New to BI - Confused AF and need some help please!

[DHMN]

Hey everyone!

I'm helping my local makerspace with a multi-purpose security system with 3 different uses.

1. We are looking for an actual security system that will record using motion detection - direct to disk from my understanding (10-15 FPS)
2. We also want to use a remote PC for live viewing at the door so people can see what's happening outside or in other rooms (Lower Res and 5-10FPS is ok)
3. Still pictures hosted on our website for our members and the public to see (maybe 1-10 frames per minute)

I've decided to go with Blue Iris, but after months of research and an email to Ken @ BI support, I'm still really confused on what hardware I actually need and have a few questions!

For cameras we've ordered the following from Reolink:

(4) 8MP RLC810
(4) 8MP CX810 (Color Night Vision)
(2) 12MP RLC-1240A
(2) 16MP Duo 3 Poe

The network should be more than adequate - I've ordered 2x Netgear GC752XP and a Netgear GS752TXP (all L3 Managed, PoE, Gbe) with 10Gb fiber connections between the switches, and the Poe Budget is 720W per switch iirc. So, I think we're good on network hardware...

The BI Server is where I'm getting really confused, though! Being a non-profit, we're on a budget so I'm trying to build the best I can for $1,000-1,500. I currently have some gear available that would save us a lot, but I've seen a lot of mixed info, and BI Support gave me a very vague response! If possible, I'd really like a little headroom for future cameras, web hosting, IoT type stuff, etc.

The hardware I have available is:

MB: MSI X99 Carbon Motherboard
CPU: i7-6950X (HEDT) 10 Core / 20 Thread 3.0/3.5Ghz (Base/Boost)
*Note: I can also use a compatible Xeon (I forget the model) with 18C/36T at something like 2.8Ghz/3Ghz
RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4-3200 Quad-Channel Kit
GPU: RTX 2060 available (not sure if it's needed though??)
SSD: 1TB 970 Evo Plus NVMe Boot Drive
HDD: 10TB Seagate Skyhawk (potentially 2 or 3)

After months of research, I'm still left very confused! I've seen some say that Quick Sync is no longer required, some people say any quad core is fine, others saying to use a GPU, and others telling me I need a new 14900k or Ultra 9!? I thought this would be plenty for BI, but when I emailed BI support he said I'd need a newer i9, with Quick Sync, and Direct to Disk only (and it would be tough because of the 12MP cameras) - the 16MP are 2x 8MP streams.

So, I guess my questions are:

1. Can BI do Direct to Disk, Remote Viewing at Lower Res/FPS, and host Pics to our website - all at the same time?
2. Is the system I mentioned above enough? Or, do I really need a newer i9 with Quick Sync, and if so, what CPU would you recommend??
3. How do newer Core i7/i9 or Core Ultra 7/9 CPUs handle the P Core and E Core situation?
4. I used the storage calc and got an absurd HDD requirement (almost 100TB!) Is this calc for continuous recording? We're planning on motion recording and only a few cams should ever be recording at a time, and only a few hours a day... We're trying to get at least 30 days of storage.

I hope someone else out there has dealt with a larger system (1200-1800MP/s) with 8MP/12MP/16MP cameras that can offer some insight - Thank in advance!

 

[wittaj]

First mistake is you have the wrong cameras. Reolink are notorious for not playing well with BI. Can you return them?

And even when they do work with BI, the quality of images at night are just poor.

Once substreams became a thing for BI (it has been a thing for NVRs for years), it was a game changer.

Using substreams brings a ton of computers into play.

Quicksync and GPUs are not needed.

People run 50 cameras just fine on a 4th gen intel they got for $25 at the County auction.

Most will say go with at least an 8th gen intel because it is capable of running Windows11 without any hacks to make it do so.

Here is a thread showing older machines are fine:

Post in thread 'Another hardware question'

Jan 11, 2023

With the use of substreams, you can get by with an older machine.

If you have the money to buy an 8th gen or newer, go for it, but it money is tight, you can find some really good deals on older systems that are still very capable.

Someone here is running a 3rd gen with 12 cameras at like 30% CPU.

Someone here recently picked up a 4th gen for $25 at a government auction and it can run a lot of cameras.

