NVR vs BI

[Stanley71]

I have no experience with either an NVR or BI software. I initially was leaning toward BI but am having second thoughts. BI seems to offer much more than an NVR but with added complexity and cost. An NVR seems on the face of it much simpler but offering fewer capabilities. I need something simple for my home that is easy use. Can anyone comment on positive experiences they have had using and NVR with cameras in and out of the home. I would like to have cameras with audio capabilities. Thanks

 

[fenderman]

I have no experience with either an NVR or BI software. I initially was leaning toward BI but am having second thoughts. BI seems to offer much more than an NVR but with added complexity and cost. An NVR seems on the face of it much simpler but offering fewer capabilities. I need something simple for my home that is easy use. Can anyone comment on positive experiences they have had using and NVR with cameras in and out of the home. I would like to have cameras with audio capabilities. Thanks

There are a bunch of threads that discuss this...cost is virtually the same for most systems...it is only as complex as you want it to be...it is no more complex for basic setup than an NVR...most importantly, the mobile app is significantly better on BI than any NVR..

 

[Stanley71]

Mr fenderman I have read many of the threads, I'm sure not all, and decidedly BI is the favorite choice. There however must be many satisfied users of NVR's and I was hoping for some input from them. As far as costs go setting up BI with used equipment vs new NVR is probably a wash. The complexity of an NVR falls far short of BI. Granted it may be as complex to a point but then stops and BI continues. Just the shear number of questions about BI makes that quite obvious. It's people like you and others that graciously help people with the added complexity of BI. I personally want simple. Who knows I still may go that way but for now I'm on the NVR kick. Still researching. Thanks for the input.

 

[fenderman]

Mr fenderman I have read many of the threads, I'm sure not all, and decidedly BI is the favorite choice. There however must be many satisfied users of NVR's and I was hoping for some input from them. As far as costs go setting up BI with used equipment vs new NVR is probably a wash. The complexity of an NVR falls far short of BI. Granted it may be as complex to a point but then stops and BI continues. Just the shear number of questions about BI makes that quite obvious. It's people like you and others that graciously help people with the added complexity of BI. I personally want simple. Who knows I still may go that way but for now I'm on the NVR kick. Still researching. Thanks for the input.

There are significant amount of questions on about about stand-alone recorders as well the idea that an NVR somehow simpler to set up or use is simply not true

 

[bigredfish]

From a low-tech viewpoint, I will say I have 3 Dahua DVR's installed (two are Tribrids) and found them very simple to setup and reliable. The BI system provides more options and flexibility, but for my home based systems, the DVR's do pretty much all I want.

The newer Dahua XVR series allow you to run practically any type camera from Analog to HDCVI to IP. I'm quite sure there is a tradeoff in feature set vs BI, but with schedules, motion detect, IVS, alarm in/out etc, iDMSS app, remote admin, etc..the middle to upper tier Dahua DVR's cover most all the bases for me.

 

[cutterman]

I recently added BI to an existing setup with an NVR and 30 cameras. BI is much better at remote access and notification. You can also tweak the detection parameters better than with an NVR. I like the NVR better for archival storage and playback, as well as a single access point for managing basic camera configuration. Most NVRs also have built in capability to be triggered or trigger external alarms/detectors, whereas this is possible in BI with added hardware.

IMO for a small basic home system I would go with BI. Use a dedicated computer and follow the recommendations for hardware which are pretty basic and inexpensive.

 

[fenderman]

I recently added BI to an existing setup with an NVR and 30 cameras. BI is much better at remote access and notification. You can also tweak the detection parameters better than with an NVR. I like the NVR better for archival storage and playback, as well as a single access point for managing basic camera configuration. Most NVRs also have built in capability to be triggered or trigger external alarms/detectors, whereas this is possible in BI with added hardware.

IMO for a small basic home system I would go with BI. Use a dedicated computer and follow the recommendations for hardware which are pretty basic and inexpensive.

