Anyone using IP-based cameras for dash cameras?

erkme73

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Sounds silly, I know, but I'm not talking about a car. My RV is 43' long, and has quite a few blind spots. I've decided to add a dedicated mini-PC (Gigabyte Brix i5 running Blue Iris), and 6 Hikvision 3MP (DS-2CD2332-I 3MP) PoE cameras. They'll be placed at the corners, and dead-center front and back. With 2.8mm lenses, and a FOV of almost 110°, I should get 360° coverage when all four slides are in (i.e. driving).

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I've added Mini 0806 dash cameras to my car and truck (which works awesome), but that approach won't work on the coach. There are no windows in on the rear end cap or rear passenger side.

Further, with Blue Iris running as a networked video recorder, I will be able to view all cameras from any TV in the coach, on my phone, or from anywhere on the web (when it's in storage).

I've just never used a network camera or BI in a mobile application. Thoughts?
 
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I've got a couple of those Hikvision cameras (a 2.8mm and a 4mm) that I picked up from Aliexpress and I've been really happy with them - I've got to admit no idea how they'd work when they're moving as they use a lower bitrate as they're designed for static use where not much in the frame would normally be changing so they may start to smear.

I've got to admit when I have the Hikvision cameras enabled they do use a lot of CPU on the server I use for Blue Iris, but that's an older AMD box and if you're using an i5 they'll be better.

I do keep meaning to migrate all my stuff at home over to a couple of similar spec boxes as you're looking at but I don't get a day off work now until the middle of September so it's all on the backburner at the moment unfortunately :/

Have you already tried running the 6 Hikvisions with Blue Iris just to make sure it doesn't swamp the PC?

I'm guessing you'd leave the IR lights turned on across all the Hikvision cameras? If not and you haven't ordered yet the new 4Mp range are supposed to have much better WDR and work better without IR - they are currently more expensive though. I keep meaning to pick up a Dahua 4Mp camera to try but I'm not ordering until I've got this work project out the way!
 
That's a really good point about bit rates and non-static images. I currently am using about 25 of the 3MP cameras (both outdoor turret style like I've linked to above, and the indoor version with the PIR) at home.

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They're running on a dedicate i7-4770 with 32GB ram. Even with all that horsepower, if I was to run them at 1080p/30, I'd be pegging the CPU at 100%. That's with the cameras set to a 2mbps bit rate. I've dialed those back to 15fps, and 720p. That gets me all the clarity and fluidity I need, with the i7 running at about 45-55%.

I've tested 6 of the 3mp turret style cameras, at 2mbps 15 on the Brix i5, and found that it runs about 50%. I'll have to play with increasing the bit rate and frame rate depending on how smeared the movement becomes. Ultimately, though, I'm going to be leaning on these cameras to provide a static security system (for things that go bump in the night when we're camping), or when the coach is in storage (I have power and internet at the storage site).

Using it as a 360° "dash camera" will be a nice perk if it works.

As for the new 4mp Hiks, yeah, I've seen the buzz on those over at ipcamtalk and cam-it, but I'd dismissed upgrading to them since I already can't reach the higher resolution capabilities of the 3mp cameras w/o starting a fire in my i7. The better night vision with WDR is intriguing. It would be wonderful to have night vision w/o the IR. Those friggin spiders and moths in FL are enough to make you go insane.

Thanks for your input - that's exactly the kind of alternate perspective I'm looking for.
 
That's awesome - I like the way you've got the banners at the bottom of the frame as mine are currently just at the default which takes up a lot of space on the video.

I've got one of the Lukas LK790 Ara CCTV cameras here which I need to spend some time with soon but it's not weatherproof so would only be good for the interior as it stands.

Are you running on Blue Iris 4? I need to upgrade from v3 at some point but haven't gotten around to that yet as it's been working fine but I'm getting the upgrade bug now!

I've got to admit when I saw high CPU I was running at 1920x1080p at the highest bitrate just to see what the quality was like and each camera was using more than one core each - they're for the new house which we don't actually get the keys for until next year so they're just sat on a windowsill at the moment while I test them for stability. They're fantastic items for the price though I've got to admit.

Did you buy all these in the US or from Aliexpress? I think over here in the UK they cost more in £ from a local seller with a one year warranty than what you pay in $ but that's usually the way but as these were more for a test initially I just went down the Aliexpress route.

To be honest like you say the Hikvisions should be absolutely perfect when you're parked up and thanks to the IR more than likely better than any dashcam you could currently buy when you have IR on.

Maybe a portable IR light would help with spiders and moths attached to something away from the vehicle where possible? I've noticed I've been getting a lot more spiders too since sticking the Xioami Yi smart camera in my kitchen window - even though I've disconnected the IR harness they still seem to be getting some residual power as they ever so slightly light up now.

A bit random but I've got a couple of the Asptectek Sentinels which are supposed to scare spiders away - I'll have to plug them next to each other to see if they're still drawn to IR when they've got the other device near by which is supposed to scare them off!
 
I upgraded to 4 as soon as it was available (right at Christmas last year). My drive was to get to the 64-bit version, which removed the 3GB memory cap that the older 32-bit version had. With only a handful of cameras, most people never hit the limit. But with a couple dozen, all with prebuffering, you hit the cap quickly - which resulted in crashes.

Converting from 3 to 4 was simple, no glitches. But the initial 4 was rough. Lots of bugs. He must have released 100 updates so far, and now, it's so stable, I have uptimes exceeding 30 days. In fact, the only reason I had server resets, is when I do updates. If you're considering it, just do it... Ken, the developer, is so responsive, it's unbelievable that he's just a one-man show.

As for the 1080 vs. 720, I think you'll find that, while there is some quality loss, it's still more than adequate for home security. I didn't see enough improvement between the two to justify the pegged CPU. Same with frame rate. When you compare 15fps to 30fps, it's barely noticeable - especially when you consider how much less stress it puts on your storage/cpu/network...


I purchase all of my cameras (Hik, mini 0806, xaiomi yi, etc) from sellers on AE. So far, I've been incredibly fortunate. I had one Hik early on that failed. I ended up sending it back to China - which was surprisingly affordable (I think <20USD). Granted, for that price it had no tracking or insurance - but I trusted that the seller would be honest. And he was. A month later I had a replacement.

If you have a tolerance for risk, and a lot of patience, it's a great way to save money (vs. Amazon). I know there are a lot of domestic sellers, and if I was a little more skittish about warranty, I would use them in a heartbeat. So I'm glad they're there.

Everything I've installed so far is PoE. Thus, getting a remote IR element installed would involve running more drops - something I'm done with (for now).

Let me know about the spider scaring thingy. I always thought those (and the ultrasonic mouse deterrent) were snake oil. But if it works, I would consider it. It would have to cover a good area though.
 
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