Do not use the graphics card for hardware acceleration as that has been problematic with newer versions of BI for many people.

Around the time AI was introduced in BI, many here had...

• wittaj

 

[mat200]

Hey everyone!

I'm helping my local makerspace with a multi-purpose security system with 3 different uses.

1. We are looking for an actual security system that will record using motion detection - direct to disk from my understanding (10-15 FPS)
2. We also want to use a remote PC for live viewing at the door so people can see what's happening outside or in other rooms (Lower Res and 5-10FPS is ok)
3. Still pictures hosted on our website for our members and the public to see (maybe 1-10 frames per minute)

I've decided to go with Blue Iris, but after months of research and an email to Ken @ BI support, I'm still really confused on what hardware I actually need and have a few questions!

For cameras we've ordered the following from Reolink:

(4) 8MP RLC810
(4) 8MP CX810 (Color Night Vision)
(2) 12MP RLC-1240A
(2) 16MP Duo 3 Poe

The network should be more than adequate - I've ordered 2x Netgear GC752XP and a Netgear GS752TXP (all L3 Managed, PoE, Gbe) with 10Gb fiber connections between the switches, and the Poe Budget is 720W per switch iirc. So, I think we're good on network hardware...

The BI Server is where I'm getting really confused, though! Being a non-profit, we're on a budget so I'm trying to build the best I can for $1,000-1,500. I currently have some gear available that would save us a lot, but I've seen a lot of mixed info, and BI Support gave me a very vague response! If possible, I'd really like a little headroom for future cameras, web hosting, IoT type stuff, etc.

The hardware I have available is:

MB: MSI X99 Carbon Motherboard
CPU: i7-6950X (HEDT) 10 Core / 20 Thread 3.0/3.5Ghz (Base/Boost)
*Note: I can also use a compatible Xeon (I forget the model) with 18C/36T at something like 2.8Ghz/3Ghz
RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4-3200 Quad-Channel Kit
GPU: RTX 2060 available (not sure if it's needed though??)
SSD: 1TB 970 Evo Plus NVMe Boot Drive
HDD: 10TB Seagate Skyhawk (potentially 2 or 3)

After months of research, I'm still left very confused! I've seen some say that Quick Sync is no longer required, some people say any quad core is fine, others saying to use a GPU, and others telling me I need a new 14900k or Ultra 9!? I thought this would be plenty for BI, but when I emailed BI support he said I'd need a newer i9, with Quick Sync, and Direct to Disk only (and it would be tough because of the 12MP cameras) - the 16MP are 2x 8MP streams.

So, I guess my questions are:

1. Can BI do Direct to Disk, Remote Viewing at Lower Res/FPS, and host Pics to our website - all at the same time?
2. Is the system I mentioned above enough? Or, do I really need a newer i9 with Quick Sync, and if so, what CPU would you recommend??
3. How do newer Core i7/i9 or Core Ultra 7/9 CPUs handle the P Core and E Core situation?
4. I used the storage calc and got an absurd HDD requirement (almost 100TB!) Is this calc for continuous recording? We're planning on motion recording and only a few cams should ever be recording at a time, and only a few hours a day... We're trying to get at least 30 days of storage.

I hope someone else out there has dealt with a larger system (1200-1800MP/s) with 8MP/12MP/16MP cameras that can offer some insight - Thank in advance!

Welcome @DHMN

numerous reports by members that there are issues with Reolink cameras ..

in particular,
some models do not do RTSP
some compatibility issues
issues with iFrames and setting iFrames
issues with cameras holding custom settings
issues with low light image capture, especially with moving subjects

That stated, YES Blue Iris can do direct to disk, and iirc it is a recommended setup.

Problem is Reolink Cameras and iFrame settings .. this creates issues with various detection algorithms

The available PC hardware should work fine for the basics as I recall reading .. ( recommendation now are intel 8th gen or better if you are buying a used PC )

 

[wittaj]

Since you mentioned Reolinks....

Keep in mind that reolinks, especially at night are horrible.

If all you care about is to look around, then probably ok. But if you plan to be able to use them in the event something happens and you need to get the police involved, return them....


