FOSCAM G4

[davidcbittner]

I have not tried to just put the IP address in there and do the find inspect but I am willing for sure to give that a try. When I set this Foscam G4 up I just looked at how I ultimately got another Foscam I have up and running and working so I used that one as an example.

I'm not really sure what the ONVIF device was all about (I'm reading up on it right now) I did notice here in the Foscam VMS software you have to use to configure the camera there was something about the ONVIF but on mine it was off. By default it looks like my BI has Discovery/ONVIF port set as 8999 and here you can see the Foscam VMS shows 888 if you turn it on. I'm going to switch the Foscam VMS to use port 8999 and turn it on and see what it finds during the find/inspect.

onvif.jpg (140.35 KiB) Viewed 221456 times

[Pogo]

ONVIF absolutely needs to be active in the camera's settings. BI would probably find the 888, but 8999 for the port it wants to 'discover' on should do the trick for you.

The i7 and NVIDEA may also be banging heads. Depending on what else the BI server is used for, I'd disable the NVIDIA and just try using the i7 Quick Sync as the default hardware acceleration and see how that works. There are a variety of ways to use both, either in complimentary or independent fashion, but just letting them both run arbitrarily with Blue Iris should probably be reeled in and assessed for optimum results all the way around.

Set up the Intel in the main BI settings as the default and restart each camera to apply. You should see an 'I' in the HA column of the status window if successful. Be sure to set recording for direct-to-disk as well if you haven't already done so somewhere along the line. You should see your CPU utilization percentage drop like a rock and everything smooth out nicely.

One aspect of the i7 4790 is its limitation regarding h265. It does not support it and will pass off any h265 encoding directly to the CPU itself if you weren't already aware of that.
I've personally had nothing but inconsistency and difficulty with h265 any time I've tried using it -- even with my Amcrest XVRs designed for it. Not ready for prime time in my world yet.

Anyway, you're only a couple clicks away now.

[davidcbittner]

Per the suggestion I turned on ONVIF on/in the Foscam G4 and then went back into BI and did the find/inspect and a ton of stuff came up during that process and it changed the Make to Generic/ONVIF and the model to RTSP etc..... Thats fine with me and it does display but still getting the choppy frames. I have the G4 set to 20 fps and watching the status in BI the FPS never gets to 20. From my previous screen shot you can see those first 3 cameras in the list are in the groop woods those are all within a few inches of each other. The first one title cam 2 is an amcrest and I can see in it's set up it is set to 20fps and under the BI screen there and watching it real time that 20fps never waivers. The camera there titled cam 1 is an even cheaper wyze that is again consistently hovers around that 10fps and looks better than this G4 I keep messing with. All 3 are connecting to the same wifi. This damn G4 no matter what I do those FPS just keep jumping around. they will go up for 10 seconds or so then just drop down to 5 or 6 and I can see when that happens the time on the screen just freezes for a couple seconds.


So you got me I have no clue in the main settings where to set intel as the main and then on each camera are you talking about the hardware decode box?
Thanks
David

bistats.jpg (228.91 KiB) Viewed 221453 times

[Pogo]

Try changing the VBR setting in the cam config to CBR -- variable bit rate vs. constant bit rate. And make certain there's no h265 anywhere in the mix -- including the stream URL in the BI configuration for the camera. It sounds like an encoding conflict somewhere.

[Pogo]

So you got me I have no clue in the main settings where to set intel as the main and then on each camera are you talking about the hardware decode box?

It's under 'Cameras' in the main Blue Iris menu:

Decode.jpg (116.72 KiB) Viewed 221444 times

Each camera should accept the setting as their default after being restarted.

default.jpg (92.58 KiB) Viewed 221444 times

Setting direct-to-disk and file saving type is done here:

Format.jpg (110.93 KiB) Viewed 221444 times

[IAmATeaf]

Ahem...

It’s the ratio of fps to iframe that needs to be 1.

No it doesn't.

An I-frame interval of 1 for 25fps simply means a keyframe occurs every second and the manufacturer uses '1' to specify the ratio. A different manufacture may achieve the same ratio using different terminology (and numbering) for essentially the same end result. The time frame can be 30 seconds, 2 minutes, whatever is designated and determined to be the optimum setup for the purpose.

Different I-frame interval capabilities are available in most every decent camera to provide flexibility for optimizing both image quality and storage considerations and are hardly locked in stone as suggested here. Why use the same keyframe interval for a parking lot security camera at whatever frame rate as a fast-paced sporting event at the same frame rate?

You wouldn't. You also wouldn't apply the same storage considerations.

I was talking about the ratio as presented within BI, it’s always been suggested to try and keep this as near to 1 as possible.

It’s up to you if you want to set it up differently.

The OP has an issue so was simply suggesting setting it to see if it helps?

