BI hardware question

[MrWho]

Hello there!

I'm a new forum user, but I've been running a home setup for some years now, consisting of three cameras (2 IPCams + 1 Laptop webcam) on a laptop (i5-8250U / 8Gb RAM / SSD) running Windows 10 Pro and ContaCam software.

The reason why I use a laptop is because of energy usage - eletric power is expensive over here, and a colleague is going to give me an old server, which I'm going to try and see if it fares better than my laptop, but if it is very power hungry, I'll most likely set it aside.

The computer keeps strugling with high cpu and ram usage, partly because the two IP cameras don't appear to have a low-res feed (they're 4k, but 1080p would be more than enough for me - the laptop webcam being fed is the one from the "server" and I use it to keep an eye on my dog).



My question is: Could this constant high-cpu usage be caused by ContaCam not being very optimized? Is anyone running BI on a similar hardware as mine that could give me some feedback on how well it fares?

Does BI use CUDA in any way to offload the CPU? (This laptop has a GeForce chip).

Thank you!

 

[wittaj]

Most here do not use laptops for their VMS like BI as the CPU processor is designed to throttle performance and favor lower energy usage.

With the use of substreams, you will use more in GPU power consumption offloading to the GPU than simply using the CPU version only.

But BI has a free demo for 14 days, so give it a try and see what happens.

 

[MrWho]

Most here do not use laptops for their VMS like BI as the CPU processor is designed to throttle performance and favor lower energy usage.

With the use of substreams, you will use more in GPU power consumption offloading to the GPU than simply using the CPU version only.

But BI has a free demo for 14 days, so give it a try and see what happens.

Welp, I went ahead and got a slightly better laptop (Ryzen 5 5500 and 12Gb RAM), clean Windows 10 Pro install and installed the BI demo on it. It was late, and I didn't get the chance to try many things, but so far I'm pleased at the CPU/RAM usage compared to ContaCam.

I now have 14 days to learn the ropes and find out how to do stuff.

Is there any timeframe for v6 to come out? I wouldn't want to set everything up to have to bang my head upgrading in a couple of months - since my current setup is still working, I wouldn't mind to wait for the next major update.

Cheers!

 

[TonyR]

Speaking of saving energy, consider replacing the webcam in that laptop with a TP-LINK Tapo C-110 indoor camera and have it stream to Blue Iris as I did below. Amazon Espana has them for about 22 Euros.

There's a list here of TP-LINK Tapo cams that will stream RTSP to Blue Iris.
(Tapo C210P2 , Tapo C325WB , Tapo C212 , TC65 , TC41 , TC40 , Tapo C110 , Tapo C320WS , TC60 , Tapo C210 , Tapo C111 , Tapo C310 , Tapo C520WS , Tapo C211 , Tapo C310P2 , TC68 , Tapo C200P2 , Tapo C525WB , Tapo C125 , Tapo C720 , Tapo C225 , Tapo C500 , Tapo C120 , TC73 , Tapo C220 , TC72 , Tapo C100 , TC71 , Tapo C200 , TC70 , Tapo C860 , Tapo C510W , Tapo C110P4 , Tapo C110P2)

Blue Iris Camera Compatibility.

Hello - I'm trying to replace my 6x Amcrest Indoor Cameras, with something smaller, and with a wider FOV. I purchased two sets of smaller cameras and neither works. I really like this pair I purchased but can't seem to get them to work - what do I need to look for in order to determine if a...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[MrWho]

Speaking of saving energy, consider replacing the webcam in that laptop with a TP-LINK Tapo C-110 indoor camera and have it stream to Blue Iris as I did below. Amazon Espana has them for about 22 Euros.

There's a list here of TP-LINK Tapo cams that will stream RTSP to Blue Iris.
(Tapo C210P2 , Tapo C325WB , Tapo C212 , TC65 , TC41 , TC40 , Tapo C110 , Tapo C320WS , TC60 , Tapo C210 , Tapo C111 , Tapo C310 , Tapo C520WS , Tapo C211 , Tapo C310P2 , TC68 , Tapo C200P2 , Tapo C525WB , Tapo C125 , Tapo C720 , Tapo C225 , Tapo C500 , Tapo C120 , TC73 , Tapo C220 , TC72 , Tapo C100 , TC71 , Tapo C200 , TC70 , Tapo C860 , Tapo C510W , Tapo C110P4 , Tapo C110P2)

Blue Iris Camera Compatibility.

Hello - I'm trying to replace my 6x Amcrest Indoor Cameras, with something smaller, and with a wider FOV. I purchased two sets of smaller cameras and neither works. I really like this pair I purchased but can't seem to get them to work - what do I need to look for in order to determine if a...

ipcamtalk.com

Thanks for the tip - I was already considering something like that, since I'm moving all my stuff into a cabinet, and the laptop will no longer be in line-of-sight (and the image quality was crap anyway).

On a side note: I hate when websites advertise prices without tax (or at least without noting that tax must be added). I was already hesitant to pay around 70€ for BI, but now I found out it goes to almost 100€... I must consider all my alternatives before going that route.

