Security Camera NVR Software

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Security Camera NVR Software

1 | 2

t0ny

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1854968 29-Aug-2017 22:09

I use sighthound but lately with the new releases , i find the detection has gone worse. Nowadays i have a 24x7 continuous recording to my NAS and only use sighthound to be alerted when there is some kind of motion that it thinks is human

shrub

775 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#1855480 30-Aug-2017 20:09

Cheers guys. I will try an all in one system next. It looks to be a better option than windows software.

richms

28187 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1855498 30-Aug-2017 20:42

The little white hikvisions are _so_ slow to export footage from. They work ok and are great to stick on a TV to watch cameras on. Just limited to 1080 and h264 last I looked at them.

Chinese firmwares not really a huge issue. Dates and stuff are the same format and playback controls are easy to understand. Just menu options need Google translate on the phone for setup but once done no big deal. Rather pay 1/3 the price of the local "won't sell to you because not a security installer" outfits and deal with Chinese TBH.

Richard rich.ms

rp1790

738 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1855704 31-Aug-2017 09:46

If anyone is after one of those square White HikVision NVR's (4 x POE) I have a near new one for sale.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1858989 5-Sep-2017 14:19

My quick summary of the most popular camera-monitoring software...

BlueIris

Sophisticated triggering, e.g. from audio, external sensors, camera A triggers camera B. $60, and the usual caveats for Windows (see "Sighthound").

Sighthound

Very good (apparently) object/body detection, not just "have some pixels changed?". However, Windows based, needs a decent Windows PC, constant patching and updating. $60 + $12 yearly for two cameras, $250 + $50 yearly for > 2 cameras (ouch!).

XProtect

Enterprise-grade software (and that's not meant in a positive sense), installs SQL Server, IIS, opens ports, etc. Not really for home/small-scale users even if they have a lite version.

ZoneMinder

Linux-based, runs on anything, set it and forget it. OTOH since it's Linux- based it's a pile of daemons tied together with Perl scripts and PHP that you have to manage yourself. Can allegedly be triggered from X10 sensors, but documentation is sparse.

Conclusion

ZoneMinder seems to be no better or worse than BlueIris and XProtect in terms of motion detection, and doesn't require nursing a Windows PC for the rest of eternity to keep it running. The only obviously better one is Sighthound, but that's very pricey and again Windows-based.

premiumtouring

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1859052 5-Sep-2017 15:31

I use a combination of Sighthound for notifications (as its people detection and IFTTT integration is second to none) and Milestone Essentials for recording. Buying Sighthound for $250 is the best investment you can make.

Odd that no one has mentioned it runs on Mac. Sighthound integrates with IFTTT and can run commands based on detected events. So, for those of you who use Automator on Mac, you can do some pretty creative things.

The only negatives I can see re: Sighthound are it doesn't support using camera PTZ as part of actions. The web interface and mobile application are really basic. Certainly lacking in features. However, it is irrelevant as Sighthound push notifications are received within seconds, and emails to gmail arrive within 5 seconds including an attachment image (very important for threat identification).

However, some key reasons why I make it my main are:

1) Insanely accurate people detection with the ability to implement rules and schedules.

2) Extremely low CPU and RAM utilisation, when the main application is being run as a service (eg. you are not using it to display camera feeds).

3) Smart footage capture - it captures footage 24/7 and only purges 'non-notified' events once it runs out of the specified space permitted. So, events from two days ago, you can still access, but the footage either side of the event will eventually be replaced.

I use a combination of Dahua and Hikvision cameras. My preference is definitely with HikVision's mobile application for PTZ, but the image quality from Dahua is quite impressive.

My primary issue with Dahua and Hikvision is simply security. I cannot allow them onto the internet to send notifications or allow remote access because they are, in my opinion, simply not secure enough. I do not want my security cameras being hijacked and used as part of a bigger bot net so I isolate them.

This is where Sighthound really shines, because it sends notifications using it's own push service.

Milestone is a great rock solid product. The 'essentials' version is basically a crippled NVR for recording. However, again, some key things to note. It's CPU utilisation is insane. It's camera compatibility is insane. It does support PTZ via it's mobile App, which has a decent UI. It's media management is decent. It's Client tool is OK.

