People are always looking for an IP camera bandwidth calculator because their concern is how the security camera can impact the network.
When you design a surveillance camera project it's necessary to take the IP camera bandwidth requirements into consideration and that's where the use of a professional VMS such as the Luxriot Evo can help you to manage your resources.
IP cameras can work with more than one video stream and that's very useful to manage the bandwidth consumption which has a significant impact on the infrastructure, video storage, and CPU usage.
==> I highly recommend you to learn more about bandwidth and storage. Please read the article: Bandwidth and storage for CCTV.
How to save bandwidth with Luxriot EVO
The Luxriot EVO is a powerful VMS that can manage IP cameras, I've tested a Free version of this software and you can find more information about in my other article: Free VMS software (Luxriot EVO).
After testing this VMS, I realized that there's this feature to help you to manage the IP camera bandwidth. I've seen this before, but only on other paid VMSes.
When using IP cameras you can choose which profile is better for different situations and that certainly can help you to save bandwidth.
Let's take a look at a diagram to better understand the concept.
As you can see in the diagram, the IP camera works with two different profiles.
Profile 1: Is the Main Stream that can be configured for high-quality video, with Full HD resolution and 24 FPS as an example.
Profile 2: It's the Sub Stream this profile can use a low-quality video, with a standard D1 or 4CIF resolution for example at 2 to 5 FPS.
==> The profile number 1 uses more bandwidth since it delivers more quality.
For a practical application, the software can use the profile number 1 when it's necessary to show the image in full screen, as you can see in the picture below.
In this case it necessary to have a high-quality video to fill the entire screen.
However, when using the software with a layout that shows several cameras at the same time, there's no need for high-resolution for each one of them because they are shown in small tiles as you can see in the picture below.
For this situation, you can use the profile number 2 which uses less bandwidth.
The Luxriot EVO monitor can alternate between those camera profiles, when you click to enlarge a camera to a full screen or when it comes back to a small tile.
That's an intelligent feature, huh ? Pretty good for a Free VMS 😉
IP camera bandwidth requirements
OK, the concept of using different profiles to save bandwidth is very good, but the question is "How much bandwidth do I need for security cameras?"
That depends on the design and application. It's possible to use more or less bandwidth to meet the project requirements. A Full HD IP camera can use something between 50 Kbps to 5 Mbps depending on the profile configuration.
For most projects, an IP camera uses from 2 to 3 Mbps for to stream Full HD video at 15 to 20 FPS on when monitoring areas with a moderate movement.
How to configure the Luxriot EVO Monitor
Alright, time to learn how to configure the Luxriot EVO to do its magic...
During my tests, for example, the system was using from 90 Kbps to 1,400 Kbps for the profile 1 with Full HD @ 24 FPS and profile 2 with D1 @ 2 FPS respectively.
Look again at the diagram which shows the concept of using different profiles.
The profiles are configured in the IP camera menu
In the Luxriot monitor, you can see an icon that represents the stream selection on the right side of the screen. By default, it uses the Automatic Selection which works with the Main Stream and Sub Stream camera profiles automatically.
On the left side of the screen, it's possible to see the Resolution and Frame Rate the software is using. It also shows the bandwidth. See picture the below.
You just need to check what are the profiles available in the camera and if the automatic selection is on and the software does the rest for you. Easy, huh?
When you double click to enlarge or to reduce the camera visualization, the software changes the profile automatically and uses less bandwidth.
See the bandwidth usage when the camera is enlarged to Full HD resolution.
Here the bandwidth usage when the camera is reduced to D1 resolution.
How to configure the Luxriot EVO Console
Depending on the IP camera you are using, more profile may be available.
The model I tested is an Intelbras VIP 1120B (Dahua OEM) with only two profiles, but some other professional cameras can have up to 10 profiles.
You can open the Luxriot EVO console to choose which profile you want to use for the substream. Check the following pictures for details.
Click the Luxriot Console icon to launch the application.
Click on channels.
Double click the camera and click on "Open Channel properties"
Chose the profile you want to use as a Substream.
And, that's all.
Conclusion
The Luxriot EVO is a Free VMS that is very powerful. You can use this advanced profile control feature to improve the bandwidth in your surveillance projects.
Don't forget to read the other articles in the blog since they are very important for those that are interested to learn more about this VMS. See the links below.
Want to learn more ?
If you want to become a professional CCTV installer or designer, take a look at the material available in the blog. Just click the links below:
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