Slow frame rate with 1080P - is this normal?

[erkme73]

I have all of my cameras (20+) set to 720p - even though most can do 1080 (or even 3-4MP). The camera's own GUI shows fluid 30FPS (if so configured) when at the highest resolution and bit rate, so I know they are capable, and my network isn't choking.

However, even with only 50-60% CPU utilization on the BI machine, if I move any of the cameras up to 1080P (even at low 1mpbs rates), the frame rate drops to 5-10 FPS when the camera and BI are set to 15FPS.

As soon as I move the camera back to 720P, the FPS jumps back to 15. There seems to be some kind of aversion to resolutions higher than 720P.

I am using overlay (not D2D). I've tried changing all of the camera encoding variables (lower bit rates, lower/higher iFrame, H264/265, CBR/VBR) but the only thing that will allow the 15FPS rate is keeping resolution at 720p.

I would expect that if the hardware is being maxed out due to the 1080P, I would see a slow down in ALL camera FPS rates, or a corresponding spike in CPU loads - but only the camera(s) with 1080P slow down.

I'm running an i7-4790, 16GB ram, 240 SSD (OS), Intel HD4600 integrated video (running latest drivers). Windows 10 x64.


Is there a way around this (short of using D2D - I rely heavily on the overlay functionality)?

 

[erkme73]

I just discovered the problem. It wasn't with BI or the camera(s) set to 1080p. It is the UI2.htm webpage alternative. When it is logged in and viewing the camera pushing 1080p, the frame rate being streamed BY BLUE IRIS drops significantly.

One of the variables on my overlay is the %F and %K (FPS and KBPS). So the frame rate displayed is what is coming from the server - not what what the client PC is able to display.

When I view the camera using ONLY the default.htm (activex) player, the frame rate on the camera's overlay is showing 15FPS. When I open UI2.htm I can watch the FPS on the default.htm camera (shown on default.htm) drop down to 7FPS. When UI2 is closed, the frame rate ramps back up again to 15FPS.

So apparently, when the UI2 interface requests HD JPG images from the server, it bogs it down (without affecting CPU load) and slows that particular camera's frame rate.

@bp2008 may already be aware of this, but just in case, here's a ping.

 

[bp2008]

I had no idea, and I really don't know what to say. I mean, I was well-aware that UI2 can't stream high frame rates due to using jpeg compression but I have never heard of it causing Blue Iris to bog down with CPU usage only in the 50s. Streaming to a remote client should not affect the FPS of recordings or the local console live view.

 

[erkme73]

I had no idea, and I really don't know what to say. I mean, I was well-aware that UI2 can't stream high frame rates due to using jpeg compression but I have never heard of it causing Blue Iris to bog down with CPU usage only in the 50s. Streaming to a remote client should not affect the FPS of recordings or the local console live view.

Does seem odd, doesn't it. I've been playing with it since my last post, and there are still bursts where the default.htm drops down below 10FPS for no apparent reason (i.e. no scene changes or motion), but it's short-lived. But as soon as I open UI2 it drops back down to 5-7FPS. Maybe it's how I configured the jpg streaming? I did set the group webstream resolution to 1280x720 @ 10FPS, but even when I drop this to 3FPS and the resolution to something less, the impact of having UI2 up is the same.

What is odd is that the drop in frame rate happens on the 1080P camera simply by having UI2 logged in at the index view - it doesn't have to be on the specific camera. That's what made me think that perhaps with BI serving up a composite/index somehow stresses the frame rate.

 

[bp2008]

I can't think of any streaming configuration that should cause this.