Blue Iris vs SecuritySpy - Why SecuritySpy?
Hello, I'm looking to eventually upgrade my Security Camera system that's currently using a standalone NVR system--I'm looking to ditch the NVR and take my camera system to the next level and I'm currently torn between Blue Iris and SecuritySpy. I consider myself an above-average person when it comes to technology and if I don't know something, I'll promptly take the time to learn it, so Blue Iris' learning curve or its more technical nature is not a concern for me personally. Apart from, what appears to be, a much better pricing structure for Blue Iris, why would one choose SecuritySpy over alternatives? What makes SecuritySpy worth the steep initial investment? Obvious answers like, "Mac preference" not withstanding, as I own both operating systems.
My second question is will there be a Black Friday Sale for SecuritySpy? As I currently have a 12-camera system and am looking to upgrade to 16 when I pull the trigger and make my move to either software.
The third question I have is why aren't there any videos showcasing the SecuritySpy software? I've tried scouring YouTube to no avail and I don't see many up to date guides providing detailed setups for new users with options, device settings, setup process, etc., why is this the case? Where are the tutorials, product demonstrations, etc.?
The fourth question I have is how is the AI, what potential features are on the horizon, and what makes SecuritySpy superior to its competition?
Comments
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Background:
I too come from a technological background, I've heavily used BlueIris, SecuritySpy, NxWitness VMS, Avigilon ACC and NVRs from the likes of Hikvision and Dahua. My current home deployment consists of 18 cameras - a mix of Hikvision and Dahua turret, fisheye and PTZ cameras. All cameras are H265 and a mix of 4,6 and 8MP.
I've held SecuritySpy licenses for number of years and at home I use an M1 MacMini running SecuritySpy v6, with continuous recording and AI recording to a 5-Bay Direct Attached Storage device filled with WD Purple surveillance disks running over USB 3.0. BlueIris for me was much more resource intensive, dated UI and often poor mobile app experience. I'll bullet point my main pro's below when compared to BI.
Q1) SecuritySpy pro's:
- Being able to effortlessly run all 18 cameras on 1 base specification M1 MacMini means performance to power consumption ratio is vastly superior to the x64 platform and with energy prices in the UK that they are now it's become more of a consideration for a system that runs 24/7. This also comes with great thermals and things run nice and cool, the machine doesn't break a sweat of course thats partly down to Apple's hardware but also a testament to how well SecuritySpy is optimized for MacOS.
- Quality of companion apps. Far better than BI. The SecuritySpy mobile app is high quality and supports iOS and AppleTV. Great for using round the house and rich notifications work perfectly with iPhone and Apple Watch. I use these daily. All clips can be downloaded on the mobile app straight into the camera roll.
- Quality of cross-platform webUI. In SecuritySpy v6 the WebUI is fast and stable and handles streaming in a clever manner by only requesting the resolution of the stream required to fill the space required in the browser window. Imperceptible to the user but is a brilliant resource saver. To achieve a usable experience with 18 cameras on BI you'd have to use sub streams for multicam live view and playback. SecuritySpy has no use for sub streams because it doesn't need them.
- I use the WebUI each morning and being able to filter AI detections and display results in a grid view makes reviewing 24 hours worth of events a joy to use.
- As BI runs on windows, having to maintain another windows box and keep it updated is a headache. MacOS in my experience is superior when running headless. Remote Desktop access is even built into the SecuritySpy webUI for easy access.
- BI records initially in it's own proprietary .bvr file format until the user makes a selection to manual export or schedules clips to be auto converted and moved. Whereas SecuritySpy saves files in widely compatible formats such as .mp4. I can read an archive drive on any machine and directly play clips. No export/conversion required, saves on resource and allows for simultaneous upload to B2 object storage which provides me with an almost realtime off-site backup of AI events. Invaluable in cases of flood, fire, theft or vandalism of recording devices.
- SecuritySpy integrates with HomeKit via a small assistant app called HomeHelper. With this i'm able to leverage AI detections in SecuritySpy to turn on and off external floodlights in hours of darkness. This is achieved by using Smartplugs also added to HomeKit.
Q2) I'm sure Ben will be able to best advice re promos but they do run sales from time to time.
Q3) I agree there is a lack of up-to date testimonials or case studies, however on the website there is a comprehensive user guide and features are well documented. Ben is also very responsive on this forum and via email should anyone need support. I'd be happy to write up a case study with detailing my experience in a personal and business capacity using Security Spy at some point in the future.
Q4) The AI accuracy in SecuritySpy is the best i've used. AI in BI uses CodeProject.AI and previously DeepStack, if you want to tweak and tinker for hours then these are the systems for you, experience varies from person to person and are very hardware and environment dependent. Can't help but think that SecuritySpy AI is more accurate due to being able to leverage the Apple Core ML framework and the models used are highly trained and appear very well optimized whilst using less resource it's a win for me. As for future development, only Ben can answer that, what i can say is that features are enhanced and added regularly. Bugs are squashed quickly too and in many cases patches are provided to affected users without having to wait for a new release.
Summary:
If you want to tinker and tweak each and every aspect of your system and be reliant on multiple independent software packages that all need to be maintained on windows to work property for example, the Windows OS, BI, AI add-ons and Ui3 for the web services, try BI.
But if you want a rock solid, powerful turn-key solution i'm yet to find anything that compares to SecuritySpy. I'd recommend using the free trials of both solutions and deciding for yourself. If you want any more info or screenshots let me know.
