Basic performance query regarding hardware acceleration

[djh_wolf]

Hi All.

My system has kind of grown from a simple one-cam system running on a laptop to my current i5 desktop.




The system has 8 cams, slowly built over a few years. There's a few foscam, some hikvision and some generic ebay crap in there too.




They're all set to 10fps (in cam interface and then matched in BI). All using direct to disc, windows 10, hovering around the 20% mark cpu.

Here's the task manager which suggests that hw encoding is not in use. Am I to understand that this is likely due to the mish-mash of cameras not supporting h264?




I take it that direct to disc option results in lowest cpu usage but largest storage requirements? My wish is to have all cam's recording constantly, with a workable cpu load, without needing a server farm's worth of storage to hold a month's worth.

I'm hardly an expert, I've just messed about with this for quite a while now and would appreciate a bit of guidance. I take it that if I use reencoding instead, then the cpu load rises and the storage space falls?

Thanks all.

 

[djh_wolf]

I've just altered all the cameras record settings from direct to disc to this:





And cpu usage has jumped from around 20% to about 30%. Still no load on gpu in task manager, is that to be expected ?

I also assume that the space requirements for continuous recording will drop dramatically? With direct to disc, it was roughly (!) 200GB for 30hrs.

 

[fenderman]

Hi All.

My system has kind of grown from a simple one-cam system running on a laptop to my current i5 desktop.




The system has 8 cams, slowly built over a few years. There's a few foscam, some hikvision and some generic ebay crap in there too.

View attachment 40122


They're all set to 10fps (in cam interface and then matched in BI). All using direct to disc, windows 10, hovering around the 20% mark cpu.

Here's the task manager which suggests that hw encoding is not in use. Am I to understand that this is likely due to the mish-mash of cameras not supporting h264?

View attachment 40123


I take it that direct to disc option results in lowest cpu usage but largest storage requirements? My wish is to have all cam's recording constantly, with a workable cpu load, without needing a server farm's worth of storage to hold a month's worth.

I'm hardly an expert, I've just messed about with this for quite a while now and would appreciate a bit of guidance. I take it that if I use reencoding instead, then the cpu load rises and the storage space falls?

Thanks all.

put it back to direct to disk...reencoding uses much more processing power and can degrade the image. You can lower the bitrate in the camera itself if you want to save storage.

 

[looney2ns]

Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage | IP Cam Talk

 

[djh_wolf]

put it back to direct to disk...reencoding uses much more processing power and can degrade the image. You can lower the bitrate in the camera itself if you want to save storage.

Thanks. I've altered it back to Direct to Disk. CPU usage back to about 20%.

I've read the link, I've actually trawled the forum quite a bit already and googled etc.

Could someone please just clarify a couple of points because I'm still unsure...?



1) It seems that hardware acceleration still isn't being used, neither when using direct to disk nor when re-encoding. Is this down to my cameras not supporting h264? If so, would it benefit me to replace any of them with a camera that is?

2) If it was beneficial, simply, why? Is is just to lower cpu usage?

3) I've tried lowering the camera's bitrate to something stupidly low, but i can't see any noticeable difference in the live stream or the recorded footage. Again, I'm a little stumped.

4) All in all I'd like to minimise the storage requirements whilst maintaining decent enough quality footage. Is there a simple process to follow to try different settings and observer results?


fenderman - you've actually assisted me once before via remote admin. If it's easier I'd be happy to allow access again if you so wish ?

Thanks for the replies, and apologies if anyone feels that these questions are too basic/already answered elsewhere etc. I have tried.

Cheers!

 

[djh_wolf]

anyone....? ta

 

[awsum140]

I'm certainly not an expert and will certainly defer to those that are, but have you tried setting a camera to use hardware acceleration other than leaving everything at default?

Hardware acceleration off loads the video processing from the CPU lowering its utilization. It won't compress any files but will give the CPU a break. Playback in .bvr format is fine and anything you need can be exported easily, either from the console or using UI3 in MPG or AVI formats.

 

[Mike]

@djh_wolf check out the screen shot here - Optimizing Blue Iris's CPU Usage | IP Cam Talk Make sure BI is set globally to use Intel HD hardware acceleration. BTW, what processor are you using?

 

[djh_wolf]

Hi - yes, read the thread already.

I'm using an intel i5-3450, and yes, intel hd decoding is selectetd. also, using onboard intel vid card , not remote admining.

 

[djh_wolf]

Any more guidance for this from anyone please? I've googled/searched/experimented an it's doing my head in ! Ta

 

[djh_wolf]

still stuck, and thats after upgrading vid card driver to latest intel from intel site too. no sign of any sort of h/w acceleration working.

 

[Rockford622]

This is how my task manager looks when using BI and H/W acceleration enabled. So yes, it should show some amount of GPU usage under the GPU column.

 

[aristobrat]

@djh_wolf, is the Intel onboard video card the only video card in this system?

With direct to disc, it was roughly (!) 200GB for 30hrs.

For 8 cameras, that doesn't sound bad. With one 4TB WD Purple, it looks like you could get about 3.5 weeks worth of storage?

 

[djh_wolf]

Hi.. There are 2 cards, but the add on card is disabled via device manager and the onboard Intel one is connected directly to the monitor, no remote admin.

I'll remove the nvidia card and report back, I didn't realise it would have affected anything if it wasn't in use. Apologies.

 

[djh_wolf]

Since tweaking the bitrates, I now have around 6 days so far coming in at around 180gb (about 30gb per day), which is way better than the.same space only giving 30 hrs!

Note that 5 cams record 24/7, and 3 are internal cams only recording during motion.

Slowly getting there !

 

[djh_wolf]

righto. vid card removed. onboard only. not a sausage has changed. still nothing on gpu % or gpu engine.


?

 

[djh_wolf]

Update. Read around a bit more and found that apparently, windows 10 task manager only shows gpu info if the (video?) driver is wddm 2.0 compatible. Mine is apparently 1.3.

Using cpuid, the gpu is actually showing as having a 20% load.

Total waste of my time! Grrrrr.

 

[awsum140]

Just gotta love Windooohs10. Since it's now a "service" you can consider yourself "serviced".

 

[djh_wolf]

Righto, update. Been running absolutely spot on now for 18 days, taking 570gb. Very happy with this result.