FYI BI has much better capability with respect to external triggers...not only can you place the sealevel devices anywhere on your network (so you dont have to homerun the wires to the nvr) but you can use wireless zwave devices to accomplish this as well..
As far as playback, blue iris does this much better than any nvr, allowing 256x playback, smooth timeline scrubbing and much better mobile app playback...with storage yet again, blue iris is much more flexible, allowing offloading to nas, simultaneous recording locally and nas, and setting distinct storage quotas per camera...cant think of anything an NVR does better...

 

[Silas]

For me I have a dedicated NVR, it is convenient, small, quiet and it just works, I have a spare I5 with which I try out BI, but it sits at 90+ all the time and no matter what settings I use it may start at 25-30 but it then goes red.
I have tried 1 camera, 2 and then three, as many settings as I can for D2D vbr etc etc and the system I have just does not deliver, and it is using the hd graphics with quicksync, and as the NVR just works, I am not going to buy/source another pc for BI.

The NVR for me just works, I also use ivms4200 on my main PC and this allows me the additional tweaks I may need.

I have 3 cameras and a 7604 NVR and it fulfills my current needs.

BUT, if I was to need more cameras, then it would be a BI pc all the way as the extra functionality would be beneficial.

2¢

 

[Tinman]

I have a few friends that have NVRs and when they look at my BI setup all they can say is "wow, I need to do that" They show me how their remote viewing works and I just laugh to myself

 

[bigredfish]

Curious because though I've downloaded BI but not had an opportunity to dig very deeply into it yet, what is the big benefit with respect to remote viewing?

My dvr setup allows me to remote view and get alerts/push notifications via iDMSS, log into the dvr itself, or use SmartPSS (which I set up for Mom to be able to view her cams with a single click)

 

[fenderman]

For me I have a dedicated NVR, it is convenient, small, quiet and it just works, I have a spare I5 with which I try out BI, but it sits at 90+ all the time and no matter what settings I use it may start at 25-30 but it then goes red.
I have tried 1 camera, 2 and then three, as many settings as I can for D2D vbr etc etc and the system I have just does not deliver, and it is using the hd graphics with quicksync, and as the NVR just works, I am not going to buy/source another pc for BI.

The NVR for me just works, I also use ivms4200 on my main PC and this allows me the additional tweaks I may need.

I have 3 cameras and a 7604 NVR and it fulfills my current needs.

BUT, if I was to need more cameras, then it would be a BI pc all the way as the extra functionality would be beneficial.

2¢

This is because you have the wrong intel driver which has a memory leak...lots of threads on this..that is why it starts at 25 and goes to 90....this is an intel issue..
also demo may not be using direct to disk...the benefits of BI are not depended on the number of cameras...

 

[Silas]

I have the only one available and that's a very old one mine is one of the early i5's
One of the firs things I did was check after doing my research, but the driver (i think) is from 2013

 

[fenderman]

I have the only one available and that's a very old one mine is one of the early i5's
One of the firs things I did was check after doing my research, but the driver (i think) is from 2013

what model i5 and what load are you running?

 

[Jagradang]

I'm not sure about us but in the UK the price difference is considerable between bi and nvr. An nvr works out under £200 without hdd whereas its about £450 for pc, £100 for poe then £70 for bi. (again not including HDD for recording). So around 3 times the price. For a small setup I'm not sure it's worth the money for larger the cost bridge narrows. I'm still deciding between bi and nvr too but veering towards nvr.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[Silas]

what model i5 and what load are you running?

Intel® Core™ i5-660 Processor (4M Cache, 3.33 GHz) Product Specifications

8gb memory, 120gb ssd as main drive and at the moment small 320 as data storage (7200) Windows 7 pro clean install, patched and currently NO av for testing, BI installed to SSD, nothing else on the system, no office, no apps, no utils.

