Blue Iris Hardware Recommendations

[bp2008]

For an organization such as mine -- where Bp2008's BI Better Viewer is used by 3 or 4 persons to live view cameras and (occasionally) review archived video -- does hardware acceleration provide us with any advantage?

Depends on what you are talking about specifically. The web pages (UI2 etc) do not benefit from any hardware acceleration unless it affects the browser in generic ways.

My java app may benefit slightly, since it uses the libgdx game engine for rendering. But that is only a minor part, easily handled by most onboard graphics even at high resolutions. The jpeg decoding is the most CPU intensive part and will only benefit from faster CPUs. https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php?191-Standalone-Java-app-for-dedicated-live-view-with-Instant-Replay

 

[spyfly81]

@bp2008, @fenderman, or anyone else

what kind of cpu would I need to build a box close to this nvr? The nvr can handle 80mbps inbound http://www.ltsecurityinc.com/nvr/embedded-nvr/platinum-network-video-recorder-nvr-ltn8816.html

 

[fenderman]

@bp2008, @fenderman, or anyone else

what kind of cpu would I need to build a box close to this nvr? The nvr can handle 80mbps inbound http://www.ltsecurityinc.com/nvr/embedded-nvr/platinum-network-video-recorder-nvr-ltn8816.html

Its not really about the inbound bandwidth for blue iris..it depends on the camera resolution and fps as mentioned earlier..

 

[bp2008]

For 16 1080p cameras, I would recommend nothing less than an i7-4790 and even with that you'd have to run Direct to Disk of course on all the cams, and probably reduce the frame rates to 10 or 15 FPS.

 

[spyfly81]

Its not really about the inbound bandwidth for blue iris..it depends on the camera resolution and fps as mentioned earlier..

I am just trying to figure out how I can use BlueIris as I feel it is a better solution as it gives me and my clients more flexible however when quoting out a project it can't be the luck of the draw for me, I need to know what I am installing is going to work and from what your telling me @fenderman it based on experience what works and what does not work? You don't have a magic formula?

I normally use 15fps for my with 2mp cameras, sometimes I may go down to 10fps if using 3mp cameras, or up to 20fps with 1.3mp cameras for low light setups most of my systems are 8 to 16 cameras. Not sure why I just don't use 15fps across the board but this is what I have always done, mostly for disk space. I normally just use all LTS gear but with some customers wanting to use some of their own IP cameras or adding PTZ cameras down the road that my now be hikvision/lts cameras it would be nice to find a good blueiris setup that would be in the $300 to $400 range without hard drives.

 

[bp2008]

Not sure why I just don't use 15fps across the board but this is what I have always done, mostly for disk space.

I'm sure you are aware it is the bit rate that determines disk usage, not the frame rate. Higher frame rate simply demands higher bit rate to maintain the same quality. And the additional bit rate required is less than you might think. Going from 15 to 30 FPS for example does not require anything near a 2x bit rate jump to maintain the same image quality. The main reason for reducing the frame rate is that lower frame rates can be processed faster by Blue Iris.

I normally just use all LTS gear but with some customers wanting to use some of their own IP cameras or adding PTZ cameras down the road that my now be hikvision/lts cameras it would be nice to find a good blueiris setup that would be in the $300 to $400 range without hard drives.

In the $300-$400 range, you should be looking for refurbished i5-4590 systems with 3 year warranties. They can be found on ebay, hp, or dell outlets. These are quite competent machines, and most of them are small or ultra small form factor which I'm sure the customers like. These i5 chips are not quite as capable as an i7-4790 but a lot better than anything else you'll find in that price range. Try at least one to see what you think. My personal rule of thumb is not to recommend an i5 system for more than 10 cameras (2-3MP each cam). You can make it work with more cams, but at frame rates so low most people wouldn't be happy.

Have a look at this chart to see how CPUs compare. One of the problems we see a lot is people find a cheap used server with like 16 cores and it turns out to actually be slower than an i7-4790 while consuming 2 or 3 times the power. Don't make that mistake. Always check benchmarks of unfamiliar CPUs. http://cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

 

[spyfly81]

I'm sure you are aware it is the bit rate that determines disk usage, not the frame rate. Higher frame rate simply demands higher bit rate to maintain the same quality. And the additional bit rate required is less than you might think. Going from 15 to 30 FPS for example does not require anything near a 2x bit rate jump to maintain the same image quality. The main reason for reducing the frame rate is that lower frame rates can be processed faster by Blue Iris.

