Blue Iris and HikVision NVR Box - Can Blue Iris display video feed?

[Tuckerdude]

Hi Guys...thanks so much to all the regular posters here (especially Fenderman)!!!

I think I know the answer, but here goes:

I need to setup video surveillance at a second home, one where we will only be at a couple of times per year. So my thinking was, I'd rather not go the PC route and instead purchase a dedicated NVR box from Nelly's:

http://www.nellyssecurity.com/recorders/nvrs/8-channel/hikvision-ds-7608ni-se2-8p-8-channel-poe-plug-n-play-hi-def-nvr-recorder.html

I'm leaning towards this option because I need something that can reliably reboot and consistently work at the remote location. If I install a dedicated PC, then it is prone to crashing, or if the power goes out, not always reliably come back up. Again, it's purely because I will be away from this location for months at a time.

So...to the question: Would it be possible to somehow get the output of the Hikvision NVR and display that remotely on Blue Iris at my primary residence? I'd want this for two reasons.

1. Blue Iris is just better software than anything built into one of these boxes
2. I'd rather not have to train my wife on two different web interfaces, otherwise she won't use it (ugh....wives!!!)

Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Tony

 

[fenderman]

While you can technically stream the NVR to blue iris, it may pose a problem if you have a data cap or a low bandwidth connection. If you are comfortable with blue iris and it seems like you are and prefer it, I see no problem using a pc..almost all desktop pc's (i have not seen any laptops that do this) have a bois option that restarts the system after a power failure…
Note that whether you go the NVR or pc route. I would suggest a device that will allow you to remotely power cycle the pc/NVR/router/modem… there are a few of threads on this subject.,..and/or connect them to a timer that will powercycle once a day or once every few days…

 

[Tuckerdude]

Many thanks Fenderman....

Per your note, are you saying that these boxes use more bandwidth than a PC? I'm not planning to have a data cap at this location, so just want to be sure I understand.

And yes...you're right, I could do the PC route and have it autocycle....but I feel like PC's have more "fail points" than stand-alone NVR boxes. The only thing I'm really worried about is that it won't restart properly after a power outage or power spike. I use remote desktop to administer my machines, so can easily restart software if issues occur.

Thanks again for the help!

Tony

 

[fenderman]

The bandwidth will be whatever you set the blueiris webserver or your nvr to output...if you pull your nvr's main stream that can be alot-you may have to use the substream..what upload speeds will you be getting at the remote location?...while your isp may not have an official data cap you may get a letter if you start using more than 250gb monthly...
NVR's are more reliable in a sense that they are more stable...but they are still prone to failure...particularly hard drives...in the past i've only installed 1 drive per nvr so i dont know how they treat hard disk failure-whether or not it keeps recording to the good drive if you have multiple installed drives...someone who has tested this can hopefully comment...with a pc you can run two drives in raid 1....
I have never had an issue with a pc restating after a power outage..it just comes back on if its set to in the bios...
Another backup option is to port forward the cameras as well as the nvr..that way if the nvr ever goes down you can still keep streaming to BI...(assuming the cameras are connected to an independent switch and not connected to the nvr directly..

 

[Mike]

I do the same thing. I have an NVR (and Blue Iris) at my house, and Blue Iris at my office.These Hikvision cameras only allow you to stream to a certain number of devices at the same time, so to 'free up' a stream, on my Blue Iris work install, I access the cameras from the NVR rather than directly from the camera. I use the substream though for a few reasons, mainly for system resources on my office comp and bandwidth consumption. I have not had any issues with this setup. I believe the limit was 5 or 6 simultaneous streams btw.

 

[Tuckerdude]

Hey Mike...thanks for chiming in!

I've been testing this setup with Ryan at Nelly's security, and so far is seems to be what I was looking for. We are still trying to ensure that I can get PTZ controls to pass through to the camera, but if that works then I will proceed with this new setup.