Personally, if I had $85EU per camera to drop I'd go for Ksenos. This is some futuristic NVR. Download a demo if you get a chance. Their Mobile App is very decent. Their searching technology is super interesting (you paint areas of the image and it will show you on a timeline where movement in those blocks has been detected) and it has it's own IFTTT rules system (which needs some work).

I evaluated it, and really enjoyed it, but I couldn't justify the asking price for home office / property monitoring. Not when others are offering similar (albeit not as polished) solutions for free.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1859109 5-Sep-2017 16:49

premiumtouring:
I use a combination of Sighthound for notifications (as its people detection and IFTTT integration is second to none) and Milestone Essentials for recording. Buying Sighthound for $250 is the best investment you can make.

Yeah, if it weren't for the Windows thing I'd be getting Sighthound. As it is, I'll try ZoneMinder for now since I can drop it on any old leftover device (probably an ODroid) to play with, and if it's really as painful as it seems to be reconsider setting up a Windows box for Sighthound. What I really want is something that tells me if someone's walked up to the front door, so I don't really need all the sophistication of most high-end surveillance software with timelines, event search, ANPR, and so on.

A note for people not familiar with these things, Milestone == XProtect.

premiumtouring:
Personally, if I had $85EU per camera to drop I'd go for Ksenos. This is some futuristic NVR. Download a demo if you get a chance. Their Mobile App is very decent. Their searching technology is super interesting (you paint areas of the image and it will show you on a timeline where movement in those blocks has been detected) and it has it's own IFTTT rules system (which needs some work).

I evaluated it, and really enjoyed it, but I couldn't justify the asking price for home office / property monitoring. Not when others are offering similar (albeit not as polished) solutions for free.

I had a look at it but their web site is one of those designed-by-hipsters ones that'd be great for MOMA but next to useless for finding out what their product actually does. It's... some NVR software? I can't see anything obvious there that several other products don't already do in terms of motion detection and alerting.

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1876922 4-Oct-2017 07:19

After hearing all the good things about SightHound I got to play with it at a friend's place who's been running it for awhile. Latest version of the software on good-quality cameras. I wasn't impressed, it didn't seem to be doing any people-detection (it just showed a bounding box around any movement), and was false-triggering on moving bushes, shadows from a bird flying overhead, pets, and all manner of other things. Based on what I saw, I would rate it as pretty much identical to any other movement-detection video system.

t0ny

395 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1876925 4-Oct-2017 07:22

neb: After hearing all the good things about SightHound I got to play with it at a friend's place who's been running it for awhile. Latest version of the software on good-quality cameras. I wasn't impressed, it didn't seem to be doing any people-detection (it just showed a bounding box around any movement), and was false-triggering on moving bushes, shadows from a bird flying overhead, pets, and all manner of other things. Based on what I saw, I would rate it as pretty much identical to any other movement-detection video system.

It used to be better but the new version totally killed it.

premiumtouring

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1876977 4-Oct-2017 08:53

neb: After hearing all the good things about SightHound I got to play with it at a friend's place who's been running it for awhile. Latest version of the software on good-quality cameras. I wasn't impressed, it didn't seem to be doing any people-detection (it just showed a bounding box around any movement), and was false-triggering on moving bushes, shadows from a bird flying overhead, pets, and all manner of other things. Based on what I saw, I would rate it as pretty much identical to any other movement-detection video system.

I think your mileage may vary by operator. You played around with someone else’s system Instead of using it for a purpose. If you don’t set the rules up properly or understand (by reading the manual) the different detection types you’re going to have a bad time.

If you need to be shown it working properly with the detection and rules set up properly happy to run you through it.

Linuxluver

5828 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#1876998 4-Oct-2017 09:12

shrub:

Long story short I am over the BlueIRIS android app.

I have 3 Network cameras 2x Dahua(each side of the house) and a crappy edimax(Garage) All on LAN not wifi. The computer is more than sufficient i7 2700 16gb Ram ssd + 2x 2tb WD Purple etc.