What you mean a missing hand isn't normal LOL (plus look at the blur on the face and he is barely moving and this should be ideal indoor IR bounce and it struggles):

How about missing everything but the head and upper torso

The invisible man, where can he be. Thank goodness he is carrying around a reflective plate to see where he is LOL (hint - the person is literally in the middle of the image at the end of the fence holding a rectangular reflective piece of metal)

I've seen better images on an episode of ghost hunters

And of course, this is an example from Reolink's marketing videos - do you see a person in this picture...yes, there is a person in this picture.... Could this provide anything useful for the police other than the date and time something happened? Would this protect your home? The still picture looks great though except for the person and the blur of the vehicle... Will give you a hint - the person is in between the two visible columns:

Bad Boys
Bad Boys
Watcha gonna do
Watcha gonna do
When the camera can't see you


Here is the unofficial Reolink thread.

You can see all the attempts people have provided to demonstrate the quality of Reolink, and they are all a blurry mess at night or missing body parts or other messes.

We have challenged someone to provide a clean capture of someone moving at night with a Reolink and as you can see with 20 pages, nobody has yet to provide a usable image with motion at night.

Reolink's algorithm is designed to produce a nice bright static image at night and that comes at a cost of blur and ghost and missing body parts at night.

Reolink: Deconstruction of a dangerous misleading youtube review "Finding the BEST 4K Security Camera NVR Package (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Swann)"

Most will say these don't cut it. There is also much talk in that thread about the issues of Reolink and BI.

 

[DHMN]

First mistake is you have the wrong cameras. Reolink are notorious for not playing well with BI. Can you return them?

And even when they do work with BI, the quality of images at night are just poor.

Once substreams became a thing for BI (it has been a thing for NVRs for years), it was a game changer.

Using substreams brings a ton of computers into play.

Quicksync and GPUs are not needed.

People run 50 cameras just fine on a 4th gen intel they got for $25 at the County auction.

Most will say go with at least an 8th gen intel because it is capable of running Windows11 without any hacks to make it do so.

Here is a thread showing older machines are fine:

Post in thread 'Another hardware question'

Jan 11, 2023

With the use of substreams, you can get by with an older machine.

If you have the money to buy an 8th gen or newer, go for it, but it money is tight, you can find some really good deals on older systems that are still very capable.

Someone here is running a 3rd gen with 12 cameras at like 30% CPU.

Someone here recently picked up a 4th gen for $25 at a government auction and it can run a lot of cameras.

Do not use the graphics card for hardware acceleration as that has been problematic with newer versions of BI for many people.

Around the time AI was introduced in BI, many here had...

• wittaj

Welcome @DHMN

numerous reports by members that there are issues with Reolink cameras ..

in particular,
some models do not do RTSP
some compatibility issues
issues with iFrames and setting iFrames
issues with cameras holding custom settings
issues with low light image capture, especially with moving subjects

That stated, YES Blue Iris can do direct to disk, and iirc it is a recommended setup.

Problem is Reolink Cameras and iFrame settings .. this creates issues with various detection algorithms

The available PC hardware should work fine for the basics as I recall reading .. ( recommendation now are intel 8th gen or better if you are buying a used PC )

Thanks for the replies!

First mistake is you have the wrong cameras. Reolink are notorious for not playing well with BI. Can you return them?

And even when they do work with BI, the quality of images at night are just poor.

Once substreams became a thing for BI (it has been a thing for NVRs for years), it was a game changer.

Using substreams brings a ton of computers into play.

Quicksync and GPUs are not needed.

People run 50 cameras just fine on a 4th gen intel they got for $25 at the County auction.

Most will say go with at least an 8th gen intel because it is capable of running Windows11 without any hacks to make it do so.

Here is a thread showing older machines are fine:

Post in thread 'Another hardware question'

Jan 11, 2023

With the use of substreams, you can get by with an older machine.

If you have the money to buy an 8th gen or newer, go for it, but it money is tight, you can find some really good deals on older systems that are still very capable.

Someone here is running a 3rd gen with 12 cameras at like 30% CPU.

Someone here recently picked up a 4th gen for $25 at a government auction and it can run a lot of cameras.

Do not use the graphics card for hardware acceleration as that has been problematic with newer versions of BI for many people.

