Empirecandy IPC-T5442T-ZE + Ubiquiti and AI

R

remsta

Young grasshopper
Mar 30, 2020
67
18
New York
Hi all

I have a few questions I hope I could get some help with. After 4 years with BlueIris, I am getting sick of the crashes and difficult interface - it is just too much for my parents who are getting older. We have a Ubiquiti system at home and so I am going to move across to Unify Protect but have some questions.
I purchased 6x IPC-T5442T-ZE from EmpireCandy in 2021 and these have been working flawlessly. I haven't updated the firmware in a while as I always read, unless you have a problem, don't update.

Firmware: V2.840.15OG00D.0.R, Build Date: 2022-08-18

So my questions:
  • With BlueIris, I had configured the detection zones on the cameras themselves, as I was told this was the best way to do it. With Unify, you can do it within the app (I believe with BlueIris too). Is this something I can do or do I need to leave it on the Camera web interface?
  • The Unify console says: "To use Spotlight, you’ll need at least one AI-enabled camera with Smart Detection features (like Face or License Plate Recognition). Disable Spotlight to use Recent Detections instead." - Does this mean I can't use this feature or do I need to enable something on the cameras?

Thank you!
 
Last edited:
remsta said:
Hello?
Click to expand...
Let the camera handle all IVS related events to send ONVIF alerts to Unify. The Dahua cameras "should" be superior than Unify AI. Only way to find out.. is to try for couple weeks using camera AI. And then couple weeks using Unify AI.
can't help you with 'spotlight' issue.
 
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Holbs said:
Let the camera handle all IVS related events to send ONVIF alerts to Unify. The Dahua cameras "should" be superior than Unify AI. Only way to find out.. is to try for couple weeks using camera AI. And then couple weeks using Unify AI.
can't help you with 'spotlight' issue.
Click to expand...

Unifi don't read ONVIF alerts / events at all..
If you connect Dahua/HIK camera to unifi protect, you will have only main stream without anything..

if you want to have full support for all Dahua features from camera, Dahua NVR is the only way to go...
 
UniFi Protect doesn’t currently process ONVIF events. It only supports continuous recording. That means if you want AI detections on your IPC-T5442T-ZE streams within Protect, you’d need three UniFi AI Ports (at $199 each) to handle all six cameras.

If your goal is a seamless experience with your existing cameras, I’d recommend following @steve1225’s advice and going with a Dahua NVR. For example this one at $325. It will support all of your cameras’ features reliably and is generally the more stable option.

On the other hand, if what you really want is the UniFi ecosystem and interface, the better path would be to switch to UniFi cameras instead.
 
Holbs said:
Let the camera handle all IVS related events to send ONVIF alerts to Unify. The Dahua cameras "should" be superior than Unify AI. Only way to find out.. is to try for couple weeks using camera AI. And then couple weeks using Unify AI.
can't help you with 'spotlight' issue.
Click to expand...
So use the Dahua AI features directly on the camera vs. using that AI Project connected to Blue Iris? The AI project didn't seem to do anything for me and felt totally useless....
 
tuvow said:
UniFi Protect doesn’t currently process ONVIF events. It only supports continuous recording. That means if you want AI detections on your IPC-T5442T-ZE streams within Protect, you’d need three UniFi AI Ports (at $199 each) to handle all six cameras.

If your goal is a seamless experience with your existing cameras, I’d recommend following @steve1225’s advice and going with a Dahua NVR. For example this one at $325. It will support all of your cameras’ features reliably and is generally the more stable option.

On the other hand, if what you really want is the UniFi ecosystem and interface, the better path would be to switch to UniFi cameras instead.
Click to expand...
Thank you for that - I just worked that out after buying and installing a HDD into my UDM Pro... bit of a shame since that was a total waste of money

I bought the EmpireCandy versions of the Dahua as I was told they were safer that the actual Dahua... wouldn't the NVR be counter intuitive?
 
You can still repurpose that HDD in a Dahua NVR. For security, it’s best practice to block internet access for both the cameras and the NVR, which already minimizes risk. Even better would be to place them on their own VLAN for an extra layer of isolation.
 
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