capacity. Some may do better than others, but you are running the CPU higher the more items you try to use at capacity.

Look at all the threads where people came here with a jitter in the video or IVS missing motion and they were running 30FPS and when people tell them to drop the FPS and they dropped the FPS to 15FPS the camera became stable. YMMV

So if you are running a faster FPS, try 15 FPS.

 

[Elgato54]

Is the camera connected to and going through the router? Routers are not known for being efficient at passing the data these kinds of cameras need. There will be a little bit of lag and that is just the inherent nature of digital cameras.

And then a 4K on a 1/2.8 sensor is telling you they are skimping by putting it on the same sensor as a 2MP, so probably the same CPU as well, so it will lag trying to push 8MP through a CPU probably barely able to pass 2MP through... And the fact that it tells you that it is 30FPS unless you use AI then it maxes at 20FPS is another clue the CPU is probably undersized...

Also, keep in mind that these type of cameras, although are spec'd and capable of these various parameters, real world testing shows if you try to run these cameras at 30fps and high bitrates that you will max out the CPU in the camera and then the camera bugs out. My car is rated for 6,000RPM redline, but I am not gonna run it in 3rd gear on the highway at 6,000RPM...same with these types of cameras - gotta keep them under rated capacity. Some may do better than others, but you are running the CPU higher the more items you try to use at capacity.

Look at all the threads where people came here with a jitter in the video or IVS missing motion and they were running 30FPS and when people tell them to drop the FPS and they dropped the FPS to 15FPS the camera became stable. YMMV

So if you are running a faster FPS, try 15 FPS.

The camera is at 20 FPS. The camera is on a Netgear POE switch that is connected to the router. The pc I am using is connected to a port on the router so it should not actually be routing it. Maybe they are just trying to do to much within the limitations of the camera? 30 second delay is pretty much useless. There are never network delays with gaming or streaming or wi-fi even when the network is fairly busy. This camera gets pretty warm after a few minutes of use. It appears to be a Dahua IPC-HDW3841TM-AS. Do you think the Dahua firmware would help? How much delay or lag would you consider normal or acceptable?
Thanks for the help.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Try plugging your PC into the same switch as the camera. A router does exactly that, route, even between ports on it.

Normal delay is typically a second or two at most, and usually less than that.

 

[wittaj]

These cameras are not like streaming services - these cameras do not buffer like NetFlix does....pull your internet and the NetFlix will still stream for up to 30 seconds...pull the internet on a camera and you lose the stream IMMEDIATELY...

These cameras are data hogs. A 4k camera at 20FPS is about 4.5GB of data/hour that doesn't buffer like streaming devices or have data pauses like looking up stuff on the net or checking email. A router cannot efficiently process that constant load and if the camera stream takes a tiny pause, then another IoT jumps in and takes over data packets and then when that pauses the camera resumes and thus you get a long delay.

Other than the issues associated with security aside, your camera connected to a POE switch to the router and your PC connected to that router means the camera feed is being routed by the router.

At the very least, you should connect your camera and the PC to the same switch and then that switch to the router. That should help.

Firmware isn't the issue, it is your networking causing the issue. It should only be a few seconds lag. Any longer and it is a networking issue, along with trying to push a camera too hard.