Around the time AI was introduced in BI, many here had...

• wittaj

Thanks!

We can absolutely afford better than a 4th (or 8th gen) i7 or i9 if necessary, but honestly, I'm wondering if/how that could be better than Intel's HEDT lineup like the i7/i9 Extreme's with up to 18 cores? I understand the 8th gen has Quick Sync, but is it that much better than having 10-18 full cores? I already have these parts brand new in the box if you're thinking it would be cheaper...

Now, this is where I'm getting confused... the first reply is saying an 8th gen is ideal, but I'm seeing that a 4th gen is capable of running 50 cams - but in what way? Is this direct to disk only? Remember, we want to have a live view at our entrance showing the outside and other rooms, plus a VERY low fps update on our website.

As for substreams, maybe I'm a little confused... I thought it was just a way to record at let's say 4k @ 15fps direct to disk, and use a substream to display the video at let's say 720p @ 10fps. Wouldn't this still require some video encoding/decoding considering we're planning to have a remote monitor displaying a live stream - plus the stills on the website?

Would you guys mind elaborating on this a bit more?

Budget wise, I was looking at a 10th or 11th gen i9-10900K/11900K as an alternative. Keep in mind the cameras and requirements...

1200-1800MP/s with a mix of 8MP, 12MP and 16MP cameras (I'm fine using substreams if possible...)

• Direct to Disk at 10-15 FPS (for later viewing)
• A Live stream near the door at 5-10FPS, maybe 720/1080 res
• Still images uploaded from BI to our website
• Ability to add more cameras, or host a web server, email, automation, etc. in the future

 

[DHMN]

Since you mentioned Reolinks....

Keep in mind that reolinks, especially at night are horrible.

If all you care about is to look around, then probably ok. But if you plan to be able to use them in the event something happens and you need to get the police involved, return them....


What you mean a missing hand isn't normal LOL (plus look at the blur on the face and he is barely moving and this should be ideal indoor IR bounce and it struggles):

How about missing everything but the head and upper torso

The invisible man, where can he be. Thank goodness he is carrying around a reflective plate to see where he is LOL (hint - the person is literally in the middle of the image at the end of the fence holding a rectangular reflective piece of metal)

I've seen better images on an episode of ghost hunters

And of course, this is an example from Reolink's marketing videos - do you see a person in this picture...yes, there is a person in this picture.... Could this provide anything useful for the police other than the date and time something happened? Would this protect your home? The still picture looks great though except for the person and the blur of the vehicle... Will give you a hint - the person is in between the two visible columns:

Bad Boys
Bad Boys
Watcha gonna do
Watcha gonna do
When the camera can't see you


Here is the unofficial Reolink thread.

You can see all the attempts people have provided to demonstrate the quality of Reolink, and they are all a blurry mess at night or missing body parts or other messes.

We have challenged someone to provide a clean capture of someone moving at night with a Reolink and as you can see with 20 pages, nobody has yet to provide a usable image with motion at night.

Reolink's algorithm is designed to produce a nice bright static image at night and that comes at a cost of blur and ghost and missing body parts at night.

Reolink: Deconstruction of a dangerous misleading youtube review "Finding the BEST 4K Security Camera NVR Package (Reolink vs Amcrest vs Swann)"

Most will say these don't cut it. There is also much talk in that thread about the issues of Reolink and BI.

Thanks wittaj,

Ouch, I heard Reolink wasn't great at night, but didn't realize it was this bad! I ordered these directly from Reolink and they came in some really shady packaging and their support was terrible - would you even risk sending $1600 worth of cameras back for a refund??

We're not really concerned with police incidents, but as our member base grows, we've experienced some member issues that we'd like to have proof of in case someone is breaking the rules and be able to see if someone is walking out the door with something valuable in hand...

Now, the parking lot is dark with the exception of an overhead lamp, and technically yes, someone could turn the lights off and do something - but I think for the most part the lights (or at least some of them) are typically on when no one is around. This system is mostly to check the website to see if the equipment is in use, if any inappropriate behaviour is going on while the board isn't there, and to make sure people aren't walking off with equipment or valuables.