BTW...I do want to put in a good word about Ryan at Nelly's. The guy has been great to work with, super patient, and willing to experiment with me (Remotely) to ensure that what I buy will serve my needs. So far very happy with them.

BBTW...I ordered one of their high end Eyesurv PTZ cameras (30x Optical Zoom) and will be installing it here. Looking forward to seeing that thing in action!

 

[Marinero]

Hi, Your configuration is directly on point for my needs. I have all Hikvision: NVR DS-7716NI-SP and various DS-2CDxxx cameras. I need Blue Iris for (1) marking motion events within a continuous recording and (2) adjustment of motion detection for better performance. Using Win7/64 bit on a home network with the cameras plugged into the NVR, Hikvision's SADP sees only the NVR. With Hikvision's NVR/browser software (configuration/camera management/ip camera) I can see internal IP addresses for each camera which are the same as the NVR IP address followed by a colon and 5 digits (e.g. NVR @ 192.168.0.20 and camera #1 at 192.168.0.20:55001, camera #2 at 192.168.0.20:55002, etc). I access the NVR software via browser at 192.168.0.20 and I can get to individual camera software at 192.168.0.20:55001 via the browser. Hikvision SADP sees only the NVR. With Blue Iris I cannot locate the video stream of any camera connected to the NVR and I cannot locate the NVR. Of course I could remove the cameras from the NVR and autodetect them separately on the network, bypassing the NVR. However, I prefer using my NVR for POE, 8TB HDD storage and reliability (as you described). Blue Iris does not autodetect the NVR or its cameras, How do I set Blue Iris to find the video signals? Thanks - Dave

 

[Marinero]

Can Blue Iris connect to HikVision NVR?

I have had an international team of luminaries working on this, without success.

See http://www.pddesign.com.au/blog/articles/2014/how-to-setup-hikvision-surveillance-with-blueiris-disqus.php#comment-2090666213

Please let me know if anyone has a better experience or fresh ideas.

 

[fenderman]

Re: Can Blue Iris connect to HikVision NVR?

I have had an international team of luminaries working on this, without success.

See http://www.pddesign.com.au/blog/articles/2014/how-to-setup-hikvision-surveillance-with-blueiris-disqus.php#comment-2090666213

Please let me know if anyone has a better experience or fresh ideas.

ok, what is the ip address of your router?
Generally the NVR will create a separate subnet for the cameras and you cannot directly access the cameras unless you connect the cameras to a separate switch or connect an unused poe port on the NVR to the pc...
IF you dont want to do any of the above, you can pull the streams directly from the nvr, to do that you need to be able to see the nvr...
so lets start with the ip address of your router.

 

[Tuckerdude]

Hey Guys...

I thought I would chime in since I started this thread in the first place. I will say, that I eventually (sort of) got the thing working. But it felt too "Hacky" for my liking. That plus I found that the web interface on the Hikvision DVR box was lacking in alot of very key areas. It was also a bit buggy and did not have many work arounds when issues arose. Luckily, I was able to return it to Nelly's and got a store credit.

My final solution was to just bite the bullet and put in a dedicated PC with Blue Iris running on it. I have GOTO MyPC running on it, in case I need to do any remote setup/tweaking of BI. So far, I've not had any big issues that I could not solve remotely, and the PC has run flawlessly and continuous for four months. I put a UPS battery backup on it, in case the power goes out, and it so far has kept the machine on during the few (Brief) power outages.

Marinero...if you still want to go with the DVR, I can try to find the details from my e-mail exchange with Nelly's. We got it working, but it was a limited implementation.

 

[Marinero]

Hello,

I am following you guys and also receiving good support from BI & Nellys.

I was disappointed to learn that Hikvision does not mark or search for events within continuous recordings, making playback/review tedious. I kept the NVR primarily because of the great support I received from Nellys and secondarily because a 16 channel POE switch is nearly as expensive as the NVR. The NVR may just be a stepping stone to BI, but I am hoping to integrate the NVR and keep it around for redundancy/backup.