[davidcbittner]

Ok so this morning I was able to set the main HA to Intel and then restarted all of the cameras. As I restarted them I monitored the CPU usage both as I see it in task manager and the bottom bar in BI.
A few months ago I set all of my cameras to use sub streams and when I did that, that is when I noticed a significant drop in CPU usage. I think at the time it dropped for like 40% to where it is today hovering around anywhere from like 10% to 13%.
After I turned on HA for each camera to Intel and restarted I kept a close eye on that and did not see any drop in cpu usage or anything and saw no rise in the GPU usage either. Along with keeping a close watch on the G4 camera giving me all the trouble and the G4 did nothing it works but it just does not stream smoothly. I kept seeing the hiccups in the stream when viewing the main in BI. This is in addition to changing the VBR setting for the G4 camera in the Foscam VMS software. The only thing in the software you can do is is change the rate control option from VBR to none so I switched it to none so I assume that uses the CBR but no way to know for sure there is no help Foscam is pretty crappy with that so....... Also I already had direct to disc turned on so I was good there.

After applying these settings and watching and seeing how things go not seeing any real change in anything I decided to change the HA default to the NVIDA NVDEC since that is the video card I use and have my 2 monitors plugged into. There probably is some onboard intel one or something in this desktop and at one time I may have used it but I've not had anything plugged into that on board hdmi port for a long time. I doubt I turned it off in the computer bios and I probably could plug something into it but I never will not with this kick ass nvida card so...

After I change the HA to the NVIDA and as soon as I restarted the first camera boom it popped up in task manager the GPU Engine GPU - 0 Video Decode and the GPU percentage started to jump up. So after all the restarts using HA and everything in this morning test I see the G4 still sucks.

There is something up with this main stream. If you look at my BI status this morning for the G4 (My Camera 4 (Cam4)) you can see the sub frame almost dead on to 15 fps/1.0 which is what I have it set to in the Foscam VMS but my main FPS/Key never gets close to what I have it set at.

To rule out something wrong with my wifi or not a good clear signal like the G4 Indicates in the number of bars it is showing it has I am going to try this G4 this morning connecting to a different AP node I have here at the house and see what results I get in addition to that I will try the G4 with a wired ethernet connection. I hope all of this is just not to much for this thread but someone else with a Foscam G4 might find this helpful. I'll post an update to my results in a bit still have to get some more coffee in my and walk down in the woods and get that camera haha
David

gpu.jpg (237.69 KiB) Viewed 221432 times

bistatnew.jpg (230.67 KiB) Viewed 221432 times

[louyo]

My $0.02:
Rather than argue about acceleration, it is very easy to test on and off.

For test purposes, I would:
Connect via the UI (not the console) and watch frame rate and cpu.
if camera is wireless, test it wired, do wireless later.
FPS 15, same for iframe
agree with Pogo: "CBR to stabilize your bit rate and try a 2MP resolution (1080p) and a 2048bps rate "
Make sure group webcasting frame rate is 15 fps, the default is lower.
If you are remoting into the server, the default fps is going to be 5.
Set everything else to defaults to begin.
If you suspect that the computer is being overloaded (if camera is OK with VLC with BI running, this is unlikely) disable some of your other cameras.

My experience (somewhat limited) with Foscam is not great but you should be able to get good streaming.

[Pogo]

If an ethernet option is available as a comparison, by all means use it for any further testing!

And with all due respect at this stage of the OP's troubleshooting, I'm not sure introducing the UI into the mix as yet another set of unrelated variables (and questions) vs. sticking with the desktop (assuming that's what is being used) will yield anything useful relative to obtaining a solid performing config for the camera itself -- unless doing so will somehow reveal the problem with the already erratic performance of the camera's current shortcomings.

It may be more helpful to see what BI has determined is the appropriate MRL for each stream from a generic ONVIF standpoint and then try the various FOSCAM model suggestions to see if anything useful pops up there. Easy enough to try. I'm also curious where the MRL used in the VLC test came from and how it compares with what BI has provided from the ONVIF result in its Find/inspect scan. There may be a clue there.

For starters, what are the current MRLs in the Main and Sub stream boxes?

Streams.jpg (124.59 KiB) Viewed 221421 times

And maybe explore the Foscam options in the vendor list for something that may be a fit for the G4?

Vendor Options.jpg (133.38 KiB) Viewed 221421 times

I just wish we knew about an ethernet option for testing three pages ago! LOL

This is a productive thread despite the side discussion over semantics. That said, clarification was certainly needed in an area or two for maintaining useful context to the intended advice. Certainly not trying to antagonize, just keeping things between the lines for the sake of accuracy.

[Pogo]

One other major consideration if ethernet is available is to reset the camera to its default configuration and do another Find/inspect to compare those results with the ones being experienced with the modified settings currently being used. Blue Iris can be picky about how it wants to see 'custom' configurations from some cameras -- Reolink being a notorious one among others I've seen mentioned (including Foscam).

And there is always a possibility there is something wrong with the camera even though it works with VLC, but we're not there yet.