With that said, is Reolink really that bad that no one should use them?? I'm a bit concerned now! Is it the cameras themselves that suck or the compatibility with Blue Iris? Would it be better to try to get one of their NVRs instead at this point? Unfortunately, I didn't see any of this until well after they were purchased, so I'm not sure if a refund is even possible anymore. If you have any suggestions or any settings I should be aware of, I would really appreciate it!

 

[wittaj]

The cameras are poor to begin with - all of those images above are straight from Reolink systems, not thru BI.

Maybe you don't care about police reports, but do any of those examples above provide enough video evidence to prove who someone was that you know? I think not.

Honestly if you are going to go with those cameras, I would go with their NVR as well. That gives you the best chance of it kinda working. No sense wasting money on a kick@$$ computer for BI as the saying GARBAGE IN = GARBAGE OUT applies to these cameras.

But first I would complain a storm and try for a refund.


Here is a post that kinda summarizes the issues with BI:

"I can concur that I'm having the exact same issue.

However, with the number of ongoing issues I've had to deal with over the last 6 months, Reolinks just ain't worth it anymore. I've also dealt with the BI developers and Reolink's Support which is how I got the firmware, which, after 6 months, haven't been released to the public as yet....

Just the past weekend we were robbed and the Reolinks were nothing more than an absolute waste of space, time and energy on a wall.

BlueIris SHOULD remove all references to Reolink and clearly state that the brand is not supported. Full stop.

As such, I'll echo @sebastiantombs , @SouthernYankee and numerous others whom held the same view when I first joined this form in search of some enlightenment on all-things-not-working-re-Reolink and all-possible-workarounds-to-hopefully-make-it-work-re-Reolink. It's not worth it. It's a difficult pill to swallow, but you've burned cash and Reolink will just pay you until you cannot return the crap for a refund."



There is enough light in those images above that a better camera would have no problem with.

Is your parking lot within 15 feet of the cameras? You may barely get detect quality, but no IDENTIFY.

You bought all fixed lens cams that provide wide angle viewing at the expense of details far out. Plus they are all on the less than ideal MP/sensor ratio.

If you care about night performance, you will want a MP/sensor ratio in green:

Let's take a look at this night video from this post.

They have incredible light and streetlights. Here is a freeze frame capture from a Reolink 823-A of a vehicle traveling maybe 10-15ish MPH under the streetlight, so about as ideal as you can get. Looking at this picture one would think it was middle of the day because they have so much light, but it was middle of the night 1am. Look at all that blur. I can tell it is a white car, but cannot tell make/model or if it is even a 2 or 4 door.

I have nowhere near the light quality this person has at night. Here is a capture from my Dahua OEM camera at middle of the night 2am with no streetlights and just the lights off my house at about 15ish MPH:

I can make out color, how many doors, make, model, etc.

The only way this is possible is by having a camera with the proper focal length for the distance one wants to cover, proper MP/sensor ratio, and a camera where you can manually change the parameters and the camera actually adheres to your settings.

Many cameras like Reolinks and other cheapo cams let you "set" the parameters, but the camera will override any user settings the the camera believes are in error because those cameras algorithms are written to provide a nice, bright, STATIC image over anything else. I have a cheaper camera that lets me "set" the shutter. If you set a shutter for 1/10,000 at night, the image should be pitch black. But nope, the image still looks nice and bright because the cheapo camera internally says "user error on the shutter speed" and makes it what it wants it to be for a nice bright image...

Here is the CX410, which is the 4MP version of teh 810 you bought. Sadly, it suffers from the same issues of reolink, which is poor night quality and ghosting, etc. And look how washed out the camera on the right is when the lights kick on.

Is missing a leg normal?

Are these captures that could IDENTIFY a person? Looks like the person is close enough that a Dahua could provide IDENTIFY quality.

But it benefits from the light turning on with motion. Wonder if the camera gets momentarily blinded...yep....

The CX810 would be even worse since it is 8MP shoved on the same sensor as the CX410.

 

[mat200]

Thanks wittaj,

Ouch, I heard Reolink wasn't great at night, but didn't realize it was this bad! I ordered these directly from Reolink and they came in some really shady packaging and their support was terrible - would you even risk sending $1600 worth of cameras back for a refund??