Ken connected my Hikvision DS-7716NI-SP to BI There were a few details like noticing - with the password concealed by asterisks - that the BI default id/password admin/admin needed to be reset to admin/12345. He also set the RTSP port to 10554, though it seems to revert to 554. Steven/Nellys set an external IP address that lets me see the NVR. The NVR is in a concrete bunker on a Netgear router connected via LAN to my netgear c3000 cable modem/router. Steve thought the NVR would need to be connected directly to the modem/router, but it was not a problem having the NVR on secondary and tertiary routers. I have read that such series/daisy chain routers must be programmed, but in my case they worked effortlessly with no extra steps.

Please advise me regarding selection/design of a computer for BI. Do I need i7 CPU or will i5 be sufficient? I find no towers with capacity for four 3.5" HDD, so should I have a separate box for a RAID array?

I currently have six 3MP Hikvision cameras and plan a total of 24. I currently have two 4TB HDD in the NVR and plan to add more as needed.

We have frequent brief power outages in Miami Beach; my generator kicks in after a few seconds so an Uninterruptible Power Supply battery is used on my home computers. As another layer of protection, I want to have the ability to cycle the NVR and computer remotely via a zwave switch operated by my ADT PULSE system. The zwave switch would be placed between the UPS and the VMS devices (NVR and BI computer). Where can I read how to set the BIOS so the computer/server will re-boot Windows 7 and re-start BI when power cycled remotely?

Fenderman, I was especially intrigued by your comment "directly access the cameras ... connect the cameras to an unused poe port on the NVR to the pc". Kindly elaborate on this. Right now BI can access the NVRs video stream via its WAN IP. Unlike the NVR LAN IP, the NVR WAN IP does not provide access to the individual cameras. I cannot program the cameras directly and must simply turn on/off Hikvision Smart Motion detection functions (Line crossing, Occupancy) via the VCA switch available via the NVR WAN IP/browser software. I would like to reach the cameras directly/remotely via WAN to adjust Smart Motion functions, frame rates, etc. If I connect the PC to a free POE port on the NVR, will the PC access the cameras using their LAN IP address as set by the Hikvision SADP? Will this IP address be one of the two listed in the camera management tab of the NVR? The NVR Hikvision browser software "Camera Management" lists two IP addresses for each camera; the first of these addresses (column titled "IP Address") is unique to the camera, unrelated to the IP address of the NVR, and set somehow independent of SADP. The second IP address for each camera (column titled "connect") is in hypertext and works to access the camera directly (via the NVR software). That second address in hypertext has a colon followed by five digits (NVR IP +;65001 = camera 1) (NVR IP +;65002 = camera 2, etc), as if 65001 was some sort of port number. As you can see, I really do not understand how these connections work. Please share your thoughts and specific instructions to connect the NVR cameras to the BI computer via one of the unused NVR/POE jacks. Would Win7 recognize these cameras as being part of a new LAN or part of the same LAN which contains the NVR? In other words, would the same LAN provide access to the NVR as well as its cameras, individually, bypassing the NVR?

Please let me know if I am heading in the right direction to manage 24 cameras remotely. I hope most will be recording events only where the NVR may suffice (and I can house 16TB total HDD). I expect I will use BI where better control of motion detection is needed and where I need BI to index events within continuous recordings.

Thanks again for your advice. This is a great forum. I am sure many other beginners will benefit from reading this thread.

