Syncing time

The issue

One of the things suggested to save CPU on Blue Iris is to turn on the in camera overlay instead of having Blue Iris add it while viewing. Note this works most of the time but some instances in camera overlays mess with tools like LPR. But many of the clocks seemed to refuse to keep time. At first I thought it was the local ntp servers having problems and wrote a quick tool to test all my ntp server options. The real issue is I'm finding different models of cameras work with only some ntp servers. In a perfect world this would not be an issue but in the real world they are often off a bit from each other and for syncing of video you want them a close as possible. And it also means you need to know which cam works with which and set them to ones as close in time as possible. Plus I want to avoid uploading packets where possible given my network connection is 900 down with only 40 up and I'm backing up to the cloud contentiously. 

Main options I have to work with are:

• internet time servers (time.windows.com for instance)
• ntpd on OPNsense router box 192.168.0.1 using 0.opnsense.pool.ntp.org as source
• Windows time server on a Blue Iris server 10.10.3.48 using 192.168.0.1 as source
• NetTime on a Blue Iris server 10.10.3.46 using 192.168.0.1 as source
• ntp service running on IoT Unifi network gateway 10.10.0.1 using 192.168.0.1 as source

Note just setting the time server you want to use on a Windows 10 PC gets complicated. Microsoft really wants you to use time.windows.com. Detailed instructions to change the server can be found here.

What worked with what

Hikvision

System->System Settings->Time Settings (ColorVu)

Basic Configuration->System->Time Settings (older cams)

Would not even ping most of these. In the end the only one it would connect to was the Windows time server

Reolink

Network->Advanced->NTP

Only seems to like the OPNsense box. Takes 3 screens to set all the time options.

Amcrest

System->General->Date & Time

Hard to say since there is no test button. You just set it and hope. I'll set them to diff servers and see what keeps time. Though it looks like it might do a sync on save so you can see if something works if the time was off. After a day it appears OPNsense did not seem to work as the time was WAY off.

Used Windows time server 

Dahua

System->General->Date & Time

Like Amcrest (some claim the Dahua makes many of Amcrest cams and the software is very similar) it is hard to say since there is no test button. You just set it and hope. I'll set them to diff servers and see what keeps time. Though it looks like it might do a sync on save so you can see if something works if the time was off. After a day it appears OPNsense did not seem to work as the time was WAY off.

Used Windows time server 

JideTech

System->Time

Not sure if this is working or not. Comes set to time.windows.com which seemed to be working. When I set it to a local one it changed the date to 2036 and stayed there till I "Synced with PC time". Then tried to dup and could not. Set to OPNsense box. After a few days the time seems to be hold so think is OK. Note there is no option to set DST start and stop.  

Foscam

Basic Settings->Camera Time

OPNsense seems to work OK. Note this old enough there is no option to set DST start and stop.

Escam

Again OPNsense seems to work OK. 

GW Security GW5747MIC

 I did a test with a GW5747MIC 5MP Optional TWO-Way Audio PoE IP Camera 1.9mm 160° Wide Angle Night Vision Sony Starvis HD 1920P Security Mini Dome 5 Megapixel Built-In Microphone and Micro SD slot, Audio in/out Recording but the view was not only no wider but not as good in low light as the Amcrest IP4M-1026 despite it having the lowest lux spec so I stuck it looking at the bird feeder. It is also does not have the 160 view angle. Here are some compare shots at the point the cams pointed at the bird feeders flipped from day to night mode.
The supposed 0.01Lux (F1.8, Color) GW Security GW5747MIC flips to night mode first

Flipped at 17:43:42.

A Hikvision DS-2CD2142FWD-I speced at 0.07 lux @ (F1.2, AGC ON)

Flipped at 17:45:38

An Escam QD900 rated Color: 0.1 Lux/F1.2, B/W: 0.01 Lux/F1.2 Note you can see the Microseven on the barn has already flipped to night mode.

Flipped to B/W at 17:51:23

Lastly an Amcrest IP3M-956 rated at 0.1Lux /F2.0 (Color)

Flipped last at 17:54:25

After dark things were not much better. Though part of the problem here is the GW cam is smaller so sees the wall and AC unit that the Amcrest, right next to it, does not.

GW5747MIC at midnight

IP3M-956 at midnight. Note the dome is already dirty again so there is glare.

In the daytime it looks about as good as the Amcrest despite being a lower rez. Note it is only speced as 100 degree view angle. You can see here the GW cam is about the same view angle so not way it is 160 degree.