1 ds-2cd2332 3mp used for testing, all settings as per the optimise thread on here, did another check last night and it was red most of the time

 

[fenderman]

Intel® Core™ i5-660 Processor (4M Cache, 3.33 GHz) Product Specifications

8gb memory, 120gb ssd as main drive and at the moment small 320 as data storage (7200) Windows 7 pro clean install, patched and currently NO av for testing, BI installed to SSD, nothing else on the system, no office, no apps, no utils.

1 ds-2cd2332 3mp used for testing, all settings as per the optimise thread on here, did another check last night and it was red most of the time

That is a first gen i5...no hardware acceleration and benchmarks lower than a modern i3...its a weak processor...add that to direct to disk not working in the demo and that explains it...are you logging into it remotely? or viewing on a local monitor..even if it worked it would not be a good idea, as power consumption alone on that machine would pay for a newer model..

 

[Tizeye]

I just returned a Lorex NVR/Cam system and built a BI computer. Amazed at the flexibility of BI compared to the NVR as no longer have "moth" events other than a rare one every other night or the "headlights shining in motion area" events as cars turn the corner. Yes, the dedicated BI setup is a little more expensive but I am happy. 95% setup as a couple of issues still trying to resolve - one of which can't but trying to get creative. Also, the IOS app (and presumably android version) is phenomenal compared to what experienced with NVR. There is a reason those NVR IOS apps had a 1 star rating on the App Store.

That said, NVR's work and they are simple as they mask the camera and simplify with their base software not using all of the camera features. When shopping for a NVR, one of the biggest surprises was NOISE! So much so that I documented it with this video. NVR noise There is a workaround. Try to find an NVR meeting your need that DOES NOT have power supply inside the NVR - typically look for a fan coming out the back. That is the noise culprit. Better yet, an NVR that doesn't have the ports coming out the back (which is what the power supply is for) and use a separate PoE switch that connects to the NVR. The internal port/NVR and the PoE switch + NVR cost about the same. Within Dahua model numbers, if the model number has a middle group, it has an internal power supply with ports. For example NVR5216-4KS2 no ports, but firmware limits to 16 external ($268), and the similar model NVR5216-16P-4KS2, the "16P" indicates it has 16 built in ports ($334). I only needed 8 ports with the BI build and would also work with the no port NVR and got the Dahua 8port PoE PFS3110-8P-96. and can't speak highly enough about it. 1) good power distribution, 2) NO FAN SILENT!, 3) Dedicated uplink port so all 8 ports are useable. Coupled with that, my BI build is totally silent - particularly after I swapped out the CPU fan with a more efficient silent model compared to Intel stock cooler that comes with the CPU.

The NVR software is useable and perhaps over-simplified, it was the IOS software that was a royal PITA. When I was in Europe (or locally at the office) I had no problem establishing a VPN with my laptop and accessing the system. Irrespective if BI or NVR would strongly look at upgrading you router if your current one isn't VPN friendly.

 

[bigredfish]

To the OP's original question, many Dahua NVR/DVR/XVR models support audio, as well as select cameras.

Current mid to upper tier Dahua DVR's/NVR's coupled with Dahua cameras provide for IVS features such as tripwire and Intrusion zones, and while perhaps not as robust as BI? , do work much better than standard Motion Detection as expected.

That said, I have 4 of my own 8 cameras using old fashion standard MD in specific areas with specific schedules and have little problem. I think a lot has to do with placement and tweeking. As mentioned, the iDMSS app (IOS) works flawlessly for me. I have no experience with the Lorex app.

I dont mean to be the lone DVR advocate, but there are a heck of a lot of folks on here using them and working relatively trouble free. (I refer specifically to Dahua DVR/NVR's as that is all I'm familiar with) It all comes down to your needs and requirements I suppose.

 

[Silas]

How's this for an analogy

A NVR with PoE should be called "iVNR" and made by Apple

 

[Tizeye]

How's this for an analogy

A NVR with PoE should be called "iVNR" and made by Apple

True. And that is how all the consumer/retail kits are configured for "one neat package." Far better and more flexible setup with separate PoE switch and NVR.