We're not really concerned with police incidents, but as our member base grows, we've experienced some member issues that we'd like to have proof of in case someone is breaking the rules and be able to see if someone is walking out the door with something valuable in hand...

Now, the parking lot is dark with the exception of an overhead lamp, and technically yes, someone could turn the lights off and do something - but I think for the most part the lights (or at least some of them) are typically on when no one is around. This system is mostly to check the website to see if the equipment is in use, if any inappropriate behaviour is going on while the board isn't there, and to make sure people aren't walking off with equipment or valuables.

With that said, is Reolink really that bad that no one should use them?? I'm a bit concerned now! Is it the cameras themselves that suck or the compatibility with Blue Iris? Would it be better to try to get one of their NVRs instead at this point? Unfortunately, I didn't see any of this until well after they were purchased, so I'm not sure if a refund is even possible anymore. If you have any suggestions or any settings I should be aware of, I would really appreciate it!

" .. is Reolink really that bad that no one should use them?? .. "

Reolink due to various marketing and being a well known low cost PoE security cameras, Reolink sells a lot of units.

Unfortunately, the marketing and fan hype about the quality of Reolink image capture is deceiving for those new to this topic, and even those who have been owners of Reolink products for a long time, but was never really forced to ID someone moving late at night.

Those of us with greater experience and knowledge understand the nuances significantly better. This is where the value of this forum really comes in.

I personally have a big box of junk security cameras which I thought were good deals .. and once the rubber hit the road, they failed me.

Camera tech gets better, and that is good news. Reolink now has more options of cameras, including those you have with the 4MP 1/1.8" sensors - and that is good news.

Yet, for better selection and compatibility Dahua OEM or Hikvision OEM are preferred by many here.

Do people use Reolink with Blue Iris ? Yes.
Do people attempt to use Reolink with Blue Iris and direct to disk .. yes, and most find it problematic due to the iFrame issue as noted here in various posts.

Of course, Reolink NVRs should work well with their cameras for the basics. Still you can only get so much in terms of low light results when the cameras have the most affordable components.

 

[bp2008]

So, I guess my questions are:

1. Can BI do Direct to Disk, Remote Viewing at Lower Res/FPS, and host Pics to our website - all at the same time?
2. Is the system I mentioned above enough? Or, do I really need a newer i9 with Quick Sync, and if so, what CPU would you recommend??
3. How do newer Core i7/i9 or Core Ultra 7/9 CPUs handle the P Core and E Core situation?
4. I used the storage calc and got an absurd HDD requirement (almost 100TB!) Is this calc for continuous recording? We're planning on motion recording and only a few cams should ever be recording at a time, and only a few hours a day... We're trying to get at least 30 days of storage.

I hope someone else out there has dealt with a larger system (1200-1800MP/s) with 8MP/12MP/16MP cameras that can offer some insight - Thank in advance!

I know some of this has already been covered above, but I can answer these questions directly.

1. Yes. Direct to disk just means that Blue Iris doesn't do expensive re-encoding of the video when writing it to video files. Remote viewing does require re-encoding which is pretty much just done in software but it is reasonably efficient and the CPU you have available is plenty fast enough to handle this for many concurrent remote viewers.

Hosting pics on your website would be best accomplished by having Blue Iris send jpeg frames to an FTP server periodically (See Camera Settings > Post) for each camera you want to share that way.

2. The system you mentioned should be fine. It is old but it should be plenty fast enough, plenty of RAM, etc.
3. That is really up to Windows's scheduler. In theory any threads needing lots of CPU time would get put on P cores and but you wouldn't need to worry about any of that even if you ended up with a CPU that has such an architecture.
4. The storage calculator here is crude and buggy and assumes continuous recording 24/7. I wouldn't use it. If you are handy with basic math at all, you can learn how to calculate storage requirements yourself: Calculating Required Hard Drive Size but yeah I think a 10 TB drive will be more than adequate if you are recording only on motion detection. I have more high-res cameras than you and I get nearly 6 months of retention using 5 TB. Granted this is a home scenario on a relatively quiet street and your system will probably record a lot more.