Blue Iris works but its not reliable.(Switching from wifi to 4g its fails to reconnect automatically)

What else is out there that will send movement alerts to Android and just works?

Morepork.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1877277 4-Oct-2017 14:59

premiumtouring: I think your mileage may vary by operator. You played around with someone else’s system Instead of using it for a purpose. If you don’t set the rules up properly or understand (by reading the manual) the different detection types you’re going to have a bad time.

This was set up by a seriously hardcore geek. If it's so finicky to get right that even they can't get it working properly then it's probably not something I want to spend a lot of money and time on...

premiumtouring

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1877294 4-Oct-2017 15:14

neb:
premiumtouring: I think your mileage may vary by operator. You played around with someone else’s system Instead of using it for a purpose. If you don’t set the rules up properly or understand (by reading the manual) the different detection types you’re going to have a bad time.
This was set up by a seriously hardcore geek. If it's so finicky to get right that even they can't get it working properly then it's probably not something I want to spend a lot of money and time on...

Who said it was finicky? It is not a complicated tool at all, (that is in fact, one of it's downsides vs Blue Iris) but it has quite a lot of functionality if you configure the settings according to the manual aka correctly.

Your friend sounds like a classic example of someone just leaving the default settings (which is detection for ALL OBJECTS not PEOPLE), and then not configuring the scale option so that it can properly detect people. How hard is it to set a trigger zone?

I have 8 cameras, and foot traffic that surpasses 1000 people daily, I'm only notified when the rules I've set are triggered, and it I get a maximum of two or three false positives per MONTH. Just to clarify those triggers are almost ALWAYS a spider or bug crawling across one of the domes.

As someone that relies on motion detection, I can never go back to standard, inaccurate, weather dependent 'motion detection'. Don't be lazy, read the manual if the settings aren't obvious enough, and configure it properly.

neb

11294 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1877298 4-Oct-2017 15:16

premiumtouring:
neb:
premiumtouring: I think your mileage may vary by operator. You played around with someone else’s system Instead of using it for a purpose. If you don’t set the rules up properly or understand (by reading the manual) the different detection types you’re going to have a bad time.
This was set up by a seriously hardcore geek. If it's so finicky to get right that even they can't get it working properly then it's probably not something I want to spend a lot of money and time on...

Your friend sounds like a classic example of someone just leaving the default settings (which is detection for ALL OBJECTS not PEOPLE), and then not configuring the scale option so that it can properly detect people. How hard is it to set a trigger zone?

As I said, it's a seriously hardcore geek who spent quite some time configuring it. He's done all of the above, and a lot more (including hacking the firmware on the cameras, but that's another story).

Are you a reseller for SightHound?

premiumtouring

355 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1877307 4-Oct-2017 15:33

neb:
premiumtouring:

neb:
premiumtouring: I think your mileage may vary by operator. You played around with someone else’s system Instead of using it for a purpose. If you don’t set the rules up properly or understand (by reading the manual) the different detection types you’re going to have a bad time.
This was set up by a seriously hardcore geek. If it's so finicky to get right that even they can't get it working properly then it's probably not something I want to spend a lot of money and time on...

Your friend sounds like a classic example of someone just leaving the default settings (which is detection for ALL OBJECTS not PEOPLE), and then not configuring the scale option so that it can properly detect people. How hard is it to set a trigger zone?

As I said, it's a seriously hardcore geek who spent quite some time configuring it. He's done all of the above, and a lot more (including hacking the firmware on the cameras, but that's another story). Are you a reseller for SightHound?

Not a reseller, just a real world user who is taking the time to clarify facts for other Geekzoners who may read this thread and take your word for it. I'd hardly be as engaged, but for a user who has significantly more airtime on this forum I would expect a bit more due diligence with your technical opinion.

If your mate is hacking the firmware of his cameras, that is a telling sign of where the problem really is. It is very unlikely to be the software since Sighthound supports ONVIF out of the box (which is what I use for my unsupported, IP cameras).

The spread of misinformation doesn't actually help anyone that is looking for a solution, it just suggests one less option to check out.

1 | 2