It looks like better ONVIF support is coming to UniFi Protect

Molbo

Getting the hang of it
Oct 13, 2019
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Vancouver, Canada


ONVIF Improvements:

Easier migration at scale
Motion/analytics support coming
Better than prior RTSP-only integrations

Also

AI Port X: 20+ streams per port
 
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The part about the AI Port and the AI Key seems interesting. With the current AI Key having basically a 16 gig Jetson Nano Orin inside, wonder what the new and higher powered one would have? Same for the AI Port X. There has got to be more processing power in a newer chip so there probably is a larger form factor.

My current experience with the AI Port has been pretty positive. It is just the scaling on it that leaves a little more to be desired.
 
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ONVIF Improvements:

Easier migration at scale
Motion/analytics support coming
Better than prior RTSP-only integrations

Also

AI Port X: 20+ streams per port

You beat me to it - This announcement is a BIG DEAL
I would rather use an UNVR versus Dahua NVR
If you are on the Early Access channel, the update is available - 7.1.42
I was planning to purchase 4 more AI Ports, but I think I will wait and reassess



 
The part about the AI Port and the AI Key seems interesting. With the current AI Key having basically a 16 gig Jetson Nano Orin inside, wonder what the new and higher powered one would have? Same for the AI Port X. There has got to be more processing power in a newer chip so there probably is a larger form factor.

My current experience with the AI Port has been pretty positive. It is just the scaling on it that leaves a little more to be desired.
The newly announced UniFi Edge cameras are supposed to eliminate the need for separate AI Keys and AI Ports
 
I am on the early access for protect, and the first version they released with this functionality was extremely unstable, causing reboots every 30 minutes or less. They seem to have fixed that issue in the latest early access release.

While I realize that this is a risk of running beta software, it was really annoying, getting pop-ups on my PC, phone, etc. a couple times an hour…
 
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I am on the early access for protect, and the first version they released with this functionality was extremely unstable, causing reboots every 30 minutes or less. They seem to have fixed that issue in the latest early access release.

While I realize that this is a risk of running beta software, it was really annoying, getting pop-ups on my PC, phone, etc. a couple times an hour…
Unfortunately, I am not eligible for Early Access because I have Remote Access Disabled. I use a VPN (WireGuard) - looks like I'll be waiting for the stable official release when it hits the channel.
 
Interestingly on the website I can see the hardware specs.... As far as the "edge AI", that seems very vague. So this is like a built in AI Key? Or AI Port? If it is AI port, it doesn't show how many cameras at what resolution it is able to work with. One thing I noticed both have the same CPU. Looks like the main difference is the memory amount. The four bay version specs show the mount of cameras that can be added. Then how many cameras can be added if the viewpoint (local video out) is utilized. Eight bay unit only shows how many cameras. Does not say anything about figures if the viewport is used. So many questions here.....
 
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Interestingly on the website I can see the hardware specs.... As far as the "edge AI", that seems very vague. So this is like a built in AI Key? Or AI Port? If it is AI port, it doesn't show how many cameras at what resolution it is able to work with. One thing I noticed both have the same CPU. Looks like the main difference is the memory amount. The four bay version specs show the mount of cameras that can be added. Then how many cameras can be added if the viewpoint (local video out) is utilized. Eight bay unit only shows how many cameras. Does not say anything about figures if the viewport is used. So many questions here.....
Ai Key…

Ai port was temporary solution for stupid problem ubiquity created by not supporting any form of motion detection from ONVIF cams
 
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It doesn't look like the AI Port serves any purpose anymore since the new software update supports ONVIF events from third party cameras
However, LPR recognition does not come standard in many Dahua cameras so the AI Port may still prove useful there - the new Edge AI NVRs may actually able to substitute the AI Port here
The AI Keys on the other hand provide AI summaries and Speech to Text - which can be beneficial if you need them
 
I will say these new NVRs blows the Dahua NVRs out of the water spec-wise and software-wise
 
I’m on early access 7.1.55 and still not able to get any type of motion alerts to my protect with Dahua cams. I have seen recent posts on Reddit of people with cheap Tapo cams now getting onvif detections.
 
