Confused Noob - Basic PC NVR Setup

[MadPup]

I have a IPC-HDW5321R-ZE up and running on my network and I'm trying to figure out how best to set up an NVR. What I want is to have the camera record when it detects motion. So far I have tried Smart PSS, iSpy, and Blue Iris but I think I am missing some basic concepts. All of those applications appear to perform motion detection and as such need to be running all the time using CPU to process the video stream. As I understand it the camera can already do motion detection so what I think I want is to configure the camera to record (either to the SD card or/and network storage) and be able to review the recordings using an application. So what I think I want is an application that can display the timeline and replay captured video. If the application can also help configure the camera then great, but that doesn't seem critical unless I have multiple cameras. Can anyone suggest what I should o?

 

[Barboots]

You might choose to put a micro SD card in the camera, given you only have the one. Otherwise you will have to have a PC/Mac or NVR running all the time.

Cheers, Steve

 

[MadPup]

nm... I'm slowly figuring out how to use the camera's web interface. I'm also looking at SmartPlayer for reviewing and converting files on a network share.

 

[looney2ns]

Blue Iris on a dedicated PC is the absolute best option.

 

[thendawg]

Although Im personally a Milestone fan, whichever VMS you go with, I agree with @looney2ns - dedicated NVR PC is def the way to go. You can pick up a cheap-ish Optiplex SFF for under $100 on ebay that will do the job just fine. Something like this - Dell Optiplex 790 SFF Intel Core i5-2400 @3.10GHz 12 GB PC3-10600 Win7 Pro No HD | eBay

2nd gen i5 supports QuickSync so if your VMS supports it that will help with transcoding for live viewing/playback, but either way, a 2nd gen i5 dedicated to vms will do just fine for a few cameras at home. That particular build has plenty of RAM as well, just get yourself a HDD for it thats intended for surveillance (continuous recording) - Ive found decent 2TB's on ebay for $50 or so as well.

 

[sebastiantombs]

The easiest way to look at it is that the "intelligence" in a camera is pretty basic, even those with AI capabilities have limited motion detection capabilities and they have relatively limited memory and a single SD card for storage. An NVR is a little smarter and has some additional processing power as well as having more memory and storage capacity, room for a large HDD or two. A dedicated PC running NVR software is the top of the heap with a lot more intelligence, memory, and storage capacity than an NVR.

 

[MadPup]

Thanks for the responses. I took the good advice and read thru the Wiki and found some answers to my questions there.

Right now I have one camera that I am playing with as a learning process and I may never progress to more. For a single camera setup I find that the camera with SD card has all the functionality I want (reliable recording is not high on my priorities). I also have 2 always-on PCs in the house that could double as PC-NVRs if/when I want more reliability (and yes I understand concerns around network isolation).

Thanks for the Milestone hint. XProtect Essential+ looks interesting and I will give it a try (1.8GB download!). For one thing, free is good. Smart PSS PC-NVR is woefully flaky, iSpy is unfriendly/difficult to configure, and Blue Iris seems OK but it from what I have read here it can't integrate with the IVS/AI features built into the Dahua cameras meaning the PC processor will always be running at a trot.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I don't know what you mean by the processor "running at a trot" with Blue Iris. I have eleven cameras running, 9 are 2MP and 2 are 4MP for a total of about 400MPs, and the processor, an i7-6700K, runs at about 20% during the day and 15% at night.

 

[MadPup]

I don't know what you mean by the processor "running at a trot" with Blue Iris. I have eleven cameras running, 9 are 2MP and 2 are 4MP for a total of about 400MPs, and the processor, an i7-6700K, runs at about 20% during the day and 15% at night.

That's what I call a trot. If each of the cameras was doing this work what do you think it would be running at?

 

[Oceanslider]

That's what I call a trot. If each of the cameras was doing this work what do you think it would be running at?

11 cameras running the CPU at 15% to 20% seems like a leisurely stroll not a trot

 

[sebastiantombs]

The difference being that that "trot" is a more reliable detection algorithm working. A very small price to pay. for the much higher intelligence and options for configuring motion detection. In addition, I have access to at east a weeks worth of video from all of those 11 cameras any time it might be needed, and I have needed it a few times.

 

[tigerwillow1]

Just as an example, I have the NVR running 24x7, and view on a PC using smartPSS. The machine running smartPSS does not need to be running constantly. The detection events are marked on the timeline for each camera and I can view at my leisure. Same thing if running BI on a dedicated PC.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Again, compared to BI on a PC an NVR s quite limited in detection and additional features. There are many examples of a PC running BII with multiple cameras, on this board, and consuming under 30 watts if power consumption is an issue. It can be done easily.

 

[RubberDucky]

The difference being that that "trot" is a more reliable detection algorithm working.

I'm playing with the BI demo now, IVS is better imo. More reliable with less fuss.

Plus IVS differentiates people, vehicle or regular motion. At least in smartpss it does. BI can't do that at all. Quite a step backwards imho.

 

[sebastiantombs]

OK, so the rest of us who use BU, very successfully, to do exactly that, vehicle, person and motion detection and have been for a long time, are doing something wrong I guess. Whatever makes you happy is the best solution in any case. Good luck to you.

 

[RubberDucky]

But you are using a 3rd party cloud service since BI can't do it. At least from what I've seen using the demo.

 

[Zimberto]

Yup. Smart Sentry is $5/month. Congrats on not drinking the IPCT Koolaid.

 

[TonyR]

Yup. Smart Sentry is $5/month. Congrats on not drinking the IPCT Koolaid.

Wow. $5 a month....I guess I'll have to cut down to one $3 bag of M&M's a month instead of three......

(Still luvin' my BI)

 

[MadPup]

Makes me wonder why they bother putting intelligence and processing in the cameras if no one uses it. Seems like the money would be better spent on a better sensor and optics.

 

[sebastiantombs]

I look at it as a redundancy feature. Sometimes the AI in a camera can miss something, sometimes the NVR, BI or other software, can miss something. Having two methods working insures even better detection.