 

[looney2ns]

Thanks for the tip - I was already considering something like that, since I'm moving all my stuff into a cabinet, and the laptop will no longer be in line-of-sight (and the image quality was crap anyway).

On a side note: I hate when websites advertise prices without tax (or at least without noting that tax must be added). I was already hesitant to pay around 70€ for BI, but now I found out it goes to almost 100€... I must consider all my alternatives before going that route.

Blue Iris is cheap at twice the price.

 

[TheWaterbug]

the two IP cameras don't appear to have a low-res feed (they're 4k, but 1080p would be more than enough for me

What models?

 

[MrWho]

Blue Iris is cheap at twice the price.

Please notice I didn't say it isn't worth the money - but it's a heavy burden on my budget. Maybe 100€ is small change in the US, but over here is a big slice of my income. I wouldn't mind it if it was a one-time payment, but with yearly renewals it's hard to justify - unless I can't find anything cheaper that fits my needs.

What models?

Well, the Escam PT301 I already mentioned (with the fake antennas), and the other is a Sricam SH043. I'm going to keep them until they die (I assume they'll last me about 4 or 5 years as the others did) and then I'll consider other brands (I found some accessible Dahua cams, and I'll keep on looking).

Cheers!

 

[wittaj]

Keep in mind the yearly costs is if you want to continue with updates and support. Many people are running just fine on older versions and have only paid once.

 

[looney2ns]

Please notice I didn't say it isn't worth the money - but it's a heavy burden on my budget. Maybe 100€ is small change in the US, but over here is a big slice of my income. I wouldn't mind it if it was a one-time payment, but with yearly renewals it's hard to justify - unless I can't find anything cheaper that fits my needs.



Well, the Escam PT301 I already mentioned (with the fake antennas), and the other is a Sricam SH043. I'm going to keep them until they die (I assume they'll last me about 4 or 5 years as the others did) and then I'll consider other brands (I found some accessible Dahua cams, and I'll keep on looking).

Cheers!

$100 is small change in the world of VMS software.
Some of them charge per camera at the same rate as the price for Blue Iris. In other words, you could look at being charged for $70 to $100 for each camera with some VMS.
You don't have to pay a annual fee, if you don't care about updates.
Find a version that works for you, then keep it.

 

[MrWho]

$100 is small change in the world of VMS software.
Some of them charge per camera at the same rate as the price for Blue Iris. In other words, you could look at being charged for $70 to $100 for each camera with some VMS.
You don't have to pay a annual fee, if you don't care about updates.
Find a version that works for you, then keep it.

Of course, in pretty much the same way a car can cost 15k or 1500k - I must find whatever fits my budget.

EDIT: And I understand why you have prices without taxes on your side of the pond, but over here you pay what's on the sticker - that's why I was surprised.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Well, the Escam PT301 I already mentioned (with the fake antennas), and the other is a Sricam SH043. I'm going to keep them until they die (I assume they'll last me about 4 or 5 years as the others did) and then I'll consider other brands (I found some accessible Dahua cams, and I'll keep on looking).

Yeah, I just did some googling, and it's hard to find any decent documentation for either camera.

I found a great deal on used Dahua cameras a few years ago, $18.41 each for two of these OEM IPC-HFW4431R-Z, from a recommendation here, so keep looking!

 

[MrWho]

Yeah, I just did some googling, and it's hard to find any decent documentation for either camera.

I found a great deal on used Dahua cameras a few years ago, $18.41 each for two of these OEM IPC-HFW4431R-Z, from a recommendation here, so keep looking!

Thanks for the heads up. Right now these cameras fit the bill while I look around - found a local website selling Dahua IP cameras at a nice price point - I'll keep an eye for a sale on any of them. I'll also be looking at other decent brands.

Cheers!

 

[TonyR]

Thanks for the heads up. Right now these cameras fit the bill while I look around - found a local website selling Dahua IP cameras at a nice price point - I'll keep an eye for a sale on any of them. I'll also be looking at other decent brands.

Cheers!

Insure they're NOT Chinese-language or non-International versions....their firmware can seldom be upgraded.

 

[bp2008]

Please notice I didn't say it isn't worth the money - but it's a heavy burden on my budget. Maybe 100€ is small change in the US, but over here is a big slice of my income. I wouldn't mind it if it was a one-time payment, but with yearly renewals it's hard to justify - unless I can't find anything cheaper that fits my needs.

There are lots of free(ish) VMS products. Shinobi Frigate NVR

The Blue Iris license is perpetual, you just can't use updates that were released after your support plan expires.

 

[MrWho]

Good evening all.

What network ports are used by push notifications and the Android app?

Cheers!

 

[bp2008]

Push notifications to android almost certainly go out on TCP port 443 (HTTPS) to Google's messaging service.

The Blue Iris android app talks to Blue Iris's web server which is TCP port 81 by default but you can configure that however you want, and could access it via port forwarding, VPN, reverse proxy server, etc.

 

[MrWho]

Thanks. I'm just learning about push notifications - I was under the impression that they went through whatever program you were using backend server - didn't know it used google's services.

I was dismissing push notifications because the few solutions I read about required me to create an extra account on whatever program I looked into. Since I already have one Google account, it would be neat if I could get push notifications without any added apps or accounts.