The key to good performance in Blue Iris is to use sub streams on most or all of the cameras: Sub Stream Guide

With sub streams being used with all the cameras, I estimate that your BI system will only need to decode around 75 MP/s (megapixels per second) most of the time. The high resolution main streams will only need to be decoded when someone is viewing a solo camera or recording, because sub streams are used for multi-camera viewing and for motion detection. So you might get spikes into several hundred MP/s for brief periods and your i7-6950X will not really even break a sweat.

 

[Flintstone61]

here are machines like mine posted on the forum with NO hardware acceleration on an i7- 8700 with a similar load of cameras. But 12 and 16 Mexapigel/ MegaPixel Cameras probably are over kill for writing streams to a surveillance drive. Unless like you mentioned, you tune them down bit. But Hikvision and Dahua OEM's will have those tuning features built in.
Sometimes the best teacher is practical experience. If you go with what you ordered, and there is not enough visible light to render a good image then you have to fix that problem. if some cams are indoors
they'll probably work ok.
Not sure how newer Reolinks are behaving with BI.
But in the past the they seemed " locked down" for the kind of tuning we need to dial in a camera.
Blue Iris Update Helper

 

[Flintstone61]

@DHMN I looked up your processor, and it does NOT have an onboard GPU. So yes you will need that RTX Nvidia if you build this system.

Intel® Core™ i7-6950X Processor Extreme Edition (25M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Core™ i7-6950X Processor Extreme Edition (25M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

 

[wittaj]

I looked up your processor, and it does NOT have an onboard GPU. So yes you will need that RTX Nvidia if you build this system.

Intel® Core™ i7-6950X Processor Extreme Edition (25M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Core™ i7-6950X Processor Extreme Edition (25M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

Are you sure?

With substreams it isn't needed.

For kicks, once upon a time I uninstalled the graphics drivers and disabled it and my 4th gen computer ran BI just fine.

 

[Flintstone61]

There is nothing to generate a picture. this chip will not show anything on screen. it has to have a separate GPU to put any image on any screen.
unless the motherboard has some basic gpu.
checking MSI's specs show no mention of an " on motherboard GPU.
These gaming rigs with Xtreme processors are designed to have a powerful/Monster Graphics card.
If he ran the i7-6700K it has on on chip GPu.

Intel® Core™ i7-6700K Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.20 GHz) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Core™ i7-6700K Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.20 GHz) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

 

[Flintstone61]

Are you sure?

With substreams it isn't needed.

For kicks, once upon a time I uninstalled the graphics drivers and disabled it and my 4th gen computer ran BI just fine.

if you uninstall the driver there is still a physical GPU on chip. so Windows will run a generic driver and you will Boot.

 

[wittaj]

What about uninstalling the device? I could still see the screen with no display adapters?

 

[Flintstone61]

it doesn't remove the physical component on the Processor.
There is no physical component on most/some Extreme Processors to generate a boot screen.
look at the intel site for the GPU specs on the 6700K. then look for GPU specs on the 6950X . there are none.
think back to intel pentium 2 and 3's. they had no onboard GPU.
the mother board had a cheesy 4MB gpu for the typical office work.
you needed a RIVA/tnt card or something like that to get good graphics that would support higher refresh rates, and so forth.

 

[Flintstone61]

I used to sell computers and peripherals at Microcenter. For many years processors had no graphics. they were provided by the motherboard. and cheaper mother boards had 0 graphics or it was so basic you has 648x480 res with 16 bit color.
then Intel started putting gpu's on mother boards, then eventually on the CPU's
but they were some weak-ass gpu's.
Nividia 256 GPU came on the scene in 1999.

 

[wittaj]

I will admit I don't have one of those chips LOL.

But if the motherboard has an HDMI or DVI or display port and the end user doesn't supply a GPU, then would they not get an image?

What if you use Remote Desktop - would it need a GPU then?

 

[Flintstone61]

yes.

 

[Flintstone61]

if an HMDI or VGA or DVI port is soldered to the Mobo, you need to look at the documentation, if available, to see if it is configured in the BIOS to default to the motherboard GPU/ AGP slot/ or on chip GPU/ or auto select.
the computers like that would always find a way to display a boot screen, provided the hardware was present.
but as things evolved there were bastards.
do you remember when motherboards had no VGA socket? it was in the graphics card. like Early Matrox