From my other thread, I learned that not all NVRs will work with all ONVIF cameras.
Is there an NVR that is known to tolerate just about any type of ONVIF camera?
Is there an NVR that is known to tolerate just about any type of ONVIF camera?
Is there NVR that will work with any ONVIF camera?
- Thread starter New Daddy
- Start date
looney2ns
IPCT Contributor
mat200
IPCT Contributor
- Jan 17, 2017
- 16,079
- 27,023
FYI - your question really should be imho:
What NVR / VMS will work with my Vivotek FD8161s ?
Why is my Amcrest NVR not getting signal from IP cameras?
This is driving me crazy. I have a 16ch Amcrest NVR. It recognizes my IP cameras and populates them in the available cameras list. But when I add them and put in the password, the NVR can't get the signal. The status symbol remains orange. I know the camera is working and the password is...
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Yeas, as the last resort, I'm looking into it too.
I'm just not thrilled by the idea of having to keep a PC on 24/7, when I already have a NAS that I use for that purpose.
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,891
- 21,407
an nvr is just a small pc running linux....why are you afraid of a pc?
You have a point.
It's not that I'm afraid.
I just don't like the idea of having to install the OS and so on. If push comes to a shove, maybe I'll have to.
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,891
- 21,407
@New Daddy - you can turn off all Windows updates and all Blue Iris updates and then it is essentially a better NVR!
And you do not need to buy a new PC. A member here just last week found a refurbished 4th generation for less than $150USD that came with Win10 PRO, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB drive. Most of us purchase refurbished PCs that come off a business lease. A lot cheaper. Mine I kid you not looked brand new without a scratch or single dust bunny. Looked like everything was new on it.
And a 4th generation is plenty now with the substream option. A member here is running 50 cameras on his 4th generation at sub 40% CPU
Have you tried an NVR for playback - most of them suck. I can literally in less than a minute watch any activity from overnight on Blue Iris. It takes longer than that just to log into my NVR. And then playback is atrocious - even more so if you need to watch back for several days to find out when that car parked on the street was hit.
And common practice is to match brands of cameras with the NVR, so you may find a mix-match of cameras do not work properly with an NVR even if both are ONVIF compliant.
The ability to add more cameras and from different brands and do 3rd party add-ons if you desire I believe puts the favor into Blue Iris.
Most NVRs will cap the bitrate you use. And limit the resolution of the camera. As long as your computer can handle it, BI can accept whatever bitrate and resolution the camera is capable of.
An NVR is a watered down computer with an underpowered CPU that is running 24/7...I still am running an NVR that feeds cams to my BI computer. The NVR is pulling more power than the BI computer...
I have had whatever the NVR operating system is running on go out. TWICE. Got to buy a whole new NVR - TWICE
I have had the ethernet port go out on an NVR. Got to buy a whole new NVR.
i had the HDMI port go out on an NVR. Got to buy a whole new NVR.
Most I ever got was 2.5 years. The only working part was the HDD that I simply moved from the old NVR to the new one. I got to the point of realizing that an NVR is simply a stripped down computer, so I went to BI and never looked back. I got tired of buying a whole new unit.
So in my BI Computer, at least if the SSD goes out, I can just replace it. If the ethernet card goes out, I can just replace it. If the HDMI port goes out, I can just replace it. etc.
Personally I gave up on NVRs because I have found them to be clunky and a struggle to review clips and if a component goes out like the internet port, then you are stuck buying a new NVR whereas a computer part goes out and you replace just that component. I went to BI on a dedicated machine and haven't looked back.
Keep in mind that not all NVRs are created equal - look at bandwidth - a cheap one is usually limited to 80Mbps total bandwidth for all the cameras and limits cams to 4096 bitrate, so once you look at an NVR that can pass a higher bandwidth, the dedicated computer and Blue Iris was cheaper in my case.
Pros and Cons to each and many people on here run NVRs successfully as well and feel like the NVR platform/software isn't clunky and can fly threw looking up past clips. YMMV.
You will spend more on a capable NVR than you would a BI/PC combo...
And you do not need to buy a new PC. A member here just last week found a refurbished 4th generation for less than $150USD that came with Win10 PRO, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB drive. Most of us purchase refurbished PCs that come off a business lease. A lot cheaper. Mine I kid you not looked brand new without a scratch or single dust bunny. Looked like everything was new on it.
And a 4th generation is plenty now with the substream option. A member here is running 50 cameras on his 4th generation at sub 40% CPU
Have you tried an NVR for playback - most of them suck. I can literally in less than a minute watch any activity from overnight on Blue Iris. It takes longer than that just to log into my NVR. And then playback is atrocious - even more so if you need to watch back for several days to find out when that car parked on the street was hit.
And common practice is to match brands of cameras with the NVR, so you may find a mix-match of cameras do not work properly with an NVR even if both are ONVIF compliant.
The ability to add more cameras and from different brands and do 3rd party add-ons if you desire I believe puts the favor into Blue Iris.
Most NVRs will cap the bitrate you use. And limit the resolution of the camera. As long as your computer can handle it, BI can accept whatever bitrate and resolution the camera is capable of.
An NVR is a watered down computer with an underpowered CPU that is running 24/7...I still am running an NVR that feeds cams to my BI computer. The NVR is pulling more power than the BI computer...
I have had whatever the NVR operating system is running on go out. TWICE. Got to buy a whole new NVR - TWICE
I have had the ethernet port go out on an NVR. Got to buy a whole new NVR.
i had the HDMI port go out on an NVR. Got to buy a whole new NVR.
Most I ever got was 2.5 years. The only working part was the HDD that I simply moved from the old NVR to the new one. I got to the point of realizing that an NVR is simply a stripped down computer, so I went to BI and never looked back. I got tired of buying a whole new unit.
So in my BI Computer, at least if the SSD goes out, I can just replace it. If the ethernet card goes out, I can just replace it. If the HDMI port goes out, I can just replace it. etc.
Personally I gave up on NVRs because I have found them to be clunky and a struggle to review clips and if a component goes out like the internet port, then you are stuck buying a new NVR whereas a computer part goes out and you replace just that component. I went to BI on a dedicated machine and haven't looked back.
Keep in mind that not all NVRs are created equal - look at bandwidth - a cheap one is usually limited to 80Mbps total bandwidth for all the cameras and limits cams to 4096 bitrate, so once you look at an NVR that can pass a higher bandwidth, the dedicated computer and Blue Iris was cheaper in my case.
Pros and Cons to each and many people on here run NVRs successfully as well and feel like the NVR platform/software isn't clunky and can fly threw looking up past clips. YMMV.
You will spend more on a capable NVR than you would a BI/PC combo...
Yes, I see the point.
PC + BI sounds like a very good option, except that it's vulnerable to power outage. Someone suggested a UPS, but that's too much maintenance.
I'm thinking of buying additional licenses for the Surveillance Station on my Synology, because that in the end may not be that expensive when all things are considered and it's really robust.
An NVR would be vulnerable to a power outage as well....and you can set Windows up to restart automatically in the event of a power outage and/or the UPS runs out. UPS is zero maintenance, just plug it in...
I assure you my BI computer with an SSD drive boots up way faster than my NVR does in the event of a power outage lasting longer than battery backup!
^this! I have small $60 UPS units on all kinds of electronics around the house. And a few larger units on my important machines like Blue Iris. The smaller units work just as well but I wanted a larger battery to keep it alive longer during an outage.
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