IP3M-956 about noon

GW5747MIC about noon

I've decided to move all the dome cams inside since they get dirty and pick up reflections real quick (see pic above) so I moved the GW5747MIC to the garage to replace the Foscam FI9828P. The GW5747MIC does have better night vision than the Foscam on top of better rez and view angle. The GW5747MIC can monitor almost the whole garage at the same level of detail without the need for pan and tilt. Though the Foscam can still zoom into get a bit better shot if you are watching and can center and zoom quick enough to get the shot. All in all it seems like a pretty good fit for the garage though realistically I doubt I'd buy another one if this one went out or I need a cam for a similar area.

First though I noticed the diff between the top two rez settings seems to be that is stretches the picture vertically. You will notice here that both show the same amount of the garage. Yes I know it is a mess. Note is a two car garage though it looks more like a 1 1/2 in the pics.

shot in 2592x1944 mode

shot in 2592x1520 mode

Similar shot from the FI9828P

FI9828P zoomed all the way into the corner

Similar post zoomed image from the GW5747MIC

When I turn off the over head light and just have the opener light on the Foscam has to go into night mode though the GW5747MIC does not even in the default Auto switching mode.

GW5747MIC with just the door light.

FI9828P with just the door light

Lastly compare shots with all lights off.

GW5747MIC in the dark

FI9828P in the dark.

Note you can stretch the flip to night mode some more by switching from Auto to Auto(inter sync) though you will some more graininess during the extended color period. adjust the sliders for the right compromise between seeing color and grain.

This is about the max you can push the flip. With THR. of day much lower it will flip back and forth.

Update: Notice something else today. After upgrading my router to one I could turn IPS on without cooking it I discovered this camera is making DNS requests to several sites around the world. Not that I let DNS requests go anywhere from my IoT networks except to my local DNS servers. A quick google shows this is not a new thing with them.

More IR options

I've posted before about the U06R 60 degree flood and the U06R2 90 degree floods.  They do a good job and only about ~$20. You still need a power supply though. Recently I came across some models from Tendelux that come with the power supply. Their model similar to the U06R2 is just ~$10 more. They also seem a bit less visible if that matters. I tried 3 models.

First let's start with the small spot, just $20, and some compare shots from an Amcrest IP4M-1026
Tendelux 80ft IR Illuminator | AI4 No Hot Spot Wide Angle Infrared Light for Security Camera (w/Power Adapter)

Shot with the illuminator off

Shot with the illuminator on. Far tree is about 35 feet from illuminator and 38 feet from the camera.

No bad for so a fill spot.

Next the U06R2 equiv
Tendelux 120ft IR Illuminator | BI8 Compact and Powerful 90° Infrared Light for CCTV Security Camera (w/Power Adapter)
I stuck one down in the picnic area to see what was passing through at night setting off the motion sensor. The camera, HikVision DS-2CD2032-I with 12mm lens, is about 50 feet away so its LEDs do not light much. It is mounted about 10 feet or so to the left of the picnic table.

A shot with the new flood off though there are other floods down the path in the distance.

After shot with the trees trimmed back a bit and the new flood on.

From another camera, a Hikvision DS-2CD2035-I, you can see the BI8 shines clear across the area some 60 feet bright enough for this cam to notice about 80 feet away.

The bright spots near the center of the pic are the eyes of raccoons at the water trough.

Then for a fill in I added another U06R2 I had not installed yet about 20 feet down on the fence to the right. The water trough is about 60 feet from the cam and about 40 feet from the U06R2.

U06R2 added

Notice it blows out the area near it more than the Tendelux does.

Lastly I was hoping the larger model would be good for the driveway but oddly not so much despite being billed as a 200 foot illuminator it is really more of a wider angle flood.
Tendelux 200ft Long Range IR Illuminator | BI18 90° LED Outdoor IR Flood Light for Security Camera (w/Power Adapter)
Here are compares from a Amcrest IP8M-2496 watching the south leg of the driveway.

Shot with no flood on.

With the "200 foot" Tendelux  on.

I swapped in a U06R and it looks much better. The distant tree is about 55 feet away.

Here are same shots from the Microseven M7B77-WPSV1 zoomed to the 22mm max. The building is about 300 feet away.

With the "200 foot" Tendelux  on.

With no flood.

With the U06R on.

When I swapped the "200 foot" Tendelux with the U06R I moved the "200 foot" Tendelux to point south. From the feeder cams (an Escam QD900 and Reolink RLC-422W). The Tendelux  could probably stand to be tilted up a bit.

