Cams: HFW5431E-ZE x 2, HDW5231R-ZE x 3, 2 x Hikvision wifi doorbells
Cam configuration: Bitrates set to 4096 or 6144, smart codec off
Server specs: Intel i7-10700K, 32GB, recording to SSD
Avg performance: 5% avg CPU load, 40% memory, 8% GPU load
Server Configuration: Intel 630 driver 26.20.100.7323, using substreams
Network specs: Wired gigabit ethernet over CAT6. Cams separated to their own VLAN
- Verified virus scanning off for recording drive
- Tried keyframe values of .25, .50, 1.0 (no noticeable difference)
- Tried H264, H264+, H265 encoding on cams (no difference, but H265 caused exports to fail)
- Used VBR and CBR (changing to CBR helped a little bit)
- Tested FPS ranges from 15-30
- Tested HA modes: Off, Intel, Intel +VPP, Intel Beta (Off had the best results, but still artifacts)
Have I missed anything?
Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!!
I have encountered the exact issue on more than one system and the cause was different on both. I think your testing is spot on, however I recommend the following (sorry if you tested and I missed this);
- Put an SD Card in the CAM and then download\playback the SD File so you know if it is the camera or network BI related.
- Testing use H.264 with CBR, and no hardware decode with just a single active cam, and then ramp-up adjust your settings.
As to the fix;
- System A: I was writing to an SD, but moved to an old 7200rpm laptop drive and that fixed the problem. Some SSD's even so-called high-performance ones may not be designed for
sustained sequential write operations.
ie: SSD's are really designed to help with random reads and writes, which is why they speed up your PC performance.
If you don't have an old-school hard-drive you can test with a RAM disk. I use "IMDisk" for a Ramdisk to hold temp areas for non-critical areas like Plex Transcoding, I would not recommend using this for BI but can assist testing.
I was just testing on pretty much one of the latest Intel NUC's, so was really surprised, wasn't a Skull.
Wireless cams generally have much lower bandwidth rates, so your SSD could actually be the issue here if the issue is impacting Hard-Wired, otherwise a cabling \ switch issue.
- System B: The Fix was a little more complicated and although fixed I never identified the root cause and you tried everything I did;
From memory, I did a complete factory reset of the CAM's and setup again. On that system many Dahua cameras were impacted, so I was frustrated I never found the cause.
- Ensure the Frame Rates are aligned between Main and the Sub-Stream, only have 1 substream enabled not both. I am using sub-stream 2, but have tired both. This causes playback\detection issues but won't be your cause.
- As you said CBR helps a little, especially with H.265 but wasn't the cause.
- Upped the receive buffer to 10mb (I see you already went to 20)
- Ensure the Cameras were set to Intel Beta (per camera, not at the BI system level)
- Updated all camera firmware from the ones Andy Provided
- Went through the camera and disabled any unwanted services (I do this anyway for security reasons)
- Swapped out the POE switch
- Re-configured Windows Network Adapters, making sure everything was negotiating the correct speed
- Changed Network Driver to and old one "From an old quicksync forum here, has stayed working so still using the old one Intel HD Graphics 26.20.100.8142" Will try update if I refresh. My PC is old so doubt this will be your issue.
- Set iframe to double key frame (I know this help, which was strange my older cams worked best when set 1:1
- Replaced common cabling and performed file transfer tests on each leg to try and identity network issues (yes old school)
- Added BlueIris.exe to the Windows Defender Exclusions List
- Moved to .BVR format (direct to disk ofcourse was using MPEG previously)
- Un-selected record "dual streams if available" within BI
From an outsider, I would guess the issue either relates to the SSD or you have a Network issue. If you google your network card details, OS and slow network, see what it comes back with.
- System C :Sorry forgot a third instance where artifacting was occurring just like you have shown.
- I have also experienced this issue on another machine and it turned out to be a playback issue only.
When I exported the clip to an MPEG and played on another device it was fine.
When viewed via IOS app I did not have the issue.
In this instance it was very occasional, and sometimes if I watched the clip 10 times, it would artifact 10 times, but then if I played backwards (no artifacting) then went forward (no artifacting)
Unselecting "Also BVR" in the Video tab seemed to fix it, but it happed so occasional and was only on playback I left also BVR selected.
Please let me know how you get on.
PS: Most of my Dahua's are now back on H.265 with VBR and working fine. Yes CBR is still possibly clearer, but I can no longer personally tell the difference since updating firmware.