I was not aware of that, thank you. I assumed being you were recording more fps it would require more disk. I did know that the higher the bit rate the more disk. I am still learning about this video stuff but it sure is fun, kinda reminds me of the days I was learning about long range wireless you learn something new everyday.

In the $300-$400 range, you should be looking for refurbished i5-4590 systems with 3 year warranties. They can be found on ebay, hp, or dell outlets. These are quite competent machines, and most of them are small or ultra small form factor which I'm sure the customers like. These i5 chips are not quite as capable as an i7-4790 but a lot better than anything else you'll find in that price range. Try at least one to see what you think. My personal rule of thumb is not to recommend an i5 system for more than 10 cameras (2-3MP each cam). You can make it work with more cams, but at frame rates so low most people wouldn't be happy.

Have a look at this chart to see how CPUs compare. One of the problems we see a lot is people find a cheap used server with like 16 cores and it turns out to actually be slower than an i7-4790 while consuming 2 or 3 times the power. Don't make that mistake. Always check benchmarks of unfamiliar CPUs. http://cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Perfect I have a system with a i5-4590 on the way, I am going to try it with my 4 cameras I have 3 hikvisions and 1 foscam.

I am assuming the higher the benchmark the more fps and resolution the cpu will handle?

Thanks for all the help @bp2008, also I am guessing your java viewer is for headless setups where the end user does not have easy access to the PC running BlueIris?

 

[bp2008]

I was not aware of that, thank you. I assumed being you were recording more fps it would require more disk. I did know that the higher the bit rate the more disk. I am still learning about this video stuff but it sure is fun, kinda reminds me of the days I was learning about long range wireless you learn something new everyday.

Yeah. It was a great time when I learned about long range wireless links. Saved my dad from satellite internet by helping him link his office to his house across town with Ubiquiti radios. I install and/or configure more and more of these for family and friends as time goes on, too. Great company, Ubiquiti is.

I am assuming the higher the benchmark the more fps and resolution the cpu will handle?

Yes, exactly. FPS and resolution and the main determiners of CPU usage by Blue Iris. Those and the direct to disk option, which should be enabled on all cameras unless the side-effects are unacceptable (read about it in the Blue Iris help file). Even if it isn't necessary to run well, lower CPU usage will result in lower power consumption by the computer.

There is apparently a point where faster CPU won't increase how many pixels Blue Iris can handle, but you are a long way from that still with an i5: https://www.ipcamtalk.com/showthread.php/6956-24-8MP-Cameras-using-Blue-Iris-(follow-up)

Thanks for all the help @bp2008, also I am guessing your java viewer is for headless setups where the end user does not have easy access to the PC running BlueIris?

Not specifically, but it works well in that situation. All my java viewer does is live view, with the added bonus of being able to "look back in time" if you use the instant replay feature (I wish other software had such a useful feature, but I've never seen it anywhere else!!). Using my java viewer will significantly increase CPU and network usage both on the client PC and on the Blue Iris server ... so be aware of that.

 

[Lowvoltage]

Hi, to all, thanks so much for all the info on this site, so much time needed to read thorough this forum so much to learn in so little time.

Im looking into 2 new installations 1 possibly with 22 cams Samsung 2mp snd-L6013, and the second with 16 hik 3mp cams.

Im currently looking at the Dell XPS 8900 I7 6 gen (on sale now by dell), any reason fenderman and others recommend the optiplex 9020 and not other towers? I see the 8900 has 460wats of power should be enough for anything in camera s/w imho.

Second, I purchased Blue Iris while ago but never actually used it (only familiar so far with HIK ivms 4200 geovision and Samsung S/W sns-sf016, would it make sense to use BI with 22 cams on 1 Pc or rather get 2 individual pcs.

 

[fenderman]

Hi, to all, thanks so much for all the info on this site, so much time needed to read thorough this forum so much to learn in so little time.

Im looking into 2 new installations 1 possibly with 22 cams Samsung 2mp snd-L6013, and the second with 16 hik 3mp cams.

Im currently looking at the Dell XPS 8900 I7 6 gen (on sale now by dell), any reason fenderman and others recommend the optiplex 9020 and not other towers? I see the 8900 has 460wats of power should be enough for anything in camera s/w imho.