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It doesn't look like the AI Port serves any purpose anymore since the new software update supports ONVIF events from third party cameras
However, LPR recognition does not come standard in many Dahua cameras so the AI Port may still prove useful there - the new Edge AI NVRs may actually able to substitute the AI Port here
The AI Keys on the other hand provide AI summaries and Speech to Text - which can be beneficial if you need them
From my understanding, there is a certain ONVIF profile that is for metadata for detections. I think it was M. If the camera doesn't support that profile of ONVIF then the camera is not sending out that metadata. Camera is still sending out metadata that is Dahua/Dahua OEM compatible so Dahua equipment would know what that metadata means but if the ONVIF profile for detection metadata is not supported then a device like Unifi Protect is not going to receive anything and doesn't know what to do with the proprietary Dahua metadata.

I have had pretty good luck with my AI Ports. Getting pretty good detections from it that are not available on the camera itself such as license place and face recognition. Since the update came out for the AI Port which allowed more cameras per AI Port, it sweetened the deal.
 
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I’m on early access 7.1.55 and still not able to get any type of motion alerts to my protect with Dahua cams. I have seen recent posts on Reddit of people with cheap Tapo cams now getting onvif detections.
Do the Dahua cameras support the ONVIF profile M? If not then probably won't be getting anything. Usually the cameras would support Profile S which is liveview, Profile G which is recording to hard drive and Profile T which is advance recording, audio and motion events. That is also if they did a full implementation of the profile or just a partial one.
 
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From my understanding, there is a certain ONVIF profile that is for metadata for detections. I think it was M. If the camera doesn't support that profile of ONVIF then the camera is not sending out that metadata. Camera is still sending out metadata that is Dahua/Dahua OEM compatible so Dahua equipment would know what that metadata means but if the ONVIF profile for detection metadata is not supported then a device like Unifi Protect is not going to receive anything and doesn't know what to do with the proprietary Dahua metadata.

I have had pretty good luck with my AI Ports. Getting pretty good detections from it that are not available on the camera itself such as license place and face recognition. Since the update came out for the AI Port which allowed more cameras per AI Port, it sweetened the deal.
The AI Ports saved me $10 a month. I used to pay RekorScout for LPR monthly, the AI Port definitely still has its place when used with the Dahua cameras
In fact the Edge AI NVR is a better candidate versus Dahua's own NVR
 
Do the Dahua cameras support the ONVIF profile M? If not then probably won't be getting anything. Usually the cameras would support Profile S which is liveview, Profile G which is recording to hard drive and Profile T which is advance recording, audio and motion events. That is also if they did a full implementation of the profile or just a partial one.
From what I was able to gather the do support the M profile. It could be a small setting I am missing but hopefully they end up being compatible I would love to be able to fully transition to Protect while not being forced to use their dog shit cameras.
 
Wow, third party audio and motion detection on Protect, with AI capabilities on new NVRs? This is huge, I have been really wanting this a year and 2 AI Ports ago. I guess it wouldn't be Ubiquiti if you some of the products you own become obsolete within a short amount of time.
 
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Wow, third party audio and motion detection on Protect, with AI capabilities on new NVRs? This is huge, I have been really wanting this a year and 2 AI Ports ago. I guess it wouldn't be Ubiquiti if you some of the products you own become obsolete within a short amount of time.
If you own any third-party ONVIF cameras, I still highly recommend you hold onto the AI Ports especially for CPU offload processing
 
I think I'm going to wait until Protect will be able to handle IVS events.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Protect already support IVS events (line crossings, etc)? Also, the IVS events are technically part of ONVIF, so it should work in the latest update, making those IVS events essentially Smart Motion Detection events (they will be denoted by markers on the playback timeline)