CVI/TVI capture card for Blue Iris?

[kirkdickinson]

I have a friend that owns a restaurant. They have RG59 cameras and a really old system. He is wanting to put in better security system. If he had it to do from scratch, I think that using POE cameras everywhere would be better. Since this is an old building and the RG59 is already run, running new cables everywhere will be extremely difficult. They had a drop ceiling originally, but put drywall on it and now it is not easily accessible.

I was thinking that a hybrid system would be a better fit for him. Where he could use his old analog cameras in some locations, replace them with TVI cameras in others, and run CAT-5 to any new location. Maybe something like a Hikvision iDS-7316HUHI-M4/S.

So my question is if Blue Iris can work in a system with a mix of Analog, TVI, and IP cameras? Are their video capture cards that can be installed in a PC to capture the TVI and analog inputs?

Is Blue Iris a good choice for these types of hybrid systems?

 

[TonyR]

IMO, it would a lot cheaper to use a DVR as a analog-to-digital encoder and send its video to Blue Iris. I've done it with CVBS analog cams on DVRs from Night Owl, Zmodo and others.

A TVI, CVI DVR may work just as well. Then with BI you'd also be set to connect to POE IP cams with a POE switch.

IMO, BI is just so much more flexible and configurable.

 

[Pogo]

The hybrid approach is a very elegant solution to situations such as the one described here. This is a great box for integrating with Blue Iris at a bargain price. (I have two.)

Amazon.com

If the coax is already there and serviceable with powering capability intact it's a no-brainer. Just hang the XVR off the back of Blue Iris by its IP address just like a camera and go. It will automatically be added as the channel 1 camera. Add additional cameras by copying the initial entry, change the camera name, change the channel number in the stream(s) entries and all those analog relics now have the the power and flexibility of Blue Iris and a whole new look on their useful life. Simple as that.

The Amcrest above is a killer box at a killer price and very flexible within its inherent capabilities. It's an analog/IP device with 8 primary analog BNC inputs and 4 IP channels for a total of 12 simultaneous inputs. Any analog channel can be used as an IP channel. It will do 4K both IP and analog, albeit with certain resource sharing and certain configuration trade-offs. It will adapt to any analog format and provide OSD capabilities for analog cameras that have it via internal means or the inline toggle dip switch joystick little thingie for changing between formats. And there are some very cool analog cameras out there these days as well. I snagged a nice 4K Amcrest unit for under $70 that is just as clean and twice as stable through Blue Iris than any of my 4K IP cameras. Upgrading the existing camera locations can be accomplished quite economically if one shops around. (I see tons of super cheap HIK 1080 anolog stuff in my area still NIB as an example.)

Analog is still alive and quite well. People tend to thumb their noses at analog over IP thinking IP is automatically superior. The same people will tell you Wi-Wi is bad. They all have their place and can also all work quite well together.

It's easy when you know how.