 

[fenderman]

I believe that the NVR can indicate the motion events while recording continuously, however, it will only do so on a directly attached display, not via the browser login..
For accessing the cameras directly by plugging into a lan port see this..you can set your pc to communicate with more than one subnet under the ipv4 settings>advanced.
http://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/115-Hitting-cameras-web-pages-with-a-laptop-in-an-NVR-with-POE
The question is what is the quality of the stream sent by the NVR? What resolution stream does it send to blue iris.
As far a pc for blue iris, if you end up going direct from the camera and you intend to use 24 at 3mp, even a modern i7 haswell is pushing it...blue iris is cpu heavy...however, because it seems like you wont be live viewing the cameras, if you run blue iris as a service or keep it minimized it may work..the issue will be when you try to login remotely, the cpu will go though the roof if you use something like teamviewer or RDP...you might be better off using hikvisions ivms...you may also consider running the cameras at 2mp if you dont need the vertical fov.
EDIT: another basic solution (assuming my first sentence is accurate) is to use Ethernet to extend the monitor to your viewing location and use some sort of active usb extender to control the mouse...kvm makes all in one units but they are about 500..

 

[servicekrunk]

all this literature leaves me wondering... was anyone able to get to their hikvision nvr through blue iris on a pc and use blue iris to stream the the cameras (instead of the hikvision app)? I just started using a web app that has support for and can run streams from blue iris but im already wired into the hikvision nvr :\

 

[fenderman]

all this literature leaves me wondering... was anyone able to get to their hikvision nvr through blue iris on a pc and use blue iris to stream the the cameras (instead of the hikvision app)? I just started using a web app that has support for and can run streams from blue iris but im already wired into the hikvision nvr :\

that will work..

 

[servicekrunk]

that will work..

please tell me you mean that as in "yes you can do that" and not "that sounds cool, good luck". if i can do it... where might one obtain the instructions or documentation?

 

[fenderman]

please tell me you mean that as in "yes you can do that" and not "that sounds cool, good luck". if i can do it... where might one obtain the instructions or documentation?

you dont need any special instructions..you are basically asking me to tell you step by step how to setup blue iris...
its all in the help file..
have you downloaded blue iris and tried?

 

[servicekrunk]

you dont need any special instructions..you are basically asking me to tell you step by step how to setup blue iris...
its all in the help file..
have you downloaded blue iris and tried?

i have, and i have been. its just the demo version so i think that might be my road block. id like to consider myself savvy enough to figure it out, but just cant seem to get BI on my pc to run stream from my hik. I input my camera address and port numbers into BI, it sees and returns all my camera info when i click find/inspect, but i get no picture. is the full ver of BI what i need?

 

[fenderman]

i have, and i have been. its just the demo version so i think that might be my road block. id like to consider myself savvy enough to figure it out, but just cant seem to get BI on my pc to run stream from my hik. I input my camera address and port numbers into BI, it sees and returns all my camera info when i click find/inspect, but i get no picture. is the full ver of BI what i need?

demo version has no impact on streaming from the NVR..
You need to input the NVR ip address and set the camera type to the NVR...then select channel numbers under it...
you are not streaming from the cameras but from the NVR...

 

[servicekrunk]

demo version has no impact on streaming from the NVR..
You need to input the NVR ip address and set the camera type to the NVR...then select channel numbers under it...
you are not streaming from the cameras but from the NVR...

yep, tried that and no workie. one discrepancy i can see is the discovery/onvif port in BI is set to 8999 by default but thats not on my port list in the nvr settings. is that whats wrong or is it simpler? what port on the nvr should i be using for the BI discovery port? would selfies or screenshots of my settings help? gun====>head (not really)
sorry if im turning out to be a clumsy idiot, i thought ida had something this easy tuned in by now. im sure now more than ever it possible, not sure why i cant see it. i do appreciate the help.

 

[fenderman]

yep, tried that and no workie. one discrepancy i can see is the discovery/onvif port in BI is set to 8999 by default but thats not on my port list in the nvr settings. is that whats wrong or is it simpler? what port on the nvr should i be using for the BI discovery port? would selfies or screenshots of my settings help? gun====>head (not really)
sorry if im turning out to be a clumsy idiot, i thought ida had something this easy tuned in by now. im sure now more than ever it possible, not sure why i cant see it. i do appreciate the help.

dont use onvif...what NVR did you choose from the dropdown...you are using rtsp..confirm your nvr's rtsp pot...
its 100 percent possible...this is user error...