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@JC_5674, thank you very kindly for such a detailed response. I must admit, you've definitely swayed me towards SecuritySpy as the mobile experience is among my top priorities as I want it to be as accessible as possible for my parents whom aren't the most knowledgeable when it comes to technology.
May you be able to point me towards resources, other than just blogs/writeups of SecuritySpy? Are there any video-centered tutorials out there? Also, is there a discord community or something of the sort that may offer more "immediate" responses than just this forum?
Is it possible to train the AI to "learn" who an individual is and reduce the number of notifications said person may trigger? As an example, say I have a camera that I know one of my family members may pass frequently--in this scenario I wouldn't want to be triggered every single time said family passes that camera as I know it's an area of frequent use; however, is the AI capable of discerning between a "known" individual and a stranger? Thus triggering alerts only/almost "exclusively" when a stranger/unknown person is detected (of course I'm aware that this working 100% of the time is unfeasible, I'm just more so interested if it's possible at all).
Furthermore how "intelligent" is video playback when also recording 24/7? As an example, my current NVR system records 24/7 regardless but doesn't have the "intelligence" to highlight to me areas/moments throughout the timeline where motion was detected and or an event may have been triggered. Making it almost impossible for me to scrub through hours of footage looking for "specific moments" unless I know something just happened and or I spent an ung-dly amount of time trying to look at every little detail to determine if something moved or not. I'd love to have something that is capable of both recording 24/7 while also being able to intelligently highlight to me areas of interest upon playback, that way I can capture as much footage as possible without worry of depending on AI to capture something. I say this as I have a few Eufy cameras within my house, separate from my NVR system, that record solely on movement capture/event capture, and many times when the event is captured, it's a few seconds late and misses when an event first started and or moments leading up to it--both crucial information.
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No problem,
I'm not aware of any resources other than this forum or email, i know many other projects have a community like discord, i wonder if Ben has considered a community platform with IM capability, i understand the benefit of being able to post a query and leverage the power of community support. I'm also not aware of any video tutorials, however the software is quite intuitive and there isn't a steep learning curve like other solutions.
I believe regarding AI learning - what your referring to is what i would call Face Recognition, SecuritySpy doesn't have the ability to remember known faces at this time. However you can specify schedules for when you'd want to be notified. As for AI clip recording i have mine set to a 10 second pre-capture and a 15 second post-capture meaning that almost every clip includes the crucial lead to the trigger.
As far as playback goes, you can set separate retention periods for AI triggered motion clips and 24/7 continuous recording. For example i retain AI triggered motion clips for 10 Days locally (and 15 days in B2) whereas i retain continuous recordings for 28 days. In the mobile app and web ui you can filter the clip type by camera/group, i find this the quickest way of reviewing recent events. However, even in my 24/7 continuous recordings, every AI trigger stamps it's metadata in the continuous video which means that via the 'Browser Window' within the SecuritySpy main application you can search either by selecting a region within the field of view, or select a trigger type i.e human, vehicle or animal and a specific camera to see a timeline of AI triggers within continuous recording. This more powerful analysis is only accessible via the main SecuritySpy application, but access via the web ui via the built in remote desktop feature makes this quick and suitable for any desktop browser, but having a couple of days of AI clips recorded as well makes for easy review across any platform.
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Thank you @JC_5674 for posting your experiences with SecuritySpy - it's great to hear your positive comments about the software, and I very much appreciate your contributions on this forum! To answer and elaborate on some of the questions above:
Video tutorials - this is something we have considered, but do not yet exist due to the difficulties involved in creating them and keeping them updated as the software evolves. On the other hand, I understand that such a resource would be very useful for users, especially those who are new to the software. We'll take another look at this possibility.
For now the best ways of getting information/help/support are this forum, the user manual, the installation manual, help pages, blog, and email.
We aren't planning any sales/promotions in the foreseeable future.
With SecuritySpy's AI object detection, we've gone for an approach that prioritises accuracy over complexity. With good-quality cameras, SecuritySpy can detect the presence/absence of a human/vehicle with an accuracy as high as 99%. This means that it's highly effective at filtering out false-positive detections, capturing and recording only those events that you are likely to care about.
Further AI features are coming, however we are wary about moving too fast here and over-promising features that don't work well, such as the detection of individual humans via face recognition or other means.
Motion Capture recordings can be filtered by AI object type via the web/iOS interfaces. And, as @JC_5674 shows above, the Browser features in the macOS user interface can also show all events in Continuous Capture files. You can have Motion Capture and Continuous Capture recording happening in parallel, giving you the best of both worlds.
Feel free to ask any further questions you may have!
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@Ben I'm currently having trouble connecting my current cameras to the software. I know for a fact I'm using the right IP addresses and as far as I'm aware, I'm inputting all of the correct information. When SecuritySpy is connecting to the cameras, it says "no key frames recently", would you be able to assist me? Thank you
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Hi @ViewsHeart please email us and include a debug file (SecuritySpy menu > Debug > Create Debug File On Desktop). Please also let us know the precise make/model of the affected camera(s) and a brief description of your network. We'll work with you directly to try to get everything working correctly.
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For others who may run across this excellent thread… For us and others I've advised it's very simple - Stability.
SS on top of MacOS/Mac is simply more stable and reliable than BI on top of Windows/Whatever.
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thanks @JC_5674 for the tips on the web ui ai detection. Didn't know that! I also used BI/codeproject for a year and concur with your assessment. I'm currently testing SS on a baseline mac mini M2, 8GB memory, 8 cameras, 2MP to 4mP. experimenting with NAS vs local USB SSD storage.
I just find SS so much simpler to use than BI. especially setting up schedules.
