[SOLVED] What can be causing this skipping?

[jasauders 0]

I run a Linux server in my basement which does many things, including CCTV utilizing the software known as Motion. I am extremely doubtful that my server has anything to do with my setup, seeing as though I see this same jitteryness whether it's on a past recorded clip or if I'm streaming it directly through the web browser via HTTP or VLC via RTSP. Either way, same results.

 

I also thought maybe my network was being saturated since I still have a 10/100 8 port switch in the mix. However I can push 9/10 MB a second to my server without a hiccup, while this video I'm linking here is only 7MB in size and 20 seconds long. Doing some quick math should suggest I'm barely pushing this 10/100 setup that hard.

 

The feed here is 1280x800 @ 20 fps. I know it's not that clear, largely due to the lack of IR I have in the area I'm trying to cover (work in progress), but you can at least see the basic idea of what I'm referring to.

 

I'm not overly experienced in this area compared to you guys... I'm all ears if you fellas have any sort of suggestions or ideas as to what I can do here. Your time is appreciated!

 

 

EDIT - I talked to some colleagues who are big network guys and they said it appears as if the camera is flat out dropping frames. They doubted that the issue was with the camera itself but more so in the connection involved. Some reading around different areas suggested that the issue may be stemming from my POE device, which until I can get a real POE switch in I'm just using an injector. I have another injector (granted an identical model) that I can test with for comparison. I also have an identical camera that I did not install yet that I may do some testing with tonight. First I'll run it via POE statically to my laptop (direct connection) and see how it does, then compare it vs running it on AC power. Maybe the injector I have is just very poor??

 

EDIT II - So I figured out the problem... and it had nothing to do with a problematic power injector or network cabling or anything like that. I realized I was actually demanding too much from my camera. I had completely forgotten that on my server (which sits next to my desktop with its own monitor so I can view live feeds from outside when I'm downstairs) that I always let Firefox sit running, streaming the direct mjpg URL of the camera. Well, that's a 30 fps stream. Likewise, the feed going to Motion is 30 fps as well. The camera was trying to simultaneously push two 30 fps feeds and it couldn't keep up. I noticed if I put Motion's fps down to 15, it would work better, but the 30 fps Firefox feed was still active since I admittedly never close out Firefox - I just let it run as is all the time. The camera supports 4 different "profiles", so I can set up specific parameters I want each stream to work at and go from there. As a result, I set video3.mjpg to be 1 fps, which is what I actively watch when I'm down here (mostly to see when visitors are at the door since I often have loud music going on, making the doorbell unnoticeable) and adjusted the Motion fps to 15 since I don't really need much more than that. Bottom line is, I wanted to get 30 fps to work since my camera was rated to work at 30 fps. I was just doing too much at once and the camera couldn't handle 2x 30 fps streams.

 

Anyway, all is well now, and now that I have a more logical setup (1 fps Firefox live feed and 15 fps Motion recorded feed) I should be in much better shape... which is perfect timing because this weekend I'm adding a 2nd camera (same make and model) to my setup.