Second, I purchased Blue Iris while ago but never actually used it (only familiar so far with HIK ivms 4200 geovision and Samsung S/W sns-sf016, would it make sense to use BI with 22 cams on 1 Pc or rather get 2 individual pcs.

Welcome to the forum. The recommendation for the 9020 is based on the 3 year next business day warranty and solid build, however, the new optiplex with skylake are not available at the outlet yet. The 8900 is a good machine, but i dont like the extra power use, heat and failure point of discrete graphics..you may be able to remove the card. 44mp is a huge load for blue iris. I would wait for the hardware acceleration to be released before the end of December. It appears that it will be optimized for intel integrated graphics.

 

[Lowvoltage]

heat and failure point of discrete graphics..

Thanks, Can you explain what you mean by this?

 

[fenderman]

Thanks, Can you explain what you mean by this?

Heat to the case/room, power consumption, and are more failure prone than integrated graphics (particularly the cards with built in fan). If in fact Blue iris hardware acceleration will be optimized for intel, you would be better off with intel integrated graphics.

 

[Lowvoltage]

you would be better off with intel integrated graphics.

But then I loose the option of having 2 monitors hooked up to this PC.

 

[spyfly81]

Heat to the case/room, power consumption, and are more failure prone than integrated graphics (particularly the cards with built in fan). If in fact Blue iris hardware acceleration will be optimized for intel, you would be better off with intel integrated graphics.

@fenderman when do you think we will know more about this hardware acceleration, is Ken pretty good about hitting his marks?
@fenderman @bp2008 what is the highest amount of cameras have you installed on 1 blue iris server?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[wcrowder]

Perfect I have a system with a i5-4590 on the way, I am going to try it with my 4 cameras I have 3 hikvisions and 1 foscam.

I am assuming the higher the benchmark the more fps and resolution the cpu will handle?

Thanks for all the help @bp2008, also I am guessing your java viewer is for headless setups where the end user does not have easy access to the PC running BlueIris?

For 4-6 cameras the I5-4590 will work fine. I think some of the I7-4770k+ talk on here scares off a lot of home users that will never have more then 6 cameras. I just started using Blue Iris and I'm running 4 cameras at 1080p, and 4 analog cameras on an Axis 7014 encoder. I'm doing this on an I3-550... 34% CPU constantly recording, review or remote login jumps that up considerably... New kit will be here tomorrow.

 

[fenderman]

@fenderman when do you think we will know more about this hardware acceleration, is Ken pretty good about hitting his marks?
@fenderman @bp2008 what is the highest amount of cameras have you installed on 1 blue iris server?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

He said it will be out by the end of december.

 

[wcrowder]

Heat to the case/room, power consumption, and are more failure prone than integrated graphics (particularly the cards with built in fan). If in fact Blue iris hardware acceleration will be optimized for intel, you would be better off with intel integrated graphics.

Is it going to optimized for Intel? Website specifically calls for nVidia. And as for power consumption, there are low power nVidia cards. I've been looking at them.

 

[fenderman]

Is it going to optimized for Intel? Website specifically calls for nVidia. And as for power consumption, there are low power nVidia cards. I've been looking at them.

I understand that the website says nvidia but he indicated that intel will benefit more users...he didnt give me any guarantees or say anything with certainty..but that he is working with intel...best thing is to wait before buying anything. Even low power cards use significantly more power than integrated graphics.

 

[bp2008]

@fenderman when do you think we will know more about this hardware acceleration, is Ken pretty good about hitting his marks?
@fenderman @bp2008 what is the highest amount of cameras have you installed on 1 blue iris server?

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

He did say before the end of December, right? I don't have any idea of that target will be hit or not, but there is no reason to doubt it.

I have 22 cams currently active on my BI server at home, which is the most I have ever run at once. Usually I only run 20. It is an i7-3770k CPU running 55-60% with my UI2 page open and streaming. All cams except one have direct to disk enabled. About 65 total megapixels and average frame rate is about 5 FPS. Memory usage is 3.63 GB for the BlueIris.exe process. Would be higher if I used higher pre-trigger recording buffers.

 

[Q™]

...I have 22 cams currently active on my BI server...It is an i7-3770k CPU running 55-60% with my UI2 page open and streaming...All cams except one have direct to disk enabled...About 65 total megapixels and average frame rate is about 5 FPS...Memory usage is 3.63 GB for the BlueIris.exe process...

You just described my system to a tee.