VTDecoder - excessive cpu usage issues

eaglesrus

I have found some threads regarding VTDecoder usage in this forum - but they are 5 years old and checking if there is a solution more current.

I am running MacPro (Late 2013) OS 12.7.6

Security Spy 5.5.11

I am getting 130-135 cpu % obviously locking up/dragging anything else I try to do.

I saw solution of going back to SS v4 (dont like that solution)...is there something I can do to keep things working and get that cpu usage down

Ben

The root problem here is that the 2013 Mac Pro does not have any kind of hardware-accelerated video processing ability, so all video decoding/encoding has to be done by the CPU. This can be a resource-intensive task for this older machine.

Note that if Activity Monitor is quoting 130% for the VTDecoder task, this isn't necessarily a problem, since this is a *per core* figure. So if the Mac has 8 cores, this represents only 16% of the total CPU resource. The best figure to look at for overall usage is the "Idle" figure shown in the bottom-left of the Activity Monitor window. If this regularly dips below 20% or so, this indicates the CPU is overloaded and steps should be taken to rectify this situation.

To reduce CPU usage, the best course of action is to lower camera frame rates. For general-purpose CCTV, we recommend 10-15fps, but even if you have to go down to 8fps, this is still perfectly good. Reverting to SecuritySpy version 4 will not help - the limiting factor here is the machine.

Consider upgrading the machine - for example, a second-hand M1 Mac mini can be obtained inexpensively from eBay, and will perform far better. I hope you will also consider upgrading to the latest and greatest version 6 of SecuritySpy - see this page for SecuritySpy v6 upgrade information.

eaglesrus

I keep the cameras set to 8-10fps. attached is my activity monitor but by the sounds, it should not be lagging. I also have the old MacPro (2012) 3.2 quad core Intel running 10.13.6 with SS 4.2.12 and chugs along fine recording 3 cameras. Would SS v6 get me anything or even run on the older machines? I am getting the mac mini to have a computer to actually work on - but the purpose would be keeping SS off it ;-)

Ben

This shows that this Mac's CPU is 85% idle (i.e. only 15% used overall). It's clearly capable of easily handling this system, including all video processing.

I can't tell why you are seeing issues, but I would recommend trying SecuritySpy version 6. As well as lots of new features, it has a multitude of performance improvements that means it should run far more smoothly than version 5. If you have any issues with v6, we will be able to investigate and diagnose them, whereas v5 is discontinued software that we no longer provide support for.

SecuritySpy v6 will run perfectly well on this older machine - its minimum system requirement is 10.13.6 "High Sierra" (the same as for v5).

After installing SecuritySpy version 6, if you have any issues, email us with a detailed description, and send a debug file (SecuritySpy menu > Debug > Create Debug File On Desktop) along with any supporting screenshots to demonstrate.

eaglesrus

thanks - i will give a try...