Ok, i have a different scenario than most . I work in a plant we have 3 lines that our product runs down. each line has 6 cameras. Each line has its own 70" monitor that displays these cameras so the workers can see if there are any issues on the line. SHort story, i currently use trendnet server to record and use a script that puts the camera on the big screen using vlc. the run smooth no issues. the new issue we got some other camera ecplipse and they will not post o the trendnet viewer, this is why i went down the blue iris road. looked like great product. I loaded the java applet to put the cameras for each line on their designated monitor. i also a a supervisor that watches them through TS on the server. the issue is that the its choppy watching it. before on the old setup it was smooth. im running these on dell 2950 dual quad core with 64g of ram. I have them all running way low 5fps. they are complaining the old way was better. Im not sure what im missing. its almost like its playing stills instead of streaming live. the cpu also hits 92% when you terminal in to view the manager. this things is a 8 core 2.6ghz box. i cant figure it out. can anyone throw out suggestions please
Blue iris video is not smooth
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fenderman
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Welcome to the forum, use the activex plugin...it will be smooth.
To conserve cpu, use direct to disk recording...dont re-encode.
fenderman
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Direct to disc is not related to the location where the video is stored...it is a method of processing the video that avoids re encoding the video...this saves a ton of cpu power. The only thing you lose is that the blue iris overlay is not recorded, however, you can either use the cameras timestamp or add the time to the video when you export as the information is saved in the database.
You need to change this for each camera..camera properties>record>file format
Also set the container to blueiris dvr (.bvr)....
This will lower your cpu consumption considerably...
Ive seen several posts where users have high cpu consumption on older dual socket machines...maybe BI doesnt take advantage of them...each cpu alone scores about 4400 on passmark (im assuming you have an 5300 series xeon-these are 8 year old processors)...a modern i3 scores about the same...those dual socket dells suck TONS of power..you may want to consider an i7-4790 haswell, that will not only be more powerful, but will save consuderably on your electric bill..enough to pay for the sub 500 machine..see dell business outlet sales..
You may also simply consider using an android box, like amazon fire tv at the bigscreens with trendnets Android app.
fenderman
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Certainly...once you change to direct to disk on all cameras, cpu will drop considerablly...
Few things to remember when using direct to disk
In the cameras, match the i-frame interval to the fps..both should be the same.
In blue iris set the fps to one step above the cameras..so if cameras are 15 set it to 20 and uncheck adjust automatically
Set the pretrigger frames to 1-2x your fps...so if you are recording at 15fps set the pretriger frames to 15-30..
The_Penguin
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TS, terminal server? I'd suggest having him watch it via a web browser, see if that's smoother.
Remote desktop is not efficient at displaying remote video.
My UI2 page does not and never will support the activex plugin. That would be far too limiting.
My UI2 page does not and never will support the activex plugin. That would be far too limiting.
The best way to get smooth playback is to use the Blue Iris application directly. Next best is the activex plugin on default.htm, or one of the mobile apps. Consider a different remote desktop program. Splashtop for example. I use a lesser known program called Multiplicity, but it uses quite a bit of CPU and is a bit buggy, and also not free.
But if you're only running the cams at 5fps anyway, then my ui2 page is probably going to deliver the full frame rate, or close to it.
But if you're only running the cams at 5fps anyway, then my ui2 page is probably going to deliver the full frame rate, or close to it.
fenderman
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Blue iris allows for perfect smooth playback..whether from the console or the webserver...you should not have any problems unless you have a poor network connection or under-powered pc. Its still unclear how your are remote viewing...this should be done via webrowser and active x or mobile app for smooth play back..dont use remote viewing software.
We understand. The first step to getting smoother playback is to increase the frame rates, since you've said you are running them all at 5 FPS. 15 FPS is often considered good enough for fairly smooth video, so aim for that. Just make sure you are changing the frame rate in each camera's web interface, not in Blue Iris. In fact as of today's update to BI 4.0.9.x there is no reason to touch the frame rate setting in Blue Iris at all for IP cameras.
Blue Iris is a CPU hog, no doubt about it. That is its biggest weakness. Most other software will let you enjoy higher frame rates and use less resources at the same time, but it may not have the features and pricing you want. If you can't achieve high enough frame rates without overloading the CPU, your only choices will be 1.) Use different software (not Blue Iris) or 2.) Get a much faster machine. I don't think a new i7 machine would be great leaps and bounds faster... maybe 50%. But it would use far less electric power as fenderman pointed out and have no doubts, it would be faster than what you are using now.
Blue Iris is a CPU hog, no doubt about it. That is its biggest weakness. Most other software will let you enjoy higher frame rates and use less resources at the same time, but it may not have the features and pricing you want. If you can't achieve high enough frame rates without overloading the CPU, your only choices will be 1.) Use different software (not Blue Iris) or 2.) Get a much faster machine. I don't think a new i7 machine would be great leaps and bounds faster... maybe 50%. But it would use far less electric power as fenderman pointed out and have no doubts, it would be faster than what you are using now.
the cameras setting are at 30fps and i have BI frames set at 20fps. i made these changes after adjusting the direct to to disk setting and freeing up the cpu usage. I understand this dell 2950 is a older box and the 64g of ram really mean nothing but I would have thought that it being 8 core server it would have handled the task. Can you do direct to disk and use AVI(1g) and use a player from regular pc for playback? would that be successful. Or do you think still a i5 box with 4g of ram would out perform this server. the netork is full switched gig backbone all the way to the edge
fenderman
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first things first...the frame rate in blue iris should not be set lower than the cameras...this has been fixed in the latest update to prevent you from doing so as it makes blue iris work harder...so the first thing to do is update to the latest version..
Avi is a terrible file format because its limited to 1gb..BVR is the most efficeint on the cpu and allows you to view recorded video before the file is completely written. you can export to another format...
8 core is meaning less if the software doesnt take advantage of the dual cpu..also attach a killawatt meter to that old machine, it will be cheaper to buy a new one then keep that machine running 24/7..
you cant just say i5..you need to specify the model..there is a HUGE variation...also how many cameras total and what mp are they set to?