From the Reolink pointed west and the "200 foot" Tendelux on, pointed south

From the Escam and the "200 foot" Tendelux on, pointed south south west

For compare. Note how far to the side it had lit up. Seems more than the stated 90 degrees.

From the Reolink pointed west and the "200 foot" Tendelux off, pointed south

From the Escam and the "200 foot" Tendelux off, pointed south south west

Note in the above Reolink shots the U06R was on. Here is a shot from the Reolink with it off for compare.

Quick overview

At the moment I've have 38 cams from several brands on 3 Blue Iris servers plus one each of the Wyze cams. I've tried almost that many models. Here is what I've found.

I like the clarity of the Reolink 5MP the best.

But I've found the Reolink 5MP bullet cam can have trouble in Texas heat. When temps got over 100 here the Reolink's auto focus and zoom motors stopped working then the camera just crashed. For awhile it was also losing its configuration I bought the dome version and have not had any trouble with it. Heat has not seemed to be an issue with any others except the old Foscam 8900 PTL series OEMs made for indoor use.

IR reflection bad be really bad in some of these. Dome cams almost all seem to have this to some degree. You should look at the pics here but in general I would recommend the Amcrest, Hikvision or Reolink bullet cams for that.

Wifi range varies a LOT. For example at the turn in my driveway some 80 feet through heavy woods the Amcrests, Foscama and Escams all worked most of the time. Reolink, Hikvision and SV3C were iffy and the Wyze cam could not even connect.

Microseven 6-22mm 3MP Manual Zoom Varifocal Len HD 1080P

Microseven 6-22mm 3MP Manual Zoom Varifocal Len HD 1080P SONY 1/2.8" CMOS Built-in Microphone & POE ONVIF Works with Alexa, WiFi IP Camera Outdoor 128GB, Free M7 Cloud &Live Streaming on microseven.tv

Unlike the Reolink 411ws this one has a manual zoom, 6 to 22 mm, and focus which means you set the sweet spot where you want it and it will stay there unlike the Reolink 411ws when it is loses power. Or as it is doing now, just reboots.

Technically the Microseven M7B77-WPSV1 would not focus at its full zoom. I pushed the focus to the max and then backed off the zoom till I got it to focus at a target about 65 feet away. 

Here are the shots for testing recognition at just over 100 feet. First the Reolink 411ws at full zoom looks like this

And Microseven M7B77-WPSV1 also at "full zoom" looks like this.

Right off you can see it is zoomed in tighter and clearer. But the rez is lower 1080p @ 3MP vs 1728p @ 5MP. If you zoom in on the pics though you see the higher optical zoom of the Microseven M7B77-WPSV1 (left) still looks a bit better. 

At about 200 feet the Reolink 411ws looks like

And the Microseven M7B77-WPSV1 like

Zooming in again they compare like this Microseven M7B77-WPSV1 left and Reolink 411ws right

Still neither is all that useful at 200 feet for license plate reading or face recognition.
At 165 feet it is almost usable. Though I'd say my beard looks a LOT longer in this pic than it is.

Night vision is better though

Zoomed in it still looks pretty good.

That building is 370 feet away.
Compare with this shot from the zoomed in Reolink 411ws

But then the Escam QD900 beat the Reolink 411ws in this test

Even with all the grain in the Escam shot might still edge out the others in this one case. Note however the Escam's night vision distance is very limited on its own so without the security light on that building. I should note in the Reolink vs Escam compare there was also an IR flood installed while in the Microseven M7B77-WPSV1 shots above no IR flood was used. For an idea of how well these illuminate here is a wide shot from the Reolink 411ws

Note the time and name are wrong because it has lost its config again.

Here is the same shot from the Microseven M7B77-WPSV1. Note the name and time display are turned off on it.

Paired together I think they give great coverage. If I only could have one I'd probably go with the Reolink 411ws given the fact fully zoomed in you still have a wider field of view while getting almost as good recognition abilities at distance. Note I did not include and zoomed out shots from the Microseven M7B77-WPSV1 because it focusing it can be a bit touchy and since it only goes down to 6 mm it still would not be as wide as a standard 70 degree lens at only 50 degrees. The Reolink 411ws above for comparison is 98 degrees.

One last shot to highlight a minor point the OSD of name and time are small and only have top and bottom as options. So in case that matter here is a shot with OSD turned on.

Generally I leave the camera's OSD (top) on as a backup to what Blue Iris has (at bottom). They often get off especially with DST. The Microseven M7B77-WPSV1 OSD I had not even noticed got turned off i earlier shots it is so hard to see.