Blue Iris "FPS / key rate" error and no signal

[TuckNTruck]

I have a Tyco / Illustra PTZ that I believe is a rebranded Hikvision DS-2DF8236I5X-AEL(W).

There's something going on with it and Blue Iris. Most of the time, no issues, but then the stream will slow down and I get the error "Check FPS and key rates".

Sometimes the error goes away and the stream "catches up" and works fine again until it happens again. Other times, it goes to a "No Signal" after being on the "Check FPS and key rates" error.

It's like there's a backlog of frames that are trying to get through but can't, and then they all come through at once before resuming normal operation. Which just reminded me, I have seen a message that says "frame bottleneck" as well, but it's very rare.

There have been times where it never recovers from "no signal" and I have to reset the switch, again it feels like to clear the backlog of frames that aren't getting through.

When all this happens, the camera's web interface is perfectly fine. I never have problems pinging the camera or viewing the live feed in the camera's interface. The problems seems to be with blue iris.

In the configuration, I have constant bitrate, H264, 30 FPS, I frame interval 30. I've tried 25 FPS along with bitrates as low as 6144 with no change in behavior.

In BI, I have the max rate set to 30.00 fps, no decoding, continuous recording BVR direct to disc. I don't use substreams at all with this camera.

 

[wittaj]

Not using substreams could mean you are overloading the system and it cant keep up and that is why resetting or restarting the switch works because it is clearing out all of the lost packets sent that start piling up because it keeps trying to resend the packets.

Watching live view from camera interface doesnt say much unless you are watching it 24/7. Opening it when it shows no video in BI isn't proving anything other than the camera is working, which leads to lost packets being sent to BI.

Why not use substreams or drop FPS to 15?

 

[TonyR]

+1^^^.
If no joy from the above, try UNchecking "Send RTSP keep-alives" and bump up "Receive Buffer" to 20MB (both settings under "camera settings" => "Video" tab).

 

[Flintstone61]

what is the actual hardware your pushing data thru? like PC, Switch, Hard disk setup,

 

[TuckNTruck]

Not using substreams could mean you are overloading the system and it cant keep up and that is why resetting or restarting the switch works because it is clearing out all of the lost packets sent that start piling up because it keeps trying to resend the packets.

Watching live view from camera interface doesnt say much unless you are watching it 24/7. Opening it when it shows no video in BI isn't proving anything other than the camera is working, which leads to lost packets being sent to BI.

I monitor this camera most of the day while I'm working, so I like to see full quality. Nothing should be bandwidth limited and CPU usage on my BI PC is 10% and no storage issues either. When you say I could be overloading the system and it can't keep up, what system? The PC is hardly breaking a sweat, and everything in the network is gigabit or better, more details on that below.

Why not use substreams or drop FPS to 15?

I can manage with 25 FPS but the camera can do 30 FPS so I like to get everything I can out of it. All the components should be more than capable, so I don't understand what's up with this one camera and BI.

+1^^^.
If no joy from the above, try UNchecking "Send RTSP keep-alives" and bump up "Receive Buffer" to 20MB (both settings under "camera settings" => "Video" tab).

I'll try that on the RTSP keep-alive. First thing I did was bump up the receive buffer when I set up this camera. I've tried multiple settings between 20-50, no change.

what is the actual hardware your pushing data thru? like PC, Switch, Hard disk setup,

PC is a Dell Optiplex 5060, 32 GB ram, I5-8700, not running AI or any of that stuff, CPU usage stays around 10% and the PC is not used for anything other than BI.
Here's a ChatGPT generated network map. Everything is gigabit or better, quality CAT6 ethernet cables, everything in operation for years, but the PTZ in question is new.

The part I'm hung up on is that if I watch the PTZ's web interface, the livestream on that never slows down, glitches, drops out, etc. It's perfect. But the stream in BI has problems. There's usually 100-120 mbps of camera traffic flowing through everything, so nowhere near the gigabit everything is rated for. But again, BI is the only part of the setup that is having problems, and just with this one camera despite the feed being perfect in the camera's web interface.

 

[wittaj]

Who makes the switch that when you restart all is good?

So your cameras go thru the router to the BI computer? That alone can be the reason for the resend packets request and your problems. Removing the router from the equation solves lots of these issues. These routers are just not designed for the full-throttle never ease up demands of cameras. Unlike Netflix, these things never buffer and that causes issues with lost packets.

Under Task Manager, what does the performance of the NIC card look like? It appears you are only one ethernet port on the BI computer? If so you have all the cameras blasting in on mainstream and viewing out on the same NIC and you could be overloading it.

For example, On my isolated camera NIC, my cameras are streaming non-stop 350Mbps. This is full-on, never stopping to take a breath. Even if someone has a gigabit router, a 3rd of non-buffering 24/7 data will impact its speed.

If I didn't have dual NIC, then I could potentially be having 350Mbps incoming and watching multi-camera on mainstream at 350Mbps, so I am now pushing 700Mbps thru a gigabit ethernet port and other devices. And most GB routers and devices cannot push that through. For example, the EdgeRouter X is claimed to be 1Gbps, but you see tests all over where people are only getting in the 700Mbps range.

Are you not using substreams at all? If not, do you know that by using substreams, when you solo the camera it goes to mainstream?

And since it is just the PTZ, it could be any of the devices it is going thru.

Also, keep in mind just because the camera is rated at 30FPS doesn't mean it can actually do it with other things in operation.

Of course, some cameras are better than others, but many have just barely enough processor power and can overload easily.

 

[Flintstone61]

I'm thinkin the software (Blue Iris) is only as fast as your hardware.
what hardware( i.e. WD purple(s) are all these cam streams being written to?
are all your cams running high frame rates? at 30 FPS ?
i5 is an 8500, 6 core 6 thread processor. You should be good with either processor.
i7 is an 8700 6 core 12 thread processor. ( which I'm running as well)
I would do a trial of 15-18 FPS and see if the problem continues or goes away.
then you might get more data to work with. like is it a limitation of the cam? or the Wireless lan? or ?